Wiggins out, Draymond coming off bench tonight against Wizards

As the Golden State Warriors progress agonizingly close to having their #FullSquad available, Draymond Green and Otto Porter Jr. return tonight - but Andrew Wiggins will be sitting out.

Green, who will be on a minutes limit, will come of the bench for the first time since the 2013-14 season, his second in the league. Coach Steve Kerr says the move is only “temporary,” but bringing Green off the bench makes it easier to manage his minutes so he’s available to close games. And if the Warriors have experience with anything during the 2021-22 season, it’s managing the minutes of injured players.

Instead, the Warriors will be starting rookie Jonathan Kuminga, who had perhaps his best game of the season against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks Saturday night with a career-high 11 rebounds. In fact, let’s look at one of his dunks.

Jordan Poole remains in the starting lineup as the Dubs continue to lean on their three-guard Steph-Klay-Poole lineup, which is outscoring opponents by 38 points per 100 possessions together since the All-Star break.

Porter returns after missing the last four games, and he’ll also be coming off the bench. He’d been playing about 20 minutes per game before a sore back sat him down, so he will likely be eased back into the rotation slowly, especially after Kuminga and Moses Moody have proved themselves trustworthy.

Wiggins is out with an illness, after he also had an excellent game Saturday night. He’d been slumping since being selected as an All-Star starter, and after playing 62 of the Warriors’ 68 games, he can probably use a breather anyway. Let’s hope the doctor prescribes rest, fluid, and lots of free throw practice.

Gary Payton II and Andre Iguodala remain out, with “knee soreness” and “being 38 years old” respectively. James Wiseman will also remain out, as he’s playing one more game for the Santa Cruz Warriors, who rode the big fella to a stunning overtime victory over G League Ignite yesterday.