Golden State Warriors: 5 roster moves they must make in the coming offseason
1. Guarantee Damion Lee
When the Golden State Warriors were at their low point of the season, one of the players who stepped up was Damion Lee. The 6’5″ shooting guard played 49 games for the season, starting 36 of them.
In these games, Damion Lee averaged 12.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and, 1.0 steals in 29.0 minutes per game. While these numbers look good, they are very similar to the numbers he put up while with the Atlanta Hawks in the 2017-18 season.
The Hawks finished 15th in the Eastern Conference that season. It is one thing to put up numbers on a losing team and another contributing in a meaningful manner to a contender. On the 2018-19 Warriors, Lee only put up averages of 4.9 points and 2.0 rebounds.
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Yes, he was playing behind a two-time MVP in Curry as well as one of the most talented shooters ever to play the game in Klay Thompson. The other player who had regular minutes at the guard position is the now-retired Shaun Livingston.
This is the role that Bowman needs to fill. He needs to be a solid bench contributor who can control a game the way Livingston did when he was playing. The Warriors are not going to be able to get another player like Livingston with their salary cap pressure so it must come from within.
This is why the Warriors need to guarantee Bowman’s $1.76 million salary. They are not going to find another talented enough player who can slip into their system easily. This is Bowman’s third season with the franchise and he needs to earn his paycheck.