Should Golden State Be Doing More?
On age curves, draft capital, and if there's any reason for Golden State optimism
I haven’t thought about the Warriors in a while. After all, they haven’t made any trades this offseason despite a failed quest for LeBron; Jimmy Butler is out till at least December; and Draymond Green is just podcasting and getting paid.
So, just for fun, I decided to take a look at their projected depth chart for next year.
Pro tip: Never look at the Warriors’ projected depth chart for next year.
This is a depth chart that may have been okay if it were 2017-18, Porzingis’ All-Star year, but even then, having Brandin Podziemski and Gui Santos as your starters at the 3 and the 4 isn’t exactly what I’d call a luxury.
With the above in mind, just how bad are Golden State’s chances for the 2026-27 season amidst a stacked Western Conference? And, once Jimmy returns in December, is there hope that this team can make a classic Heat-esque run via his efforts alongside Steph?
Olden State Warriors
The biggest problem for this team isn’t actually that Brandin Podziemski and Gui Santos are starters (though that’s a problem in and of itself). The bigger issue is that this team is old. If it weren’t for Santos and Podz, they’d be even older, but assuming you throw them in, this is still the 11th-oldest starting lineup of the past 10 years:
History does not bode well for a team of old starters. While over 40% of them (“them” being starting lineups with an average age of 31 or older) make the playoffs, it’s extremely unlikely for one to make it out of the first round:
