Warriors Announce Surprise Starting Lineup vs. Lakers with Draymond Green Out

The Golden State Warriors chose to rest Draymond Green for Tuesday's preseason game against the Los Angeles Lakers, which left a hole at center in the starting lineup.

Al Horford would be the logical replacement, as he's started 1,091 regular-season games in his career.

But to my surprise, the Warriors are starting Charles Bassey.

The 25-year-old center has started just three regular-season games in his career.

Horford is still likely to play more minutes than Bassey when both are healthy this season, but perhaps this promotion into the starting lineup shows that Bassey will have a bigger regular-season role than anticipated.

Bassey joins Stephen Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Yaxel Lendeborg and Gui Santos as the starters against the Lakers.

Meanwhile, the Lakers are giving Luka Doncic the night off, but Walker Kessler will make his preseason debut.

Bassey Rewarded for Strong Preseason

Looking solely at the first four preseason games, Bassey has been more effective than Horford and Graham Ike, presumably the two other players considered for the starting center spot Tuesday.

Bassey: 8.0 PPG, 66.7 FG%, 5.3 REB, 1.8 STL, 1.5 BLK (15 MPG)
Horford: 3.5 PPG, 14.3 FG%, 4.0 REB, 0.5 STL, 0.5 BLK (18.2 MPG)
Ike: 7.0 PPG, 35.3 FG%, 6.0 REB, 1.0 STL, 0.3 BLK (16.1 MPG)

Bassey was impressive in his five-game stint with Golden State last year, averaging 10.6 points and 7.2 rebounds per game.

The Warriors gave him a partially guaranteed one-year minimum contract, and it's a good thing they did.

At the time, they couldn't have known Kristaps Porzingis would be out indefinitely with a health issue.

Bassey's inability to shoot the ball from the perimeter could cramp the Warriors offense, but his ability to finish inside and defend the rim will come in handy.

Kessler's Size Will Be Good Test for Lendeborg

Kessler is one of the best rim protectors in the NBA, due in part to his 7'2" size. Having Kessler lurking around the paint should be a good test for Yaxel Lendeborg, who has scored 40 points over his last two preseason games.

Those games came against the Kings, who don't have an elite rim protector, and the Lakers when Kessler was out. Los Angeles doesn't have another rim protector in Kessler's tier.

It will be interesting to see how Lendeborg attempts to finish his drives with Kessler in the paint. In any event, it will be good practice for the 6'9" rookie forward before the regular season starts.

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