Previewing The Golden State Warriors For The 2026-27 Season
The Warriors are coming off of a disappointing season. After Jimmy Butler got injured and was ruled out for the rest of the season, they finished with a 12-26 record. It was unfortunate because the team looked solid up to that point, and it completely shifted after that.
The future of Steve Kerr was in doubt, but he ultimately decided to return for one more season. The roster is nearly the exact same, which is very disappointing because this team could have really used a few bigger moves this offseason to upgrade the roster.
Jimmy Butler will be out for the first couple months of the season, and now Kristaps Porziņģis is dealing with a health issue that will have him sidelined indefinitely, so the season is already off to a shaky start.
The Roster
Point Guards — Stephen Curry, De’Anthony Melton, Brandon Williams, L.J. Cryer (Two-Way Contract)
Shooting Guards — Brandin Podziemski, Will Richard, Dalen Terry
Small Forwards — Jimmy Butler (Currently Injured), Gui Santos, Moses Moody
Power Forwards — Draymond Green, Yaxel Lendeborg, Georges Niang, Malevy Leons (Two-Way Contract), Graham Ike (Two-Way Contract)
Centers — Kristaps Porziņģis, Al Horford, Charles Bassey
I think the roster is actually worse than it was last season, especially to start the year with Butler and Porziņģis potentially being out.
Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg will need to play a big role quickly, even though he is just a rookie. This roster is pretty old overall, and the veterans they have probably will not be getting much better by any means.
Brandin Podziemski has shown flashes of being a solid player, but it has not been consistent whatsoever so far. I believe he will have a bigger opportunity this season as well.
Biggest Questions
The biggest question I have is how this team can stay competitive this year.
This is basically the same roster from last season, but downgraded a little bit. Another factor is that these players are not getting any younger.
Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Al Horford all had huge roles last season, especially Stephen Curry as the team's best player. These three guys are just getting older and cannot be expected to do as much.
Once Jimmy Butler returns as well, a 37-year-old coming off of a torn ACL is really hard to trust. It would be very shocking if he returns to the level of play he was at before.
This is a squad that has a really low floor because of this, and if things go sideways fast or injuries occur, it will not be good for the team.
Another major factor is Yaxel Lendeborg.
Yaxel may be one of the most talented players as of now to come out of the 2026 NBA Draft. The main reason he slipped so low was because of him being 24 years old now.
If Yaxel cannot translate to the NBA quickly, he will have a rough time carving out a career. This was a very risky pick by the Warriors, and personally, I was not a fan.
I think they should have taken someone they could focus on developing more and looked toward the future a little bit. Yaxel will have plenty of opportunities, at least to start the year, to make a name for himself.
The last major question mark I have is what will happen at the trade deadline this year.
That is still a bit away, but I believe this could be one of the most interesting teams in the league to monitor at the deadline because they are destined to make moves one way or another.
If the team is playing competitively up to that point, they will look to be big buyers and try to make one last push for Draymond Green and Stephen Curry to compete for a championship.
If things go sideways and the season is not looking bright around the deadline, they could be big sellers and start planning for the future more.
I think at the deadline, everyone but Stephen Curry and Draymond Green will be on the table, which makes this an interesting team to monitor throughout the first half of the season.
Prediction Markets
Some of the current futures betting lines for the Warriors are as follows:
Regular-season win total: 38.5
To win the NBA Finals: +6000 (15th-best odds)
To win the Western Conference: +220 (7th-best odds)
To reach the Conference Finals: +900 (7th-best odds)
To reach the Conference Semifinals: +300 (7th-best odds)
To win the division: +350 (3rd-best odds)
To make the playoffs: -105
To miss the playoffs: -115
To participate in the Play-In: +110
To win the NBA Cup: +6500 (20th-best odds)
These betting lines are predicting the Warriors to finish around the 7-10 seed and be a Play-In team.
The thing about this team is that if they make the playoffs, they will have a higher ceiling than a lot of teams just due to the championship experience on this roster.
It is important that the team can stay competitive early in the year with Kristaps Porziņģis more than likely out for some time, along with Jimmy Butler.
Final Prediction and Outlook
You can never count the Warriors out while they still have the core of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Steve Kerr.
However, this team was not good last year once Jimmy Butler got injured, and they did not do much to improve this roster either.
With the best players on this team getting really old, I do not think the Warriors will be that good this year. Major changes could be underway after next season, and they could be one of the biggest topics heading into next offseason.
Final Prediction
30-52 — 13 Seed
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