Too many things can go wrong in the play-in tournament, and the Warriors don’t want to see a repeat of 2021, when they were upset by Memphis and missed the playoffs.
“He needs more time to prepare,” said Kerr, who sees the benefit of Wiggins having an extra week of practice to re-establish chemistry with the starting unit. “Ideally, if we could finish in the top six, we’d have a week or so to prepare and there would be scrimmaging going on during that time. And Wiggs would be involved in that. But we gotta go earn that. We got to win these next two in order for that to happen more likely.
Facing Phoenix stars Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Chris Paul in the first round would appear to be a tougher matchup than the Sacramento Kings, who are in third and slated to face the sixth seed. DiVincenzo shared a similar sentiment when asked about his preference between Phoenix and Sacramento for Round 1.