Golden State Warriors desperately missing key championship member

The Golden State Warriors find themselves in an unprecedented situation down 0-2 in their first-round series matchup against the Sacramento Kings. While the defending champions have a raft of on-court issues emanating from the first two games, there’s one facet standing out above all.

Andrew Wiggins’ return to the starting lineup completely exposed Golden State’s flawed roster in Game 2, with their three major bench pieces all guards standing at 6’4″ or below. With Steve Kerr completely losing trust in Jonathan Kuminga, somewhat bizarrely, the Warriors’ rotation was nothing short of an unbalanced mess.

Bereft of wing and forward options, the Golden State Warriors are desperately missing 2022 championship-winner Otto Porter Jr.

Although foul trouble to Draymond Green and Kevon Looney certainly didn’t help matters, the entirety of Monday night felt like Kerr was seeking desperately to find a balance between offense and defense. He did eventually settle on defense first as is often the case, but the fact he has to make a choice highlights the roster issues.

Playing Green and Looney together provides a complete lack of spacing. Golden State’s motion offense, and the passing feel and execution of that duo, usually counters that issue, but not against a Mike Brown-led Kings with an intricate understanding of the Warriors system. The alternative is play three or even four guards and lose the interior defensive presence and rebounding.

Otto Porter Jr. was no star for the Warriors last season, but he provided the glue to all sorts of lineups that they’re now desperately missing. When Kerr wanted to downsize in last year’s NBA Finals, he was able to insert Porter rather than go completely small to a third guard. He gave a tough rebounding presence and was a reliable 40% three-point shooter, all while bringing experience and a high IQ that fit seamlessly into the Golden State system.

Porter’s output allowed him to move from a minimum-level contract with the Warriors, to a two-year, $12.3 million deal with the Toronto Raptors in free agency. It hasn’t panned out for the 29-year-old with a foot injury sidelining him for the entire season after just eight games.

Perhaps Golden State thought that Kuminga would develop into a serviceable replacement for Porter this season. Although the second-year forward’s development has been one of bright spots of the Warriors season, his perimeter shot still isn’t respected by opponents and the rebounding aspect hasn’t risen like other parts of his game.

The Warriors aren’t missing Porter himself given his injury issues, but they certainly are missing that type of player. It could come to be a defining mistake of this season should Golden State fail to advance past the first-round.