Steve Kerr hints Al Horford might not be a guaranteed starter, loves one Warriors lineup from last season

Steve Kerr likes Moses Moody and Brandin Podziemski lineup, Al Horford not guaranteed to start

Steve Kerr spoke to reporters after the Warriors’ win over the Lakers. When asked about bringing Al Horford off the bench or starting, Kerr kept things vague, but hinted that’s the direction he might go.

Kerr admitted that the small lineup with Moses Moody and Brandin Podziemski is quite successful for them, and he wants to revert to it, whether he starts with it or not.

“What I like about the small lineup is it really empowers Moses to be that disruptor defensively, which he was right away… He had a couple of deflections, and you could feel his presence.

“Then he has this great shooting night. I love starting Moses for that reason. I also love starting Brandin because he connects the game for us…

“That lineup was fantastic for us last year. We need to play it at some point in the game. It doesn’t mean Draymond is going to be logging heavy minutes at the five.

“We came off the bench with three centers tonight. If we start that way, it still allows Draymond to get off of the big, hulking centers as the game goes on.

“I’m confident we can play that lineup, whether we start it or not, I don’t know. I’m confident we need to play it because it was so good last year, and you can see why.”

Al Horford will earn his way into the starting rotation

While Steve Kerr might be a big fan of the small-ball lineup he started last night’s game with, making that his go-to starting lineup is a bad idea.

We’ve seen that small-ball in the NBA does not work unless you have elite players at every position. And while Kerr was impressed with Podziemski in preseason, neither he nor Moody are elite players just yet.

As for Al Horford, his age is a concern for the Warriors. But he is one of the best centers for their style of play. Given how many different starting lineups Kerr tried last season, Horford will get his chance.

It’s more than likely that Horford will earn his way into the starting lineup when Kerr experiments with the rotation. At this point, it’s more of a question of ‘when’ and not ‘if’ Horford will start.