Desperate Warriors Make Early Move on Injured Moses Moody

The Golden State Warriors are doing what they can to stay afloat here late in the NBA season, a season that has been particularly unkind. Going back to January 19, the Warriors have lost both Jimmy Butler to a torn ACL and, less than two week later, Stephen Curry to a patellar tendon injury. As if those injuries were not bad enough, the Warriors have struggled to keep new center Kristaps Porzingis upright since acquiring him from the Hawks at the trade deadline.

And then there’s Moses Moody, who is one of the steadiest members of the Dubs’ rotation. Moody injured his right wrist back on March 2 against the Clippers and has struggled to make progress. But with the team having trouble putting together a rotation in recent days, the Moody rehab has been sped up.

On Saturday, the Warriors said that Moody would be incorporated into live practices, and then be re-evaluated on Tuesday. Apparently, they’re not going to wait that long, though–the Warriors made a move on Moody on Sunday that could get him on the floor on Monday against the Mavericks in Dallas.

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Warriors List Moses Moody as ‘Questionable’

From Warriors beat writer Anthony Slater, on Twitter/x: “Warriors are upgrading Moses Moody to questionable for tomorrow’s game in Dallas. Starting wing has missed the team’s last 10 games with a wrist sprain. Needed rotation help for a depleted team.”

Moody has developed into a valuable 3-and-D wing, shooting 44.1% from the field this year and 40.2% from the 3-point line. He has averaged 11.9 points in 54 games, and had been the starter at small forward since early December before he went down with the wrist injury.

By NBA rules, when teams list players as “questionable,” it is expected that they have a 50% chance of playing.

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Moses Moody Now a Lefty?

The Warriors have lost eight of their last nine games, and the fact that Moody is a possibility to come back despite still dealing with the wrist problem is reflective of their desire to start winning again as soon as they can get Curry back.

In fact, it was just four days ago that coach Steve Kerr said  that the team has been disappointed by the lack of progress in Moody’s injury, but added that Moody had been practicing using his left hand more to facilitate a faster return.

As Sam Gordon of the San Francisco Chronicle noted on Wednesday, “Moses Moody’s right wrist sprain has healed ‘a little bit,’ Kerr said, ‘but he’s not as close we hoped’ to returning to the lineup for Golden State. Moody is out an eighth straight game and practicing left-handed, Kerr said.”

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Warriors Just Waiting on Stephen Curry

The Warriors are 33-38 and have been dropping like a stone in the standings without their usual lineups. Horford remains out, but Porzingis will be back on Monday in Dallas, and now there’s a chance Moody will be, too. The Warriors are eager to start building up some momentum for Curry’s return.

“We’re going to be in the play-in one way or the other,” Kerr said. “So we have to prepare, we have to be prepared for when we get guys back, for when Steph’s back, and Moses and Al. If we are prepared when they get back, we can do some damage, we can go on a run.

“But we can’t have game-plan mistakes. We have got to build better habits. Boxing out, taking care of the ball in transition, taking care of the ball in transition, that sort of thing.”

Sean Deveney is a veteran sports reporter covering the NBA, NFL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2019 and has more than two decades of experience covering the NBA, including 17 years as the lead NBA reporter for the Sporting News. Deveney is the author of 7 nonfiction books, including “Fun City,” “Before Wrigley became Wrigley,” and “Facing Michael Jordan.” More about Sean Deveney