Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler, and Draymond Green may not be enough to carry the weight of a Golden State Warriors team with an incomplete roster-unless they stay healthy. At least, that’s what ESPN projects in its 2025-26 NBA Summer Forecast.
Last season, the Warriors barely clinched a playoff spot as the seventh seed in the Western Conference, finishing with a 48-34 record. They advanced to the conference semifinals before falling to the sixth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves.
This season, ESPN analysts predict the Warriors will finish with the exact same record and seed. “Like the Clippers, the Warriors are projected right at their win total from last season,” the forecast explains. But the team faces two major challenges: aging stars and the unresolved status of Jonathan Kuminga.
The Warriors’ roadblocks
As ESPN notes, age is an unavoidable issue. Curry enters the season at 37 and turns 38 in March. Butler is 36, and Green is 35. With each passing season, the championship window narrows.
Compounding the problem, the roster currently includes only nine players, with $139.6 million-roughly 90% of the salary cap-committed to the trio of Curry, Butler, and Green. That figure doesn’t include the pending resolution of Kuminga’s restricted free agency.
Still, ESPN is optimistic about “the evolution of the Stephen Curry-Jimmy Butler III partnership.” Despite the Butler drama in 2024-25, the Warriors went 22-5 in the 27 games Curry and Butler played together.
All eyes on Curry, Butler, and Green
ESPN acknowledges that injury risks increase with age. But once Kuminga’s situation is resolved, the Golden State front office can focus on finalizing acquisitions of Al Horford, De’Anthony Melton, and Gary Payton II to round out the roster.
Ultimately, ESPN concludes, “As long as Curry, Butler, and Draymond Green are relatively healthy, this feels like a good bet to go over.” Still, a seventh-place finish may not satisfy a fan base that grew accustomed to dominating the NBA over the past decade.
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