Ranking the 16 worst Warriors starters of the Stephen Curry era

Worst Starter No. 15 – Zaza Pachulia

Andrew Bogut started 235 games at center for the Golden State Warriors from 2012-13 to 2015-16. When he was moved to make room to sign Kevin Durant, the Warriors signed veteran center Zaza Pachulia to man the middle, and he would do so for 139 games and 127 starts over the next two seasons, not to mention another 15 starters in the playoffs.

Pachulia was a stout body in the middle, playing a conservative defense and protecting the paint. His most infamous foray outside of the paint was when he undercut Kawhi Leonard on a jumpshot, injuring the star (he would miss the rest of their 2017 series) and becoming the basis for a new rule protecting the landing zones of players.

Outside of his paint defense, however, there wasn’t a ton that Pachulia provided over those two seasons. He took just 4.1 field goal attempts per game, did a bit of elbow playmaking as Steve Kerr loves for his bigs to do, and otherwise played only 16.1 minutes per game. He was there to soak up some minutes and not make mistakes, and the veteran Pachulia was able to accomplish that.

When the games truly mattered, Pachulia’s role shrank and he was even moved out of the starting lineup; he rarely ever closed, with the Dubs breaking out their “Mega-Death Lineup” with Draymond Green at center. He would play just one more season in the league after leaving the Warriors.