Does Moses Moody have a reason to live up to his last name with the Golden State Warriors this season?
Warriors may not be maximizing Moses Moody’s potential
Moody is now in his fourth season in the league with the Warriors. He’s consistently shown an ability to be an efficient scorer with career averages of 46.3 percent shooting from the field and 37.1 percent shooting from three-point range. Those peripherals are heightened by his 51.2 percent and 51.7 percent clips in 2024-25 respectively.
So what’s the problem? Well, the Warriors have had perhaps the most competitive backcourt in the Association over the course of his NBA tenure. Pillars in Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson have been supported by the likes of now-Washington Wizards star Jordan Poole, Gary Payton II, now-Minnesota Timberwolves star Donte DiVincenzo, and currently, Buddy Hield and Brandin Podziemski.
That has robbed Moody of valuable time to develop his game. Despite the constraints he’s been under, to no direct fault of Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, the Arkansas native is one of the rare players in the league that just stays ready and shows it when his number is called.
Moody has shown he’s deserving of a larger NBA role through consistency off the bench
That was put on full display in the 2022 Western Conference Semifinals where he averaged 7.5 points per game on 75 percent shooting from distance in a mere 10.6 minutes of nightly action against the Memphis Grizzlies. His scoring outpaced Otto Porter, Draymond Green, and Kevon Looney, all of whom were vital to their championship run and saw at least 18.5 MPG. Moody’s consistency became a recurring theme last season, where his play garnered rave reviews from Kerr, who said this in preseason per ESPN’s Shams Charania and Kendra Andrews:
“‘He’s playing great,'” Kerr said. ‘He’s gotten so much better in so many ways. We’ve always loved his character, his work ethic. This is the most confidence he’s played with.’
While Kerr said Moody is in line to play “a big role for us,” he also offered a caveat.
‘But so are a lot of other guys,’ Kerr said. ‘We’re sitting in that coaches room every day saying: ‘How are we going to play all these guys?’ Because they all deserve to play. I’ve asked all of them to play their hardest, make it difficult for us.'”
The 22-year-old’s confidence is high, and so is his productivity. He’s inked to stay in Golden State until 2027-28 on the three-year, $39 million extension he signed this fall. But, Kerr acknowledged the abundance of capable contributors he has at his disposal at the two-guard slot. Thus, it begs to question of when Moody will get an opportunity to start full-time or earn marquee minutes. Could his services be better utilized on a rebuilding team, and could the Warriors fill a position of need in exchange for him?
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Moody could ascend elsewhere similar to an emergent star on the Brooklyn Nets
As it stands, Trayce Jackson-Davis and Kevon Looney are the Warriors’ main interior presences. Albeit, Moody could do damage on teams like the Utah Jazz or Atlanta Hawks in a swap for Jazz center Walker Kessler or Hawks star Clint Capela. Particularly in the case of Atlanta, Moody could be a more potent option than Dyson Daniels alongside current assists leader Trae Young in their starting five, as the team favors bringing Bogdanovic Bogdanovic off the bench.
On a team where he can, at the least, flirt with 25 minutes a night, the former No. 14 overall pick could chart a similar course akin to Brooklyn Nets star Cam Thomas. In the case of Thomas, he too was lauded for being a precocious talent but never saw playing time commensurate with the praise he was receiving. Then, he went from averaging 8.5 PPG as a rookie and 10.6 PPG in his sophomore season to 22.5 PPG last season and is now contending for the league lead in scoring at 28.2 PPG this time around.
Moody averaged 8.1 PPG in 2023-24 and is currently at 10.7 PPG. That looks strikingly similar to the LSU product. On top of that, his 20.9 points per 36 minutes gives more credence to his potential to break out. Meanwhile, Hield is having a career season off the bench for the Warriors and Podziemski has great promise himself, so Moody’s role may not grow as desired or deserved anytime soon. Money aside, it may be time for Golden State’s front office to move their promising young talent for much-needed frontcourt depth and let him spread his wings elsewhere.
