Draymond Green will be part of the Warriors‘ starting lineup this fall, but his exact role has not yet been determined. As Anthony Slater of The Athletic writes, the team’s decision on whether to use Green as a power forward or center will have a ripple effect on the rest of the starting five and the rotation beyond that group.
According to Slater, head coach Steve Kerr has expressed that he doesn’t love the idea of Green playing heavy minutes at the five, especially against teams using bigger lineups. And Green still considers power forward his true position.
However, starting Green alongside a center like Trayce Jackson-Davis or Kevon Looney may push rising forward Jonathan Kuminga to the bench, since Kuminga hasn’t yet proven to be a reliable floor spacer and Kerr has spoken in the past about viewing the former lottery pick as more of a four than a three. For what it’s worth, Kuminga disagrees with that assessment but is willing to accept whatever decision the club makes.
“At the end of the day, I know I’m a small forward,” Kuminga said, per Slater. “I can do it. I can play it at the highest level. But going forward, it’s all about what the team wants me to do. It don’t matter, small forward or whatever.”
As Slater observes, Kuminga and Green would make more sense as the Warriors’ starting forwards alongside a big man who could stretch the floor, but Jackson-Davis and Looney don’t really possess that skill set. And even though Golden State drafted a player – Quinten Post – who could develop into that sort of stretch five, he likely won’t see much action with the NBA team as a rookie.
“He’s got a ways to go,” Kerr said of Post. “I’m not anticipating it this year. I think he’ll be in Santa Cruz a lot.”
Here’s more on the Warriors:
- Andrew Wiggins is the best bet to open the season as Golden State’s starting small forward, but he has yet to participate in training camp due to an illness and has been ruled out for Saturday’s preseason opener, tweets Kendra Andrews of ESPN.
- With Wiggins unavailable, the Warriors used a first unit of Stephen Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Buddy Hield, Kuminga, and Green in a Friday scrimmage, tweets Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. However, asked if that would be the starting group on Saturday, Kerr advised reporters not to read too much into it. “No,” he replied, per Slater (Twitter link). “In fact it’s safe to assume that will not be the starters.”
- While the Warriors aren’t generally viewed as a legitimately title contender entering this fall, Green appreciates the challenge of trying to get the team back to that level and has no desire to leave his longtime team to try to win another championship elsewhere, Thompson writes for The Athletic. “When you’ve built this s–t up from the laughingstock of the NBA, it feels a little different,” Green said. “I said to (team owner) Joe Lacob two years ago, like, ‘You should understand I think about this organization like it’s mine.’ No disrespect to them that own this, but I take a great deal of pride in what we built here. This is home for me. This is like Michigan State for me. Most people don’t have an NBA home. I care what this organization looks like in 10 years. That’s going to matter to me.”
- The Warriors announced on Friday in a press release that Jonnie West has received a promotion to senior director of pro personnel, while Maclean Osborne and Michael Salame have been named scouts. Osborne and Salame previously worked in basketball operations for Golden State’s G League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors.
- Warriors guard Gary Payton II spoke to Mark Medina of Sportskeeda about a wide range of topics, including his decision to exercise his 2024/25 player option to stick with Golden State and his favorite Curry and Green stories.
- The Warriors liked Bronny James‘ skill set heading into June’s draft and weighed the possibility of selecting him at No. 52, sources tell Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. However, Golden State ultimately decided to respect LeBron James‘ desire to join forces with his son in Los Angeles and passed on Bronny.
With TJD growing another inch over summer and now 6’10” I expect him being the starting center to start the season.
What the hell is going on with Wiggins? I understand he’s had some tough times off the court but this has been going on a while. Is he trying to catch Ben Simmons?
He has the flu and shouldnt be playing with the team getting them sick. He is doing light work and should have plenty of time to ramp up before the 23
Nrg82, that’s in poor taste, isn’t it? His father died after an extended bout with brain cancer.
As a point of fact, over his first 8 seasons Wiggins missed fewer regular season games than any other NBA player over that time.
The next season 2022-23, he missed 35 games to attend to the family matter. Last year, 2024-25, he played 71 games, with 3 games away to attend to his father.
