Golden State Warriors Mailbag: Holiday, Green, Trades
January 5, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Justin Holiday (7) during the second quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Thunder 117-91. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
@MaggiePilloton Do you think Justin Holiday will stay in the rotation come the playoffs?
— Isaac Norman (@isaacvnorman) January 15, 2015
Good question! Unfortunately, I think that Justin Holiday won’t see much time in the playoffs. This has nothing to do with his impressive contributions recently. I believe that he will see a drop in minutes in the playoffs for a couple reasons.
First, the rotation in the playoffs usually gets shrunk down to about seven or eight players, the starters and a few key reserves. Assuming the starters are healthy during the playoffs, the other players that will also see some significant playing time are Marreese Speights, David Lee, Shaun Livingston, and Andre Iguodala. Beyond that, not many reserves will see much playing time, because the starters and core rotation players play more minutes in the playoffs.
Second, I believe that if Steve Kerr is to give another reserve some minutes in the playoffs, it will most likely be Leandro Barbosa instead of Holiday. Barbosa is a veteran player with playoff experience, and this could come in handy in the playoffs. He also is more of an established leader, which is also valuable in the playoffs, especially for a team that is trying to break out and win a title.
This is all assuming that the starters are healthy for the playoffs. If they’re not (knock on wood), then this obviously would change things and might mean that Holiday would get some playing time.
I’m a big fan of Holiday, his story, and his character, but if the Warriors stay healthy, I’m not sure if he’ll see much playing time in the playoffs. There are certain situations where Kerr might decide that Holiday’s skills could come in handy during the playoffs, perhaps taking advantage of his three-point shooting or his length on defense. That’s hard to predict though because of unknown matchups and health of the roster.
Next: Draymond Green Contract Extension?