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The latest NBA rumors suggest the Golden State Warriors will not be pursuing a traditional center, despite Draymond Green and James Wiseman missing time due to injuries.
Golden State already has 15 players on guaranteed contracts for the rest of the current season, so adding any new players will have to be done via trades. However, all the players in their rotation have fit in perfectly, so it makes little to no sense in shaking up the roster at this stage. Here's what The Athletic's Anthony Slater reported regarding the situation:
"Green is out with a concerning disk issue and on a similarly vague recovery timeline that probably won’t see his return until near or around the All-Star break. The trade deadline is only a few weeks away. Is it time for the Warriors to go searching for center help? No, sources insist, the front office doesn’t have any current plans to add outside help to shore up the center spot in the immediate.”
Another reason the Golden State Warriors are okay with not adding a traditional center to stack their depth at the five is Kevon Looney's impressive play. The seven-season veteran has recorded at least ten rebounds in six of his last nine games.
He has been with the Warriors during their championship years since 2015 and is well versed in his role under Steve Kerr. Looney is one of those players whose performance does not reflect the box score. His efforts at guarding isolation scorers of the highest quality have made a great deal of impact for the Dubs in the absence of Draymond Green.
NBA Rumors: Analyzing why it makes sense for the Golden State Warriors to not pursue a center
The Golden State Warriors play a unique style of basketball. Any midseason acquisition will find it difficult to adapt to Steve Kerr's plans. They have the right pieces on their roster at the moment for them to execute their ideas at both ends of the floor.
In Green's absence, Kevon Looney is the primary option for Kerr to bolster the team's defensive depth. Golden State also use the likes of Nemanja Bjelica and Otto Porter Jr. on offense to stretch the floor.
As mentioned earlier, Looney has been with the squad for almost seven years. Meanwhile, Bjelica and Porter joined the team ahead of the start of the current season, and have had no problems adapting to the Golden State Warriors set-up.
That said, it's understandable from the Warriors' standpoint of not looking into bringing in reinforcements for the center position at this stage.
