How Wiseman, Chriss and Looney fit into Warriors’ center rotation - San Francisco Chronicle

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Head coach Steve Kerr said that the Warriors have four guaranteed starters heading into training camp.

If Stephen Curry and Draymond Green stay healthy, and Kelly Oubre Jr. and Andrew Wiggins unlock their potential, that leaves only one missing piece.

Well, let’s say pieces.

As has become the custom for the Warriors, they plan to rely on a host of players at center.

“I’m really not even thinking of it in those terms,” Kerr said when asked about his starting center. “Obviously, we have multiple options with (Kevon) Looney and Marquese (Chriss) and James (Wiseman). We anticipate all three of them playing. As always, we’ll figure out who starts and who plays in what role as we go.”

Looney is the most experienced and most versatile defender — he played a prominent role in seven-game playoff slugfests and can guard all five positions.

Chriss’ rim-to-rim talent and passing helped resuscitate his career last season — when he made good on a training camp invitation and stacked up stats at the end of the season — after he was waived and re-signed on a two-way deal.

Wiseman, the No. 2 pick in last month’s draft, has the length, athleticism and skill to become a top-five center in the league before his career is judged, but he’s 19 and played only three college games.

The Warriors hope the trio will give Kerr matchup and situational options and balance out each other’s weaknesses — a formula the organization has used for years.

“I think the balance is great,” Looney said. “Since I’ve been here, we’ve always had a three-man center rotation, so to maybe have that again, would be great. It’s always been a great success for our team, giving different looks and being able to switch up the pace and be able to play different styles.

“We can get back to where we were with the centers we have now.”

MEMPHIS, TN - NOVEMBER 5: James Wiseman #32 of the Memphis Tigers dunks the ball against the South Carolina State Bulldogs during a game on November 5, 2019 at FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee. Memphis defeated South Carolina State 97-64. (Photo by Joe Murphy/Getty Images)

The Warriors went to five straight NBA Finals from 2015 through ’19 using a similar formula. With David Lee and Green spotting the big men during small-ball minutes, Andrew Bogut, Festus Ezeli and Marreese Speights combined averages were 21.1 points, 15.8 rebounds and three blocked shots per game in 2014-15.

Green was still closing out close games at center during the Warriors’ record-setting 24-0 start to 2015-16, but by season’s end the team had plenty of options in the middle. Adding to Bogut, Ezeli and Speights, the Warriors brought in Jason Thompson and Anderson Varejao to make a five-player center rotation whose combined averages were 24.2 points, 20.1 rebounds and 3.7 blocked shots.

James Wiseman, left, Kevon Looney, center, and Marquese Chriss will likely be the Warriors' center rotation this season.

The five-player rotation at center worked so well that the Warriors soon started loading the bottom of the roster with big men. In 2016-17, they had six players log the majority of their minutes at center. Damian Jones, JaVale McGee, Zaza Pachulia, David West, Varejao and Looney had combined averages of 22.5 points, 18.6 rebounds and three blocked shots.

In 2017-18, the Warriors swapped out Varejao with Jordan Bell in the six-pack, and the group’s combined average was 27.3 points, 18.4 rebounds and 4.1 blocked shots.

The numbers were deceiving in 2018-19, when DeMarcus Cousins wasn’t healthy enough to play until mid-January and Bogut didn’t rejoin the team until mid-March. But those two, along with Bell, James and Looney, had combined averages of 34.8 points, 24.2 rebounds and 4.7 blocked shots.