@ Aristotle….you mean just like people who aren’t in the nba? Like you and I don’t have to deal with life. I’m saying at some point, he needs to snap out of it. I’m sure he can afford the best help available.
@Nrg82 , how low can you go? If you want to besmirch the unfortunate, try to know the facts:
You wouldn’t be alone in saying that Wiggins “didn’t deal with life” when he took 30 games off in 2023. But the facts say you should leave it there.
Wiggins “snapped out of it” when he returned from home for 2022-23 playoffs after a 30 game layoff. He played all the playoff games. He underwent a procedure for a rib/abdomen problem that summer, but was ready for training.
Last year, he played 71 games, and missed only 3 games to attend to his father, and finished the season.
He’s currently practicing away from the team in Hawaii because he has the flu.
The fun and games begin. Kuminga, Podz and picks for Markkanen anyone lol. Train wreck in slow motion here. The organisation trying to hedge their bets stuck between all in and rebuilding. Players and coach already not on the same page. Sounds like last season.
Dude Utah asked for every single asset they had they were never going to meet that price.
So? While Steph is in town, you do whatever it takes. When it doesn’t work and the time calls for action, I’m sure Golden State could recoup said assets via trading Steph etc. Ruthless…sure. That’s business isn’t it? Picks can’t play bro. Said picks certainly aren’t helping Steph at this point.
The price for markanen was so high that it would have made the warriors worse than better. Its better to wait and be patient than go all in and fail. So expect a trade more around the deadline.
The Warriors never offered Podz to any team. They had a lot offers, but refused them all. Curry has said he is on board with the new offensive direction in several interviews. Are you just trying to be a troll. You are not very good at it.
Giants74 , he is a troll. He makes the same inflammatory points several times a week, and relies on suckers like us to take the bait.
In any case, you’re correct that:
1 . the Warriors didn’t offer Podz or Kuminga in the George and Markkanen trade discussions
2. Steph is on board with the plan of developing the young players
Opening day starting lineup.
Jackson Davis
Green
JK
Podski
Curry.
Might want to take a screenshot of this if you’re playing at home.
The only thing that screws this up is that Kerr is talking about having more three-point Shooters on the floor. That means Wiggins starts ahead of JK. I’ll believe it when I see it and I think it depends on Green and JK shooting in preseason. If they’re hitting at 38% my lineup stands. If green and JK are ice cold at 24% pteseason, then I guess Wiggins will start ahead of jk. Still pretty fluid but all my chips are on the table for my lineup about.
I agree w/this lineup..plus, I think Wiggins has more value to the Dubs by coming off the bench now..
Dubtastic , the problem with bringing Wiggins off the bench is that you reduce his trade value significantly. Very hard to move a bench player with 3 years and $83M left on his contract.
Some media speculate that the Dubs must start Wiggins to trade him. I think Gary’s post, above, hints at that.
Way Kerr works there will be different starting lineup against different teams. Wiggins is going to start and Podz on the bench in many games. Don’t be surprised if Heild start some games too for offense.
Actual starting lineups I think Kerr will use:
Opening night
Dray-Kuminga-Wiggins-Hield-Curry
for a while, then if Wiggs stinks
TJD-Dray-Kuminga-Hield-Curry
If Hield stinks
Dray-Kuminga-Wiggins-Melton-Curry
if Curry is injured
TJD-Dray-Kuminga-Hield-Podz
if Melton is injured
Dray-Kuminga-Wiggins-Moody-Curry
if the opp lineup has many bigs
TJD-Looney-Anderson-Moody-Curry
best defense lineup
Dray-Anderson-Kuminga-Moody-Melton
another non-Curry lineup I wanna see (defensive)
TJD-Anderson-Kuminga-Moody-Podz
Kerr will likely be doing all in his power to try and play
GP2-Podz-Hield-Melton-Curry
Would love to see Kerr do a 180 from small ball and play this “all pnr for Steph” lineup
TJD-Looney-Anderson-Dray-Curry
garbage time
Post-Santos-GP2-Waters3-Beekman
Gary , I guess you didn’t see that Kerr says Podz is the backup PG? See my post, below.
link to bvmsports.com
Also, Kerr has said no less than 3 times over the last week that he expects Wiggins to be our #2 scorer.
