Steve Kerr spoke about the dilemma facing the Golden State Warriors ahead of their season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Golden State Warriors concluded their series of preseason games on Friday night, but many questions still remain about the team.
The Warriors will face the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA season opener this Tuesday, but as things stand, head coach Steve Kerr will have to make a decision.
Although he did not play in Friday night’s game, Kerr confirmed that Jimmy Butler will play against the Lakers and said his presence will be important to solving the Warriors’ turnover problems.
But the difficult age concerns surrounding the Warriors’ roster pose a problem for Steve Kerr, who has a big decision to make heading into Tuesday night.
Steve Kerr spoke ahead of the Warriors’ season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers. When discussing starting options at center, Kerr revealed his current dilemma.
Because of Al Horford’s age, the Warriors won’t start him at center every game and will likely play him in several different lineups.
“The big question for us is how do we want to start? Do we want to start big with Al or do we want to start small with Draymond in a five-man system like we ended last year?”
“The difficult thing about starting Al is that given his age, we’re going to limit his minutes and probably play 20 minutes a night.
“If you want to play him for 20 minutes and finish the game, it’s difficult to start him. If he starts the game and finishes the game, he’s sitting almost the entire middle of the game, which is very awkward.”
“We have to factor in Draymond. I don’t want him to be at center for 82 games, so we may end up going with multiple starting lineups.”
Playing in multiple different starting lineups is nothing new for Steve Kerr. In fact, he did that for most of last season.
Prior to the addition of Jimmy Butler, Steve Kerr tried 28 different starting lineups over the first 51 games, moving multiple players in and out.
In those 51 games, the Warriors had 25 wins and 26 losses. But the arrival of Jimmy Butler changed everything for the Warriors. For the remaining 31 games, the Warriors had just 10 different lineups.
The stability of their rotation allowed them to finish with a 23-8 record in the final game of the season. Never underestimate the role of consistency in your team’s success.
This is why Steve Kerr’s comments are so concerning, because it seems like he might be making the same mistake with Al Horford. I hope he’s learned his lesson, but this is a worrying sign for the Warriors.