Stephen Curry (30), Gary Payton II (0) and Draymond Green (23) celebrate late in the second half as the Golden State Warriors played the Los Angeles Clippers in an NBA play-in tournament game at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif., on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. The Warriors defeated the Clippers 126-121 to advance to the next round.
Carlos Avila Gonzalez/S.F. Chronicle
Stephen Curry wondered aloud if the Golden State Warriors can tweak their approach toward vying for another NBA title, a would-be fifth for the superstar guard.
“Can we rethink how we do things with the foundation we’ve established? We don’t have to keep saying championship, championship, championship every day — even though we experienced that,” Curry said after their play-in defeat to the Phoenix Suns on April 17.
“Can we build a foundation again with what this team needs to do with the way that the game is played now? How fast it is. How young and athletic it is. All those things. We have to kind of put everything on the drawing board to get back to being competitive every single night.”
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Whether Steve Kerr is their head coach or not.
Age, attrition and a lack of athleticism wore on the Warriors throughout the season, ending it before the playoffs for the second time in the past three years. Curry, 38, missed 39 games. Jimmy Butler, 36, missed 44 games. Draymond Green, 36, missed 14 games, but his game-to-game production and impact waned. Golden State finished 37-45 despite the NBA’s third-highest payroll.
Kerr’s coaching future is at the forefront of the offseason, but after that comes the NBA draft — in which the Warriors are poised to have a lottery pick for the first time since 2021 — and free agency. With $181.5 million committed to a nine-man unit — against a projected salary 2026-27 salary cap of $165 million, luxury tax threshold of $201 million, first apron of $209 million and second apron of $222 million — here’s a look at their roster status at the end of 2025-26:
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Guards: Curry, Brandin Podziemski, De’Anthony Melton, Gary Payton II, Pat Spencer, Seth Curry
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In Review: Stephen Curry was stellar when he suited up, averaging 26.3 points per game (46.8% shooting, 39.3% 3-point shooting) and 4.7 assists per game. But runner’s knee sidelined him for 27 games and health can’t be assumed in his 18th season. Podziemski didn’t miss a game amid upticks in scoring (13.8 ppg), shooting (45.5%) and assists (3.7), scaling up his usage with efficiency during Curry’s absence.
Melton (12.3 ppg, 1.6 steals, 40.7% shooting, 29.4% 3-point shooting) managed 49 games, his most since 2022-23, as one of Golden State’s top defenders, a capable but streaky scorer. Payton played a career-high 73 games and established career highs in scoring (7.5 ppg) and rebounding (3.6) as a reliable system fit off the bench. Spencer broke out as a backup point guard (66 games, 7.2 points, 3.5 assists, 18.6 minutes) while injuries limited the younger Curry (10 games, 7.1 points).
Contract status for 2026-27: Stephen Curry $62.6 million; Podziemski $5.7 million; Melton $3.5 million player option; Payton, Spencer and Seth Curry are unrestricted free agents.
Outlook: Stephen Curry remains the organizational axis and one of the best players in the NBA, but this season made evident he needs more support to manage his health. The roster construction called for Curry to work too hard in the regular season en route to his highest usage rate (32.5%) since 2020-21. Podziemski had already proved a quality complement to Golden State’s core but thrived without it and is on track for a payday by way of a rookie-scale extension.
Melton outplayed his minimum deal and is set to test the free agent market, though next to Curry, he’s a steady defender with complementary offensive skills. He’s overleveraged as a primary creator but effective in a role within a guard rotation.
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Payton’s skills — screening, rolling, cutting — are maximized in Kerr’s system, for which he remains a cost-effective option. Spencer’s pick-and-roll play skews more luxury than need. Same for Seth Curry’s shooting.
Wings: Butler, Moses Moody, Gui Santos, Will Richard
In Review: Butler (20 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 51.9% shooting) was submitting another All-Star caliber campaign when he tore his right ACL in January. His scoring, playmaking and command of pace will be missed into 2026-27, before which he turns 37. Moody too will miss part of next season with the torn left patellar tendon that halted his growth as an on-ball defender, 3-point shooter (career-high 40.1%) and all-around scorer (12.1 points).
Butler’s absence (and also Curry’s) cleared some runway for Santos to morph from a back end forward counted on for hustle to a frontline starter counted on to score. His averages of 9.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists were buoyed by a rise in usage in February, March and April.
Picked 56th in last year’s draft, Richard outplayed his draft positioning — averaging 6.4 points and 20 minutes in 69 games, including 21 starts. He hit the rookie wall at the All-Star break, limiting his effectiveness as a plug-and-play shooter, cutter and defender.
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Contract status for 2026-27: Butler $56.8 million; Moody $12.5 million; Santos $4.6 million; Richard $2.1 million.
Outlook: The Warriors are poised to start next season with $69.3 million parked on the bench as their starting wings, Butler and Moody, work their way back from their knee injuries. Butler doesn’t tend to rely on bounce and speed to be effective, but he’ll be 37 by the time he next plays with a contract expiring after the season. Moody, 23, has youth on his side.
Santos proved his penchant for improvement — having sparingly played his first two seasons — and figures to reprise his role next season. Richard proved a plug-and-play fit and cost-effective back end depth. Both 23, there figures to be room for improvement with experience in tow.
Bigs: Green, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, Quinten Post, Charles Bassey
In Review: Green submitted his least effective season (that Curry finished healthily) since his rookie campaign of 2012-13, his atrophied offense a target of opposing game plans game in game out. Still a disruptive all-around defender, Green averaged 8.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists — shooting 41.8% (32.6% 3-point shooting) against an absence of committed closeouts and ball pressure.
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Acquired midseason for Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield, Porzingis flashed his inside-out force en route to 16.1 points (43.3% shooting, 31.1% 3-point shooting), 5.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 15 games for Golden State. But injury and illness kept him out for 50 games this season, including 14 for the Warriors.
Injuries also limited Horford (8.3 points, 36.1% 3-point shooting) — a splash offseason signing with Melton — to 45 games, though he too was effective as a shooter, screener, passer and team defender when healthy.
Post (7.7 points, 33.6% 3-point shooting) didn’t repeat the effectiveness of his rookie season as a floor-spacing center and sometimes starter who finished the season hurt and out of the rotation. Bassey (five games, 10.6 points, 7.2 rebounds). showed promise at season’s end as a rim runner, finisher and paint protector.
Contract status for 2026-27: Green $27.7 million player option; Horford $6 million player option; Porzingis and Bassey are unrestricted free agents and Post is a restricted free agent.
Outlook: Green’s decline in 2025-26 means his player option looms large next season with Kerr maximizing his utility. Playing center is too taxing for Green full-time at this stage of his career while playing power forward hamstrings Golden State’s spacing. His salary — akin to Butler’s — becomes tradeable if he exercises his option.
Horford turns 40 this summer and has the option to stay with Golden State, likely reprising a rotational role.
Porzingis is set to scan the market in search of another formidable payday, though his absences the last two seasons could determine suitors and market value. Bassey has upside as an energetic, low-cost, athletic, backup big. Post, given how his season ended, is seemingly on the outside looking in.