In a stunning announcement on Tuesday, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr revealed that the team will lock in Stephen Curry, Moses Moody, Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, and Quinten Post as the starting five for the foreseeable future. This group only made its debut on Sunday against Portland, and now Kerr is committing to it amid a chaotic season.
The Warriors have already cycled through an astonishing 15 different starting lineups in just 27 games, desperately searching for any kind of stability. Fans have been begging for rotation continuity, and Kerr is finally giving it a shot—but many are furious, slamming this lineup as underwhelming and defensively vulnerable.
How Has This Lineup Performed So Far?
Don’t get too excited: the early returns are ugly. In a tiny sample of 35 possessions, this group boasts a brutal minus-24.0 net rating (via Cleaning the Glass). They’re scoring at a respectable 62nd percentile, but their defense? A shocking 0th percentile—dead last in the league.
On Sunday against the Trail Blazers, they got torched early, dropping the opening five minutes 20-14. They bounced back a bit in the third quarter, winning the first four minutes 14-9, but the damage was done. Critics are ripping the unit as soft and turnover-prone, with fans flooding social media in outrage over how “weak” it looks on paper.
For comparison, a similar lineup swapping in Jonathan Kuminga for Moody posted a solid plus-14.9 net rating over 94 possessions. Many are questioning why Kerr isn’t reverting to Kuminga, especially with the young forward now riding the bench (and even getting DNPs) after a rough 8-of-32 shooting slump over three games.
Potential Strengths—and Major Weaknesses—of This Controversial Lineup
On the bright side, Moody and Post rank among the Warriors’ top shooters behind Curry, delivering maximum spacing for Butler and Green. This is also the biggest lineup Golden State can roll out, which could finally help on the glass. Green and Butler have been forced out of position most minutes (Green at center, Butler at power forward), but now they’ll at least start games in their natural spots.
That said, this group has no obvious glaring holes—except for a sky-high 22.9% turnover rate. Draymond Green alone coughed it up five times in just nine minutes against Portland, directly leading to nine Blazer points. Green admitted postgame: “Just making bad reads, bad decisions… Too f–king old to be doing that.” If he cleans that up, maybe this lineup survives. But right now, fans are livid, calling it a defensive disaster waiting to happen.
Moses Moody Finally Breaking Out of His Slump
Amid the chaos, there’s at least one positive: Moody is heating up. After a brutal stretch from Nov. 18 to Dec. 2 (31.8% FG, 25% from three), he’s exploded in the last five games—50% from the floor and 39.1% from deep.
Moody’s bumpy season hasn’t stopped him from posting the team’s third-best net rating at plus-9.4. Remarkably, the Warriors only have six players in positive territory overall—and five of them are now in this starting lineup.
Warriors Nation is on fire with debate. Is Kerr’s bombshell a bold move for continuity, or a desperate gamble that’s doomed to fail? The NBA world is watching—and fans are not holding back their anger.