Gary you love Podz too much, he will be Steph’s backup and not much else. He’s best at PG and cant play there alongside Steph. GSW is also tiny with your lineup, easily exploited.
Podz is simply not better than Moody, Moody is bigger and a better defender and scorer at SG and the entire internet outside this website agrees with me.
One thing we can all agree on is that almost all Warriors threads end up in heated arguments on how Kerr is going to use Hield, Melton, Moody, Podz and GP2 for the SG mins and non-Steph PG mins.
GSW’s best 4 are Curry, Green, Wiggins, Kuminga and then the bigs are SloMo, Looney and TJD. While you would love to see Podz traded while his trade value is high along with GP2 for Steven Adams, this isn’t so bad a situation to be in. Injuries happen, and this roster has plenty of solid options without having to run 2W level talent. While I can see why they would want Giannis or Jimmy here, long rosters led by an elite talent like Steph have chipped before.
Another thing that’s become very obvious to anyone who has done full team analysis is that GSW’s bench is outstandingly long, much longer than any other West team. That matters. Unless Steph gets hurt, GSW are a top 6 team, you all will see…
SMH
Davey , if “we” is the usual posters (including me), then, yes, we can agree that Kuminga is in the top 4, and Wiggins is not.
Steve Kerr appears to disagree. His recent, repeated declarations indicate that:
1. Wiggins is the starting 3, and our #2 scorer
2. Draymond is the starting 5
Kerr has reinforced his position that Kuminga can’t play the 3 in the Warriors’ system.
Error, I meant to say that Kerr says Draymond is our starting 4, not 5. In other words Kuminga I isn’t starting at the only position Kerr believes he can play
Is that clown Giants47 or whatever he’s called still throwing homophobic insults at me? You dont know a single iota of ball and never say one logical thought on here. Argue with a wall, loser.
What did I say that was homophobic? I don’t care. You just just gush about Moody, and trash Podziemski, practically every post. It does sound like you got a crush.
You keep self reporting that you are a basketball expert and that legions of people agree with your analysis. You haven’t shown any evidence to support your belief. So, prove it.
aristotle, nothing I wrote has anything to do with any of that. The Warriors top 4 players who will get the most playing time unless poor form are Curry, Dray, JK and Wiggs. Off salary alone that is true. Kerr agrees, no idea what youre trying to say with either of these replies you liked yourself.
It sounds like Steven Adams is Davey J’s new obsession. I guess Moses Moody rejected his advances. The Warriors have had 4 Centers over the past decade with Knee problems. It hasn’t worked out well. One had to prematurely retire. Why do we need that?
Slo Mo isnt a big lmao
Brabo, Slo Mo is ABSOLUTELY AN OPTION AS A 4 OR SMALL BALL 5.
He may not have 7 ft size but he is utilized at the big positions all the time in the past. In the playoffs last year I do believe he did a nice job guarding Jokic. I would count that as a man capable of playing one of the big positions.
I still have my towel ready to wipe myself off the floor if you care to mention the part of the country you run pick up. I’ll get the board and Outlet to you every single time if you’re a bucket. Let’s GO !!!
@Brabo you dont know ball
Every news piece on GSW leads with the problem caused by carrying too many players at SG and SF to satisfy their expectations for playing time. On ESPN, for example, ex-GM Bobby Marks stated that having 12 players capable of starting was not sustainable.
In the last 4 days, Kerr and players have made telling public statements on this topic. Any public commitment by Kerr to a player, no matter how soft, can’t be good news for the other players competing for those minutes.
Hilites :
On Wiggins and JK: Kerr declares that he expects Wiggins to be the #2 scorer and take 7 threes per game. Kerr (again) declares that JK has not proven he’s a 3 yet, and that he can’t play him at the 3 alongside TJD and Draymond. The next day, Draymond declares that JK is definitely a 3, and not a 4. Then JK declares publicly that he considers himself a 3, but can play anywhere. Then Kerr declares he doesn’t love the idea of Draymond playing the 5, so he’s a 4.
