Golden State officially finalized its 18-man squad for Wednesday’s tipoff against Los Angeles and will enter the new campaign with no major surprises. The seven-time champions will start their 2026-2027 season without Jimmy Butler, Moses Moody, and Kristaps Porziņģis, all of whom are expected to miss time due to injuries. The latter has no return timeline, as the Latvian center deals with an unspecified issue. With Butler not expected back until around the new year and Moody likely not fully recovered until 2027, the Warriors start in a hole before a single minute of basketball is played.
The Warriors face double trouble, as they'll miss reliable production from three key players. Golden State’s remaining healthy parts will also have to find ways to fill the hole left behind, both in minutes and statistics. To bridge the sudden gap, general manager Mike Dunleavy signed free agent Georges Niang and drafted Michigan’s Yaxel Lenderborg. While this won’t give the 2022 NBA Champions the options head coach Steve Kerr wants to deploy, it’s certainly noteworthy patchwork from the front office.
Golden State doesn’t lack bodies in the backcourt. Stephen Curry is set to headman that group entering his 18th year, but no one should let his age fool them. Despite playing his second-fewest games in a single season, Curry still averaged 26.6 points per game in just 30.9 minutes per contest. The franchise’s greatest player also earned All-Star honors for a sixth consecutive season, marking a 12th selection in the last 13 seasons. The organization has recently failed to give its two-time League MVP ample relief.
Three rising guards, Brandin Podziemski, Will Richard, and free agent acquisition Brandon Williams, should help balance the backcourt. Veteran options like Gary Payton II and De’Anthony Melton round out Kerr’s guard options and give the team a much-needed perimeter-defense boost. Curry will perform best if he’s not overused, and the Warriors may finally have enough backcourt talent to support that. The area they can’t seem to avoid is having an aging core, leaving them extremely vulnerable in case of another major injury.
Lastly, the Warriors will look to implement an almost entirely new offensive system. This could result in either a winning edge or total catastrophe, depending on how much time players will need to get comfortable and how well they’ll ultimately adapt. Golden State’s 2026 preseason offered valuable insight into the challenges, adjustments, and lessons that could ultimately shape the Warriors’ upcoming campaign. One can look at the 2026-2027 Warriors with both optimism about breaking out of the Play-In Tournament hump and glaring concerns that could quickly turn this campaign upside down.
