Another season of NBA basketball means another season of Kendrick Perkins’ hot takes.
The former player and current ESPN studio analyst began in earnest on Sunday’s episode of “NBA Countdown,” when he claimed he still views the Los Angeles Lakers as a better team than the Warriors entering the 2025-26 NBA season.
“Both of these teams are going to be here come April,” Perkins said in the minutes leading up to the Warriors’ preseason matchup against the Lakers on Sunday. “Both of these teams are going to be in the postseason. I give the Lakers a slight edge because they have a third option offensively in Austin Reaves.”
That third scoring option is a sticking point for Perkins, who wondered aloud whether Golden State has the same offensive depth as the Lakers.
“We don’t know who the third option is for the Golden State Warriors,” Perkins said. “Is that going to be [Jonathan] Kuminga? Are they going to rely on Buddy Hield? That’s the question.”
The Warriors appeared to operate just fine without a clear-cut third scorer at the end of the 2024-25 season, compiling a 23-8 record when Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green all saw the court. But Perkins is skeptical over whether that’s enough given Golden State’s title aspirations.
“The 23-8 [record] got them out in the second round,” Perkins said, referencing the Warriors’ semifinal series loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves last season. “They’re trying to win the championship. Mind you, Steph [Curry] got injured, I get that part. But we don’t know if they could’ve got past [the Oklahoma City Thunder] with that roster that they had.”
Despite Butler only playing 30 regular-season games with the Warriors last season, Golden State finished just two games behind the Lakers in the Western Conference standings. A full season of Butler figures to go a long way towards making Perkins eat his own words.
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