Taking the pulse of Dubs fans: Who should be starting?

[Impuniti]

Klay's also putting up 20ppg on 43/40/95 shooting splits with a 2:1 Ast/TO ration (3:1.5) in January so there's that...

When people quote Klay’s two good months a season the last couple of years I think it’s only fair to also cite his playoff ineptitude those same years.

He starts slow, gets his shot going and then he flames out because he’s old and Kerr overloads him.

You are not incorrect.

Just to be fair, klay had two bad months last year, not two good ones. He finished the season 22ppg on 43/41/85 shooting and was more like 25ppg on 45/45/90 the last four months of last year.

I would also say he wore down last year because it was his first full season after 2.5 years off and Kerr's workload was definitely a bit much for him and it caught up to him. The fact they couldn't put away sac meant most of their playoff games were every other day and they never got a break really hurt him.

He was also the only perimeter defender on that team since wigs missed most of the year and Kerr refused to play moody. It really was a big load on Klay last season. I have a bit more hope this year that he won't need to play 36 min a night like he had to in the playoffs last year.

Did he also wear down when he played like complete garbage in the first two months of the season? Klay has to be the only guy that fans can give excuses for playing like absolute trash in the beginning of the season and being too tired towards the end.

I will continue my slander Klay agenda until we see no more of these criminal attorney tier defensive schemes when it comes to his incompetence.

[ShootersShoot]

Steph / Klay / Wiggs / Kuminga / Draymond

not good enough to finish, team can box and 1 Curry then we basically hope Klay can make one of these stupid shots

Who the heck else are we going to put in there to get buckets?

None of saric, cp3, pod, gp2 are going to reliably get buckets down the stretch either. I guess if we want more spacing get saric in there, but I would not want to slide klay to small forward and go small in the backcourt..they are already small in the frontcourt as it is.

[SinceGatlingWasARookie]

Wiggins is getting good.

Positions by defensive position

For now
Draymond center
Klay power forward
Wiggins small forward
Kuminga off guard
Curry point guard

[superunknown]

anything to justify klay on the court, even him defending PFs

[vvoland]

When people quote Klay’s two good months a season the last couple of years I think it’s only fair to also cite his playoff ineptitude those same years.

He starts slow, gets his shot going and then he flames out because he’s old and Kerr overloads him.

You are not incorrect.

Just to be fair, klay had two bad months last year, not two good ones. He finished the season 22ppg on 43/41/85 shooting and was more like 25ppg on 45/45/90 the last four months of last year.

I would also say he wore down last year because it was his first full season after 2.5 years off and Kerr's workload was definitely a bit much for him and it caught up to him. The fact they couldn't put away sac meant most of their playoff games were every other day and they never got a break really hurt him.

He was also the only perimeter defender on that team since wigs missed most of the year and Kerr refused to play moody. It really was a big load on Klay last season. I have a bit more hope this year that he won't need to play 36 min a night like he had to in the playoffs last year.

Did he also wear down when he played like complete garbage in the first two months of the season? Klay has to be the only guy that fans can give excuses for playing like absolute trash in the beginning of the season and being too tired towards the end.

I will continue my slander Klay agenda until we see no more of these criminal attorney tier defensive schemes when it comes to his incompetence.

While no one will argue that he started slow, complete garbage is a joke. He was shooting 41/38/90 in 30mins, for 16ppg in the first 31 games (through Dec 31). I know it looked much worse and he definitely shot us out of a few games. On balance, his shot selection is much better than it was to start this year (and especially last season) and his January looks closer to his career numbers.

By comparison, Lillard, for the season, is putting up 25ppg on 42/35/92 splits in 35mins. I've seen enough of the bucks and blazers to say Lillard's defense makes Klay look like prime kawhi.

It's a bit insane how quickly a fanbase can turn. The guy that tore up his knee and still came back on the court to shoot the free throws is complete garbage because his shooting splits in the first 44 games of a nightmare season look like all star starter Damian Lillard's.

[DonaldSanders]

While no one will argue that he started slow, complete garbage is a joke. He was shooting 41/38/90 in 30mins, for 16ppg in the first 31 games (through Dec 31). I know it looked much worse and he definitely shot us out of a few games. On balance, his shot selection is much better than it was to start this year (and especially last season) and his January looks closer to his career numbers.

By comparison, Lillard, for the season, is putting up 25ppg on 42/35/92 splits in 35mins. I've seen enough of the bucks and blazers to say Lillard's defense makes Klay look like prime kawhi.

