The Warriors’ opening-night math is pretty much done before the final preseason whistle even sounds.
Golden State can carry 21 players through its six preseason games, but that number has to come down to 18 by October 19, when opening-day rosters are due. Of those 18, 15 will be on standard contracts and three will be on two-way deals, with the other three getting waived. And while there’s always some room for late movement, the shape of this group is already obvious: 12 roster spots are locked, and the final three standard spots are expected to go to Georges Niang, Brandon Williams and Charles Bassey.
Niang is the veteran floor spacer in the frontcourt, a nine-year pro who sat out all of last season after a foot injury suffered in the offseason. He’s a career 40% three-point shooter and is supposed to give Golden State some needed depth and experience.
Williams has made his case with speed. The 26-year-old guard has flashed enough in camp and in his first three games with the team to look like a rotation piece in the backcourt, and he’s scored in double figures in all three of those appearances. Right now, he’s on a non-guaranteed minimum deal.
Bassey also seems to have carved out a place for himself. He put up 13 points, six rebounds, three steals and three blocks in Portland on Wednesday, and he looks positioned to handle the third-center job in a thin and fragile big-man group.
Charles Bassey floaters are automatic 🔒 pic.twitter.com/f6nHYl9rIw
- Golden State Warriors (@warriors) October 8, 2026
The two-way situation appears just as settled. LJ Cryer, Malevy Leons and Graham Ike currently hold those three spots, and there doesn’t seem to be a real push to shuffle them around.
Cryer and Leons both already logged NBA time last season - Cryer played in 18 games and Leons in 25 - and both fill useful needs. Cryer brings shooting and can provide scoring bursts off the bench, finishing in double figures nine times last season. Leons offers defense and could step into a Santos-like role if injuries hit an already short Warriors roster even harder.
Ike, signed as an undrafted free agent out of Gonzaga, adds another layer of insurance in the middle. With Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford not exactly bankable when it comes to staying healthy, that center depth matters. Ike averaged 10.5 points and eight rebounds in six summer league games.
That leaves Dalen Terry, Miles Kelly and Alex Toohey, the three camp invitees. The likeliest outcome is that they wind up in Santa Cruz, unless another team claims them after Golden State eventually waives them before the October 19 deadline.
Once a player is waived, teams have 48 hours to claim the contract. Terry, who already has four NBA seasons, can only be signed to a standard NBA deal, while Kelly and Toohey are eligible for a two-way contract.
Terry and Kelly both stood out in the Warriors’ lopsided loss in Portland. Terry came close to a triple-double, finishing with 23 points, eight rebounds, nine assists and four steals in 43 minutes. Steve Kerr said he has liked Terry’s versatility and pointed to one area that still needs work.
"He's an excellent defender, he's got good size, can handle the ball, play the point or play off the ball," Kerr said of Terry following the Warriors' 123-118 loss at Moda Center. "You saw him knocked down some three tonight, that's really the number one goal for him in his career is to become a more consistent shooter because you can see he does an awful lot of things well at both ends of the floor."
Kelly was even better on the scoreboard. The 6-foot-4 guard led all scorers with 24 points, adding seven rebounds and six assists while hitting six of 11 from three-point range. He spent last season with the Mavericks, where he appeared in 14 NBA games, and he made his mark with the Texas Legends as a three-point specialist.
Toohey’s path has been quieter. He’s back with Golden State after being selected 52nd in the 2025 draft and later waived, and his preseason minutes have been limited.
In Portland, he played 19 minutes and finished with a team-worst minus-20. He also dealt with a knee injury last season and played only two games with the Sea Dubs, but he’s healthy again and should get more chances this time around.
Kerr said at media day that he plans to use the whole depth chart, including the two-way players. That matters for a Warriors team already missing Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody, while also leaning on a core that isn’t getting any younger.
And that’s why the two-way names can’t be brushed aside. Pat Spencer showed last season how quickly one of those spots can turn into real rotation value, going from an overlooked two-way player to a key contributor when Steph Curry was injured. Spencer, now on a two-way deal with the Phoenix Suns, appeared in 66 games and started 14, good enough to earn a standard NBA contract.
For Golden State, the message is pretty clear: the roster may be close to settled, but the players at the back end could still end up mattering a lot. Terry, Kelly and Toohey are next in line.
In Other News...
Gui Santos Suddenly Has A Real Opening Night Opportunity
Kristaps Porzingiss health issues have opened the door for some early-season lineup tinkering, and for Gui Santos, that could mean a much bigger role than anyone was expecting on opening night against the Lakers. The Warriors have already shown a willingness to play smaller in recent preseason games, and Santos has been part of that forward-heavy mix as a complementary piece rather than an afterthought.
Gui Santos case is simple enough: if Golden State leans into a smaller look without Porzingis, he suddenly becomes one of the more interesting options on the roster. He has been in the conversation during the preseason as the Warriors try to sort out their best combinations, and the uncertainty around the frontcourt gives him a real chance to work his way into the starting lineup. [Read more 🡒]
Warriors Fringe Players Just Got A Real Shot To Win Jobs
The preseason has turned into a real proving ground for a group of Warriors on the bubble, with Golden State resting most of its regular rotation for a game against the Portland Trail Blazers and turning to Brandon Williams, Will Richard, Malevy Leons, Dalen Terry and Charles Bassey instead. For players like Williams and Bassey, nights like this matter because they are no longer just filling space in October. They are auditioning for jobs, minutes and whatever opportunity is still available once the roster gets trimmed down.
Williams enters the game on a non-guaranteed contract, while Bassey is working on a partially guaranteed deal, so the stakes are built right into the paperwork. The rest of the group has similar incentive to make an impression, especially in a setting where the Warriors are giving them real run against NBA competition rather than hiding them at the end of a blowout. For fringe players, this is the kind of chance that can change how the season starts, even if the final answer is still waiting on the other side of the box score. [Read more 🡒]
Warriors Suddenly Face A Jimmy Butler Decision That Could Reshape Everything
Jimmy Butlers latest recovery update offers at least some reassurance for a Warriors team that has had to keep one eye on the bigger picture. He tore his right ACL in January against the Miami Heat, and the surgery was successful after he consulted several specialists before heading into the procedure in Los Angeles. For now, Butler has said he is feeling good as he works back from a significant injury, which matters for any team trying to evaluate what comes next.
The harder part is sorting out how his status could ripple beyond rehab. There is already speculation from one Bleacher Report writer about a possible Butler trade to the New Orleans Pelicans, a reminder that his name can still pull the conversation in multiple directions even while he recovers. Nothing along those lines has been confirmed, but it is the kind of idea that keeps a decision like this from feeling routine, especially for a Warriors team watching the entire situation unfold from a distance. [Read more 🡒]