{"id":534993,"date":"2026-01-14T00:47:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T00:47:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/534993\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T00:47:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T00:47:16","slug":"warriors-news-steve-kerr-explains-why-he-remains-committed-to-the-current-starting-lineup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/534993\/","title":{"rendered":"Warriors News: Steve Kerr explains why he remains committed to the current starting lineup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr isn\u2019t backing away from his starting lineup \u2014 even as the numbers continue to lag behind it. <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/kenzofuku\/status\/2010811883293471018?s=20\" rel=\"nofollow\">Speaking to the media on Monday<\/a>, Kerr acknowledged that while the current combination hasn\u2019t produced strong results, his reasoning for sticking with it goes beyond raw metrics.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The lineup of Stephen Curry, Moses Moody, Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, and Quinten Post currently has an offensive rating of 113.2 and a defensive rating of 116.5, for an overall net rating of -3.3.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">For Kerr, however, the bigger picture matters more than the early returns. Keeping Green at the four to open games not only helps the Warriors establish their preferred flow on both ends, but also spares him from having to start every night matched up against opposing centers over the course of the season. It\u2019s also created a level of consistency for the rest of the rotation, allowing players to settle into defined roles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">So while Kerr admits the starting lineup \u201chasn\u2019t been great,\u201d he believes the positives outweigh the negatives and that the lineup will ultimately benefit how the team functions overall.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">For more on this and other news around the NBA, here is our latest news round-up for Tuesday, January 13th:<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1teeyfa8 ls9zuh1\">Indeed, the 2026 first-rounder and 2028 pick swap with the Warriors would be pretty interesting assets to get back, given Golden State\u2019s timeline. Even if Curry, Green, Butler and Porter all re-sign for another year in 2028, you would think there would be seriously diminishing returns two years from now when all their core guys outside of Porter would be in their late-30s. The next-most valuable asset here is Moody, who has turned into a solid 3-and-D player at 6-foot-6 with a 7-foot wingspan. The Nets could use a guy like this for the next few years as they build out the rest of their roster. Moody makes sense next to a wide variety of players and is an established rotation player whose presence could help develop younger guys that Brooklyn already has and continues to bring in. Carter is also a lottery pick who\u2019s terrific on the defensive end but whose jumper has been very messy since he injured his shoulder before the 2024 draft. He\u2019d be a pure lottery ticket instead of taking the expensive Kuminga back.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1teeyfa8 ls9zuh1\">One other team to at least mention here: The Lakers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1teeyfa8 ls9zuh1\">The purple-and-gold\u2019s known preference at this deadline is to acquire a true 3-and-D wing with size if possible to provide some point-of-attack resistance on the perimeter as well as some shooting, but it must be said the Lakers, according to sources, did call Golden State about Kuminga during the sides\u2019 summer standoff in restricted free agency. I\u2019m told that the Lakers have likewise continued to monitor Kuminga\u2019s situation while casting a wide net to try to find help on a very limited wing market.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1teeyfa8 ls9zuh1\">The Suns have had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/teams\/advanced?DateFrom=12\/23\/2025&amp;DateTo=01\/11\/2026&amp;dir=A&amp;sort=DEF_RATING\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the league\u2019s No. 1 defense<\/a> (107.3 points allowed per 100 possessions) over the 9-2 stretch, climbing from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/teams\/advanced?DateTo=12\/22\/2025&amp;Season=2025-26&amp;dir=A&amp;sort=DEF_RATING\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">12th<\/a> to fifth for the season as a whole. They continue to force turnovers at a high rate, but have also been much better at keeping their opponents off the free-throw line over <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/team\/1610612756\/boxscores-four-factors\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">their last five games<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In case you missed it at Golden State of Mind:<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1teeyfa8 ls9zuh1\">The trade rumors surfaced this week like a fever dream you can\u2019t shake when you wake up. Michael Porter Jr. to Golden State. The hypothetical package: Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, Buddy Hield, and a first-round pick. Dalton Johnson quickly clarified that the Warriors haven\u2019t actually made that offer, that they\u2019ve been hesitant on Porter, and remain cautious with their future draft picks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Follow <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/unstoppablebaby?s=20\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">@unstoppablebaby<\/a> on X for all the latest news on the Golden State Warriors.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr isn\u2019t backing away from his starting lineup \u2014 even as the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":534994,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3724],"tags":[7,37651,1224,8939],"class_list":{"0":"post-534993","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-nba-news-and-rumors","10":"tag-warriors-news","11":"tag-warriors-rumors"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115890699860455182","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=534993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534993\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/534994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=534993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=534993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=534993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}