Tag: Inserts

SAN FRANCISCO — Steve Kerr joked that he’s trying to set the record for most different starting lineups in a season.

He’s not a on a bad pace.

Golden State’s latest wrinkle is inserting two-way center Quinten Post into the starting-five, taking the place of Trayce Jackson-Davis. Post, who has impressed in his first four games in an NBA rotation, gives the Warriors a new look as a floor-spacing center.

The starting-five of Post, Steph Curry, Buddy Hield, Andrew Wiggins and Gary Payton II is the Warriors’ 28th unique starting lineup combination of the season — tied with Philadelphia for the most this year. Memphis set the all-time record for distinct starting units last year with 51.

Post has been shooting the ball with confidence from behind the arc, hoisting up four, 10, five and five 3-point attempts in the past four games. The 24-year-old rookie has developed fast chemistry with Curry, whom he’d never played alongside — not even in training camp — before last week.

Draymond Green and Jonathan Kuminga remain sidelined by injuries, but it’s easy to imagine Post’s skill set unlocking them when they return.

“I think the beauty of a stretch big is that everybody can play with a stretch big,” Kerr said earlier this week. “It opens up the floor. It literally makes everybody better.”

Post is shooting 37.5% from 3 on what’s still a small sample. There are concerns about his defensive ability, particularly in the pick-and-roll and in staying out of foul trouble. Oklahoma City, which plays a five-out style, is bound to target him by drawing him out of the paint on switches.