It's a bit insane how quickly a fanbase can turn. The guy that tore up his knee and still came back on the court to shoot the free throws is complete garbage because his shooting splits in the first 44 games of a nightmare season look like all star starter Damian Lillard's.

Klay is forever a Warrior legend, that's in stone. Current Klay is a bench level player because he no longer functions in his role. His role has been to help Steph out defense and provide offense. Now Steph has to scramble more and work harder on D with Klay playing alongside him, that's part of why you were seeing Curry wear out. To some degree it's an age thing for both players, but it's never been ideal to pair Steph with a guard/wing that doesn't play really good defense. Just look at our most recent chip playoff stats, pairing Steph with GPII was off the charts where with Klay it was just a small +. Now Klay is 2 years older, he can still shoot and contribute with the bench unit, but he should no longer be a big minute player.

[vvoland]

While no one will argue that he started slow, complete garbage is a joke. He was shooting 41/38/90 in 30mins, for 16ppg in the first 31 games (through Dec 31). I know it looked much worse and he definitely shot us out of a few games. On balance, his shot selection is much better than it was to start this year (and especially last season) and his January looks closer to his career numbers.

By comparison, Lillard, for the season, is putting up 25ppg on 42/35/92 splits in 35mins. I've seen enough of the bucks and blazers to say Lillard's defense makes Klay look like prime kawhi.

It's a bit insane how quickly a fanbase can turn. The guy that tore up his knee and still came back on the court to shoot the free throws is complete garbage because his shooting splits in the first 44 games of a nightmare season look like all star starter Damian Lillard's.

Klay is forever a Warrior legend, that's in stone. Current Klay is a bench level player because he no longer functions in his role. His role has been to help Steph out defense and provide offense. Now Steph has to scramble more and work harder on D with Klay playing alongside him, that's part of why you were seeing Curry wear out. To some degree it's an age thing for both players, but it's never been ideal to pair Steph with a guard/wing that doesn't play really good defense. Just look at our most recent chip playoff stats, pairing Steph with GPII was off the charts where with Klay it was just a small +. Now Klay is 2 years older, he can still shoot and contribute with the bench unit, but he should no longer be a big minute player.

If wigs keeps playing like he doesn't want to get traded, dray keeps his head, and jk continues to score, klay will look a lot better than he did earlier in the year when wigs couldn't shoot or rebound or defend, dray went insane and loon was starting over jk.

[superunknown]

While no one will argue that he started slow, complete garbage is a joke. He was shooting 41/38/90 in 30mins, for 16ppg in the first 31 games (through Dec 31). I know it looked much worse and he definitely shot us out of a few games. On balance, his shot selection is much better than it was to start this year (and especially last season) and his January looks closer to his career numbers.

By comparison, Lillard, for the season, is putting up 25ppg on 42/35/92 splits in 35mins. I've seen enough of the bucks and blazers to say Lillard's defense makes Klay look like prime kawhi.

It's a bit insane how quickly a fanbase can turn. The guy that tore up his knee and still came back on the court to shoot the free throws is complete garbage because his shooting splits in the first 44 games of a nightmare season look like all star starter Damian Lillard's.

Klay is forever a Warrior legend, that's in stone. Current Klay is a bench level player because he no longer functions in his role. His role has been to help Steph out defense and provide offense. Now Steph has to scramble more and work harder on D with Klay playing alongside him, that's part of why you were seeing Curry wear out. To some degree it's an age thing for both players, but it's never been ideal to pair Steph with a guard/wing that doesn't play really good defense. Just look at our most recent chip playoff stats, pairing Steph with GPII was off the charts where with Klay it was just a small +. Now Klay is 2 years older, he can still shoot and contribute with the bench unit, but he should no longer be a big minute player.

If wigs keeps playing like he doesn't want to get traded, dray keeps his head, and jk continues to score, klay will look a lot better than he did earlier in the year when wigs couldn't shoot or rebound or defend, dray went insane and loon was starting over jk.

so basically he will look better because others bail him out.

[SinceGatlingWasARookie]

While no one will argue that he started slow, complete garbage is a joke. He was shooting 41/38/90 in 30mins, for 16ppg in the first 31 games (through Dec 31). I know it looked much worse and he definitely shot us out of a few games. On balance, his shot selection is much better than it was to start this year (and especially last season) and his January looks closer to his career numbers.

By comparison, Lillard, for the season, is putting up 25ppg on 42/35/92 splits in 35mins. I've seen enough of the bucks and blazers to say Lillard's defense makes Klay look like prime kawhi.

