2013-14 NBA Bench Power Rankings

May 2, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors small forward Harrison Barnes (40) dunks against the Denver Nuggets during the first quarter of game six of the first round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Nuggets 92-88. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

2. Golden State Warriors

It wouldn’t be too hard to argue that the Warriors fail to make the playoffs without the contributions of Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry. Landry was on fire the first twenty or so games when building a cushion of wins was critical for this young team. Jarrett Jack would get that I AM DEATH look in his eyes and make clutch plays look pedestrian. But that deadly duo is gone, victims of the Warriors committing to Andre Igoudala. The Warriors have also lost the services of over the hill Richard Jefferson, the injured Brandon Rush, and PTSD victim Andris Biedrins. These stalwarts have been replaced by Tony Douglas, Jermaine O’Neal, Mareese Speights, and the mysterious draftee Nemanja Nedovic. I don’t know much about Nedovic, but I’ve watched some clips of him dunking on Europeans and he looks quick and strong, with good size and a very welcome tendency to attack the rim (something Golden State guards don’t do enough). The Serbian Jeremy Lin, if you will. The rest of the new additions are bargain priced specialists. Jermaine O’Neal specializes in being huge, Toney Douglas is a defensive nuisance, and Mareese Speights is a pick-and-pop big man that glowers and scowls.

They’ll be joining four promising sophomores, headlined by Harrison Barnes, whose likely demotion to the bench in favor of Igoudala should give him motivation to make the most of his time on the hardwood, hopefully channeling the unflappable Barnes of the playoffs and not the decent but drifting Barnes of the regular season. Draymond Green does the little things coaches love and boxscores hate. Festus Ezeli has bad hands but otherwise held down the center position admirably until Andrew Bogut returned to form. And of course, Kent Bazemore and his seven foot wingspan is overdue to reveal his actual skill on the court and leave behind his reputation as a dude who celebrates with a bit too much zeal. Bazemore settled into the strange role as the undisputed “veteran leader” of a Warriors Summer League squad that seized the inaugural championship. Anyone who watched him play saw the potential he has for making life difficult for the scoring machines of the NBA. When you factor in the internal development of the sophomores and the new acquisitions, the Warriors bench seems surprisingly redoubtable, even with the loss of Carl Landry and Jarrett Jack.