Strange decision could haunt Golden State Warriors despite massive win

The Golden State Warriors arrested their three-game slide with a massive win over the San Antonio Spurs on Friday, but despite producing a consistent four-quarter effort, the game drew further question marks on the team’s roster moves.

Thanks to a few unfortunate injuries and a couple of franchise-driven moves, the Warriors had just a ten-man rotation for the historic night at the Alamodome. It ultimately left a somewhat farcical situation despite a 25-point lead heading into the fourth-quarter.

The omission of Patrick Baldwin Jr. from this current road-trip has to raise eyebrows among Golden State Warriors fans after Friday’s game.

Just days after head coach Steve Kerr stated he was ‘concerned’ about the workload on veterans Draymond Green and Kevon Looney, the pair were almost forced to play in the final period despite the game being well and truly over. Looney, in particular, was required to close the game despite a 31-point win.

There’s a number of ways the Warriors could have avoided the situation, but the key factor surely has to do with the handling of Patrick Baldwin Jr. The 20-year-old rookie was assigned to the Warriors’ G League affiliate in Santa Cruz, rather than travel with the team for the beginning of a five-game road-trip.

Baldwin was periodically a part of an undermanned rotation throughout Golden State’s eight-game homestand, and despite the return of Stephen Curry and Andrew Wiggins, he simply should have been retained on the active roster. His presence would have allowed Green and Looney to play less in the final 12 minutes, not to mention the fact that NBA gametime is incredibly valuable for last year’s 28th overall pick.

To add to the debacle, 38-year-old Andre Iguodala also played needless minutes in the fourth, as did Wiggins who’s only just returned from a worrisome adductor strain. Summing up the Warriors’ current situation, Kerr almost comically labeled Iguodala the team’s third big at present. 

If not Baldwin, then surely Golden State may have looked at a big man on a 10-day contract by now. Instead, the franchise appears keen to wait on the imminent returns of Jonathan Kuminga, James Wiseman and JaMychal Green.

The Warriors also made Ty Jerome unavailable for the game in an attempt to preserve his 50-game limit as a two-way player. While that makes sense, could they have not waited until at least one or two of Kuminga, Wiseman and Green are back available?

It’s almost as if the Warriors didn’t plan for a blowout victory, leaving themselves in a predicament regardless of what the result was going to be. While Green and Looney continue to play well, adding meaningless minutes to their already heavy workload sounds like fingernails grinding against a chalkboard.