Brandon Williams scores 20 points in spot start

Bassey made his first appearance of the season in Saturday’s loss to the Suns, playing 13 minutes off the bench. However, the Warriors missed Draymond Green and Al Horford, and both will be available on Monday. Bassey’s playing time is likely to decrease. As for Williams, if cleared for Monday’s game, he’ll come off the bench after scoring 20 points as a spot starter on Saturday. His chances of sticking in the rotation are greater than Bassey’s, even though the Warriors will also get Stephen Curry and Brandin Podziemski back.

Stephen Curry, Brandin Podziemski and Draymond Green are all unavailable after starting Friday’s loss to the Grizzlies. They’ve been replaced in the starting lineup by Williams, Richard and Santos. Given the absences, all three are worth streaming in deep leagues, while Yaxel Lendeborg should already be rostered in standard leagues.

No surprise here as Curry said after Friday’s loss to the Grizzlies that he probably wouldn’t play against the Suns Saturday. With Brandin Podziemski also out, De’Anthony Melton and Will Richard could start and see significant minutes.

As a rookie, Richard averaged 20.0 minutes per appearance and shot 33.5 percent from beyond the arc. With Jimmy Butler III and Moses Moody both out recovering from knee injuries, Richard will have opportunities to earn more playing time. He started against the Trail Blazers, as the Warriors rested many key contributors in the second game of a back-to-back. Despite his showing in Portland, Richard isn’t a must-draft player, especially in 12-team formats.

With the Warriors playing their second game in as many nights, most of the players expected to log consistent rotation minutes were held out. That opened the door for Williams, who scored 17 points in 18 minutes. He earned consistent minutes in Dallas last season, and a performance like Wednesday’s can go a long way toward solidifying Williams’ immediate future with the Warriors. If he’s on the Opening Night roster, $1.4 million of Williams’ contract will be guaranteed. The rest would be guaranteed if he’s on the roster on January 10.

In his third season with Dallas, Williams enjoyed the most productive campaign of his career behind averages of 13 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.2 “stocks.” He’ll offer depth to a Warriors team that surprisingly stood pat during free agency, and Williams will compete for backup guard minutes with the likes of De’Anthony Melton and Will Richard.

After fighting to establish himself as an NBA player in his first four seasons of professional basketball, Williams broke through in 2025-26. With Kyrie Irving unavailable as he recovered from a torn ACL, Williams appeared in 66 games for the Mavericks. In those appearances, he averaged 13.0 points, 2.9 rebounds and 3.9 assists, shooting 47.2 percent from the field and 79.3 percent from the foul line. While his signing gives the Warriors another option on the perimeter, Williams is not a must-draft player in redraft leagues.

The Warriors have roster spots to fill, but not much cap space to do it. Due to a left foot injury, Niang did not play at all in 2025-26, beginning his year with the Jazz before being sent to Memphis as part of the Jaren Jackson Jr. trade. As for Williams, he appeared in 66 games for the Mavericks last season, averaging 13.0 points, 2.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 0.9 steals in 22.2 minutes. While he did record career-best averages, Williams’ increased opportunities came as a result of Kyrie Irving missing the entire season with a torn ACL. He and Niang are capable contributors if they were to land with the Warriors, but neither qualifies as a must-draft player in most leagues.

Richard looked on Friday like someone who’d logged legitimate NBA minutes before. He shot the ball efficiently, did some nice secondary playmaking, and was active defensively with his hands. But one of the most important takeaways from the contest was how productive Richard was from beyond the arc. He shot 4-of-5 from deep, which is big, considering the 33.5 percent of three-pointers he made last season as a rookie. If he can remain consistent from the three-point line, Richard should be able to find a bigger role next season on a team that currently has limited backcourt depth.

Richard is good to go for Sunday’s regular-season finale. With the Warriors locked into the No. 10 seed in the West, the rookie wing may play extended minutes if his back holds up.