Why the Warriors started Andrew Wiggins at shooting guard in the season opener – NBC Sports Bay Area & California

PORTLAND, Ore. – The mystery over who would replace Klay Thompson as Stephen Curry's main sidekick in the Warriors' backcourt was solved Wednesday night, 90 minutes before their game against the Portland Trail Blazers.

The substitution is made by a committee, with Andrew Wiggins in first place.

Wiggins joins Curry, Jonathan Kuminga, Draymond Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis in the starting lineup at the Moda Center. The last time Wiggins remembers being in a lineup as a shooting guard was at least seven years ago as a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Kerr has said many times in recent years that Wiggins and Thompson are interchangeable in many ways, and this is the first real test.

“I hope this group starts all year long,” Kerr said. “That would be the hope. But we will start this way and go from there.”

Steve Kerr explains the thought process behind the Warriors' first starting lineup of the season, which features both Andrew Wiggins and Jonathan Kuminga pic.twitter.com/tbX5IY7qNI

– Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) October 24, 2024

Wiggins, who starts at shooting guard, is the closest thing to a surprise, only because De'Anthony Melton received a lot of attention early in training camp. One reason for this is that Wiggins missed the first week of camp due to illness. Another reason is that Wiggins has considerable experience playing with Curry.

Wiggins gave his best in the last two preseason games. And as Kerr and his staff thought about it, he became a logical option.

One reason for this is that, at 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds, he has the size needed to pressure big guards like Dallas' Luke Donćić, Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Phoenix's Devin Booker and Minnesota's Anthony Edwards .

Wiggins will be given the on-ball defensive duties that previously fell to Thompson. In fact, Wiggins was the primary defender alongside Donćić when the Warriors defeated the Mavericks in the 2022 Western Conference Finals.

The only concern is the spacing on offense, and Kerr hopes that can be alleviated somewhat by the Warriors playing at a high pace while applying consistent defensive pressure.

“I’m looking to see if this group can make a difference defensively,” Kerr said of the new lineup. “Obviously it’s a very athletic group, very big. We have rim protection from Draymond and Trayce. The two were really good together on defense last year.

“It will require us to be offensive and play downhill. Play quickly. They did a good job in the two preseason games we played together. Hopefully things continue to look good. We’ll try.”

With this formation, Kuminga is a small forward. The position is ideal for his height of 1.80 m and 100 kg, but he sometimes has difficulty with it. This is the biggest experiment with this lineup, even bigger than the lineup of a second-year center who started just 16 games as a rookie.

Behind Jackson-Davis, however, are Kevon Looney and Green, who will take their place at center most nights. Newly acquired veteran Kyle Anderson could also see minutes at center.

This starting five gives the Warriors what should be a formidable bench. Behind Wiggins at shooting guard are Buddy Hield and Moses Moody. Brandin Podziemski and Melton are considered combo guards. As for Gary Payton II, he is a utility man with no defined position.

Will this setup work? It is the largest and most balanced model on the market.

But it can only thrive if Kuminga rounds out his game and Wiggins meets Kerr's request to shoot six or seven 3-pointers per game, in the 38 to 40 percent range.

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