Best Guess:
I think the Warriors will bring Bogut off the bench on Monday against Detroit and maybe for the next two or three games. The coaching staff will say it’s to help the 260-pound center get his legs back but, in addition to that, I think the move will allow Walton and Co. more time to ascertain how Bogut functions on the second-unit, and whether Festus can continue to play Swagzeli Ball over a longer period.
The choice to start Ezeli over Bogut is unlike the decision last year to start Draymond Green over David Lee in that the former will most likely only net a marginal increase in on-court performance (remember, Bogut is a way better player now than Lee was then, and Festus is nowhere near Dray’s level as a basketball player), whereas the later allowed the Warriors to become a hyper-active switching unit on defense and a paced and spaced team on offense.
Golden State’s coaching staff has been in this position before. In the deciding game of the NBA Finals last June, Steve Kerr elected to keep Andrew Bogut on the bench for the dreaded thanks-for-coming-but-no-thanks DNP-CD while giving Ezeli 11 minutes of run. At the time there was the prospect of winning a title and a long offseason for hurt feelings and bruised egos to heal. Right now there’s another 6 months of games (at least) to grind through. Let’s see whether coach Walton has the wherewithal to make a similar move.