The Mess That is the Warrior Roster

While there is a lot of talent on the Warrior roster, it would take a genius to figure out how to make a cohesive team out of it. The glaring, obvious weakness is the shortage of bigs, with only Dray, Loon, TJD at the 4-5. Post, currently on a 2-way contract (and having a nice touch from 3) could be helpful; it could happen, but unlikely. Their talent more than compensates for their lack of nba height, but a single injury to any of those 3 leaves Wiggins and Kuminga playing extensive minutes at the 4-5 spot instead of their natural wing position, which is a poor solution to the logjam there.

That logjam includes, along with Wiggins and Kuminga, Melton, Moody, Slo-mo, Poz, GP3, Heid, Santos, Waters, Knox, Plowden and Spencer. Of this group, only Heid and Poz (and maybe Waters, if his last year’s percentages were an indication of growth, not an aberration) are proficient enough as outside shooters to have defenses worry about them and take pressure off Stef. Wiggins, Kuminga, GPIII and Melton are defensive studs, and Plowden SLO-mo and Knox are good defenders, but none light it up from 3. Melton and Knox are liabilities on offense, Moody is the only player whose numbers on offense and defensive talent merit consideration as Klay’s replacement (Moody’s shooting percentages were better than Klay’s last year), but Moody needs playing time to improve his team defense but Kerr has never given Moody that chance.

Players play best when they are given a role to fill which best matches their particular skills. Stef and Dray have their roles set. Looney and TJD have their roles somewhat set, though the starter/sub role is still up in the air. Maybe Heid has the role of shooter off the bench. The rest of the roster is a mess. Only a trade of a lot of players on the roster for a big and/or a 2 way player will save this season.