3. Russell’s Style of Offense Isn’t Cohesive

There are a variety of players on the Golden State Warriors that aren’t playing a style on offense that will translate to winning. That is a key reason why the team has struggled to even reach a double-figure number in the win column.

The extent that D’Angelo Russell dominates the ball in the Warriors’ offense obviously won’t sustain when their key pieces like Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson return to the lineup. However, he lacks enough value as an off-ball threat to be in that role.

The original plan the Warriors had before Curry went down with injury was to stagger him and Russell. The thought behind that was to maximize the offensive impact of both players by putting the basketball in their hands more by having the other off the floor.

“I watched him a lot last year,” Warrios head coach Steve Kerr said. “It’s exciting to think about the offense that he can generate for us.

“We’re gonna for sure stagger Steph (Curry) and D’Angelo so one of them is always on the floor generating offense. He had a phenomenal year last year and there’s no reason why he can’t get any better.”

via “The Full 48” podcast

It’s a favorable concept to try to stagger Russell and Curry so there is a primary ball-handler on the floor at all times. However, if there is a dilution of the starting unit’s impact because of Russell’s defensive deficiencies and less than ideal fit, it diminishes the overall value of the team.

It seems to be ideal to have cohesive talents in the starting lineup that fill a specific role at the small forward and center spots alongside Curry, Thompson, and Green. That would better optimize their starting group and their salary cap spending to bolster their depth.