Warriors depth chart: 3 rotation changes Steve Kerr has made that make him look like a genius

With a new-look roster that's easily the deepest he's had in years, Steve Kerr has had to make a lot of decisions as it pertains to the Golden State Warriors' depth chart.

Some of those decisions, of course, were ones that had to be made, given the injuries to Stephen Curry, De'Anthony Melton, and Andrew Wiggins, all three of whom missed the Warriors' back-to-back wins over the New Orleans Pelicans.

Wiggins returned on Saturday against the Houston Rockets, and Curry may return from his sprained ankle as early as Monday against the Washington Wizards. Melton, on the other hand, seems set to miss at least another two games with back issues.

Despite the injuries, the Warriors are off to a blazing start, winning five of their first six games, including all three without Curry in the lineup. And it needs to be noted that Kerr used a different starting lineup in each of those three games, which only adds to the overall creativity he's shown during this 5-1 start.

Here's a look at three rotation changes Kerr has made that make him look like an absolute genius in the early weeks of this 2024-25 NBA season.

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Steve Kerr has gotten away from his typical 10-man rotation to better utilize this deep Warriors roster

Throughout his tenure with Golden State, Kerr has usually gone with a 10-man rotation, which has obviously worked out just fine in years past.

But with this deep roster, he essentially had no choice but to switch things up. So many different players made strong cases during the preseason that they deserved minutes once the regular season began, and Kerr has just rolled with it.

In each of the Dubs' first two wins of the year over the Portland Trail Blazers and Utah Jazz, 14 players saw at least five minutes of action. In each of the next three games, the loss to the Los Angeles Clippers and the back-to-back wins over the Pelicans, 13 saw the floor. His smallest rotation came in Saturday night's overtime win over the Rockets, with 11 Golden State players getting at least 11 minutes.

Some head coaches tend to stick to their guns when it comes to rotations, especially those who've won multiple championships. But Kerr has shown incredible flexibility, which is admirable. But, again, when you've got a roster as deep as this one and almost everyone is contributing on a nightly basis, that's what you have to do.

Bringing Jonathan Kuminga off the bench has worked out wonderfully

Much has been made about the ongoing contract battle between the Golden State front office and Jonathan Kuminga, who's looking for a lucrative extension that hasn't yet (and may not) come.

So, naturally, when the fourth-year forward was taken out of the starting lineup after three games, some went the conspiracy theory route, saying Kerr wouldn't commit to making Kuminga a featured part of the Golden State offense because of what was happening with the contract talks, which is absurd.

Kerr, of course, has made the 22-year-old a big part of the offense and has given him even more minutes off the bench than he did when he was in the starting lineup. In Kuminga's three starts, he played 20, 18, and 22 minutes, respectively. And in the three games in which he's served in a reserve role, he's played 28, 27, and 26 minutes, respectively.

As for his production? That's gone up as well. After averaging 8.0 points on 33.3% shooting the first three games, he's averaged 18.7 points, including a season-high 23 against Houston, on 51.4% shooting in the last three.

Kerr clearly saw that things needed to change, and while Kuminga likely saw the benching as a demotion at the time, it's worked out wonderfully for everyone. Fantastic move.

Kerr is doing everything right with Buddy Hield

One of the great stories in the early part of this season has been that of Buddy Hield, who leads the Warriors in scoring thus far with 22.2 points per game.

His 30 three-pointers are also tied for the second-most in the NBA, trailing only Minnesota Timberwolves superstar Anthony Edwards, who's connected on 32. Hield has been much more efficient from beyond the arc, however, making 51.7% of his attempts compared to Edwards' 43.2% clip.

Kerr has utilized his new weapon beautifully. And part of the beauty of Hield's hot start has been his versatility. If Kerr needs him to come off the bench, which is the case most of the time, he does it.

When Kerr opted to start him in that first game against New Orleans, he delivered a season-high 28 points. And Kerr has done a beautiful job of moving him around, sometimes playing him at his natural position at shooting guard but also using him at small forward at times. Simply put, it's been fun to watch.

Once Curry returns, Kerr will obviously have to change some things up yet again. But he's already proven that he can make just about any combination work. So even when he inevitably shakes up the Warriors' depth chart the next time, the odds of it panning out in a positive way seem pretty strong at this point.