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Warriors guards Brandon Williams, left, and Miles Kelly celebrate after a play during a preseason game against the Trail Blazers on Wednesday in Portland, Ore.<\/p>\n
Ali Gradischer\/Associated Press<\/p>\n
The Golden State Warriors<\/a>\u2019 identity last season was complex. They cycled through three versions, pre-deadline and post-deadline and post-injury. Head coach\u00a0Steve Kerr<\/a> chalked all of it up to a \u201ctransition year,\u201d as he put it Thursday.<\/p>\n The identity this season is simpler. Hold out for winter, it is coming. And with it, hopefully, reinforcements.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat makes this year different is\u00a0\u2014 we kinda know, we\u2019re getting Jimmy (Butler)<\/a> and Moses (Moody)<\/a> back in February,\u201d Kerr said. \u201cWe have Yaxel (Lendeborg)<\/a>. That changes our team quite a bit. We feel, I think, better about the puzzle, and putting it together.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Still, in mid-October plenty of holes remain. Stephen Curry<\/a> hasn\u2019t seen a net he hasn\u2019t torched this past week, running mate\u00a0Draymond Green<\/a> looked plenty spry in an eight-assist first half against the Lakers on Tuesday, and Lendeborg\u00a0flashed difference-making offensive instincts<\/a>\u00a0in his first taste of NBA action. Beyond those three, though, the rest of Kerr\u2019s rotation remains a question mark through three games. (And the status of\u00a0Kristaps Porzingis<\/a>\u2019 is\u00a0nothing\u00a0but question marks<\/a>.)<\/p>\n From a week of training camp in Hawaii, a week of preseason and weeks of conversation with players and staffers, here\u2019s the Chronicle\u2019s take on who\u2019s playing themselves in and out of regular-season minutes in Golden State:<\/p>\n Current starting lineup No. 1 (big): Stephen Curry,\u00a0Brandin Podziemski<\/a>, Yaxel Lendeborg, Draymond Green, Al Horford<\/a>.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Current starting lineup No. 2 (small): Curry,\u00a0Podziemski, Lendeborg, Gui Santos<\/a>, Green<\/p>\n This is, of course, assuming Porzingis won\u2019t be ready by the Warriors\u2019 Oct. 21 opener against the Lakers, an increasingly likely possibility with less than two weeks left to ramp up and Porzingis missing Golden State\u2019s last couple of weeks of camp and preseason games. Porzingis still wasn\u2019t at the Warriors\u2019 facility Friday, Kerr said, although the center spoke Thursday with Golden State\u2019s director of sports performance Rick\u00a0Celebrini.<\/p>\n In the meantime, Kerr laid out these two situations plainly Friday.<\/p>\n \u201cIf Kristaps isn\u2019t here, the question would be\u00a0\u2014 do we start big with Al or Charles (Bassey), or do we start Draymond at the 5 and Yaxel at the 4, maybe Gui, to give us some size and playmaking?\u201d Kerr said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Such decisions center primarily on Horford\u2019s status (perhaps not a great sign when one\u2019s starting lineup hinges on the maintenance plan for a 40-year-old center), and the matchups Golden State will face. Horford played just 45 games last season, and likely won\u2019t play back-to-backs this season. One of\u00a0Kerr\u2019s many challenges this season will be balancing Horford\u2019s workload with Green\u2019s as a center in\u00a0non-Horford lineups; the Warriors would like Green to play alongside Porzingis or Horford, and \u201chave to see\u201d if Green can play next to backups Bassey or Graham Ike, as Kerr said.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The major help, here, is the presence of the 6-foot-9, 241-pound\u00a0Lendeborg, who suddenly gives Golden State some actual size as a multidimensional wing next to the 6-6 Green and the 6-7 Santos.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of a sudden, you got three good-sized guys at their positions, and it doesn\u2019t feel as small in the past couple years,\u201d Kerr said.<\/p>\n Rotational risers<\/p>\n Warriors guard Brandon Williams is pushing himself into contention for a rotation spot with his speed.<\/p>\n Jeff Chiu\/Associated Press<\/p>\n Brandon Williams<\/a>: The dude is fast. That\u2019s obvious to anyone with eyes. In training camp, Georges\u00a0Niang, who is in a slightly different class of speed, compared Williams\u2019 ability to hit the gas to the Road Runner.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n This is the surface level. Deeper, at his best, Williams plays with a kind of open-gym joy as a ballhandler who otherwise doesn\u2019t exist on Golden State\u2019s best. He can conjure a driving lane where there isn\u2019t one. He can break a play down at his will. He flips fingertip\u00a0layups from any arm angle, and attacks shot-blockers, and has been plus-6 in his preseason minutes for a reason.<\/p>\n After signing a non-guaranteed deal in free agency, Williams has clearly wedged his way into\u00a0ballhandling minutes in non-Curry lineups. His ability to stick, now, will depend on his ability to control the ball and hit jumpers when defenders duck under screens.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m just taking what the defense gives,\u201d Williams said after the Warriors\u2019 preseason opener in Hawaii last Sunday. \u201cThere was a few times where I turned it down, and Steve told me to let it go.\u201d<\/p>\n Charles Bassey and Graham Ike: Kerr needs his reserve bigs. Probably more than he\u2019d like. Fortunately, the development of Bassey and Ike is a legitimate bright spot. People inside the building have pointed to both as preseason standouts.<\/p>\n The 6-10 Bassey might be Golden State\u2019s best pure shot-blocker on the roster, and he has flashed a lethal push-shot floater from 8-12 feet this preseason. Ike\u2019s touch around the rim has been somewhat spotty, but he\u2019s gaining confidence in a lefty above-the-break jumper and has earned high marks for his IQ and motor as a rookie.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Rotational fallers<\/p>\n Warriors guard Will Richard, entering his second season, could have an uphill battle to find regular minutes.<\/p>\n Ali Gradischer\/Associated Press<\/p>\n<\/a>
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