Few teams go deeper into their rotation than Steve Kerr does at the Golden State Warriors, often leading to immense frustation among fans when the head coach uses 11 or even 12 players in the first-half of games.
That familiar plan is set to take place again this upcoming season, with Kerr confirming that depth will be key for the Warriors in their attempts to remain in the playoff race without Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody through the opening months.
Steve Kerr confirms Warriors rotation plan fans are sick of
During a recent appearance on The Tom Tolbert Show, Kerr spoke highly of recent additions like Georges Niang and Brandon Williams, pointing to Golden State utilizing their depth to remain competitive early in the season.
“So I think our depth is the answer that to the question you asked. We're going to have to rely on our whole roster, including our two-way players at times. And fortunately, I do feel really good about the guys we have who have kind of filled out the back end of the roster," Kerr said.
While it's a positive that Mike Dunleavy Jr. and the front office have been able to fill out the roster with genuine rotation pieces, it also creates headaches for Kerr and as we've seen in recent years, can lead to uncertain lineups that don't allow individuals or the team to thrive.
Coming off a career-best year with the Dallas Mavericks where he averaged 13.0 points, 2.9 rebounds and 3.9 assists, Williams has a genuine claim to being a sixth or seventh man for the Warriors even though he was the last player signed to the roster.
That's an obvious example of the lack of clarity with the Golden State rotation entering the season. How does Kerr manage to pull the right move at the right time, and more importantly how do players find consistency when their roles and minutes go up and down on a game-by-game basis?
Warriors need to find rotation clarity early in the season
As much as Kerr and the Warriors will have to lean on depth without Butler and Moody, it's also important that they find some clarity with their rotation, and perhaps more notably with a starting lineup that's never found consistency over recent seasons.
There's no coincidence that their most successful recent period came after the Jimmy Butler trade at last year's mid-season trade deadline. Golden State found a rotation hierarchy and a consistent lineup, leading to increased team success and individual role players like Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody really flourishing.
While Kerr and the Warriors built a foundation and championship off the mantra of "Strength in Numbers", it's been more a curse than a blessing in recent seasons and needs to be addressed if they're to find more success going forward.
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