Kent Bazemore certainly made his presence felt in the Warriors' first preseason game a couple of weeks ago, registering 13 points and five rebounds in 18 minutes.
But he took a step back in Golden State's final two preseason contests, turned the ball over twice in 12 minutes against the Brooklyn Nets in the season opener, and didn't check into the Christmas Day game vs. the Milwaukee Bucks until late in the third quarter.
Bazemore didn't play at all in the Warriors' win over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday.
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So what role does Steve Kerr envision the 31-year-old having this season?
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"I think Kent is going to be our vet. He's already a voice in film sessions, and talking to guys privately on the side," Golden State's coach told the media Monday. "His time is gonna come. I've talked to him about that.
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"He's going to play, it just has to happen organically. Right now, we're trying to figure out who our team is. I know what Kent can do. I've watched him play for years.
"We're trying to take a look at some other guys -- trying to find some rotations. Right now, he's on the outside looking in. But he knows that eventually he'll be in there."
Bazemore signed a minimum contract with the Warriors in November, and some in the basketball world thought perhaps he could end up starting some games for the Dubs this season.
That doesn't seem realistic at this point, but it's a long season and things can change quickly.
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The safe bet is that he ends up making some major contributions throughout 2021.
"I'm gonna bring the energy. I'm gonna dive into the offensive playbook -- ball movement, cutting slashing," Bazemore said earlier this month. "And then defensively is where I'm gonna hang my hat. Shut that water off as they say.
"If a guy gets it going, I'm your guy [to stop him]. I'm gonna do what I've been doing to stay around these nine years. Get some rebounds, get some steals, get some blocks, get a couple assists, get a couple corner 3s.
"And smile my way back into the playoffs."