Kerr says all however Curry's beginning job up for grabs

LAIE, Hawai’i — Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr has a really open-ended query he’s hoping to reply all through coaching camp: Who’s going to be in his beginning lineup?

There’s an apparent opening at the shooting guard position — a job previously occupied by Klay Thompson. However there are different alternatives as effectively; Kerr mentioned that every one however Stephen Curry‘s beginning job is up for grabs.

“There’s competitors throughout the board,” Kerr mentioned Tuesday following the Warriors’ first session at BYU Hawaii’s campus. “It is not so simple as, ‘Who’s going to be the two?’ It is obtained to be — ‘Who’s going to be the 5? Who’s the 4?’ We all know that Steph is the 1. However what is the mixture?”

Looking for lineup mixtures was a season-long battle for Kerr and the Warriors in 2023-24. Golden State used 27 completely different beginning lineups, and none for greater than a handful of video games in a row.

A part of it was depending on who was out there, however extra so as a result of the group was not cohesive. With the revolving beginning group, the bench unit additionally struggled to seek out cohesion. Kerr mentioned all of that can be a part of the dialog at camp.

“The beginning lineup goes to should be dependent, not solely on the primary 5 becoming, however the second becoming as effectively,” Kerr mentioned. “We have numerous work to do to determine lineups. All the fellows can do is compete, play their ass off.”

On the heart place, the battle can be between veteran Kevon Looney and Trayce Jackson-Davis. Within the frontcourt, Draymond Green will doubtless retain his beginning job, however Kerr sees newcomer Kyle Anderson as an possibility for a small-ball 5.

Jonathan Kuminga and Andrew Wiggins — who struggled to share the court docket final season — will compete for one more frontcourt spot.

Within the backcourt, there can be a battle between Brandin Podziemski, De’Anthony Melton and Buddy Hield. All current completely different ability units and attributes.

“We’ve got a defensive-minded man like Melton. You’ve got obtained a man who’s a connector and might put the ball on the ground, create like BP, and clearly me and BP began a pair instances final 12 months,” Curry mentioned. “You’ve got obtained Buddy who can shoot, who areas the ground, and is a veteran. We have numerous choices.”

Curry, like his coach, famous it isn’t nearly who pairs properly subsequent to him within the backcourt, however who would complement the opposite starters as effectively, and likewise beef up the second unit.

In making these lineups, the Warriors are prioritizing being an elite two-way workforce, much like how they have been en path to their 2022 NBA championship. The opposite focus is supplementing their capturing.

Podziemski mentioned he’d like to try eight to 10 3-pointers per sport, whereas Kerr named Wiggins as a contender to be the workforce’s second-leading scorer.

“I would like Wigs capturing six, seven 3s,” Kerr mentioned. “I would like Brandin, I would like Moses, I would like De’Anthony — I need to be a excessive quantity capturing workforce. I believe that is necessary to us. The large shift is Klay will not be right here. So we have been fourth within the league in 3-point makes an attempt final 12 months, however Klay in all probability shot eight to 10 of them, so we will should fill that void. That may come from a number of individuals.”

Even Looney and Anderson have been engaged on their shot.

As Kerr and his employees seek for their mixtures and search for an identification, they accomplish that via a unique lens than final season.

“This seems like a brand new starting for us, whereas final 12 months felt like an extension of who we already have been,” Kerr mentioned. “… It provides us an opportunity to reinvent ourselves somewhat bit.”

He continued: “It is simpler when you understand your beginning 5 and you understand your first 4 guys off of the bench. Approach simpler as a coach understanding that. However we do not have that. So let’s flip that right into a optimistic and switch it into competitors … let’s set up our identification out of that competitors.”