Golden State Warriors: Grading every player after first month of season
Grading the Golden State Warriors rotation
Damion Lee, Backup SG – Grade: A
Damion Lee is making a case for everyone to stop thinking of him as “Stephen Curry’s brother-in-law” and instead as a shooter who has earned his place in the league. He has juiced units with his versatile jump shot, including a game-winner against the Chicago Bulls. He’s not a perfect player, but he has probably been the Warriors’ fourth-best player thus far. Given he was converted from a two-way contract just one year ago, that earns him the team’s highest grade.
Eric Paschall, Backup C – Grade: B
As a Draymond Green replacement as the starting power forward, the role he played for the first two games of the season, Paschall earned an ‘F’. As the backup forward playing alongside Kevon Looney or Marquese Chriss, he probably earned a D-.
Yet when Chriss went down with a long-term injury, Paschall became the backup center for the non-Steph Curry minutes, and he found his stride. His strength allows him to hold his own on defense, and offensively he is able to play through or dart around opposing bench centers. Head coach Steve Kerr can’t get away with playing him at power forward much anymore, but as a small-ball bench center, he has become a valuable piece.
Kent Bazemore, Backup SF – Grade: B
The pride of Old Dominion University returned to the Warriors this offseason and has been a versatile piece for Kerr. He has played up and down the positional spectrum, a jack-of-all-trades. He is hitting a blazing 45.8 percent of his 3-pointers, moving the ball and rates as one of the roster’s best defensive players. He has played mostly against bench players, but he’s an important part of the bench rotation: not elite in any area (hot shooting aside), but solid.
Brad Wanamaker, Backup PG – Grade: C-
The former Boston Celtics guard looked like a coup of a signing this offseason, but he has had a slow start to his Bay Area career. He is hitting just 26.9 percent of his 3-pointers and a similarly cold 31.6 percent of his 2-pointers. There was some hope he could play alongside Stephen Curry in some lineups but instead has served almost solely as his backup.
Kevon Looney, Backup C – Grade: D+
Looney is the fourth-longest tenured player for the Golden State Warriors and played key roles for the squad in their runs to the NBA Finals in 2018 and 2019. What has become clear is that right now, either due to regression or injury, Looney just doesn’t have it. He fills a role and makes a few solid plays, but when the chips are down Steve Kerr may need to tighten the rotation and drop Looney out of it.