An opportunity for the third-year guard.
The Golden State Warriors are once again turning to a new starting lineup. The team is getting ready to start a four-game road trip, which kicks off with a game against old friends Jordan Poole, Patrick Baldwin Jr., and the Washington Wizards. But the Dubs will be without Andrew Wiggins, who was scratched from the lineup due to personal reasons on Tuesday morning.
Starting in Wiggins’ place is third-year guard Moses Moody, who joins fellow youngsters Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski, as well as Hall of Fame-bound veterans Steph Curry and Draymond Green in Golden State’s starting quintet. Coach Steve Kerr announced the move shortly before the game.
While moving Klay Thompson back into the starting lineup might be the conventional choice, using Moody in the starting five is a common Kerr tactic. The Warriors coach likes to keep his bench units intact, and with Chris Paul returning for this game, he surely wants to get started developing a routine and rotations with Klay and CP3 coming off the pine. Plus, it serves as an opportunity to put some trust in a young player who hasn’t had much run lately — Moody has played just 10 minutes over the last two games, almost exclusively in garbage time.
It’s a good opportunity for Moody, and hopefully he makes the most of it. He surely feels he deserves more minutes — he’s averaging just 16.8 per night and has had a handful of DNP-CDs — but there’s quite a logjam on the team when the Dubs are healthy.
This will be Moody’s fifth start of the year, and his first since December 2.