Kerr hoping to keep Curry’s minutes at 32 per game

The Warriors head coach is hoping to capitalize on their depth by lessening Steph Curry’s workload.

The Golden State Warriors are heading into the season with one of their deepest rotations in recent history. Steph Curry and (to a lesser degree) Draymond Green remain the foundation of the team’s star power, but veterans Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson, Buddy Hield, De’Anthony Melton, Kevon Looney, and Gary Payton II, and promising youngsters Brandin Podziemski, Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, Lindy Waters III, and Trayce Jackson-Davis all have made compelling cases to be members of the rotation. Dubs head coach Steve Kerr has already begun letting some players know that they will not be receiving minutes at the start of the season.

While the depth will give Kerr plenty of headaches as he tries to give his players the minutes they deserve, he’s hopeful that it will allow them to avoid overextending Curry. During his post-practice press conference on Monday, Kerr told reporters that he’s aiming to keep Curry to 32 minutes per game.

Curry played 32.7 minutes per game last season, which was a noticeable dip. He averaged at least 34.2 minutes per game in each of the three seasons prior. It was easily his lowest full-season average outside of the Warriors early dynastic era, when Curry’s playing time averages were suppressed by a significant number of blowouts that allowed him to sit out for the entire fourth quarter.

It will be interesting to see how effectively the Dubs depth translates to regular-season basketball. If the Warriors preseason (where they went undefeated) is a sign of things to come, it should be easy to keep Curry’s minutes in the low-30s, which could go a long way toward keeping him fresh for a deep postseason run. However, if the team stumbles, it will not take long for the Warriors to face outside pressure to make a trade that consolidates several pieces into one bigger piece, and likely give Curry more playing time.