On SG: Kerr declares that Podz is “primarily” the backup PG, not an SG. Kerr declares that he’s “counting on” Hield to “carry a good chunk of our scoring load.” Kerr says that he hasn’t figured out the “exact role” for Melton, but that he’s sure it will be “very important”. He calls Melton a “connector” and that he “enables combinations.”
Speculating, it looks like the starters are:
– Steph, Melton, Wiggins, TJD, Draymond
2nd unit:
– Podz, Hield, Kuminga, Anderson
Bench:
– Looney, Moody, GP2, Waters
Something’s gotta give. Wiggins has to be a starter if you want to trade him, but JK and Moody are in a contract year.
Bobby Marks was an Asst GM for a short while. 12 players capable of starting? That might be an overstatement. Igoudala and Livingston were capable of starting, but they came off the bench. It worked out quite nicely.
Giants74 , the larger point is that the Dubs have too many players expecting significant minutes.
Of the 12, only Moody hasn’t been a starter in recent years.
Curry, Wiiggins, Draymond, TJD, Kuminga, Looney, Podz started for GSW last year.
Melton and Hield have started the great majority of their NBA games.
Anderson has started for Memphis, San Antonio.
GP2 started for Portland while he was there, and some for the Dubs in their ‘Chip year
@Nrg82 , how low can you go? If you want to besmirch the unfortunate, try to know the facts:
You wouldn’t be alone in saying that Wiggins “didn’t deal with life” when he took 30 games off in 2023. But leave it there. He ha
Wiggins “snapped out of it” when he returned from home for 2022-23 playoffs after a 30 game layoff. He played all the playoff games. He underwent a procedure for a rib/abdomen problem that summer, but was ready for training.
Last year, he played 71 games, and missed only 3 games to attend to his father, and finished the season.
He’s currently practicing away from the team in Hawaii because he has the flu.
Play Moses Moody
Trade Podz/GP2/Looney for a decent big
Win title
Pretty much.
Who doesn’t like the skill set of Bronny!
Only the LeBron haters, right?
Ah the old Warriors…
Draymond starting at the 4 or 5 doesn’t matter… As long as he’s taking that much salary cap room this team is stuck looking for vet mins and rookies… And not a challenger…
I think as soon as Klay and Steph and whoever the third guy has been, Durant, iguodala, and now wiggins, have produced, the Warriors have always been hunting for minimum salary vets. Nothing has changed the last 10 years.
The only reason they’re not a Challenger lately is because Klay Thompson fell off a cliff and their wing has been inconsistent or not available.
I believe the goal of GM and franchise in general has been to find that other missing piece. Someone who provides a significant contribution.
the guy scarlet is just hating. The last 2 years they had no money but now they have a lot more flexibility on picking up players and having players they can move.
That much salary cap room? Green is making 25 and stars make 50. Some backups make 15 to 20 so I’m not sure your point is valid at all.
If Steve Kerr knew what he was doing the Warriors starting lineup for every game would be Curry, Moody, Kuminga, Green, TJD and the Warriors would easily be the #1 seed in the Western conference. But Kerr doesn’t know what he is doing, so we’ll be back to the play-in.
From splash bros to ringling bros…buncha clowns
I think you’ll be surprised. The defense will be the calling card this year. And everyone on the planet knows defense wins games.
From splash bros to splash buddys, and from matador defense on the perimeter last year to charging a physical toll to come across the Bay Bridge this year. No team comes out with the same assumptions they came in with.
As long as Draymond is on the team they are going nowhere — in my opinion. But your optimism is refreshing.
Well I think everyone who’s a Warriors fan on this site is optimistic. Some a little more optimistic than others lol. If you know what I mean.
But yeah I’m a fan and I hope they do well. Who knows really? My opinion is no better than yours.
I may have asked you this before, but who is your team Lil D, the rockets? There’s been so many username changes I’m not sure who’s who in the zoo anymore. If the Rockets then things are looking up. They’re young and have a lot of promise. Great coaching too.
I am Lil d and have always been Lil d except when I was Lil dunker but just me and no other names I don’t have time or energy I will leave that for KD lol
Got it.