MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Warriors got an early Christmas present and aren’t waiting to unwrap it.
The Warriors inserted Dennis Schroder into their starting lineup days after acquiring him from the Brooklyn Nets. They could have brought the lead guard off the bench and gradually introduced him to lineup configurations, but are rather committing to him right away.
“We’re all in,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. “We believe in Dennis, he’s happy to be here, and we’re excited about the partnership. Now it’s time to get to work.”
Schroder started Thursday night’s game alongside Steph Curry, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and Kevon Looney. It’s the 15th different starting lineup the Warriors have used this season.
Kerr has been constantly searching for the right lineup combinations since De’Anthony Melton — packaged in the deal for Schroder — went down with a season-ending knee injury. When the trade went down, Kerr called Schroder to joke that he’s kicked his ass on three separate continents and told him he’d start with Curry.
The Warriors expect Schroder to play both with Curry and as the lead guard on bench units. A pick-and-roll playmaker, Schroder brings a different offensive dynamic and represents an openness to evolving the Warriors’ philosophy.
Thursday is Schroder’s second straight game against the Grizzlies, with his last game as a Net being a matchup with Memphis. At the end of that game, he, Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins and Ja Morant got into a verbal altercation in front of the scorer’s table. Jenkins said pregame that he hadn’t connected with Schroder while dodging the question.
“I’m ready to compete tonight,” said Jenkins, who coached Schroder for five in Atlanta.
In addition to Schroder, the wrinkle in Thursday’s starting-five is Green returning. He’d come off the bench in two of the last four games after a very public — both from him and Kerr — move to a reserve role. The idea was that by bringing Green off the bench, the team could better maximize Jonathan Kuminga.
While it’s true that Kuminga is averaging 21.2 points per game in his last five contests, the biggest effect of the coaching decision was an inability to set the tone defensively. Dallas gashed the Warriors for 46 first-quarter points earlier this week as Green sat for the first few minutes.
“Our identity is we’re a defensive team,” Kerr said. “We’ve been one of the best defensive teams all year. I wanted to see what it would look like starting JK at the four next to Loon, bringing Draymond off the bench. We’ve been experimenting, trying to find combinations so we can play the full 48 with combinations we feel confident in. Ultimately, if we’re going to set a tone defensively, we probably need to have the best defender in the league right away.”
