Warriors may not be done shaking up their centers

OAKLAND - The Warriors are in the market for centers.

On Thursday, they benched their starting center, Zaza Pachulia, and replaced him with JaVale McGee.

Then, on Friday, the New York Daily News reported the Warriors will “push to sign” veteran center Joakim Noah if the New York Knicks release him or buy out his contract. The Warriors believe Noah would “bolster their roster,” according to the report.

“Whoever (general manager) Bob (Myers) and the front office brings in, we’re going to embrace,” Kevin Durant said Friday afternoon in the Warriors’ practice facility. “But I didn’t hear that story.”

Coach Steve Kerr did not address the issue after practice because he’s not allowed to talk about players on other teams.

The Minnesota Timberwolves and Oklahoma City Thunder also reportedly would try to sign Noah if he becomes a free agent.

Noah, 32, is a two-time All-Star (2013 and 2014) who won the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award in 2014. That was the season Kerr famously raved about Noah on Twitter.

“If I had to pick 1 player to play a Game 7 on the road,” Kerr tweeted, “I’d take LeBron (James) first, KD (Kevin Durant) second and Joakim Noah third. Noah is an amazing player/winner.”

Kerr wrote that four years ago, before he was the Warriors’ head coach.

No one would write that about Noah now. He has appeared in only seven games this season, and started none. He’s averaging 1.7 points per game and two rebounds per game off the bench.

On Jan. 24, Noah shoved his head coach, Jeff Hornacek, then left the Knicks for “personal reasons,” according to the team. Noah was unhappy about his playing time. He hasn’t played since.

If the Knicks waive Noah or buy out his contract before March 1, any team that signs him can keep him on their playoff roster. Noah is scheduled to earn another $54 million on his current contract, which runs through 2020.

Noah is not the dominant big man he was in 2014, and injuries are a big reason for his deterioration. He’s injury prone. An 11-year vet, Noah missed at least 15 games in seven of his first 10 seasons. Since 2014, he has missed 157 games and counting.

But now, he’s healthy. And despite his steep decline, he still may be a better center than the ones the Warriors currently have.

The Warriors appear to have lost confidence in Pachulia, who turned 34 on Feb. 10.

Leading into the All-Star break, the Warriors repeatedly fell behind opponents during the first quarter with Pachulia as the starting center. After the break, they removed Pachulia from the starting lineup and replaced him with McGee.

It seems the Warriors believe Pachulia was the reason for their slow starts.

McGee, 30, has very little starting experience. He has made only 22 starts since 2012 and only five starts this season. The Warriors tried to trade him at the trade deadline.

“The feeling of (wondering) if I’m going to be traded, to now starting, it’s definitely empowering,” McGee said on Friday. “But I’ve got to show up in the long run. That’s the point. It’s not guaranteed that I’m going to start every game. I’ve got to prove that I’m meant to be here. That’s how we’ll know if it’s meant to be.”

The Warriors typically play McGee no more than 14 minutes a night, if they play him at all. Sometimes, he’s a healthy scratch, depending on the matchups with the opponent.

Most of the time, McGee is a role player. A hustle player. Like Noah. They’re the same type of center.

“When I’m on the court,” McGee said, “I try to speed the game up. If they score a basket, I try to take the ball out as fast as possible. When we score, I try to deny the guard (from getting the inbounds pass). Just fluster him a little bit to mess up his rhythm. There are certain things I try to do, knowing I’m fast and athletic.”

“JaVale brings that energy and ability to run,” Kerr said. “He’s probably the fastest big guy in the league. I don’t think any big in the league could beat him in a race down the floor.

“So, you get energy. You get the ability to catch a lob. He caught one early (against the Clippers Thursday night). There’s a floor-spacing element - you get that vertical threat, which adds to your spacing.”

Noah would give the Warriors the same “vertical threat,” the same “spacing element,” the same energy and speed McGee provides. Plus, Noah has playoff experience. He has started 60 playoff games during his career. McGee has started only three.

“We have lots of centers,” Kerr said. “They all do something really well. They’re all very different from one another. As long as we’re playing hard defensively, I’m not sure it matters who our starting center is.”

In that case, one more couldn’t hurt.