Klay Thompson for Sixth Man of the Year? It’s not as far-fetched as it sounds.
With the Warriors’ roster in its final makeover stages, it’s abundantly clear the lineups and rotations will be drastically different for the 2016-17 season — and nothing has been set in stone yet.
“I don’t have a good answer for how we are going to play some of these guys,” GM Bob Myers told KNBR.com at Kevin Durant’s introductory press conference last Thursday. “I’m not sure who we’ll start.”
Here’s what we do know: Gone are the days Andre Iguodala checks in for Harrison Barnes midway through the first quarter. Gone is Strength in Numbers, the bench brigade Steve Kerr often leaned on for heavy minutes in both the second and fourth quarters. Ian Clark, James Michael McAdoo and David West will have to pull of their best imitations of Leandro Barbosa and Mo Speights.
As speculation begins for who will play in what lineup, remember Kerr has pulled off the unpredictable before. His bold call to remove Iguodala from the starting lineup in 2014 in favor of Barnes was a calculated decision that helped create the dominant Warriors team of the last two years. Benching Iguodala was a little head-scratching when it was announced, but it turned out to be genius.
It makes us wonder if Kerr would consider asking Klay Thompson to make a similar sacrifice and come off the bench for the star-studded Warriors. Obviously, Steph Curry and Durant will be the priorities in Golden State’s offense. Considering the ball movement nature of Kerr’s system, it’ll be a tall task for both former MVPs to find a rhythm to start the game — with or without Thompson on the floor. Curry was fourth in the NBA in usage rate, Durant was ninth. They need shots and the ball in their hands to get going.
As much as this move would be about giving Curry and Durant room to operate, the Warriors still need to find ways for Thompson to get enough shots off — and Kerr might have to get creative. It’ll be hard to justify the second best shooter in the NBA taking anything less than 15 shots per game. You don’t want to waste talent.
The best solution to solve both issues is starting Iguodala in place of Thompson. Curry-Durant-Iguodala-Draymond Green-Zaza Pachulia sounds nowhere near as scary as Curry-Thompson-Iguodala-Durant-Draymond, but this is the first quarter lineup we’re talking about, not the fourth. Subbing in Thompson near the end of the first quarter for Iguodala, and then letting him command the second unit alongside Shaun Livingston would give the him the floor spacing he needs to go to work. He’s perfectly capable of carrying the offense on his own, and proved so in the six postseason games Curry missed, averaging 29.5 points per game, while shooting 27/63 from downtown.
Kerr will obviously have to wrestle with this idea. When Durant and Curry are running the pick-and-roll together early in the game, Thompson is the perfect decoy in the corner to bury wide open shots when the defense collapses on KD and Steph. The point of bringing in Durant is to suffocate opposing teams with superstars.
If you are the Warriors, the point of this new-look strategy with Thompson is to hedge your bets. No other team in the league will have a top 15 player running the show early in the second quarter. The Warriors could turn a 30-22 first quarter lead into a 45-27 advantage in the blink of an eye. Thompson can catch fire as quickly as Curry and Durant, but probably won’t be able to flaunt that skill as often if he’s a starter. Thompson also has the smallest ego of any player you’ll ever meet. He might even gladly embrace this role over starting if it means more shots.
Thompson is a volume shooter. Sometimes he needs to miss four or five shots before he catches fire. Even better: Iguodala is at his best when he’s facilitating the basketball. An extra passer alongside Green to start the game could do wonders for Durant and Curry.
Kerr will take his time digesting every factor in this situation. Swapping Iguodala for Thompson in the starting lineup has its clear advantages, but you can rest easy knowing Kerr won’t make the call unless it’s what’s best for the Warriors.