With the Warriors set to open training camp in a few days, their roster is just about set. They do have one open guaranteed roster spot available and hope to fill it after they see how several camp invitees perform over the next few weeks.
One thing lacking from the 2021-22 roster that previous Warriors had an abundance of is big men.
The only true centers the Warriors have on the roster are Kevon Looney and James Wiseman, who is recovering from knee surgery, and won't participate in full practices during training camp.
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Of course, the Warriors love to play small lineups, so Draymond Green and Juan Toscano-Anderson will get time at center, meaning they have four possible center options on the roster.
Former Warriors draft pick Jordan Bell will join the team as a camp invite and will compete for the final roster spot, but do the Warriors even feel the need to add another center to the roster?
Coach Steve Kerr spoke to The Athletic's Tim Kawakami this week on "The TK Show" podcast, and was asked about the possibility of adding another big man.
“I think the league has changed quite a bit," Kerr told Kawakami. "I know if you look at our team historically over the last six, seven years, we’ve always carried a lot of centers. But think about the last part of last season, we played Draymond at five so much, we even played Juan at five. The league seems to be getting smaller and quicker every single year.
Golden State Warriors
"So I think we’re less inclined to carry a bunch of centers like we used to. But really, if we had somebody in there who was playing well at that position and thought they could help us win, then we would keep that guy. It’s really still a matter of using training camp to figure out what makes the most sense for us.”
After Wiseman suffered the meniscus injury on April 10 against the Houston Rockets, Kerr and the Warriors started using small lineups and they finished the season on a 14-5 run to qualify for the Western Conference play-in tournament.
Ideally, the Warriors don't want to wear down Draymond and Toscano-Anderson as the small-ball center, but the lineups have proven to work with Steph Curry controlling the flow and making the offense go.
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Even if the Warriors don't add a center before they open the 2021-22 season against the Los Angeles Lakers on Oct. 19, they can always try to add a center before the NBA trade deadline or through the buyout market after they see what the team looks like for the first few months of the season.