© Kyle Terada | 2018 Dec 27
The Warriors’ center rotation took a hit on Monday when Bob Myers announced that Willie Cauley-Stein would miss all of training camp and beyond with a left-foot sprain. Since then, things aren’t trending in the right direction.
Two other centers took knocks on Wednesday according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Kevon Looney tweaked his hamstring, but said he didn’t think it was that bad and was seen riding the stationary bike after practice. Rookie center Alen Smailagic then rolled his ankle. This makes Omari Spellman, the 30th overall pick in last year’s draft, the only healthy center as of now, and possibly heading into Saturday’s preseason opener.
Three days into training camp, none of this should sound any alarms. Still, it’s a reminder just how thin Golden State is at the center position, and their lack of depth in general. This is a team that currently is looking at Alfonso McKinnie starting at small forward and D’Angelo Russell, who has only excelled in the NBA as a ball dominant point guard, starting at the two.
It will be fascinating to see how the Warriors’ rotation shapes up over the next few weeks.