SAN FRANCISCO – Moses Moody officially is out for the Warriors’ regular season opener Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Lakers while still rehabbing a strained calf, coach Steve Kerr announced Sunday.
Moody did not practice Sunday. He went through individual work on the court and in the weight room, but has not scrimmaged since missing the Warriors’ final three preseason games.
Jimmy Butler and Jonathan Kuminga, both coming back from ankle issues, scrimmaged Sunday and everything went well for them physically. The two forwards will be listed as questionable for the season opener with the expectation being they’ll be able to play.
Losing Moody for at least the first game of the season already throws a wrench in Kerr’s plans for his starting lineup and how he’ll use different combinations. Moody started both preseason games he played in and averaged 14.5 points on 52.4 percent shooting and was 7 of 12 (58.3 percent) on 3-pointers. The Jimmy Butler trade last season cemented Moody into a role of being a go-to on-ball defender who can hit open threes.
Moody’s versatility as someone who can play up as a forward in smaller lineups or down as a shooting guard in bigger lineups proved key down the stretch last season. And it also has Kerr trying to fill a missing piece.
“I honestly have not decided yet who’s going to start on Tuesday,” Kerr said.
Which prompted the question: Do you know who will start on Tuesday?
Sprinkling in some sarcasm, Kerr rattled off the obvious choices of Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Butler, assuming he’s healthy enough. He then made it clear who at least the fourth person will be.
“With Moses out, that’s kind of the question,” Kerr said. “[Brandin Podziemski] will be out there. BP will be out there.”
Kerr mentioned veteran center Al Horford as an option, as well as Kuminga, but he could go a number of ways. The Warriors don’t want to play Horford, 39 years old, more than 20 to 25 minutes per game, making it tricky to decide if he’s better served as a starter or coming off the bench. If he starts and the…
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