Adding youth to their starting lineup might end up becoming one of the Golden State Warriors’ most important missions throughout the 2025-26 season.
Golden State’s aging core of Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green could certainly benefit from an added energy boost in the form of a lineup adjustment, and one NBA writer has suggested that their legendary head coach Steve Kerr may call on a rising two-way wing to achieve this goal.
After all, decisions that appear simple in nature have led to wildly successful results in the past, a phenomenon that the Warriors’ front office has become familiar with over the years.
“Moses Moody had the inside track on a starting job before a calf injury knocked him out just a few days prior to the season opener,” Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes wrote Saturday.
“So is it cheating to argue he’ll earn his gig back once he’s healthy?”
“Maybe a little, but it’s worth noting the fifth-year wing has only started 57 of his 255 career appearances and has made a habit of shuffling in and out of the rotation since he was a rookie.”
“It’s hard to argue anything about Moody’s role is certain, but the Warriors don’t really have another three-and-D option with his size. Think of him as slotting into the space formerly occupied by Andrew Wiggins, hopefully with more consistency.”
Golden State’s three-and-D difference-maker Moses Moody returned from a calf injury to make his season debut for the Warriors against the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night, but he could not turn the tide enough for his team to come out with a victory.
The 23-year-old finished with seven points on 1-for-6 shooting from the floor in 21 minutes, but his wayward shot attempts could be attributed to rust. In the end, it may not slow down the process of his eventual return to the starting lineup, where he can aim to replicate the impact of former Warriors forward and 2022 All-Star, Andrew Wiggins.
Wiggins’ 2021-22 regular season was impressive for the Warriors, but his fantastic 2022 NBA Finals performance against the Boston Celtics partially willed the franchise to its seventh title. He averaged 18.3 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocks throughout the six-game series and earned recognition from the NBA world as Golden State’s next-best player in the series behind Curry.
Moody’s undeniably positive experience as a starter next to Curry and Butler towards the tail end of the 2024-25 season was recognized by Kerr and the Warriors’ coaching staff last year, and there’s reason to believe that he could exceed Wiggins’ output in certain areas, like his three-point shooting efficiency, if he were to be given the full-time starting shooting guard spot this season.
In 34 outings as a starter in 2024-25, Moody averaged 11.0 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.1 steals to go along with a 39.4% shooting clip from distance (per StatMuse statistics).
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