The Golden State Warriors used their fourth starting five in four games Monday in Denver. That lineup was Stephen Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Gui Santos, Yaxel Lendeborg and Draymond Green, and they won 134-114 for their first win of the season. The churn has been read as a coach throwing things at the wall. The record shows something else.
Why the Shuffling Looks Like a Problem
There is a real case for worry. Golden State lost its first three games and changed starters every night, and that pattern usually means a staff does not trust what it has.
One change was clearly a choice. After the opener in Los Angeles, where Walker Kessler dominated the rim, Kerr started center Graham Ike against Memphis and moved Santos to the bench. The Warriors lost that one 111-108. A coach who abandons his small lineup after one bad night against a big center has shown where he thinks he is vulnerable.
The roster explains why. Kristaps Porziņģis is out indefinitely and will not be around the team in the immediate future. Without him, Green plays center, and Green is 36.
Only One of the Four Was a Coaching Choice
Go through the four games and most of the shuffling disappears. In the opener, De’Anthony Melton started in the backcourt because Podziemski was out with back soreness. That was about availability, not a judgment on Podziemski.
The Phoenix game did not involve a coaching decision at all. It was the second leg of a back-to-back, and Curry, Green and Podziemski were all out, on top of the three rotation players already sidelined. Brandon Williams, Will Richard and Ike started because there was no one else.
The best evidence for Kerr is that Monday’s lineup was not new to him. Before the opener he said he was “leaning toward” exactly that starting five. Denver was the first night all five of them were healthy at the same time. Bringing Al Horford off the bench was planned too: Kerr has said that with Horford’s minutes kept around 20, “it’s just a lot easier to bring him off the bench.”
The Ike Start Was a Matchup, Not a Philosophy
Monday helps explain the one real decision. Kerr went small against Nikola Jokić, who had 19 points, seven rebounds and 11 assists, while Lendeborg scored 31 points with 12 rebounds and six assists in his fourth NBA game. A coach who had given up on the small lineup would not have used it against the best center in the league. The Ike start looks like a one-off answer to 7-foot-4 Zach Edey.
The Denver win comes with caveats. It was one game, against a Nuggets team missing several players, and Curry made all eight of his field-goal attempts, which he will not do every night.
So the honest verdict is limited. Calling the lineup unstable confuses injuries and rest with coaching panic. The Warriors’ real weakness is the one they have had since Porziņģis left: they do not have a center who can stand up to the league’s biggest ones.
That verdict changes if Kerr benches Santos for a big man on a night when all five preferred starters are healthy and the opposing center is not 7-foot-4. Until then, the Denver lineup is the plan Kerr announced before the season, and it has finally been tested once.
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