The Warriors Aren't As Deep As We Think
The Golden State Warriors bench poured in 41 points en route to a 123-109 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on opening night.
It seemed like the Warriors were once again unstoppable. Warriors superstar Stephen Curry doesn’t seem to be slowing down despite being 34 years of age (although that may change as the world awaits MRI results on his injured left shoulder suffered in the Pacers game Wednesday night), guard Klay Thompson seems to be back in rhythm and forward Andrew Wiggins continued his hot streak from the 2022 NBA Finals into the current season.
The Warriors picked up guard Donte DiVincenzo and forward Jamychal Green to boost up their bench after losing guard Gary Payton II to the Portland Trail Blazers and forward Otto Porter Jr. to the Toronto Raptors.
However, a quick scan through the rest of the Warriors roster gave nothing but questions and uncertainty. A lot of the Warriors success this season will be relied heavily on the potential of the youngsters, and so far, only forward Jonathan Kuminga has been getting consistent minutes and production.
Guard Moses Moody is stuck behind a heavy guard rotation of Thompson and Jordan Poole — who had just picked up a 4 year, $140 million extension. Warriors center James Wiseman was sent back to the G League after being pushed out of the rotation mid-November, but has put his head down and worked on his game.
The Warriors elected not to sign another player and left an empty roster spot for salary cap purposes. Forward Andre Iguodala is working his way into form, but will presumably only be available for the playoffs. The new draft picks — forward Patrick Baldwin Jr. and guard Ryan Rollins — are still developing and spending most of the time in the G League.
As the Warriors roster stands, the Warriors have “five empty slots” — the unused roster spot, Iguodala, Wiseman, Baldwin Jr. and Rollins.
With that being said, forwards Green and Lamb have been inconsistent as of late, and many question if the Warriors have enough rotational players come playoff time.
Green was brought in from the Denver Nuggets to provide floor spacing with his 3-point shooting. However, Green is currently shooting abysmal 19.5%, according to ESPN. His offensive production hasn’t been all that great either, as he’s only averaging 5.3 points.
With the controversy surrounding Lamb, it is unclear whether or not the Warriors will continue to play him. On the basketball front, having a two-way player eat up consistent minutes while not providing enough production is not ideal. Lamb is averaging 5.7 points, but is shooting a respectable 38% from 3-point range, according to ESPN.
The one thing that’s missing from this Warriors roster compared to the previous championship years is that consistent bench production. Players like David West, Shaun Livingston, Leandro Barbosa, David Lee, Porter Jr. and Payton II had impacts day in and day out.
DiVincenzo has been a solid pickup, as his hounding on-ball defense reminds Warriors fans of Payton II, and his 3-point shooting is coming along. But, with Poole’s inconsistent play so far amidst his early struggles to start the season, the Warriors lack of consistent bench production has been detrimental to the team.
Leads have vanished when starters go to the bench in the second quarter and the Warriors end up playing catch up or flounder in the last minutes of the game due to inexperience.
The solid veteran experiences of forwards Damion Lee and Juan Toscano-Anderson are no longer present, and the Warriors will need new players to rely on a consistent basis.
While Lee and Toscano-Anderson were still relatively new to the NBA, they knew the Warriors system from the back of their hand. Both spent time with the Santa Cruz Warriors, so it was easy to depend on them.
But, with an almost entirely new roster, a mix of young players and veterans alike, the Warriors are still scrambling for answers. Luck for the Warriors, it’s still relatively early in the season, so they have time to figure it out. But until they do, the Warriors need consistent production from the bench, and it’s always going to be a guessing game until they find an answer.
(photo credit: Getty)