At 6-foot-4, free-agent guard Ayo Dosunmu is a solid ballhandler who also offers outside shooting. As such, he could be a player who intrigues the Warriors.
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Impending free-agent center Jaxson Hayes has proved adept at playing above the rim.
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Free-agent guard Josh Okogie isn’t a prodigious scorer, but he does provide strong defense on the wing, a skill that could help the Warriors.
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Guard Anfernee Simons, center, who averaged 14.4 points per game this season, has been a reliable scorer throughout his NBA career.
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Guard Coby White averaged 17.4 points while shooting 44.6% overall and 36.2% from 3-point range this season.
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Yes, the NBA draft next month presents a chance to upgrade for the Golden State Warriors, who are short on youth, athleticism, ballhandling and positional size. But free agency is set to follow, allowing for the Warriors to fine-tune their future.
Golden State, though limited by lucrative contracts for their veterans, has means to bolster its roster this summer with the non-taxpayer midlevel exception worth $15 million in 2026-27. It also has the bi-annual exception worth $5.5 million next season as well as veteran’s minimum offers.
Said general manager Mike Dunleavy at his season-ending news conference: “We’re going to have to do some stuff, whether it’s retain some of the free agents that we have (or) bring in some new players. But the general core of guys, though … I think is very solid and we’ll look to add to it.”
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Here are five prospective unrestricted free-agent fits:
Ayo Dosunmu: The Minnesota Timberwolves didn’t unload their tradeable hoard of second-round picks so the speedy 26-year-old combo guard could sign this summer with another team. But he told reporters at the end of the season he’s eager to experience free agency, no matter how much Minnesota wants to re-sign him.
At 6-foot-4, he handles the ball with a quick first step and pace in transition while also playing off the ball as a skillful spot-up 3-point shooter. He averaged 14.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and a steal per game, shooting 52.1% from the field and 41.4% from 3-point range.
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Dosunmu, who scored 43 points in a playoff win for the Denver Nuggets, made $7.5 million this season and is due a sizable pay increase.
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Jaxson Hayes: The 26-year-old 7-footer plays center in the JaVale McGee mold, catching lobs, running the floor and using his length to alter shots. As a backup for the Los Angeles Lakers this year, he averaged 7.5 points on 75.6% shooting to go with 4.1 rebounds and 0.8 blocks per game.
A vertical spacer and rim-runner, Hayes made $3.4 million this season and fits the bill for a rotational big. His 122 dunks this year would’ve led the Warriors, who had the NBA’s fewest.
Josh Okogie: At 27 and a sturdy 6-4, Okogie doesn’t offer much offensively, logging 4.5 points on 42.5% shooting as a rotational wing for the Houston Rockets. What the bouncy journeyman offers instead is active on-ball defense — where Golden State has a sizable void — bolstered by a 7-foot wingspan, speed, strength and active motor.
Once a liability from 3-point range — and still a dare-you-to-fire-away shooter — Okogie shot a career-best 38.5% from 3-point range this season, during which he played for the minimum at $2.2 million.
Anfernee Simons: A former 20-plus-points-per-game scorer solidly built while standing 6-3, Simons too can play on or off the ball with a quick first step, above-the-rim bounce and steady shot from 3-point range. For the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls this season, Simons, 26, averaged 14.3 points while shooting 44% — including 38.5% from 3-point range.
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Simons, a proven microwave scorer, made $27.7 million this season, the last of his four-year rookie-scale extension. But the market has cooled on his archetype: still valuable, but not to that degree.
Coby White: White shares similarities with Simons as a ballhandling, spot-up shooting combo guard at a slender 6-4 who averaged 17.4 points while shooting 44.6% overall and 36.2% from 3-point range. At 26, he played this season for Chicago and Charlotte, helping key a Hornets postseason run (after moving at the trade deadline) that ended in the play-in tournament.
Charlotte could push to re-sign White, who found a fit as a second-unit scorer with higher usage than he had with Chicago. He made $12.9 million last season.