Al Horford’s role is already shaping up to be one of the trickier roster puzzles the Golden State Warriors have to solve.
Horford is heading into his 20th NBA season, and he’ll be on a minutes restriction again. That alone makes the setup delicate. But the real issue is this: Golden State may still need the 40-year-old center to start at times during the regular season, especially on nights when Kristaps Porzingis is unavailable.
That’s where the tension comes in. The Warriors would much rather keep Horford’s workload light, not only because of his age but because they need him healthy and fresh for the playoffs. Starting games tends to make a strict 20-22 minute limit harder to manage, which puts Steve Kerr in a bind.
Last season, Horford started 13 of his 45 games in his first year with Golden State. Kerr would likely prefer that number to be zero, but the roster may not give him that luxury once the schedule starts piling up and Porzingis inevitably misses time.
If Horford isn’t the answer in those spots, the Warriors would have to adjust in other ways. One option is to go small and move Draymond Green to the five.
Another is to give Charles Bassey a chance as the third-string big. Neither choice comes close to replacing the spacing and shooting that Porzingis and Horford provide, which means Kerr would be forced to change the shape of the lineup.
That’s why losing Quinten Post stings. The young center could have handled some of those starts when Porzingis sat, while allowing Horford to stay in a bench role and still giving Golden State a stretch big at center. Instead, the Warriors let him walk in restricted free agency after the Memphis Grizzlies put forward an incentive-based, not fully guaranteed three-year contract that Golden State declined to match.
The bigger concern is the gamble the Warriors already admitted they were making this summer: betting on talent over availability. No part of that bet looks more fragile than the pairing of Porzingis and Horford, who combined to play just 77 games last season.
Golden State needs more than name value from those two. It needs them on the floor. Without that, the Warriors’ playoff hopes could be in trouble before Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody even make it back from injury.
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Warriors Get A Rare Preseason Stage Before A Crucial Early Look
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Golden States first exhibition comes against Los Angeles in Honolulu, part of a broader preseason schedule that is already set for the Warriors while the Clippers have only partially announced theirs. For a team that tends to draw attention no matter the time of year, this trip offers an early look at rotation work, conditioning and chemistry before the games start counting for real. [Read more 🡒]