After months of struggling to find the right starting combination, it looked like Steve Kerr and the Golden State Warriors had finally found their starting five at the All-Star break.
Brandin Podziemski replaced Klay Thompson as the starting shooter, while Jonathan Kuminga solidified himself as a power forward. The young duo joined veterans Stephen Curry, Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green, forming the core of the Warriors in recent weeks.
The new-look starting five started productively, helping the Warriors put together their best stretch of the season. In 20 games together, the unit still holds a more than reasonable 12.9 net rating in 193 minutes.
But more recently, the starting lineup has become a bit stale, notably against the New York Knicks on Monday where they were outscored by 20 points in 11 minutes. Offensively, they are starting to have the same problem as the traditional top five, with the combination of Green and Kevon Looney becoming untenable due to a lack of shooting and scoring. Today, the same concern arises with Green and Podziemski.
The rookie guard is a competent shooter, but his lack of scoring makes it difficult to justify his spot in the starting lineup despite everything he brings to the table. Podziemski has scored eight points or fewer in seven of his last 10 games, including going scoreless in 25 minutes against the Knicks.
Podziemski and Green can work together in the starting lineup, but that puts enormous pressure on Curry and Kuminga, not to mention Wiggins whose scoring has become inconsistent and unreliable over the past 12 months.
There’s also the issue of Green as the starting center, with the veteran dealing with a back issue that makes him questionable for Wednesday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies. Having a 6’6″, 34 year old player who primarily plays center is an unsustainable approach despite the early benefits it has brought.
So what is the solution ? The obvious solution is to bring Klay Thompson back into the starting five for Podziemski, giving the Warriors another scoring/shooting threat. The second is to promote Trayce Jackson-Davis to starting center, a position the rookie big man has seemed capable of filling in an increased role over the last few games. But who returns to the bench? Wiggins? Kuminga? Throwing Jackson-Davis has a lot more implications than just Green.
For now, Kerr will likely give Podziemski the opportunity to rediscover and further develop his scoring ability. It’s also likely that Green remains among the starting five, but Jackson-Davis takes on an increased workload off the bench.
