Five flaws Warriors must address to upgrade their roster this NBA offseason

Too old, too small, too little athleticism, too little accountability and inconsistent secondary scoring. The Warriors’ shortcomings, so visible throughout the 2025-26 season and amplified in the absence of Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler III, are being magnified in the NBA playoffs.Even at their healthiest, the Warriors’ roster is incapable of running with the Oklahoma City Thunder’s army of deep shooters and aggressive, switchable defenders.Even though Golden State won twice at San Antonio last November, the Spurs afterward responded with rapid improvement to post the best record in the league over the last five months.The Warriors were 12-23 against Western Conference teams that finished ahead of them in the regular season, and it won’t get any better without extensive roster upgrades.“To compete in the West next season, Golden State will have to do some serious roster maneuvering,” one Western Conference scout told NBC Sports Bay Area. “They’ve got to plan for Butler to miss maybe 50 games. They can’t know if (Moses) Moody will make it back. They don’t have enough offense, even with Steph, to scare anybody.”This is not news to CEO Joe Lacob and general manager Mike Dunleavy. It’s not news to coach Steve Kerr. And, if he departs, it won’t be news to the next coach.The Warriors are facing their most consequential offseason since a new ownership group, led by Lacob, bought the team in 2010. Considering the heights the franchise has reached since then, the personnel adjustments this summer are even more significant than signing free agent Kevin Durant in 2016.Whereas Durant bolstered a team in flight, this summer is about the front office rescuing a team treading water. A few tweaks won’t make an appreciable difference.Here is a look at the five factors that must be addressed for the Warriors to have any chance of rejoining the contenders in the West.Too OldCurry is 38. Butler will be 37 when he returns. Draymond Green is 36. If that is the core, as it was last season, it won’t be enough to chase the mission – a deep postseason run – they failed to complete last season.Curry is a lock to return next season and, presumably, beyond. Green knows there’s a chance he’ll be moved. Butler isn’t going anywhere, according to Dunleavy, but what was said in January could be retracted in July.For the Warriors to make any noise in the West, an infusion of reliably productive youth must be added. And at least one of the newcomers must have enough NBA All-Star characteristics to join the existing core, if not replace one of the seasoned trio.If this remains the core and the Warriors don’t add an impact player, they’ll have only the slimmest chance of rising above the NBA play-in tournament.Too SmallThe Warriors are miniature by current NBA roster standards. Small teams have no chance of thriving unless blessed with elite speed, intellect, discipline and tenacity. Their “death lineups,” before adding Durant, were smallish – averaging a shade under 6-foot-6 – but had all four of those components.Golden State’s current roster has tenacity but lacks the other three. Curry and Green don’t move as they did 10 years ago. They were supported by a roster with one switchable young rotation player, 6-foot-7 Gui Santos, standing taller than 6-foot-5.No one in the Denver Nuggets’ rotation is under 6-foot-4. The only Spurs rotation player under 6-foot-5 is hiccup-quick De’Aaron Fox at 6-foot-2. The Minnesota Timberwolves’ only rotation player under 6-foot-4 is speedy 6-foot-2 Bones Hyland. The only Los Angeles Lakers rotation player under 6-foot-5 is 6-foot-3 Marcus Smart, a defensive beast who plays closer to 6-foot-6. OKC’s only rotation player under 6-foot-4 is 6-foot-3 Cason Wallace.“And he’s in the top tier of athletes in the league,” a Western Conference assistant coach said of Wallace.Too Little AthleticismWhen the Curry-less Warriors stumbled through March jacking up 3-pointers against teams vulnerable in the paint, I was puzzled enough to ask Kerr about shot selection.“Without Steph and Jimmy,” he said, “we really don’t have anyone we can count on to break down a defense. It’s hard for them to dribble and shift their way past someone. I don’t like all the threes we take, especially early in the shot clock, but sometimes it’s our best chance to score.”Seven of the top 10 teams in total dunks are in the West, and the Warriors ranked dead last. They ranked 27th in shots within three feet of the rim. Kerr believed too few players on the roster possess the handle and wiggle to get to the rim – and the bounce to consistently finish. It’s hard to argue.Their lack of quickness was no less notable on defense.If next season’s Warriors can’t better manipulate defenses – and prevent penetration on the other end – they’ll be home before May.Too Little AccountabilityHow hard it must have been for Lacob and Dunleavy and any citizen within Dub Nation to watch, game after game, the Warriors literally throwing away chances to win.Their turnovers were spread across the roster and throughout the season. January was the only month Golden State didn’t post multiple games with more than 20 giveaways.Kerr seemed to take the edge off his typical bristling and barking when Golden State victimized itself with sloppy ballhandling and passing. Maybe he was acknowledging the team’s greatly diminished talent level with Curry and Butler sidelined. He generally praised the effort and mentioned the need to be smarter, but any demands went unmet.The roster was not deep enough to bench Player A and expect an upgrade with Player B.Whether it’s Kerr or another coach, there must be a lower tolerance for turnovers.Inconsistent Secondary ScoringCurry and Butler established themselves as the top two scorers, Curry averaging 27.2 points and Butler an even 20, but the offense generally ran dry if they weren’t stacking buckets.None of the youngsters averaged more than 13.8 points per game (Brandin Podziemski), even with the additional minutes and opportunities afforded when Curry and Butler were sidelined. Podziemski led the team in minutes, scoring at least 25 points on five occasions but topping it only twice.Kristaps Porziis, acquired in February, managed to average 16.7 points, but his availability was a model of inconsistency. De’Anthony Melton’s 12.3-point average came with strong highs and extreme lows; he shot 40.7 percent from the field, including 29.4 percent from deep. Moody averaged 12.1 points, shooting a team-high 40.1 percent from deep before sustaining a severe knee injury.If the Warriors were without Curry and Butler, it’s hard to guess which of them would be at the top of an opponent’s scouting report.Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast

Five flaws Warriors must address to upgrade their roster this NBA offseason

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