Steve Kerr candidly reflects on Warriors’ failure to get younger this offseason originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Steve Kerr hoped the Warriors could add some “younger legs” this offseason, but the Warriors coach knows addressing the need was easier said than done.
As Golden State approaches the 2026-27 NBA season with a roster closely resembling the aging group that competed last campaign, Kerr explained why on Friday’s episode of the “Tom Tolbert Show.”
“Having been a GM, I know how hard it is to just magically say, ‘All right, we’re going to get younger,’ ” Kerr told Tolbert. “We obviously tried to get younger, but stuff has to materialize. You have to have the assets or the cap room to be able to do certain things.
“The stuff that came our way, I mean, it’s [Mike Dunleavy’s] job and [Joe Lacob’s] job, but they obviously run everything by me. I mean, there was nothing that made sense to me to make this huge move. So, look, we did the best we could to put together the roster.”
In addition to bringing back veterans like Al Horford, De’Anthony Melton, Gary Payton II and Kristaps Porziņģis, the Warriors added Georges Niang and Brandon Williams in free agency after drafting Yaxel Lendeborg No. 11 overall in the 2026 NBA Draft.
It’s Kerr’s hope that the current roster, anchored by Steph Curry and Draymond Green, has enough depth to overcome its age as the team waits for Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody to return from their respective injuries.
“I think Yaxel’s going to help quite a bit,” Kerr continued. “He’s a really good player. He’s older, he’s mature. Watching him work out with our guys, he’s going to help us. Gui Santos, Brandon Podziemski, these guys are going to help us. George Niang, Brandon Williams, new signees. Nothing earth shattering, but really good players who can play a lot of minutes.
“And so I think our depth is the answer to the question you asked. We’re going to have to rely on our whole roster, including our two-way players at times. And fortunately, I do feel really good about the guys we have who have kind of filled out the back end of the roster. And I think they can help us hold down the fort until Jimmy [Butler] and Moses [Moody] get back the second half of the year.”
For the first time since the 2021-22 season, the Warriors are fielding a full 15-man roster to start the campaign in an attempt to make up for Moody and Butler’s absences.
Despite the odds — and Father Time — seemingly stacked against them, Kerr and the Warriors certainly hope they can recreate some of the magic from that championship year.
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