Odds are still against Moses Moody being a full-time member of the Golden State Warriors' rotation over the season's remainder. As Andrew Wiggins tends to a family matter on Tuesday, though, the third-year wing is set to play a major role for Golden State in the nation's capitol.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters before Tuesday's game that Moody will start in place of Wiggins against the Washington Wizards, per Kendra Andrews of ESPN.
Moody was relegated to garbage-time minutes in Golden State's home loss to the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday. He's been in and out of Kerr's rotation for the last three weeks since returning from injury, his extended playing time primarily coming when the Dubs were missing a regular contributor in the backcourt or on the wing.
After Sunday's game, Kerr acknowledged that while the Warriors' rotational numbers crunch—especially with Chris Paul returning from a broken hand—is working against Moody at the moment, he's hardly resolved to keeping the former lottery pick in a deep bench role as 2023-24 continues.
“There's only so many guys I can play. I already had 11 guys in the rotation, which is almost impossible. Twelve is impossible,” Kerr said of Moody's lack of playing time against Denver. “He's out of the loop right now, but that doesn't mean it's the case for the rest of the season. We've got a lot of guys who are healthy and we're getting Chris back on the [road trip] at some point, so everybody's just gotta stay ready. But there's just not enough minutes for everybody.”
Why isn't Moses Moody in Warriors' regular rotation?
Moody's effective midseason demotion after a strong start to his third NBA go-around has been a point of contention among Warriors analysts and fans for weeks. He was a fixture off the bench for Golden State in November and December, combining his always-smooth long-range shooting stroke with ultra-disruptive off-ball defense and burgeoning comfort making plays for himself and his teammates off the bounce.
Once Paul and Gary Payton II were healthy simultaneously in early January, though, Moody fell back toward the very end of the Dubs' bench, his progress stalling further when a subsequent calf strain sidelined him for three weeks. Moody returned to the court in a February 5th win over the Brooklyn Nets, playing 15 minutes, but that playing time was mostly the result of Golden State playing without Wiggins, Payton and Paul. Upon Payton once again returning from a minor injury in the Dubs' thrilling win over the Phoenix Suns on February 10th, Moody's minutes have either been sporadic or basically nonexistent.
Former two-way player Lester Quinones has played ahead of him in the rotation of late, a likely consequence of Kerr's desire to always play lineups feature at least a pair of ball-handlers—two of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Brandin Podziemski, Paul or Quinones. Golden State has also gone away from playing Dario Saric at center recently, playing him next to one of Green, Kevon Looney or Trayce Jackson-Davis up front. Moody is a good enough help defender to function as a de facto power forward for the Warriors, especially against bench lineups, but Kerr and the coaching staff are clearly wary of leaning even harder into small-ball.
Moody is definitely good enough to play a typical bench role for a playoff team. The Warriors' wealth of depth has forced Kerr into some difficult lineup decisions all season, though, and Paul's imminent return will only spark more of them. Just don't confuse Moody's current status with the full-strength Dubs as evidence he's bound to play bench-warmer for the rest of the season. He was a surprise contributor against both the Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Lakers in last year's playoffs, a development that could come to pass again come spring given his ability to space the floor and make plays as a help defender—especially valuable attributes under the postseason microscope.
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