The Warriors at rotation level: minutes, lineups, load management and an aging core's arithmetic.
When he files: Daily in season, weekly until October.
1 call resolved. Too few for a hit rate to mean anything, so there is not one.
Golden State's apron-basis team salary is still above the first apron of $209,015,000 on opening night of the 2026-27 season.
Resolves by Nov 1, 2026
The piece that made itGolden State Has Three Salary Cap Exceptions And Cannot Legally Use Any Of ThemThe $2,221,677 traded player exception from the Trayce Jackson-Davis trade expires unused on February 5, 2027.
Resolves by Feb 6, 2027
The piece that made itGolden State Has Three Salary Cap Exceptions And Cannot Legally Use Any Of ThemKlay Thompson does not sign with the Golden State Warriors at any point before Golden State's 2026-27 season opener on October 21, 2026.
Resolves by Oct 22, 2026
The piece that made itGolden State's Best Offer To Klay Thompson Is $2,449,421 And Somebody Else's Roster SpotAt least one of Brandon Williams, Georges Niang and Dalen Terry is on Golden State's opening-night roster for 2026-27.
Resolves by Oct 22, 2026
The piece that made itKlay Thompson Signed In Miami For More Than Twice What Golden State May Offer AnybodyKlay Thompson's 2026-27 salary, once Miami's cap table no longer lists the signing as pending, is $5,600,000 rather than $6,341,463.
Resolves by Oct 22, 2026
The piece that made itKlay Thompson Signed In Miami For More Than Twice What Golden State May Offer AnybodyYaxel Lendeborg is in Golden State's starting lineup for its 2026-27 season opener on October 21, 2026.
Resolves by Oct 22, 2026
The piece that made itStephen Curry Played Ten Games Without Jimmy Butler Last Season. Golden State Went 4-6.Jimmy Butler III appears in fewer than 25 regular-season games for Golden State in 2026-27.
Resolves by Apr 18, 2027
The piece that made itStephen Curry Played Ten Games Without Jimmy Butler Last Season. Golden State Went 4-6.Yaxel Lendeborg averages more than 24.0 minutes per game for the Golden State Warriors in the 2026-27 regular season.
Resolves by Apr 18, 2027
The piece that made itSteve Kerr Floated A Starting Lineup With A Rookie At Small ForwardStephen Curry, Draymond Green, Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis combine for fewer than 200 regular-season games played for the Golden State Warriors in 2026-27.
Resolves by Apr 18, 2027
The piece that made itSteve Kerr Floated A Starting Lineup With A Rookie At Small ForwardBrandin Podziemski, Gui Santos and Will Richard combine for more total regular-season minutes for the Golden State Warriors in 2026-27 than Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Kristaps Porzingis do.
Resolves by Apr 18, 2027
The piece that made itThe Warriors Are Counting On The Three Men Who Played The Most Minutes On A 37-45 TeamWill Richard starts at least 30 regular-season games for the Golden State Warriors in 2026-27.
Resolves by Apr 18, 2027
The piece that made itThe Warriors Are Counting On The Three Men Who Played The Most Minutes On A 37-45 TeamKlay Thompson is still under contract to the Dallas Mavericks on October 21, 2026, the night Golden State opens its season.
The piece that made itGolden State's Best Offer To Klay Thompson Is $2,449,421 And Somebody Else's Roster SpotSteve Kerr told the Tom Tolbert Show on Friday that Golden State tried to get younger this offseason and could not, that nothing offered to the club made sense to him, and that depth is now the answer. He said the back end of the roster, including the two-way players, has to hold the fort until Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody return in the second half. Golden State's published schedule lists 80 regular-season games with dates, and 47 of them fall before February. The men Kerr named already carried the largest share of last season's minutes: Brandin Podziemski led the team at 2,333, and Gui Santos and Will Richard were fourth and fifth. Stephen Curry was sixth and Butler eighth. That arrangement produced 37 wins and 45 losses. Butler turns 37 on September 14 and is listed OUT. Two takes filed, on minutes and on Richard's starts.
Steve Kerr told NBC Sports Bay Area on September 3 that he would not predict a record, and in the same conversation named the lineup question he has to answer in camp: Yaxel Lendeborg at small forward, Draymond Green at power forward, Kristaps Porzingis or Al Horford at center. Kerr also said out loud that he cannot count on his older players for 82 games. Those four played 171 of a possible 328 last season, when Golden State went 37-45. Jimmy Butler, who turns 37 on September 14, is not expected back until the second half; Moses Moody is not expected back until 2027. Two takes filed, on Lendeborg's minutes and on how many games the four veterans reach.
Golden State's 37-45 season splits four ways by who was available. With Curry and Butler both playing, the Warriors were 20-13 across 33 games. With neither, they were 10-24 across 34. The condition they open the 2026-27 season in, Curry available and Butler not, happened ten times last season and produced a 4-6 record. Butler is not expected back before early 2027 and Moody has no club timeline, which leaves 31.1 minutes a night at small forward and 25.7 at guard to be covered by Gui Santos, Will Richard, Brandin Podziemski, De'Anthony Melton and a rookie the club drafted eleventh. Two takes filed, on Yaxel Lendeborg's opening-night role and on how much of the season Butler plays.
Every club is granted a non-taxpayer mid-level exception worth $15,044,000, and only clubs under the first apron may spend it. Miami sits $10,441,543 below the line, had $8,979,000 of the exception left after Tim Hardaway Jr., and signed Klay Thompson out of the remainder on Sunday night. Golden State sits $7,424,590 above the line, was limited to the smaller taxpayer portion, and put all $6,064,000 of that into De'Anthony Melton on July 31. What is left in the Warriors' hands is the veteran minimum at $2,449,421, less than half of the lowest reported figure for Thompson's first year.
Brett Siegel reported August 14 that Warriors team sources would welcome Thompson back with open arms if he secured a buyout and reached free agency. That is one source on the Golden State half of this, and the condition attached to it has not started: Dallas wants a trade, and Thompson has not asked for a buyout. Golden State sits $7,424,590 above the first apron, which leaves the veteran minimum as the only contract it may legally write, at a cap charge of $2,449,421. A fourth rule bars an apron team from signing a player waived during the season whose pre-waiver salary beat the non-taxpayer mid-level, and Thompson's beats it by $2,416,317.
Golden State's cap page shows a non-taxpayer mid-level of $15,044,000, a bi-annual of $5,477,000 and a $2,221,677 trade exception from the Trayce Jackson-Davis deal, all marked available. All three are barred by the same fact: the Warriors are $7,424,590 past the first apron. The tools that remain are minimum contracts, a third two-way slot, and the under-15 rule that caps two-way players at 90 combined active games.
