With the regular season opener only six days away, the Warriors don’t look like a team headed for major roster suspense. The bigger question is how Steve Kerr sorts out the rotation once the games start counting.
The standard roster picture is close to settled. Golden State carries 15 players on standard contracts and three two-way spots, and there doesn’t seem to be much movement coming before opening night.
LJ Cryer, Graham Ike and Malevy Leons are expected to hold onto the two-way jobs. Leons didn’t have the strongest preseason, but Kerr backed him a few days ago, which effectively shut down any real uncertainty there.
The same goes for Brandon Williams on the main roster. He’s set to make $1.4 million on his $2.6 million contract if he’s on the opening-night roster, and Kerr made the situation pretty clear by saying, “he is the backup point guard.”
That gives the Warriors an opening-night depth chart that looks something like this:
PG: Stephen Curry (starter), Brandon Williams, LJ Cryer (two-way)
SG: Brandin Podziemski (starter), De'Anthony Melton, Gary Payton II, Will Richard
SF: Gui Santos (starter)
PF: Yaxel Lendeborg (starter), Georges Niang, Malevy Leons (two-way)
C: Draymond Green (starter), Al Horford, Charles Bassey, Graham Ike (two-way)
Out with Injury/Illness: Kristaps Porzingis, Jimmy Butler, Moses Moody
Where the real intrigue starts is in how Kerr manages the minutes.
At point guard, Curry or Williams should be on the floor for every minute. If Williams gets in trouble, Podziemski or Melton could handle the backup point guard work in the non-Curry stretches, but for the first game at least, Williams is the likeliest man for that job.
The wing rotation has its own juggling act. Podziemski and Melton are both candidates to cover the full game, though Podziemski is also expected to spend some of his time at small forward.
That opens the door for Will Richard to get minutes at shooting guard. The projected split there is Melton for 22 minutes, Podziemski for 18, and Richard for 8.
Small forward is even thinner. Santos is the only true healthy option at the position, and he obviously won’t log 48 minutes.
So when he sits, Podziemski and Gary Payton II are the most likely players to fill in. The projected breakdown has Santos at 26 minutes, Podziemski at 12, and Payton at 10.
Power forward looks like a place where Kerr will need to manage matchups carefully. He has tried Lendeborg at center, but those looks haven’t gone well defensively.
So when Green and Horford are both available, Lendeborg should stay at the 4. Niang is the main backup there, while Green is expected to spend some time at power forward too.
The minute split projects to Lendeborg at 32, Niang at 10, and Green at 6.
At center, Green is the likely starter and closer, while Horford should handle most of the center work when Green is either off the floor or playing power forward. Bassey has also stood out during training camp and the preseason, and he appears likely to have a role even if Green and Horford are active. The projected center minutes: Green 20, Horford 20, Bassey 8.
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