Warriors Could Lose Four Key Players in Major Offseason Shake-Up

The Golden State Warriors spent the 2025-26 season learning a hard lesson. A 37-45 record. A Play-In exit. A roster that spent more time in the training room than on the court. Jimmy Butler tore his ACL in January. Moses Moody suffered a torn patellar tendon in March. Stephen Curry missed 27 consecutive games with a knee issue.

The message from the front office has been clear since the season ended. Something has to change.

According to Tim Kawakami, that change is coming, and it will affect several familiar faces.

Four Players Unlikely to Return

Kawakami reports that the Warriors are entering a major philosophical reset around Curry, shifting away from a win-at-all-costs mentality toward building a younger, healthier, and more durable roster. That shift has significant implications for several veterans who were part of this past season’s group.

Kristaps Porzingis is the biggest name unlikely to return. The Warriors brought him in hoping his size and floor spacing would elevate the offense, but the partnership never found its footing. Porzingis appeared in just 15 games while battling illness and recurring lower-body problems. The talent was visible when he played. The availability was not.

Seth Curry faces a similar verdict. The appeal of the Curry brothers sharing a roster was always more emotional than practical, and this season made that reality even clearer. Seth managed just 10 appearances due to severe sciatica issues, logging 133 total minutes. His defensive limitations were already a concern inside Steve Kerr‘s system before the injuries compounded the problem.

According to Kawakami, De’Anthony Melton is arguably the toughest call of the group. When healthy, he is exactly the kind of versatile, defensively capable player the Warriors want around Curry. But given his injury history, Golden State may be reluctant to enter a bidding war for another player with durability questions.

Kawakami also reports that Al Horford appears increasingly unlikely to stick around as the organization prioritizes youth and athleticism. Despite the Warriors expressing interest in bringing him back earlier this offseason, the broader reset may ultimately override that desire.

The LeBron Contradiction

Here is where the Warriors’ offseason gets interesting. On paper, pursuing a player who turns 42 in December sounds completely at odds with everything Golden State is trying to become. But LeBron James is not operating on a normal aging curve.

While the Warriors were managing injuries across the roster all season, James quietly logged nearly 2,000 regular-season minutes with the Los Angeles Lakers. That number would have ranked second on Golden State’s entire roster behind only Brandin Podziemski. He played more minutes than Curry. More than Draymond Green. More than Butler.

The Warriors are not trying to get younger for the sake of it. They are trying to get more durable. And somehow, LeBron still qualifies on that front.

The basketball fit is no longer purely hypothetical either. Curry and James developed genuine chemistry during their Olympic run with Team USA under Kerr. Golden State has monitored the possibility of pairing them for years. The conversation is real.

What the Reset Means for the Warriors

The dynasty version of the Warriors is gone. The league has changed too much for Golden State to simply recreate what worked a decade ago. The Western Conference is now built around Oklahoma City and San Antonio, two younger and more explosive teams that exposed every limitation this roster has.

The challenge now is building something that can compete in that environment while still maximizing what remains of Curry’s elite years. Moving on from veterans like Porzingis, Seth Curry, Horford, and possibly Melton creates roster flexibility. Whether that flexibility leads to LeBron, another star, or a collection of younger contributors remains to be seen.

Curry himself appears aligned with the reset, reportedly focused on rebuilding the roster’s foundation rather than demanding immediate win-now moves.

Final Word for the Warriors

Four veterans likely out. LeBron potentially in. It is a contradictory offseason picture, but one that makes more sense the longer you look at it.

Availability won this season’s argument. The Warriors are building around that lesson now.

The offseason is just beginning.

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