It's a bit insane how quickly a fanbase can turn. The guy that tore up his knee and still came back on the court to shoot the free throws is complete garbage because his shooting splits in the first 44 games of a nightmare season look like all star starter Damian Lillard's.

Klay is forever a Warrior legend, that's in stone. Current Klay is a bench level player because he no longer functions in his role. His role has been to help Steph out defense and provide offense. Now Steph has to scramble more and work harder on D with Klay playing alongside him, that's part of why you were seeing Curry wear out. To some degree it's an age thing for both players, but it's never been ideal to pair Steph with a guard/wing that doesn't play really good defense. Just look at our most recent chip playoff stats, pairing Steph with GPII was off the charts where with Klay it was just a small +. Now Klay is 2 years older, he can still shoot and contribute with the bench unit, but he should no longer be a big minute player.

In the last few games I see Klay, Curry, Draymond, Wiggins and Kuminga as our 5 best players. I would start that 5 but giving Draymond heavy minutes at center worries me.


Our board is exaggerating the decline of Klay. Except for 1 game Klay has played pretty well the last month. Klay was not playing this well 2 months ago. Wiggins is also playing better. Looney is not playing well yet.

Kuminga is now starter quality. I don’t think Moody is starter quality but he is 8 man rotation quality but Podz and Payton are also 8 man rotation quality.

Klay played poorly early in the season so that is part of why our board is trashy Klay but a lot of us are trashing Klay because they want Moody. I think these guys wanting Moody so bad are thinking that Moody is better than he is. Moody has no special skills. Moody is just a playable 3 and D guy.

[Impuniti]

anything to justify klay on the court, even him defending PFs

It's insanity. The coach and a group of fans stumbling falling trying to justify Klay whose now a crappy player that starts purely on what he's done years ago.

[Onus]

I had to change my vote from Looney to JK. Looney looks cooked

[Impuniti]

While no one will argue that he started slow, complete garbage is a joke. He was shooting 41/38/90 in 30mins, for 16ppg in the first 31 games (through Dec 31). I know it looked much worse and he definitely shot us out of a few games. On balance, his shot selection is much better than it was to start this year (and especially last season) and his January looks closer to his career numbers.

By comparison, Lillard, for the season, is putting up 25ppg on 42/35/92 splits in 35mins. I've seen enough of the bucks and blazers to say Lillard's defense makes Klay look like prime kawhi.

It's a bit insane how quickly a fanbase can turn. The guy that tore up his knee and still came back on the court to shoot the free throws is complete garbage because his shooting splits in the first 44 games of a nightmare season look like all star starter Damian Lillard's.

Klay is forever a Warrior legend, that's in stone. Current Klay is a bench level player because he no longer functions in his role. His role has been to help Steph out defense and provide offense. Now Steph has to scramble more and work harder on D with Klay playing alongside him, that's part of why you were seeing Curry wear out. To some degree it's an age thing for both players, but it's never been ideal to pair Steph with a guard/wing that doesn't play really good defense. Just look at our most recent chip playoff stats, pairing Steph with GPII was off the charts where with Klay it was just a small +. Now Klay is 2 years older, he can still shoot and contribute with the bench unit, but he should no longer be a big minute player.

In the last few games I see Klay, Curry, Draymond, Wiggins and Kuminga as our 5 best players. I would start that 5 but giving Draymond heavy minutes at center worries me.


Our board is exaggerating the decline of Klay. Except for 1 game Klay has played pretty well the last month. Klay was not playing this well 2 months ago. Wiggins is also playing better. Looney is not playing well yet.

Kuminga is now starter quality. I don’t think Moody is starter quality but he is 8 man rotation quality but Podz and Payton are also 8 man rotation quality.

Klay played poorly early in the season so that is part of why our board is trashy Klay but a lot of us are trashing Klay because they want Moody. I think these guys wanting Moody so bad are thinking that Moody is better than he is. Moody has no special skills. Moody is just a playable 3 and D guy.

No, Klay has not played well. His defense is atrocious. He is regularly missing out his man, going under when he should go up, not boxing out, not running to cover his man, double digit airhead plays where he forgets his guy for a split second that either turns into a wide open shot, or someone else tries to cover for him and either his guy ends up being open, or the player Klay's teammate left open so he can cover Klay.

Steph has also been very poor defensively which makes defending as a team overall for the Warriors impossible. Even prime 2016 Draymond is not going to be able to handle covering for both of these guys.

[Onus]

While no one will argue that he started slow, complete garbage is a joke. He was shooting 41/38/90 in 30mins, for 16ppg in the first 31 games (through Dec 31). I know it looked much worse and he definitely shot us out of a few games. On balance, his shot selection is much better than it was to start this year (and especially last season) and his January looks closer to his career numbers.

