© Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
OAKLAND – There are few questions that tend to persist for a team that has won three of the last four NBA championships. Yet, one of the lone questions that has lingered throughout the Warriors’ preseason is what the team’s center rotation would be.
Every other position is essentially locked down, aside from some depth questions on the wing with Patrick McCaw still a restricted free agent. But this summer, the Warriors lost JaVale McGee, Zaza Pachulia and David West – three veterans at the center/power forward positions – and brought in DeMarcus Cousins, who ruptured his left achilles tendon last season and has no clear return date.
It’s left the center position up for grabs between Jordan Bell, Damian Jones and Kevon Looney – and occasionally, Draymond Green. Both Bell and Looney can slot into the power forward position as well, which happened today, when both Jones and Looney played on the court together.
It was a rare sight for a Warrior team that has so often gone small rather than big over the last few years; but it worked, and revealed a shift in available options and with it, a shift in approach by Steve Kerr.
Kerr showered plaudits upon his young centers, starting with Jones, who made his first career start tonight.
“DJ was great,” Kerr said. “He gave us exactly what we would have hoped. The lob threat, presence inside and ability to battle a great center in Steven Adams. He put his size up against him and battle him.”
Jones’s role is a near one-for-one replacement for McGee, who left this summer for the Los Angeles Lakers. Kerr said the fit is ideal.
“What Damian does is a little bit like what JaVale did for us the last couple of years. When you put him in the screen and the big has to come out – now you have the lob threat. We didn’t call a lot of those plays, but our guys know. They understand where they can attack and how to play. I thought that was a really good connection.”
Jones’s early fit in the front court provides a bona fide aerial attack, and it places him firmly at the head of the young center rotation. Looney slotted in right behind Jones, and as mentioned, sometimes played with him. In that first-off-the-bench role, Looney was dynamic, and had a game-high +23 plus-minus. While plus-minus is largely byproduct of team success, Looney’s impact was evident, as he put up the only double-double for the Warriors, with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
“I thought Kevon (Looney) was fantastic too,” Kerr said. “He came off the bench and gave us great minutes. Those two guys (Looney and Jones) were really, really key.”
Jones slotting in with the starters means it’s tough for him to stuff a stat sheet, but he slotted in well – aside from a growing pain hiccups – with the first team. He finished with 12 points and 3 rebounds. For the moment, his role as a starter is secure.
“We are going to stay with DJ. I don’t know for how long, but we’ll stay with him. We have (Rudy) Gobert and (Nikola) Jokic coming up on this road trip. He’s got the size and athleticism to deal with them and he’s going to learn an awful lot. To come out of the gates with the season and face these three centers – he’s seen the best. I think it’s great for him. We’ll start him and see what happens.”
Jones played 26 minutes, Looney played 18 and Bell played just 6 tonight. As one reporter asked tonight, does that mean Bell is the No. 3?
“Yeah, for now,” Kerr said. “But that can always change. Looney had a great camp. Looney was probably our best big throughout camp, but DJ gives us a big burst to start the game and then Loon will be the first big off the bench. But Jordan will get his chance, he knows it and I thought he came in and did some good things tonight. Didn’t get much of a chance, but he stayed ready.”