Kent Bazemore forced his way back into Golden State Warriors rotation

Just about every role player from Mychal Mulder to Juan Toscano-Anderson to Damion Lee and even Jordan Poole have played big-time minutes for the Golden State Warriors, but much like Kent Bazemore, they’ve also struggled for consistent time.

Steve Kerr‘s bench rotation just hasn’t been that set this season with the guards oftentimes being rotated in and out based on injury and who has the hot hand at the time. As the regular season is set to wind down, we’re getting a good glimpse of what the Warriors will enter the postseason with.

Kent Bazemore has been the Warriors’ fifth-best scoring option for quite some time, and he’s now able to showcase it on a consistent basis.

Bazemore, prior to the team’s game against Denver, was on a solid nine-game stretch. He started seven of those games and averaged 11.3 points per game.

He shot 46 percent from the floor and over 54 percent from deep, knocking down two triples per game. He’s also hit at least 20 minutes in eight games which is significant given the little time he’s seen in previous stretches of play.

Bazemore is back in the Warriors rotation, and it seems like, although he may not be in the final five, the veteran forward may be a starter for the rest of the season despite Kelly Oubre Jr. returning to the lineup.

The Warriors typically shrink their rotation down to seven or eight as the postseason nears. We should see that again with Stephen Curry leading the way.

Bazemore and Jordan Poole seems like the two answers aside from the starting five. When the team gets Eric Paschall back, they’ll be just fine using those three and then potentially bursts from Lee and Toscano-Anderson.

The Warriors rotation will still be a question mark moving forward, and it should be on a prove-it basis. Nonetheless, Bazemore has started to prove it, and as noted above, his efficiency is what really sets him apart.

This is the first time in his career that he’s hitting over 40 percent of his shots from deep. That’s a huge plus for Bazemore, and it’s a part of his game that should buy him more minutes in the Bay Area.

For now, expect to see a good load of Bazemore of the next few weeks.