Steve Kerr makes huge claim on Warriors' roster amid battle for playoff spot

Golden State Warriors' head coach Steve Kerr has labelled his team "maybe the deepest" team in the league, even despite his team sitting tenth in the Western Conference with three games left in the regular season.

Speaking to 95.7 The Game's Willard & Dibs on Wednesday, Kerr praised the Warriors' depth for helping them get to a point where they're still capable of reaching a top eight seed ahead of the Play-In Tournament.

Steve Kerr's comments on the Golden State Warriors' depth is right, but it's also why the team isn't in championship contention

Do the Warriors really have the deepest team in the league? If we're talking about players six through 12 on the roster, then perhaps. Right now Chris Paul leads a bench unit that also features one of the league's most improved players (Jonathan Kuminga), one of the league's best rookies (Brandin Podziemski) and one of the league's best perimeter defenders (Gary Payton II).

Even those on the edge of the Golden State rotation would likely see minutes in most NBA rotations -- Moses Moody is a talented three-and-D lottery pick in his third year, Kevon Looney was arguably the team's second-best player in a playoff series less than 12 months ago, and Dario Saric played at least 20 minutes in 12 of the first 19 games this season.

The issue is that none of those are top-end stars, and nor are any of the starting unit outside Stephen Curry. In a star-driven league where you often need multiple All-Stars to be a championship-contender, the Warriors lack that second key piece next to Curry.

Over recent weeks, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green have delivered what's left of their absolute prime. Thompson's proven he remains one of the league's best shooters, and Green one of the league's best and most versatile defenders. Their championship experience can't be denied, which combined with their recent form has fans optimistic of Golden State firstly making the playoffs, then doing some damage once there.

But the reality is that Thompson and Green aren't quite what they were, leaving Curry as the sole certified All-Star. The Warriors' depth has helped balance that slight decline, and a largely disappointing season from 2022 All-Star Andrew Wiggins, but players towards the end of a roster aren't the primary reason banners are lifted to the rafters.