Chriss creating tough decision for Warriors
SAN FRANCISCO – With the Warriors limping into the preseason, center Marquese Chriss is getting a chance to resuscitate his career.
Preseason injuries to Kevon Looney (hamstring), Willie Cauley-Stein (foot sprain) and Alen Smailagic (ankle) have provided an opportunity for Chriss to play his way onto the Warriors regular-season roster. After almost a week with the team, he’s making a strong case.
In the team’s preseason loss to the Lakers on Saturday, Chriss finished with 8 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists before fouling out after 14 minutes.
Despite the foul trouble, Warriors coach Steve Kerr has been impressed with what he’s seen from the former eighth overall pick in the 2016 draft.
“Marquese has had a good week. He fouled out in short minutes tonight, but he’s shown a lot of athleticism and he’s a great kid,” Kerr said. “He knows what he’s doing, so I think he is a really intriguing prospect.”
Chriss offers buoyant athleticism, screen-setting ability and playmaking sorely needed on the roster, especially when considering the indeterminate timelines of Looney’s and Cauley-Stein’s returns. In his short stint, Chriss sprung teammates with solid screens, flashed the ability to pass on the roll and had a couple of putbacks.
On a play in the first quarter, Chriss set a high screen for Stephen Curry before rolling and receiving the pass. After one dribble, he kicked out to Draymond Green in the right corner. Green pump faked and drove to the rim. Meanwhile, Chriss had made himself available in the “dunker spot” along the opposite baseline. Green lobbed it up, and Chriss finished the play with an alley-oop dunk. It was the type of quick decision making that stands out in these parts.
Impressive pass out of the roll here by Marquese Chriss.
More impressive is that he kept moving and made himself available in the dunker spot. pic.twitter.com/ztHdxgocZP
— Wes Goldberg (@wcgoldberg) October 6, 2019
“I thought he played great, I think he’s been great all training camp,” Green said. “He’s been on a couple of teams and people have written him off, but he’s been amazing in camp. To me, it looks like he’s figuring it out and turning the corner.”
After the game, Curry was asked about his burgeoning partnership with D’Angelo Russell. In his answer, Curry said something interesting: “Just don’t stop moving, and good things will happen.” Again, Curry was talking about his fellow backcourt mate, but it underscores the importance of movement in the Warriors offense.
Juxtapose Chriss’ movement and passing ability (again, he had four assists) with an up-and-down game for Spellman – who Kerr said settled too much for perimeter shots and needs to get in the post more often – and Chriss’ performance stands out that much more.
You don’t want to draw too many conclusions from one game, especially considering that Chriss couldn’t help but foul anyone within arms’ reach. But a promising preseason could create a difficult decision for the Warriors front office.
It’s unclear how long they will be without Looney and Cauley-Stein, and they’ll need bodies at the position (they are working out other centers for training camp deals, as well) who can screen, roll and play make. If the Warriors continue to see these signs from Chriss in practice and in the preseason, he could play his way onto the regular-season roster.
However, the Warriors are hard capped despite having an open roster spot. Without the hard cap looming, Chriss could easily be signed into the 15th spot, but the Warriors don’t even have enough space to sign a minimum contract. One option could be to waive rookie guard Ky Bowman and sign Chriss to a two-way contract, but it’s unclear if he’d be willing to take that sort of deal, especially if he impresses enough in the preseason to warrant a regular roster spot.
If the Warriors can’t trade another player into another team’s cap space, signing Chriss would have to come at the expense of Alfonzo McKinnie — who can be cut without a cap penalty at any point until his contract becomes guaranteed in January.
Despite an underwhelming performance in the preseason opener (7 points on 3-of-8 shooting, 6 rebounds and 2 assists in 21 minutes), McKinnie is a known entity. He started Friday in place of Klay Thompson who, after tearing his ACL, will be out until at least February, and figures to soak up minutes at the similarly-depleted wing position.
It all amounts to a tough decision for the Warriors front office.
“It’s impossible to figure out what’s what with our injury situation and cap situation. I’m happy to be coaching and not being the GM,” Kerr said. “I’m not exactly sure how it plays out.”