Six straight wins after an 0-3 start. A 120-100 victory over the Miami Heat and a Golden State Warriors team that is beginning to look like it has considerably more possibilities than the early-season skeptics anticipated.
Thursday night’s game provided plenty of evidence, but also raised some fascinating questions about Steve Kerr’s rotations, Draymond Green’s role, one Wardell Stephen Curry II’s workload and the emergence of Yaxel Lendeborg.
We covered those developments in our 16-minute verbal recap immediately after the game, including several observations that deserve a closer look:
We are also on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, so the recap is there, too. Search on “Let’s Go Warriors” or “letsgowarriors”.
I’ve been doing Top Ten quotes lately from each postgame, but this time around I thought the Klay Thompson and Green locker room interviews were worth their own posts (at some point). So at least this time around, we’re changing the format for this edition: three observations from our recap, followed by three revealing comments from Kerr, Curry and Georges Niang.
The common thread? Golden State is discovering its identity, but the decisions that determine how sustainable this success becomes are still ahead.
Three observations from the recap
Why the Warriors have not been able to and cannot afford to trade Draymond
I’ve said many times late last season until early this season that Draymond could be traded if the Warriors were ten or maybe five games under .500 by Christmas or some barometer of whatever the identity of the Dubs will be.
But I would think, barring some catastrophe that the Warriors have not already gone through — Andrew Wiggins going through his dad’s deteriorating health, the Jonathan Kuminga on-court disconnect, Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody’s serious injuries and now, Kristaps Porzingis’ health issues — I think we’ve seen enough. We know what it looks like when we are clicking on all cylinders and Dray is a huge part of that, that should not be touched other than nuances like preserving him for the longer term.
There’s a distinction between wanting Dray to play fewer minutes at center and wanting him off the roster. We strongly favor the former, not the latter. Against Miami, Draymond’s defensive work against Giannis Antetokounmpo offered another demonstration of why he remains so important.
His anticipation, communication, positioning and understanding of opponents’ tendencies are extraordinarily difficult to replace, and then there’s his offensive relationship with Steph.
Their two-man game isn’t simply a collection of familiar actions. It’s a shared basketball language developed over more than a decade, allowing them to recognize opportunities that other combinations might not even see.
That chemistry remains one of the Warriors’ most valuable competitive advantages, so while the roster will inevitably evolve, removing Draymond would create a problem far more complicated than replacing his points, rebounds or assists.
The better question is how to maximize what he still does exceptionally well while reducing some of the physical demands that come with playing center every night.
In other words, next time you see that Warriors Twitter post hating on Draymond, skip it.
Start Charles Bassey at the 5?
Let's begin with what may be our most consequential ongoing argument: The Warriors should seriously consider starting Bassey at center, with Green playing more of his minutes at power forward.
This isn’t an indictment of Draymond's ability to play the 5, nor of Kerr for always starting him at the 5 — I do believe certain matchups against higher-IQ centers like Nikola Jokic are necessary even at tipoff.
Draymond has been one of the most effective undersized defenders in NBA history, and his versatility has been indispensable to Golden State’s championship success, but just because he can handle physically demanding assignments against much bigger opponents doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the best way to use him over an 82-game season.
Bassey offers rim protection, rebounding, vertical spacing and the kind of traditional center presence that changes the responsibilities of the players around him. He also gives Kerr another way to organize the frontcourt without relying so heavily on Draymond to absorb punishment in the paint.
There are legitimate spacing and offensive considerations, of course. And the Warriors shouldn’t abandon their smaller combinations, especially when those lineups create favorable matchups, but Bassey’s emergence deserves more than a few experimental minutes.
Al Horford’s defensive value deserves more recognition
It’s easy to evaluate big men through the most visible statistics: points, rebounds and blocked shots, but Horford’s defensive value has always extended beyond those categories.
Positioning, anticipation, communication and understanding how to influence a possession before the shot goes up are all part of what makes an experienced defender valuable.
