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Guards: Curry, Brandin Podziemski, De\u2019Anthony Melton, Gary Payton II, Pat Spencer, Seth Curry<\/p>\n
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In Review:\u00a0Stephen 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\u2019s knee sidelined him for 27 games and health can\u2019t be assumed in his 18th season. Podziemski didn\u2019t 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\u2019s absence.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s top defenders, a capable but streaky scorer.\u00a0Payton 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).\u00a0<\/p>\n
Contract status for 2026-27:\u00a0Stephen Curry $62.6 million;\u00a0Podziemski $5.7 million; Melton $3.5 million player option; Payton, Spencer and Seth Curry are unrestricted free agents.<\/p>\n
Outlook:\u00a0Stephen Curry remains the organizational axis and one of the best players in the\u00a0NBA, 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\u2019s core but thrived without it and is on track for a payday by way of a rookie-scale extension.<\/p>\n
Melton outplayed his minimum deal and is set to test the free agent market, though next to Curry, he\u2019s a steady defender with complementary offensive skills. He\u2019s overleveraged as a primary creator but effective in a role within a guard rotation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Payton\u2019s skills\u00a0\u2014 screening, rolling, cutting\u00a0\u2014 are maximized in Kerr\u2019s system, for which he remains a cost-effective option. Spencer\u2019s pick-and-roll play skews more luxury than need. Same for Seth Curry\u2019s shooting.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wings: Butler, Moses Moody, Gui Santos, Will Richard<\/p>\n
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).<\/p>\n
Butler\u2019s absence (and also Curry\u2019s) 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.<\/p>\n
Picked 56th in last year\u2019s draft, Richard outplayed his draft positioning \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
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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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019t tend to rely on bounce and speed to be effective, but he\u2019ll be 37 by the time he next plays with a contract expiring after the season. Moody, 23, has youth on his side.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Santos proved his penchant for improvement\u00a0\u2014 having sparingly played his first two seasons\u00a0\u2014 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bigs: Green, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, Quinten Post, Charles Bassey\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u00a0\u2014 shooting 41.8% (32.6% 3-point shooting) against an absence of committed closeouts and ball pressure.<\/p>\n
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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.<\/p>\n
Injuries also limited Horford (8.3 points, 36.1% 3-point shooting)\u00a0\u2014 a splash offseason signing with Melton\u00a0\u2014 to 45 games, though he too was effective as a shooter, screener, passer and team defender when healthy.<\/p>\n
Post (7.7 points, 33.6% 3-point shooting) didn\u2019t 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\u2019s end as a rim runner, finisher and paint protector.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Outlook: Green\u2019s 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\u2019s spacing. His salary\u00a0\u2014 akin to Butler\u2019s\u00a0\u2014 becomes tradeable if he exercises his option.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Horford turns 40 this summer and has the option to stay with Golden State, likely reprising a rotational role.<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0Bassey has upside as an energetic, low-cost, athletic, backup big. Post, given how his season ended, is seemingly on the outside looking in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stephen Curry (30), Gary Payton II (0) and Draymond Green (23) celebrate late in the second half as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":270359,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[14844,7000,101,103,102,104,106,105,14843,17007],"class_list":["post-289434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-draymond-green","tag-golden-state-warriors","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news","tag-stephen-curry","tag-steve-kerr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=289434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=289434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=289434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=289434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}