The Warriors closed the book on their roster Tuesday, signing Brandon Williams and Georges Niang to fill the final two open spots. That leaves Golden State with a team that looks set for opening night against the Los Angeles Lakers on October 21, unless an unexpected trade shakes things up before the offseason is over.
There is still one two-way slot available, but the main roster picture is mostly in place. And even with Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody sidelined by long-term knee injuries, the Warriors have enough pieces to keep things afloat until they return mid-season.
At point guard, the obvious centerpiece is still Stephen Curry, now 38 and heading into his 18th NBA season. Williams gives the Warriors a needed insurance policy behind him after averaging 13 points with the Dallas Mavericks last season.
In the right stretches, he could provide real offense when Curry sits, especially before Butler is back. Two-way guard LJ Cryer also remains in the mix after showing enough with his shooting to suggest he can help.
The backcourt depth is one of Golden State’s better areas. Brandin Podziemski, De'Anthony Melton, Will Richard, Gary Payton II, and the injured Moses Moody give the Warriors a group that can be mixed and matched in a lot of ways. Some of those players will slide between positions, with Podziemski and Melton handling more of the ball at times and Payton often functioning more like a small forward or even a big man than a traditional shooting guard despite being 6'2".
The wing and forward spots now look bigger than they have in recent years. Yaxel Lendeborg, Gui Santos, and two-way forward Malevy Leons give Golden State more size on the perimeter, with Lendeborg and Santos both capable of playing either the three or the four. Until Butler is back, those two could wind up covering a lot of the small forward minutes.
Draymond Green and Niang form the power forward group, and Niang adds a different look as a stretch four who has shot 40% from 3-point range in his career. Green’s role will be one to watch with uncertainty hanging over his future, but he still looks like the most likely starter there because of his defense and the trust he has from Kerr.
The center rotation carries plenty of risk, but that is true across much of the roster. Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, and Charles Bassey make up the group, with the Warriors hoping for 55-plus games from Porzingis after re-signing him to a two-year, $40 million deal. Horford, now 40, is back on a two-year contract as well, and Bassey should be in line for minutes as the third big who can bring interior presence while Porzingis and Horford space the floor.
With opening night still just under two months away, Curry and Porzingis may be the only real locks in the starting five. Santos and Lendeborg are competing for a starting job, and there’s at least an argument that both should be in the lineup ahead of Green, though that does not look likely heading into camp. Podziemski and Melton will be two of the biggest preseason names to watch, since both have a strong case to join Curry in the backcourt.
In Other News...
Yaxel Lendeborg Suddenly Has A Real Warriors Opportunity
Yaxel Lendeborg went from a strong summer league showing to a very real place in the Warriors conversation, and not just because he helped carry Golden State to a championship and walked away with MVP honors. The rookies rise has landed at a time when the roster has stayed largely intact, which matters in a league where openings are often created more by attrition than by intention.
For a player who already looked comfortable in a fast, competitive setting, that stability can translate into something meaningful once the games count. The Warriors now have to decide how much of a role to carve out for him in a rotation that already has established forward pieces, and the answer could shape not just his first season but the way the frontcourt minutes are sorted when the year begins. [Read more 🡒]
Warriors Cant Dismiss Ben Simmons As Depth Questions Keep Growing
With two roster spots still open, the Warriors are in the familiar position of weighing fit as much as talent, and Ben Simmons has naturally become part of that conversation. The interest makes sense on paper. Golden State has long valued players who can move between roles and survive in different lineup combinations, and Simmons has enough size and ball-handling to at least invite that kind of look as the team keeps sorting through its depth chart.
The complication is that the bet comes with real uncertainty, especially after Simmons recent inactivity and the long-running questions about how his shooting plays in a system that asks so much of every rotation piece. An unnamed Western Conference team has already put a training camp contract on the table, which only adds to the sense that this could become a live option if Golden State keeps searching for help. For now, though, it remains exactly where these late-summer roster ideas often do, somewhere between logical and unfinished. [Read more 🡒]
Klays First Warriors Reunion Just Got A Date Fans Wont Ignore
Klay Thompsons first game back at Chase Center in a different uniform now has a date, and it carries the kind of emotional weight Warriors fans are likely to circle the moment the schedule came out. Golden State will host the Miami Heat on Nov. 5, 2026, setting up Thompsons return to the Bay Area after his move to Miami, where he landed on a two-year deal and joined a roster built around Bam Adebayo.
The reunion will not stop there, either, because the Warriors and Heat are set to meet again in Miami on Jan. 17, 2027. For Golden State, the home date is the one that stands out first, both for the nostalgia of seeing Thompson back across the floor and for the broader sense of how different this matchup now looks from the last time these teams crossed paths. [Read more 🡒]