SAN FRANCISCO – Day 12 of the Kristaps Porziņģis Watch passed Friday without a sighting from the Warriors. There is an update of sorts, as director of sports medicine and performance Rick Celebrini made contract with the team’s projected starting center.
“Rick spoke with him (Thursday),” coach Steve Kerr said after a light practice.
Meanwhile, the Porziņģis conundrum continues to leave a considerable gap in the roster. During the best of times with Golden State last season, there were days when KP could fill the void and days when Kerr and his staff were forced to turn to an alternate plan.
Plan B was a concession then, and it’s only slightly better now that Plans C, D, E and F have been added to the roster.
When I asked Kerr if he knew how his big-man rotation would look, the coach acknowledged that with the regular-season opener 12 days away, it remains a work in progress.
“We haven’t figured it out,” he said.
There are five options. Plan B is veteran Al Horford, who won’t be available for back-to-back sets and hasn’t been for four years. Plan C is veteran Draymond Green, whose nights at center continue to exist despite a desire to minimize them. Plan D is Charles Bassey, who played five games after being added late last season. Plan E is rookie Graham Ike, holding a two-way contract. Plan F is promising rookie Yaxel Lendeborg, who already looks like a utility man out of necessity.
“Both Graham and Charles were really impressive the other night, getting good reps in camp, and we’re going to need both of them during the year,” Kerr said. “And then if Kristaps isn’t here, the question would be: Do we start big with Al or Charles? Or do we start Draymond at the 5 and Yaxel at the four, maybe Gui (Santos at small forward) to give us some size and playmaking.”
At issue is Kerr’s commitment to bring the offense in line with the current NBA. He wants to play 5-out, meaning five perimeter-shooting threats that can be spaced around the 3-point arc. Porziņģis is one of the best 3-point shooters among centers in the league. He’s ideal, and his presence was a factor in Kerr’s decision to alter the offense.
Without KP, it’s an automatic downgrade. Horford’s 3-ball is solid, but at age 40 his minutes will be limited. Green’s 3-ball is solid from the corners, but opponents still sag on defense. Bassey is 3-of-13 from deep in 126 NBA games. Ike shot 34.8 percent in college but averaged less than one attempt from deep per game.
Lendeborg shot 36.4 percent on 286 attempts in his final three college seasons – but made significant improvements each year, from 33.3 percent to 35.7 to 37.2.
Despite being penciled in at forward, Yaxel’s size (6-foot-10, 241 pounds) and feel for the game might move him up from Plan F all the way to Plan B. Or at power forward to provide physical support for Green.
“With the fact that we have Yaxel now, you’d get a 6-10 guy next to (Green),” Kerr said. “If we go that route, it makes it a little more palatable. And if we pair them with Gui (6-foot-8), now all of a sudden, you got three good-sized guys at their positions, and it doesn’t feel as small as in the past couple years.
“But it’s not ideal.”
Any of those combinations would make it “definitely” harder to play a 5-out offense, Kerr conceded, adding that it would be too difficult to juggle offensive schemes based on personnel.
The upshot is that the offense designed around having a stretch 5 will remain in place despite the uncertainty of Porziņģis, who for spacing reasons might be the second-most important component behind Stephen Curry.
What the Warriors have, on paper, is an aging but high-quality squad.
What they’ll have beginning Oct. 21 won’t include Jimmy Butler III or Moses Moody, both expected to miss much, if not most, of the season as both recover from surgical knee repairs.
And it’s at least conceivable that it won’t include Porziņģis, whose “health issue” has not been clarified but has sidelined him for almost two weeks. Until he reemerges to join his teammates, the Warriors have no choice but to immerse themselves in alternate plans.