3 Burning Questions the Warriors Must Address in Training Camp

Fair or not, Yaxel Lendeborg's performance will be critical to the Golden State Warriors' chances this season.

That makes training camp a crucial time for the rookie and the Dubs as a whole.

Lendeborg doesn't need to take Gui Santos' starting job immediately to prove he's on the right track, but the Warriors would be better off if he leaves no doubt that he's worthy of a starting spot.

Whether Lendeborg will start is one of three burning questions the Warriors must address in training camp.

Will Lendeborg Start Over Santos?

The only absolutely set in stone member of the starting lineup is Stephen Curry. But we can be reasonably sure that Draymond Green and Kristaps Porzingis will start as well, and I'm expecting the Dubs to give Brandin Podziemski the nod over De'Anthony Melton.

That leaves the starting small forward role to either Santos or Lendeborg.

Santos was tremendous down the stretch last season, averaging 15.3 points per game over the last 2.5 months.

Santos has proved to be a capable rebounder and passer, and though he struggles defending quicker ball-handlers, he's been a good team defender as well.

Lendeborg projects to be a similar player, except he's bigger and has more impact potential on both ends.

To be clear, Santos is a solid rotation player who can play big minutes without bringing the team down. But the Warriors have several players like that. They need someone to have more impact to give Stephen Curry more support before Jimmy Butler returns.

Lendeborg has the most potential to do that.

Prediction: Santos starts the opener, but Lendeborg gets into the starting lineup in the early stages of the season

Will Brandon Williams Fend Off Competition for Roster Spot?

Brandon Williams is a young, talented scoring guard who gives the Warriors a different dynamic. I don't think they went through the trouble of recruiting him just to sign him and release before the season starts.

But that is a possibility based on his contract structure.

Williams has no guaranteed money until opening night. If he's on the roster on opening night, he'll have $1.4 million of his contract guaranteed.

If Williams plays well in training camp, releasing him will be a non-starter. But if he plays so-so and someone else—whether it be two-way guard LJ Cryer or likely Santa Cruz Warriors starter Dalen Terry—plays awesome, the Dubs will have a tough decision about whether to keep Williams on the roster.

Prediction: Williams stays on the roster for the whole season

Will Vogel Convince Kerr to Play Bigger Lineups?

Frank Vogel was essentially hired to be the Warriors' new defensive coordinator, and that could lead to changes to Golden State's rotations.

Steve Kerr has played more small-ball lineups than most coaches over the last few years. Meanwhile, Vogel is known for favoring lineups with great positional size to aid his defensive schemes.

One example is how often Vogel played Anthony Davis at power forward when Vogel was head coach of the Lakers.

According to Basketball Reference, Vogel played Davis at power forward 60 percent of the time in the 2019-20 Lakers' championship season. He upped that percentage to 91 percent in the Lakers' 2020-21 season.

In the year prior to Davis joining the Lakers, he played center 96 percent of the time for the Pelicans.

The Warriors don't have wings that a) have great positional size and b) project to be good on-ball defenders. So Kerr and Vogel will have to choose how to handle that issue.

In the past, Kerr would play three-guard lineups that have good on-ball defense but very poor positional size. A lineup like Curry, De'Anthony Melton, Gary Payton II, Draymond Green and Kristaps Porzingis would be an example of that.

This season, Kerr could choose to play Payton much less often and instead have either Lendeborg or Santos at the 3 for virtually the entire game. Doing that will give the Warriors more size, but they could have major issues preventing dribble penetration.

If the Dubs go with bigger lineups, Vogel will be tasked with funneling drivers into places where there's help-side defense, and from there the Warriors will have to rotate well.

We'll see if Vogel's presence leads to more bigger lineups.

Prediction: The Dubs play bigger lineups to fit Vogel's vision

Add us as a preferred source on Google