Golden State Warriors: Health Concerns Of Andrew Bogut

Is treating Andrew Bogut like he’s at 100 percent health the right way approach heading into next season?

The Golden State Warriors believe so. According to this report, the team feels as though Bogut has had no setbacks this summer and thinks he can take on a full load of minutes over the course of the regular season.

However, Bogut’s injury history was been well-noted the past couple of years. He’s missed 104 games the last two seasons and has undergone microfracture surgery as well.

It’s no doubt that Bogut plays a big role on the team whenever he is healthy, but the issue has always been keeping him healthy. The Warriors need to reconsider their plan to place a full load on him to begin the season.

For the sake of both the team and his future, Andrew Bogut’s minutes should be monitored next season with caution. (NBA.com photo)

With the other center in the rotation, Festus Ezeli, missing approximately the first couple months of the season, Bogut’s level of importance to the team becomes much more crucial. While more minutes will need to be distributed, a safer way to go about it would be to properly divide those minutes among David Lee and new acquisitions Marreese Speights and Jermaine O’Neal.

While Golden State would most likely make the playoffs without a healthy Bogut over the whole season as they’ve done before, it remains to be seen if they can go deeper into the postseason without him. That sounds like a risk the Warriors would rather not take.

For the upcoming season, Bogut has to also take into account that he’s in his final year of his contract. If he doesn’t show any consistency of being on the floor and continues to stay on the sidelines for most of the year, that could cost him millions next summer. Though the market works in favor of big men most often, most teams won’t be flocking to a player that can’t stay healthy.

The part of the Warriors’ game that is missing is a consistent force in the paint to defend opposing big men. If their gamble backfires on them once again, it’s an automatic ejection from a chance at the Finals.

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