Steve Kerr's Opening Night Lineup Looks Like a Random 2K Generator

Steve Kerr just dropped an Opening Night starting lineup that looks less like a four-time championship core and more like a randomly generated NBA 2K roster. According to Dalton Johnson, the Golden State Warriors are leaning toward starting Stephen Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Gui Santos, Yaxel Lendeborg, and Draymond Green.

Read that list again. You have the greatest shooter in human history, the most volatile defensive anchor of his generation, and three guys who sound like they were drafted out of a witness protection program. If you told a Warriors fan in 2018 that Gui Santos and Yaxel Lendeborg would be protecting Steph’s flanks on Opening Night, they would have assumed the franchise relocated to the moon.

"Steve Kerr says he's leaning toward this starting lineup for Opening Night (via Dalton Johnson)"

Golden State has been tinkering heavily during their preseason slate, blowing out the Los Angeles Lakers 124-98 before splitting close games against the Portland Trail Blazers and Sacramento Kings. But rolling this specific five-man unit out for real regular-season minutes is a massive pivot from the veteran-heavy rotations Kerr usually clings to like a life raft.

This is the reality of the post-dynasty Warriors. The front office is desperately throwing youth at the wall to see what sticks next to Curry and Green. Podziemski already proved he belongs in the rotation, but elevating Santos and Lendeborg to the starting five means Golden State is fully prioritizing developmental reps over established floor-raisers.

For the fantasy managers and prop bettors trying to map out this rotation, this is pure chaos. Nobody has a reliable projection for how many touches Lendeborg is going to get when he shares the floor with Curry and Green, making the bottom half of this lineup a complete dart throw for daily contests.

We will get our first real look at this experiment when the Warriors travel to Los Angeles to face the Lakers on October 14. Until then, Kerr has a few days to either commit to the youth movement or suddenly remember he has veterans on the bench.