SAN FRANCISCO – One more time. One more chance to conquer the mountain. One last race to glory. The odds are long, the competition fierce, yet it’s the only goal ahead of the Warriors.
Training camp for Golden State’s front office ends Monday, when NBA free agency begins. Having browsed the draft, adding two rookies who will be spectators for what’s ahead, general manager Mike Dunleavy and his lieutenants now grab hard hats and dive into the real work.
Through trades and free agency, the Warriors will try to navigate their way to a roster capable of making an honest attempt to lift Stephen Curry & Company to the top of the league. The quest begins by addressing the question posed Thursday by former Golden State GM Bob Myers in his role as NBA analyst on ESPN:
Can you make it through the West?
Priority one for the Warriors is working through the Jonathan Kuminga conundrum. Talented player, but four seasons into his career, still a misfit on the roster. The market for him is not hot, per league sources, but it’s enough for the possibility of movement. Golden State’s surest path seems to be turning Kuminga – and more – into a couple players who might not match his gift for spectacle but are more seamless fits with the core of the roster.
The Warriors are expected to make a qualifying offer to Kuminga by 2 p.m. Sunday, as that would give them the right to match any offer coming his way in restricted free agency.
“I think for both sides, we’d like to get something figured out as soon as possible,” Dunleavy said Thursday night. “But that’s the way it goes. Sometimes, there’s restriction in free agency. So, we’re not going to stress out about it too much. The main thing is making the right decisions, figuring the whole thing out, whether that’s Day 1 or Day 10, or whatever. Got to be prepared to take it as far as it goes.”
The Warriors have more needs than Kuminga, on his best day, can provide. Gary Payton II’s point-of-attack defense slipped in the postseason, so that’s a need. Curry’s hamstring injury in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals exposed their paucity of shooting, particularly off the bench. And, yes, there is a need for an imposing presence in the paint.
These needs were reflected in Golden State’s exit from the playoffs, and they were reflected in the latest championship odds for the 2026 NBA season.
Nine teams have better odds than the Warriors, and five of them are in the West: Reigning champion Oklahoma City (favored), Houston, Denver, Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota. San Antonio and Golden State are locked in a tie. Teams in the East are Cleveland, New York, Orlando – yes, the Magic – and Boston, which is auctioning off parts of a roster that eight months ago was celebrating ring night at TD Garden.
The Warriors are stuck at the distant end of the NBA’s hallway of contenders, with 30 percent of the league between them and the prize.
Glancing at the current roster, it seems altogether reasonable to forecast a sixth-place finish in the West for the Warriors.
It’s abundantly clear that today’s Golden State roster can’t be, and won’t be, the roster that shows up for training camp. The star trio of Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green fills Golden State’s glass only half full. Those who fill the other half will dictate how high this team will fly. Future draft picks are available, because they’re of no use in 2025-26.
No longer can the Warriors sell themselves as they did in the glory days, when they’d seduce coveted free agents by pitching Young Steph, their delightful vibe and the lure of a ring. They destroyed the competition for Kevin Durant, one of the more attractive free agents in American sports history. How preposterous was it that Leandro Barbosa, David West and Zaza Pachulia put their signatures on contracts for the veteran’s minimum?
Or that in March 2019, Andrew Bogut came out of semi-retirement in Australia to sign a pro-rated, vet-minimum deal to rejoin the squad with three weeks left in the regular season?
It’s a different day, and the Warriors know it.
“I think our roster will be good,” Dunleavy said, with confidence, Thursday night. “Deep.”
To achieve that, you’re going to need coveralls, boots, gloves and hard hats. Time to grind.
Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast
Read the full article here