Opinion: The Golden State Warriors have no solid backup point guard and that’s worrisome
The Golden State Warriors seemingly are deep at every position except the one which has an injury-prone star point guard.
Who is the Golden State Warriors backup point guard?
It’s not D’Angelo Russell. It seems the Warriors will bring in guard Ky Bowman is they need a player to get some minutes captaining the offense.
While the team may eventually stagger their minutes, Russell and Curry will likely both be starting to begin the season. It’ll be tough for Golden State to both win games and keep Curry’s minutes down so having a quality backup is ideal.
The Warriors drafted three rookies that will all make the final 15-man roster. Jordan Poole is a shooting guard while Eric Paschall and Alen Smailagić both play the four. Aside from those three, the Warriors secured a bunch of veteran talents that’ve seemed out of place in the league.
They added Willie Cauley-Stein, Glenn Robinson III, and Alec Burks.
They retained Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, signing both two brand new four-year deals. Aside from those eleven, the Warriors have Jacob Evans III, Kevon Looney, Omari Spellman, and Alfonzo McKinnie.
For Curry, we’re looking at Bowman and Russell to back him up.
Hopefully, the Warriors also consider that Curry won’t be able to continue to be a workhorse forever. Now 31, Curry is the oldest player on the team and just surpassed 28,000 career minutes this past season.
If we look at the team by the numbers, there are two point guards, four shooting guards, three small forwards, three power forwards and three centers. While the few two-way contracts could provide more depth at the one, the Warriors don’t have many options on the market.
Curry missed 13 games last season and 31 the season before. While the Warriors can shift Russell to the one if Curry misses extensive time, he’s not even close to the team-first playmaker that Curry has developed into.
The Warriors set themselves up for failure if Curry goes down or misses significant times with any injury.