Moses Moody isn’t the first name anybody thinks of when they think of the Golden State Warriors. Their roster is simply filled with stars who are forever in the limelight or in discussions. That includes Jimmy Butler, the finally re-signed Jonathan Kuminga, and newly-added Al Horford. Steph Curry and Draymond Green are, of course, always in the news cycle.
Advertisement
Each of those stars will be important to Golden State’s chances in a loaded Western Conference. But Moody’s role will be just as vital, as he continues to evolve as an all-around player.
Moody is entering his fifth year as a pro, and each year his minutes and points have steadily risen. He’s earned the trust of his teammates and head coach Steve Kerr by being a glue guy and a reliable outside shooter. And if the Dubs are going to get beyond last year’s second-round playoff mark, they’ll need Moody to take on an even bigger role.
Kerr distributed minutes evenly during last night’s preseason win over the Lakers. But it was Moody and not his more heralded teammates who led the team in scoring.
He dropped in 19 points in 15 minutes. After the game, Steph Curry spoke about the strides Moody has made in the offseason. “I would say, and maybe he could speak on it,” Steph said.
“But this is probably the best summer he’s had, health-wise obviously, but just the idea of he knows what he needs to do to impact the game when he’s on the floor, where his shots are gonna come and all that, so that comes over time, and it’s good to see him out there,” the 4 time NBA champion added.
“You can kinda tell the way he’s carrying himself, he has clarity on what he needs to do,” Curry asserted.
Moody played through a torn UCL in his thumb late last year, which caused a sharp drop in production. His April numbers were also well below what he did the rest of the season, and he hardly played in the second-round playoff loss to the Timberwolves. Even so, his overall stats were a career-best.
Moody had surgery to fix the issue in May, and if last night’s game is any indication, he’s back and better than ever now. He shot 5-7 from three against the Lakers, and was clearly in a happy mood when he said, “I think the surgery and everything ended up being like really a good thing for me because I was rehabbing and bringing my thumb back into my shot made me slow down.”
Kerr doesn’t have much time to figure out his rotation. But Moody looks like a shoo-in to be a vital piece of it.
The Warriors have four more preseason games before opening the real slate at the Lakers on October 21. It will be interesting to see if Moody can pull off a repeat of what he did Sunday night.