We highlighted Al’s defense in our recap because those contributions can disappear from the conversation when attention shifts toward the more spectacular plays.
And there’s an interesting relationship between this observation and our Bassey argument. The Warriors don’t necessarily need every center to provide the same things.
Horford brings experience, intelligence and an understanding of defensive structure. Bassey brings a different combination of physicality, athleticism and rim protection. Having both types of options should give Kerr greater flexibility in choosing the right frontcourt combinations for different opponents. Speaking of centers, I do have a Myles Turner-for-Kristaps Porzingis discussion coming up, too.
Kerr/Curry/Niang postgame quotes
“He’s great. He gives us such a different look at that spot." — Kerr on Bassey
Kerr’s assessment of Bassey is important because it confirms that the coaching staff recognizes the distinctive qualities he brings to the frontcourt.
His touch around the basket, ability to finish plays, rim protection and energy offer Golden State options that aren’t always available in its smaller combinations.
Kerr also acknowledged that Bassey is earning more minutes. That doesn’t necessarily mean a starting-lineup change is imminent. And it doesn’t mean the coaching staff agrees with our argument about playing Dray more frequently at the 4. Maybe this is all part of a grander scheme that targets the return of Jimmy? I'll dive into that theory in a separate post.
"I think he instills fear in the other teams' better players just by his presence out there." — Georges on Dray
This is a particularly interesting observation from Niang, who spent years competing against Draymond before becoming his teammate.
The word "fear" shouldn’t necessarily be interpreted literally. Elite players aren’t going to stop attacking because Draymond is on the court, but they do have to account for his anticipation, physicality, defensive communication and ability to disrupt their preferred actions.
Against Giannis, those qualities were especially apparent and Niang’s comments help explain why we continue to view Draymond as essential to this team’s aspirations.
The Warriors can benefit from using more traditional centers without diminishing Draymond’s importance. The goal should be to preserve the defensive intelligence and competitive edge that make him so valuable in the first place. But it’s still early.
"Less random basketball." — Steph
It’s a short phrase, but it captures an important aspect of Golden State’s offensive development. The Warriors have always thrived on movement, improvisation and the freedom to make decisions within a flowing offense.
But without another sniper out there — Kerr’s brilliance was putting the two greatest shooters of all-time fifty feet away from each other with tons of movement — creativity works best when everyone understands the purpose behind the movement, especially when there is only one (or zero) gravity centers on the court.
Against Miami, Golden State recorded 36 assists, a season high. That doesn’t mean every possession was perfectly executed, but it does suggest a growing level of comfort and coordination among players who are still learning to operate together.
Yaxel’s passing ability, Niang’s veteran decision-making and the continued development of the team’s younger contributors all help make that possible, and the better those players become at recognizing advantages, the less frequently Curry needs to manufacture offense on his own.
Final thoughts
Ten observations and quotes, but one larger theme: The Warriors are beginning to discover how to make their depth work for them.
Curry remains extraordinary. Draymond remains indispensable. Yaxel is developing into a remarkably versatile young player. Bassey is giving Kerr a different frontcourt option, and the veterans around them are finding ways to contribute.
The next challenge is for the starters to come out and not put the Warriors in a rut to dig out of, but then again the process has been great, regardless. The turnovers are fewer and far between. In fact, when they went down 14-4, the starters had zero turnovers. So, Steph and Dray are leading this by example and it’s refreshing to see the buy-in from the vets.
Also, Yax needs to cut down on those giveaways, but at least they’re not the throw-the-ball-to-the-other-team (TTBTTOT, pronounced “tee-bee-tot” on the watch parties).
And then again, you look at the rest of his stat line and he falls out of bed and gets 15-5-5, which is super-impressive for a rookie.
Below the paywall are the full transcripts of the following interviews. Again, we'll look at the Dray and Klay locker room Q&As separately:
