Brandon Williams might not have arrived in Golden State with much fanfare, but he could end up shaping something the Warriors have spent years chasing: a bench that actually knows what it wants to be.
That’s the real thread running through the Warriors’ preseason so far. They’ve been hunting for help in a few specific areas - another slashing scorer, a center who can protect the rim and soak up minutes, and a real point guard to lighten Stephen Curry’s load during the regular season. By the end of 2025-26, they still didn’t have clean answers across the board.
Yaxel Lendeborg could eventually help solve the first issue, and Kristaps Porzingis, if healthy, can handle the second. But the third spot matters more than ever as Curry gets older and deals with fresh health concerns. Through two preseason games, Williams has looked like the clearest option.
Against the Los Angeles Lakers last night, Williams put up 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting, added two rebounds, one assist, a steal and a block, and logged a little more than 18 minutes. The one blemish was the five turnovers, which didn’t exactly scream comfort in a heavy on-ball role. Still, Steve Kerr appears willing to hand him that responsibility after what Williams showed with the Dallas Mavericks in 2025-26.
If he can hold up in that role, his pace and passing could give Golden State’s second unit the spark it’s been missing.
The fit makes sense because Williams isn’t a traditional microwave scorer. He’s not a reliable shooter from deep - he’s hit just 28% of his threes over his four-year career - and he doesn’t bring the kind of interior package you’d normally want from a guard trying to carry bench possessions.
But he does get downhill, and he finishes. Last season with Dallas, he made 71.3% of his at-rim attempts and ranked seventh among all bench guards in efficiency within five feet of the basket, using a filter of at least four attempts per game in that area.
What has Kerr especially intrigued is something simpler: speed. Kerr called Williams the "fastest guy" he's ever coached, and that lines up with one of the Warriors’ goals this season, which is to improve their transition offense. Golden State finished as the fourth-lowest scoring team in transition last season.
That’s why the bench conversation in Golden State can’t just be about finding a single scorer to plug in next to Curry. It has to be about the group creating a real offensive identity when he sits.
Williams and De'Anthony Melton together could give the Warriors the kind of burst they need in transition, and the perimeter shooting from Gui Santos, Will Richard, LJ Cryer, and Al Horford gives that style a chance to work. Williams doesn’t have to be everything. He just has to be confident with the ball and quick enough to turn empty possessions into something dangerous.
That may be the piece Golden State has been missing. The rest of the preseason will tell the story, but Williams already looks like one of the more important things to watch.
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