SAN FRANCISCO -- The Warriors having two players on two-way contracts who can be counted on by Steve Kerr certainly is a positive. Them being the trusted veterans of a struggling second unit also can be problematic.
Anthony Lamb starting against the New Orleans Pelicans last Friday was a bit of a surprise, but understandable as stars Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins all sat on the second night of a back-to-back to end a road trip where the Warriors played five games in seven days. Lamb stepped up admirably, playing 37 minutes and scoring 16 points while making four 3-pointers and swiping three steals.
What was even more surprising was the fact that Kerr's new-look rotation featured Lamb being one of the first players off the bench, along with Sixth Man Jordan Poole, three nights ago in Monday's win vs. the Sacramento Kings. Lamb and fellow two-way contract player Ty Jerome were both given minutes in the first quarter. Former No. 2 overall pick James Wiseman and former No. 14 overall pick Moses Moody sat the entire quarter.
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Wiseman was given his first DNP (Did Not Play) of the season. Moody checked in for the first time halfway through the second quarter, and wound up playing a little under nine minutes. Jonathan Kuminga, the No. 7 overall pick from two years ago, has received multiple DNPs but has found himself back in the rotation after a strong performance in New Orleans. He saw nine minutes of action off the bench.
None came in the second half after the Warriors trailed by 12 points at halftime.
"The thought process is when you're struggling and you don't have a rhythm, you don't have consistency, veteran players are going to be able to provide that more than young players are," Kerr explained Wednesday after Warriors practice. "Ty and Anthony are both relatively young, but were four-year college players. They've learned a lot more, they've absorbed a lot more than our young guys.
"They're more capable of allowing different groups to click, defending without fouling."
Golden State Warriors
Kerr then highlighted how Lamb, 24, has been everywhere on defense and plays with his hands up instead of out, where multiple players are receiving reaching fouls. He highlighted the same qualities for Jerome, and noted that he trusts the guard to take care of the ball. Jerome, 25, has only turned the ball over twice in the eight games that he has played, and Lamb has produced a 1.9 defensive box plus-minus in the three games he has appeared in.
Both were signed late in the preseason, and both quickly earned Kerr's trust. Or another way to say it, more trust than the Warriors' inexperienced youth that holds so much weight in the Warriors' success short-term and long-term.
With the Warriors struggling and needing to snap a five-game losing streak, Curry needed to put on his superhero cape and Kerr had to trust his two-way players as much as anybody.
"Those are crucial things when our margin for error is really slim," Kerr said. "As we get going and our vets -- Klay, Jordan -- really start to get in a groove, I think it'll be easier to find different combinations and blend in some of our young guys.
"For right now, it's important that we try to establish some principals with our team and veteran guys are more likely to be able to do that."
In the end, Kerr got his wish with a 116-113 comeback win. Though Kerr isn't leading the cheering section for plus-minus as a stat, Lamb was a minus-7 in 16 minutes and Jerome was a minus-22 over his 11-plus minutes.
That's a bit beside the point. What's more eye-opening for a team who's the defending champions and features at least three veteran Hall of Famers is the fact that two two-way players are seen as the veterans who can quiet the storm and lead the way. Yes, Donte DiVincenzo is expected to play Friday vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers. Andre Iguodala will return at some point, with the focus being him healthy for the second half and the playoffs. Kerr says he still has confidence in 32-year-old JaMychal Green, but as the Warriors go small, Green joined Wiseman as a DNP.
While Kerr's answer regarding Lamb and Jerome was full of positives, it also exposed a major hole in the Warriors' two-timelines dream. Developing one, or even two, top prospects on a contending team can be viable. Doing so with four or five youngsters might just be an unfair ask, especially for a team that has every intention of being a contender again.
Golden State's handful of players who are 21 years old and younger give the Warriors their highest potential of upside in years. The Warriors also are learning the dangers of potential when players aren't given the leeway to grow from mistakes, and understandably so when it's costing them in the win column. What's really being exposed is how hard being a role player really is. It's a skill that isn't grasped overnight.
Last season's championship bench was full of veterans with different backgrounds. Gary Payton II, Damion Lee and Juan Toscano-Anderson all went undrafted. Payton is 29 years old, Lee is 30 and Toscano-Anderson is 29. Each had to grind their way to contracts with the Warriors, understanding the giant impact that little things do for a team.
The same can be said for Nemanja Bjelica, 34, who has been a EuroLeague star in the past and then was on his fourth team in his seventh NBA season when he became a champion with the Warriors.
Otto Porter Jr. was the only former top draft, but the 29-year-old was in his ninth NBA season when he joined the Warriors, his fourth franchise in the league. He was the perfect steady presence that the Warriors' bench needed. He has been in the shoes of their former top picks, and he also has transformed himself into an invaluable role player.
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The season is 11 games old. Time is on the Warriors' side. At the same time, Moody on Wednesday had to call for more life from him and his teammates celebrating on the sidelines, and DiVincenzo emphasized the need for more energy from the group overall. Those two factors were far from a question mark a season ago. The veterans have been through the rigors of being a pro, and accepted what liveliness on the court or the sidelines can do for a team.
There's a process to life as a pro. Kerr is doing his best balancing the right times when to speed it up, and when to slow it down. It's a tall task, and it's clear right now he trusts two players who have restrictions on how many games they can play for the big squad more than those who the franchise have invested in over other win-now players.
Help will be on the way. The season is barely one-tenth of the way through. A seminar on the importance of experience and the difficulties of what being a role player consists of also is being taught every day right now in San Francisco's shiny new neighborhood of Mission Bay.