Outside veterans Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, there is set to be a huge watch on where Steve Kerr will go with the other three positions in the Golden State Warriors lineup to start the season.
The Warriors front court is the specific area of focus, with Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga and Trayce Jackson-Davis likely to be fighting for two positions based on what Kerr and the coaching staff want to prioritize.
The Warriors want to have an elite defense this season
After failing to add another offensive star to pair with Curry this offseason, it's becoming obvious that Golden State's only path to being a high-level team is through their defense. It's that end of the floor where the Warriors actually struggled more last season, having finished 15th in defensive rating as opposed to ninth on the offensive end.
Speaking at a press conference earlier in the week, Golden State general Manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. specifically outlined the team's hopes to return to be a top 5-7 defense in the league this season.
The Warriors leaned defense with some of their roster tweaks this summer. Mike Dunleavy: “We’ve got to get back to defending at a high level. We’ve got to be in the top five, six, seven in the league in defense, at least.” pic.twitter.com/OLz2tDgwLz
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) September 26, 2024
If the Warriors hold ambitions to be a top five defense, then that provides a strong indication of what their starting lineup will look like. To lean into that end of the floor more as Dunleavy indicated, Kerr will have to start both Green and Jackson-Davis in the front court.
In the first 71 games of last season, Golden State held a 37-34 record and were 17th in defensive rating. When Jackson-Davis entered the starting lineup over the final 11 games, they went 9-2 and were fifth in defensive rating.
Green specifically was far more disruptive with Jackson-Davis out there with him, allowing the former Defensive Player of the Year to roam in a help defense role rather than necessarily being asked to battle against bigger bodies on the interior.
Prioritizing defense would also mean retaining Wiggins, the team's primary perimeter defender, in a starting role. But where does that leave Kuminga as someone many expect will be the team's second leading scorer, if not the team's best player full stop come the end of the season?
Could Kerr push Wiggins to the shooting guard spot and start all four of them, therefore reducing Brandin Podziemski to a bench role? That may be the epitome of going big and all in on defense, but the lack of perimeter spacing is likely to make it unviable in today's modern NBA.
What sort of lineups and rotations we see from Kerr will be arguably the biggest fascination to preseason, with plenty of experimentation to come before the Warriors season opener against the Portland Trail Blazers on October 23.