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So much for small-ball. Following a training camp and exhibition slate that left three starting spots open alongside Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, the Golden State Warriors have elected to start big for Wednesday night's season opener against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga and Trayce Jackson-Davis will be on the floor for tipoff in Rip City alongside Golden State's pair of future Hall-of-Famers, Steve Kerr confirmed shortly before tipoff.
“I’m looking to see if that group can set a tone defensively,” he said, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic. “…Gonna require us to execute offensively, play downhill, play fast.”
Warriors embracing size, defense, athleticism with new starting five
The Dubs started that big, athletic, defensive-oriented quintet just once during the preseason, in Las Vegas against the Los Angeles Lakers. But De'Anthony Melton and Brandin Podziemski both missed that game with injuries, allowing for the assumption that Golden State simply opened with that group because its top candidates to start in the backcourt next to Curry weren't available.
The Warriors seem committed to giving Kuminga a long leash at small forward, though, and maintained throughout the preseason that Green's days of playing small-ball center full-time are over. Coupled with Kerr's talk of Wiggins guarding the opponent's top ball-handler and potentially emerging as Golden State's No. 2 scorer following a standout summer, those developments make the the Dubs' opening-night starters less than a major surprise.
“It looked good. The key is JK and Wiggs running the floor. It puts a lot of pressure on teams,” Kerr said of his new starting five after the Lakers game, per Sam Gordon of the San Francisco Chronicle. “They set a good tone tonight the way they just got downhill with or without the ball; they were gone. I really like the way both those guys played and the impact they can make with their athleticism and force.”
Melton, Podziemski, Buddy Hield and Kyle Anderson figure to be rotation locks against Portland, with Gary Payton II or Moses Moody functioning as the Warriors' 10th man. Don't expect that bench hierarchy to remain set in stone across the 82-game grind, though. Kerr admitted last week that he'll likely tinker with the full rotation as the season wears on, giving all 12 of his veterans with quality NBA minutes under their belt the opportunity to play.
Golden State's starters, on the other hand, could be here to stay if they play well against the Blazers and beyond.
“I hope this group starts all year,” Kerr said on Wednesday, per Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area.
