The Golden State Warriors are making a semi-permanent change to their starting lineup going forward. Head coach Steve Kerr told reporters on Thursday that the Dubs will move Moses Moody and Will Richard into the starting lineup going forward after the duo started in Wednesday night’s 125-120 victory over the San Antonio Spurs. Moody and Richard will obviously start alongside Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler, and Draymond Green, moving Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski, and Quinten Post into consistent
bench roles.
Kuminga started the Warriors first 12 games, and was excellent in the team’s first few contests, but his play has regressed recently during Golden State’s struggles. Podziemski and Post have gotten off to even slower regular-season starts, leaving the Dubs desperate for someone else to pick up slack from the stars. It speaks to Kerr’s concern that he is already moving to a starting lineup that will put Green at center and Butler at power forward.
Moody is averaging a career-high 12.3 points per game so far this season thanks in large part to an elite 44.3% three-point percentage on 6.4 attempts per contest. Moody has always been a promising outside threat, but have never made more than 37.4% of his attempts in a season. Now 23 in his fifth NBA season, if Moody has become a true 40% three-point shooter, it would go a long way toward solidifying Golden State’s rotation.
Richard has been one of the biggest early-season surprises of the season. The rookie 56th overall pick quickly earned head coach Steve Kerr’s respect coming off the bench and has provided a spark playing alongside the team’s stars and when they have sat. In 11 games, Richard has averaged 9.4 points, 2.2 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.1 steals in 18.1 minutes per game on highly-efficient .583/.441/.783 shooting.
At 7-6, the Warriors are looking for a prolonged spark. We’ll see if starting Moses Moody and Will Richard does just that.
