As the Golden State Warriors extend their most recent win streak to five games, with massive victories over the Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Lakers, and Denver Nuggets, they have moved within striking distance of gaining home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

With a win in their matchup against the Houston Rockets on Sunday night, they will have cemented themselves as a genuinely tough opponent in the Western Conference, and. As the fit between Jimmy Butler, Stephen Curry, and their younger counterparts has developed, the team looks to be firing on all cylinders.

Yet one of these young players — 25-year-old rookie center Quinten Post — could be forced to cede his playing time as head coach Steve Kerr leans more into the the veteran experience of Kevon Looney.

Kevon Looney could find his way back into the rotation as the playoffs approach

Post, who was called up from the G-League in January, has since become a major part of the Warriors rotation, starting in 14 games and averaging 8.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists this season.

As the lone seven-footer on the Golden State roster, Post’s size and stellar 3-point shooting — which has him shooting 41% from beyond the arc this season — has helped overhaul the team’s spacing and their offensive flow as a result.

For much of the season, Golden State rolled with Looney and second-year big man Trayce Jackson-Davis, resulting in a choice between the former’s defensive capabilities and the latter’s athleticism.

Since Post’s ascension to the rotation, the Warriors have mostly employed either him as their starting center, or in most situations opted to play the relatively undersized Draymond Green at the position in order to maximize the effectiveness of forwards like Butler and Moses Moody.

Post has played his role exceedingly well in providing a fresh excitement for Warriors fans, but as every game becomes all-important to this team, it is likely that Steve Kerr leans back into Looney’s defensive prowess to help anchor the team’s bench minutes.

Following a stretch of games in which he saw his minutes drastically cut, Looney played over 17 against the Nikola Jokic-led Denver Nuggets — a vital matchup that Golden State needed to win defensively. Over his past 10 games, Looney has averaged 3.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 0.7 assists.

While the Warriors have excelled defensively as of late, Post still holds the third-worst defensive rating among players still active in the team’s rotation, showing a key aspect of his game that he will need to develop in the coming years.

He has taken strides this season on that end of the floor, but as teams lean more into game-planning against Golden State’s weaknesses, Looney could certainly eat up a large chunk of Post’s minutes — a potentially disappointing development for fans that have seen the exciting young player grow into an effective rotation piece.