As the Golden State Warriors prepare to enter the early portions of their regular-season slate, their goal needs to be loftier than simply staying afloat and awaiting the returns of Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody from the injuries that ende dtheir 2024-25 campaigns.
This team needs to show some real cohesiveness and some real improvement on both sides of the ball, even if certain aspects of their rotation and offensive attack have clear holes in the meantime. The absence of Kristaps Porzingis, on which we still have no concrete update, certainly won't help.
But the Warriors prepared as well as they could've for this sort of contingency, bringing in Charles Bassey and Graham Ike on minor deals to help take on some of those minutes if Porzingis needed to miss time. The hope, obviously, was that Bassey wouldn't have to take on major minutes from the jump. Unfortunately, that seems to be the scenario Golden State is heading for as they enter the back half of their preseason slate.
Thankfully, Bassey seems to be up to the task. As he tries to prove himself as a viable NBA player, it's the most that either party could ask for.
Charles Bassey looks like the depth center the Warriors were desperately hoping for
Across Bassey's five regular-season appearances with the Warriors last season, he flashed plenty of intensity, showcasing his skill set as a traditional big man with the size and the strength to make a real impact on the interior for Golden State. In those games, he averaged 10.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, and one assists while knocking down 67.7% of his attempts from the field.
But there were clearly limitations to his game. He didn't have much of a shot away from the basket, and he didn't have the court vision or the grasp of the Warriors' offense to serve as much of a complementary playmaker. For all intents and purposes, he was simply a plug-and-play center that filled a temporary need for the team.
For the most part, that statement has held true through three preseason matchups. But even if the on-court production looks much the same in terms of raw statistics, Bassey has already shown an elevated factor to his game that could be a major development for the Warriors this season.
In three outings against the Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, and Portland Trail Blazers, Bassey has averaged 9.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1.3 assists while shooting 70% from the field. More importantly, though, he's shown some touch on short floaters moving towards the basket, and Golden State has leveraged him in more actions on the perimeter, giving him an opportunity to roll hard toward the basket and, at times, carry a defender with him as the halfcourt offense develops.
Stephen Curry said last season that it felt like he had been playing with Bassey for a long time when the center arrive with the team. The development of that chemistry, and the development of Bassey's game, is going to be a major storyline for the Warriors this season.
But for Bassey, it extends beyond that. After five injury-riddled seasons across the NBA, this will be his first true opportunity to stick on a roster and provide a significant impact over the course of a campaign. His deal is still only partially guaranteed, but it's hard to see the Warriors reaching a point this season where there aren't major minutes for him.
Through three preseason games, he's wholly justified that gamble—at least relative to what we know Bassey to be to this point in his NBA career.
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