Golden State Warriors: Is depth a legitimate concern?

As good of a starting five as they have, could a lack of depth come back to hurt the Golden State Warriors come playoff time?

The NBA is a star-driven league. It always has been and likely always will be. Those with the best players have the highest championship odds. Those who don’t wind up sitting at the bottom of the standings, hoping a few ping pong balls can change the future of their franchise for the better.

Since their consistent runs to the Finals began back in 2015, the Golden State Warriors have always had top-level talent. Stephen Curry became a two-time MVP. Klay Thompson and Draymond Green became multiple time All-Stars.

Then, the Dubs pushed the envelope farther than anyone thought possible, signing Kevin Durant in the summer of 2016 and DeMarcus Cousins only two years later, creating the ultimate death lineup: five All-Stars, all still in their prime.

More than anything, it was a unique set of circumstances that allowed this mega super-team to form in the first place, but the why of it all wasn’t important. This was as talented a team as the NBA had seen in the modern era, one that was deemed unstoppable and the likely recipient of the Larry O’Brien trophy once again come June.

And yet, no team is without its own sets of cracks and weaknesses. For as historically great as its starting five has been and will continue to be as Boogie works his way back to full strength, Golden State’s lack of depth has become a shocking development in its era of domination, and it might not be receiving enough attention.

Prior to Durant’s arrival, the Warriors’ second unit was an immense source of strength, capable of spelling for the starters, maintaining and sometimes even expanding upon leads in any given game.

The team coined the playoff slogan “Strength in Numbers” for its ability to go 10 deep into its bench. Shaun Livingston had revitalized his career. Leandro Barbosa was capable of scoring as many points as he had minutes. Hell, Andre Iguodala was the Finals MVP in 2015. The Warriors had superstars, but their victories were ultimately built on teamwork with a credit to the front office for making these underrated signings that wound up making a huge impact.

Once KD arrived, though, everything changed. They had to sacrifice all those guys to make room for their newest player. Given his talent, it’s a tradeoff you make 11 times out of 10, but what was once an advantage for the Dubs became a revolving door of vet-minimum guys and late-round flyers.

That issue only grew once Cousins came along, as he would require the most of what little money Golden State had to spend over the summer, creating the bench squad we now see in the year 2019.

The duo of Livingston and Iguodala continue to provide leadership, but look down the bench and you’ll see a combination of unproven youngsters and G League alumni. General manager Bob Myers has managed to find some diamonds in the rough, but the consistency from these players just isn’t there. Even the veteran Iguodala goes through multiple shooting slumps a year, and at 35 years of age, injuries have become a regular occurrence.

Head coach Steve Kerr attempts to counteract this imbalance by playing his stars two at a time, but that scenario still leaves a majority of the players on the court for Golden State providing more questions than answers.

Come postseason time, most teams tend to shorten their rotations anyway, devaluing the importance of the reserves. The time to conserve energy is over. It’s about putting your best guys out there as long as possible to create the best chance to win.

Only this Warriors team isn’t like most playoff contenders. They’re hoping to advance to a fifth consecutive Finals appearance, having exerted more energy than all 29 other teams in that span. So when it comes to relying on non-All-Stars, the Dubs don’t really have a choice, lest they burn out well before the final round.

Say what you will about their talent, but trusting guys like Alfonzo McKinnie and Jordan Bell just isn’t very reassuring. If they’re smart enough, opponents will funnel the ball their way and force them to make plays. With the second-worst scoring bench unit, they won’t be able to rise to the challenge, forcing the Dubs to play the hero-ball that ironically makes them vulnerable.

In accumulating all this high-level talent, the Warriors made a sacrifice. The roster outside the starting five would have to be patched together using creative methods, but the go-to lineup in the final minutes would be one no other team could fully match up against.

It’s very likely and even probable that bench woes don’t stop Golden State from winning four out of the last five championships. Its best players are just that good. Just don’t be surprised to see that tradeoff making things more difficult now then they have been in past years.