While the minutes of James Wiseman and Jonathan Kuminga have been most under the microscope this season, it’s Moses Moody’s playing time that may be the most bewildering aspect of the Golden State Warriors’ young trio.
The two top ten picks have unlimited potential, but their capacity to be valuable and contributing players was always going to be questionable to start this season. On the other hand, Moody was projected as the most ready-to-go player whom Steve Kerr could plug-and-play for at least 20 minutes per game.
Steve Kerr’s unwillingness to utilize second-year wing Moses Moody has surprised many Golden State Warriors fans through 12 games this season.
The 20-year-old received his first DNP for the season against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday, having played only nine minutes in Monday’s win over the Sacramento Kings. In fact, in 12 games this season, Moody has played more than 15 minutes just four times, one of which came when he played a season-high 32 for a shorthanded squad against the New Orleans Pelicans last Friday.
Moody has hardly set the world on fire in the minutes he has played, but he also hasn’t done a whole lot wrong to think he should be out of the rotation. He’s made mistakes sure, but not glaringly obvious ones like we’ve seen from Wiseman and Kuminga. There’s a reason for that, Moody’s three-and-D role is much more defined and should therefore lead to a greater number of minutes.
He’s currently seventh on the Warriors in plus-minus, and is shooting a respectable 35.3% from three-point range. It’s the defense that may not be as far along as the front office and coaching staff may have liked — Moody’s 6’6″ with a strong frame and long wingspan, but a lack of lateral quickness is preventing him from being a primary option on explosive guards.
Although Moody’s current exclusion is bordering on staggering, it shouldn’t be a ploy that extends too much further. Utilizing a nine-man rotation is simply unsustainable for Kerr, and when he does eventually fall back to a tenth man, expect Moody to be the first player he looks to.