The Golden State Warriors have been stuck with an uncertain rotation over recent weeks, leading head coach Steve Kerr to play an extraordinary 12-man rotation by the start of the second-quarter against the Phoenix Suns on Thursday.
While the deep rotation may not have been a primary reason behind Golden State's heart-breaking 99-98 loss, it was surely a message from Kerr to the front office to give him greater clarity with a consolidation trade ahead of the February mid-season deadline.
Steve Kerr asks for clarity from front office with 12-man rotation
Even veteran stars Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green found themselves regularly subbed in and out during the first-half, while young forwards Jonathan Kuminga and Gui Santos saw rotation minutes.
It brought back memories of early last season where Golden State, with a raft of capable players but without enough top end talent, also had a 12-man rotation that may have worked initially, but quickly became unsustainable by this time of the year.
A consolidation trade became almost inevitable, leading to the Butler deal where the Warriors gave up four main roster players to finally pair Curry with another legitimate star to run the offense through.
Even with both Curry and Butler this time around, Golden State is facing a very familiar issue that the front office can't ignore. There's neither enough talent (especially offensively) to contend with the top teams in the league, nor enough rotation continuity to be enough of a well-drilled team to comfortably account for other average teams such as the Suns.
Kerr used 12 players on Thursday and that didn't include the unavailable duo of Al Horford and Pat Spencer, while Will Richard controversially remains out despite being one of the bigger positives of the season to date. Even Seth Curry remains stapled to the bench despite going for 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting in one of his only two games with the franchise.
This depth in the rotation gives the Warriors some flexibility -- not because their players are overly valuable, but because their future draft capital is and can be included with a combination of their current roster.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is clearly at the top of the trade target list, with a blockbuster trade for the 2x MVP feeling like the kind of Hail Mary move that is needed to revive championship hopes. But even if it's not Antetokounmpo, Kerr's 12-man rotation on Thursday is proof some type of considerable move is desperately needed.