The Golden State Warriors lost a legend when Klay Thompson left for the Mavericks. It was time to move on and the Dubs quickly focused on adding depth. Golden State wanted to trade for Lauri Markkanen but was forced to settle for signing De’Anthony Melton, Kyle Anderson and Buddy Hield. The Warriors are arguably more talented but have huge questions to ask.
Most people will immediately turn to their lack of stars. They still have Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, but they need another top scorer. Golden State is hoping Jonathan Kuminga or Brandin Podziemski can fill that void. That’s a huge ask for a young talent, and the Warriors might have an even bigger problem.
They added three players who should see significant playing time to a team with depth. Chris Paul and Klay are gone, but head coach Steve Kerr will have to use his Team USA experience to determine his rotation. The result could be unhappy players and a bored locker room that could be enough to derail their season.
Golden State has 12 players who should be in the nightly rotation. They have to replace 56.1 minutes played each night by CP3 and Thompson. Fans could add Saric’s 17.2 minutes per game to give them 73.3 minutes to share between the newcomers, but that assumes no one wants to play more than they did last season.
Stephen Curry was the only player on the Warriors roster to play more than 30 minutes a night in 2024. Draymond is the second-best returning player at 27.1. Only five returning players have played more than 17.5 minutes, while Kerr has played seven more than 26.3 minutes per game.
The Dubs have five players on contract years, including Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody. Moody’s extension talks will be fascinating because they never agreed to give him more than 17.5 minutes per game. He thinks he can play a bigger role, and Kuminga wants max extension.
Even Melton, Gary Payton II and Kevon Looney will be unhappy if they barely play in the final year of their contracts. All three are competing for new deals and will want out if they are the out-of-rotation players or play little on a nightly basis.
The Warriors view Podziemski as a building block, and he’s expected to play close to 30 minutes per game in Year 2. Andrew Wiggins and Draymond will want starting minutes as they try to rebound from turbulent seasons. Kuminga, Moody and Trayce Jackson-Davis are hoping to prove they’ve taken a leap forward. Stephen Curry is the leader and most important player. Add in the veterans in their final year of contracts and three newcomers to give Steve Kerr more players than he can handle on the court.
Golden State will likely start the year with a 10-man rotation. That means two players will be on the sidelines until someone is cut. The Dubs are ripe for a consolidation trade, but they haven’t been able to find a difference-making talent to acquire. That’s left them with too many players and what could quickly become a disgruntled locker room.
The Golden State Warriors need to fix this problem ASAP. Curry is 36 and has only a few chances left to win a fifth title. The Dubs can’t afford to waste an opportunity with a poorly-rounded roster, but that’s the direction things are headed with just over a month to go before training camp. Hopefully Kerr can figure something out and keep everyone happy, but this is a situation to watch.