By comparison, Lillard, for the season, is putting up 25ppg on 42/35/92 splits in 35mins. I've seen enough of the bucks and blazers to say Lillard's defense makes Klay look like prime kawhi.

It's a bit insane how quickly a fanbase can turn. The guy that tore up his knee and still came back on the court to shoot the free throws is complete garbage because his shooting splits in the first 44 games of a nightmare season look like all star starter Damian Lillard's.

Klay is forever a Warrior legend, that's in stone. Current Klay is a bench level player because he no longer functions in his role. His role has been to help Steph out defense and provide offense. Now Steph has to scramble more and work harder on D with Klay playing alongside him, that's part of why you were seeing Curry wear out. To some degree it's an age thing for both players, but it's never been ideal to pair Steph with a guard/wing that doesn't play really good defense. Just look at our most recent chip playoff stats, pairing Steph with GPII was off the charts where with Klay it was just a small +. Now Klay is 2 years older, he can still shoot and contribute with the bench unit, but he should no longer be a big minute player.

In the last few games I see Klay, Curry, Draymond, Wiggins and Kuminga as our 5 best players. I would start that 5 but giving Draymond heavy minutes at center worries me.


Our board is exaggerating the decline of Klay. Except for 1 game Klay has played pretty well the last month. Klay was not playing this well 2 months ago. Wiggins is also playing better. Looney is not playing well yet.

Kuminga is now starter quality. I don’t think Moody is starter quality but he is 8 man rotation quality but Podz and Payton are also 8 man rotation quality.

Klay played poorly early in the season so that is part of why our board is trashy Klay but a lot of us are trashing Klay because they want Moody. I think these guys wanting Moody so bad are thinking that Moody is better than he is. Moody has no special skills. Moody is just a playable 3 and D guy.

Klay is cooked defensively. He either fouls or the offensive player scores on him. He provides little resistance as a poa defender. He doesn't provide anything as a rebounder or help defender. He can get hot and make some shots, but at what cost? He regularly hi jacks the offense, takes terrible shots, stops ball movement. He's not starter quality anymore, as a 6th man who doesn't always close he should be able to make a better impact, but currently he drags the team down and is destroying our defense to close games. That's really the main issue. He SHOULD NOT be closing unless he has a favorable matchup defensively and even then probably not the best option.

[CDM_Stats]

It’s 2024, RGM needs a locked in block button

[GQ Hot Dog]

It seems pretty well obvious by now that Kuminga, Dray, Wiggs are 3 of the 4 guys that should be starting and playing 30+ minutes. The 4th should be:

Klay - Can still fill it up from deep. Scoring impact declines the closer he gets to the rim. Bad defense and bad floor game. Not able to impact the game in many other ways than scoring.

Podz - Modest scorer. Does his best work in the key but a streaky perimeter shooter. Lots of upside from 3 but not there yet. Not a great defender on ball. Strong and works hard so has his moments but can get taken advantage of by good offensive players. Help defense is not a part of his game and likely will never be with his modest stature. Tremendous floor game. The guy knows how to make an impact in so many ways and Kerr loves him for it. Me too.

Moody - Can get hot from 3. Developing scorer closer in but it's a work in progress and he's not there yet. Really marginal scoring at the rim. Can't get over even a decent shot blocker. Really solid on ball defender. Works hard to keep his feet moving. Switches promptly and has the length and aggression to make a real impact on switches and in help.

I want to see a lot more of Moody before I decide who I want starting. His getting hurt when he did was exactly at the time Kerr was starting to give him extended minutes and that sucks.

[Impuniti]

It seems pretty well obvious by now that Kuminga, Dray, Wiggs are 3 of the 4 guys that should be starting and playing 30+ minutes. The 4th should be:

Klay - Can still fill it up from deep. Scoring impact declines the closer he gets to the rim. Bad defense and bad floor game. Not able to impact the game in many other ways than scoring.

Podz - Modest scorer. Does his best work in the key but a streaky perimeter shooter. Lots of upside from 3 but not there yet. Not a great defender on ball. Strong and works hard so has his moments but can get taken advantage of by good offensive players. Help defense is not a part of his game and likely will never be with his modest stature. Tremendous floor game. The guy knows how to make an impact in so many ways and Kerr loves him for it. Me too.

Moody - Can get hot from 3. Developing scorer closer in but it's a work in progress and he's not there yet. Really marginal scoring at the rim. Can't get over even a decent shot blocker. Really solid on ball defender. Works hard to keep his feet moving. Switches promptly and has the length and aggression to make a real impact on switches and in help.

