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The Golden State Warriors lack of depth won’t be a problem

By Tony Pesta

OAKLAND, CA - MARCH 8: Quinn Cook #4 and Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors high five against the Denver Nuggets on March 8, 2019 at ORACLE Arena in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA - MARCH 8: Quinn Cook #4 and Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors high five against the Denver Nuggets on March 8, 2019 at ORACLE Arena in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The Golden State Warriors are a very top-heavy team, but their lack of depth might not be a problem in the NBA Playoffs.

One of the largest concerns for the Golden State Warriors this season is their lack of depth off of the bench. With a loaded starting lineup containing five All-Stars, the Dubs were forced to sacrifice some of their key rotational players. However, let’s examine why this loss of depth won’t be a big issue for them in the playoffs.

When the Warriors signed Kevin Durant in the Summer of 2016, it was a sign of what was to come for the future of the franchise. This signing marked the beginning of an era in which the Warriors would prioritize having star power over a deep bench.

As the years went on, the Warriors gradually began to lose key role players. Leonardo Barbosa, Mareese Speights, Harrison Barnes and David Lee are a few players that come to mind.

The Warriors made the decision to sacrifice their depth in order to sign a superstar player in Kevin Durant. Obviously, this move paid off big time for the Dubs as they won back to back NBA championships.

But, the Warriors took this one step further when they signed DeMarcus Cousins and allowed ZaZa Pachulia, JaVale McGee and Patrick McCaw to leave the team. The Dubs took a chance on Cousins, who was a superstar but is also recovering from an Achilles injury.

Because of this, many critics believed that the Warriors lack of depth would derail the season. Currently, Golden State ranks 29th in the league for bench scoring, proving that these concerns were valid.

Despite this, the Warriors will likely get through the postseason without many issues spurring from their bench. Unless an injury takes out one of the Dubs starters, the Warriors won’t have to rely on any bench player outside of the proven veterans in Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala.

To be blunt, the Warriors starting lineup is simply too powerful to be diminished by a weak bench. As long as a few rotational players step up and play halfway decent, the Warriors will cruise to a championship.

The most important thing to note is that all NBA teams shrink their rotations when the playoffs start. A majority of the NBA will only really be playing 7-8 players in each game. This means that the Warriors won’t be too worried about how deep their rotation is.

Of course, it would be beneficial to the Warriors if they had as many valuable role players as they did in the past, but it isn’t that big of a loss. The Dubs are still insanely talented and shouldn’t be held back by their less effective bench.

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