Three Things NBA Preview: Golden State Warriors
As I detailed a few weeks ago, I’m once again re-appropriating the Three Things I Noticed on League Pass format to preview the upcoming season. Instead of three things I noticed, it’ll be something more along the lines of three things I’m looking forward to, interested in, or want to see. Some of them might be narrative-based, some might be stats, and some might include video. But they'll all be focused on the 2025-26 campaign.
The schedule for those posts will be as follows (podcasts for each division with Mo Dakhil are in parentheses):
- Atlantic Division (BOS, BKN, NYK, PHI, TOR) (Podcast)
- Central Division (CHI, CLE, DET, IND, MIL)
- Southeast Division (ATL, CHA, MIA, ORL, WAS) (Podcast)
- Pacific Division (GSW, LAC, LAL, PHX, SAC) (Podcast)
- Sept. 29-Oct. 3: Northwest Division (DEN, MIN, OKC, POR, UTA)
- Oct. 6-10: Southwest Division (DAL, HOU, MEM, NOP, SAS)
So without further ado, let's get to the Golden State Warriors, who were summarily dismissed from the playoffs once Stephen Curry got injured and they could no longer successfully put the ball in the basket. It's very hard to write about this team because...
Who is even on this team?
Head over to the Warriors' Basketball-Reference page and you'll notice that they only have nine (NINE!) players on standard NBA contracts right now.
Who the hell is gonna be on this team? I know the Jonathan Kuminga stalemate (more on that in a minute) is holding up a bunch of business, but this is, uh... at least mildly concerning.
Al Horford is supposedly going to be here. I think we can assume that Gary Payton II will be here because he always is. It sounds like De'Anthony Melton will be here. And maybe Seth Curry as well. If Kuminga re-signs or takes his qualifying offer, that would get the Warriors up to 14 players. Which is fine.
But man, I am not exactly sure what this roster is supposed to be even with those guys. It seems like a team with a lot of options, but none of those options are all that great. I wrote about that concept when it comes to the Cavs and their fifth man issue.
There's a saying in the NFL that I think applies to this situation: When you have two quarterbacks, you really have none. When you have three centers and four small wings and three big wings and you don't know if any one or two of them is the "right" guy to play next to Stephen Curry and Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler, do you really have the right mix of guys that you need? Don't you need specific guys to rely on?