I want to see a lot more of Moody before I decide who I want starting. His getting hurt when he did was exactly at the time Kerr was starting to give him extended minutes and that sucks.

The frustrating thing is that we haven't even seen Moody fail. Imagine last night's lineup with Moody for 4-5 games. Just see how it goes. Kerr tells him he's going to have several games and then you measure how the team does defensively and offensively.

[eminence]

Not a Warrior fan, but thoughts.

Steph/Dray are the easy ones.

Kuminga is coming along nicely and looking like the future of the squad, I'll put him in there as well. Puts out good rim pressure off the ball.

Wiggins is the most plug and play wing y'all have got, make him #4. If he rounds fully into form he'd join Steph/Dray in the easy choices category.

I voted Klay as the 5th, can see cases for Podz over him, but I like a bit more size in the starting lineup with the small bigs.

During the RS there are also squads I'd start one of Looney/TJD over Kuminga. Kuminga would still get more minutes, but save Dray a bit of banging vs the Embiid/Valanciunas sorts of the world.

[Onus]

It seems pretty well obvious by now that Kuminga, Dray, Wiggs are 3 of the 4 guys that should be starting and playing 30+ minutes. The 4th should be:

Klay - Can still fill it up from deep. Scoring impact declines the closer he gets to the rim. Bad defense and bad floor game. Not able to impact the game in many other ways than scoring.

Podz - Modest scorer. Does his best work in the key but a streaky perimeter shooter. Lots of upside from 3 but not there yet. Not a great defender on ball. Strong and works hard so has his moments but can get taken advantage of by good offensive players. Help defense is not a part of his game and likely will never be with his modest stature. Tremendous floor game. The guy knows how to make an impact in so many ways and Kerr loves him for it. Me too.

Moody - Can get hot from 3. Developing scorer closer in but it's a work in progress and he's not there yet. Really marginal scoring at the rim. Can't get over even a decent shot blocker. Really solid on ball defender. Works hard to keep his feet moving. Switches promptly and has the length and aggression to make a real impact on switches and in help.

I want to see a lot more of Moody before I decide who I want starting. His getting hurt when he did was exactly at the time Kerr was starting to give him extended minutes and that sucks.

Podz is actually a decent help defender. There's times he overhelps but at least he knows the rotations and where he should be, puts in the effort. He needs to develop the strength to be a better poa defender, that'll come with time.

We have a deep team, but the rotations have made no sense and has brought everyone down because they've been put together haphazardly. Really feels like the injuries may have helped solidify the rotations going forward, but who knows with Kerr when everyone gets back. I have a sick feeling that kerr will **** it up once everyone comes back.

[TB]

Should be noted that Loon has only played 2 minutes with Dray since Dray has been back.

Obviously Dray has been dominant at center since his return (been one of the best centers in the league for a decade plus), but he's also had 11 great minutes with Trayce and a few good defensive stands with Loon.

With Dray, JK, Wiggins 3 point shots all trending positive... I wouldn't be against getting some larger lineups in with Loon alongside Dray. I know Kerr likes keeping things spaced for Kuminga to attack, but he has scored efficiently next to Loon or Trayce as well. Of course, we haven't ever seen Kuminga/Dray/Loon together... but I think there is no better time than when Dray/JK/Wiggins offense looks to be in a good place.

[vvoland]

Klay is forever a Warrior legend, that's in stone. Current Klay is a bench level player because he no longer functions in his role. His role has been to help Steph out defense and provide offense. Now Steph has to scramble more and work harder on D with Klay playing alongside him, that's part of why you were seeing Curry wear out. To some degree it's an age thing for both players, but it's never been ideal to pair Steph with a guard/wing that doesn't play really good defense. Just look at our most recent chip playoff stats, pairing Steph with GPII was off the charts where with Klay it was just a small +. Now Klay is 2 years older, he can still shoot and contribute with the bench unit, but he should no longer be a big minute player.

If wigs keeps playing like he doesn't want to get traded, dray keeps his head, and jk continues to score, klay will look a lot better than he did earlier in the year when wigs couldn't shoot or rebound or defend, dray went insane and loon was starting over jk.

so basically he will look better because others bail him out.

No, he'll look better because he won't have to carry the slack for everyone else's (ex. steph) atrocious offense and most everyone else's (esp. steph) awful defense. With Dray back, Wigs looking better and JK taking big leaps, Klay's role, on both sides of the court normalizes.