From the moment D’Angelo Russell arrived in Golden State, there were questions surrounding how he fit in Steve Kerr’s rotation.
Over the past five years, Golden State has been spoiled with one of the best backcourts in the NBA that included both Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, adding another guard to that tandem — even if he’s an All-Star caliber talent like Russell, could create a logjam.
However, injuries to Thompson and Curry halted the Warriors All-Star backcourt trio experiment before it could even begin.
For the first time since the trade deadline, the Warriors’ head coach spoke to the Media, and Kerr brought up the unconventional fit of Russell in Golden State’s backcourt.
Well, I think to be perfectly blunt, the fit was questionable when we signed him, but nobody questioned that — when you already have Steph and Klay, and you add a ball-dominant guard, you can rightfully question the fit,
With there being doubt about his ability to share a backcourt with Curry and Thompson from the start, Kerr told reporters at Friday’s practice that his fit was one of the reasons Russell’s name was regularly involved in trade rumors.
It was one of the reasons the trade rumors started before the season even began, and I think D’Angelo understood that when he signed the contract and our organization understood that as well — the trade ended up happening, I think we at least got a 50 game look at what it might look like of course that kind of went awry when Steph got injured, but you get a good enough look to picture how the positional fit goes, and I think we have an idea that the other player makes more sense and in this case,
With Russell now in Minnesota, Kerr will turn his focus on building his new backcourt while Thompson and Curry are still rehabbing. Golden State’s guard combinations will take on a youth movement with Ky Bowman, Jordan Poole, Damion Lee and Zach Norvell Jr. taking over a substantial share of minutes until Curry returns.
