The Warriors are already looking toward next year — and not further

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Gone are the days of thinking two, five, and even 10 years into the future. With the way the Warriors’ power brokers are talking in the immediate aftermath of their 2024-25 season, next season is shaping up to be a “Last Dance.”

The Warriors have one timeline, and it’s tied to Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Jimmy Butler, and Steve Kerr. When your best players are in their late 30s, being near-sighted can be a good thing. 

“You’ve got to have an eye to the future down the road,” general manager Mike Dunleavy said. “But this league is year to year, and especially with the guys that we have, our focus is (mostly) 90% on next season.” 

Dunleavy sat for his exit interview in the Bill King Interview Room at Chase Center earlier than he wanted, before anyone could find out just how far Curry could take the Warriors. The superstar’s hamstring injury in Game 1 of the second round preceded four straight losses, accelerating the team’s summer vacation. 

Dunleavy and head coach Steve Kerr, along with the players in the locker room, feel that a championship was within reach this year. Major roster shakeups, therefore, won’t be required to get to that precipice again. 

“I don’t think we’re that far away,” Kerr said. 

The second half of the season, with Butler, gave the Warriors clarity. They went 24-8 down the stretch — “That meant something, that was real,” Curry said — and were one of the last eight teams standing. Just being in the championship conversation is all you can ask for, Dunleavy said. 

Whether the Warriors lost in the first round to the Rockets or made the finals, Dunleavy said he wouldn’t approach this offseason any differently. The roster needs upgrades, at least on the margins. As Green likes to say, if you’re not improving in this league, you’re getting worse. 

And while the Warriors are in a better position now — with Butler as a clear No. 2 to Curry — than they were entering the season, every year gets tougher. Players get older. The West seems to get better, interminably, with every offseason. 

That reality puts pressure on every successive season. In this case, 2025-26 — even if Curry, Green, and Butler are signed through 2027. 

In Dunleavy’s words, it’s not a two-year window; it’s a one-year opportunity. 

“We’re going to focus on next year,” Dunleavy said. “Steph is an All-NBA player. Draymond is one of the most elite defensive players, not only ever, but still today. Then we have a very special player in Jimmy. It’s like, how could we not focus on winning it all? That’s got to be our focus.” 

Asked how comfortable he is with Green playing center full time for an entire season, Kerr made himself clear.

“I don’t want to start next season with Draymond as our starting 5,” Kerr said. “I think it’s doable for the last 30 games like we did this year, but you see the toll it takes on him.” 

Green has said as much in the past. That small-ball alignment is always Golden State’s cheat code, but the Warriors need to find a center to both protect and complement him. 

Trayce Jackson-Davis and Quinten Post, recent late second-round picks, are candidates to fill that role. They have opposite skill sets, with Post as a floor-spacer and Jackson-Davis as a lob threat. Each has had moments, and both can improve, but neither has proved to be a reliable starting center. 

An ideal center to play next to Green would be one who can both defend and shoot 3-pointers. Those are hard to find. Chet Holmgrens and Myles Turners are scarce. 

The Warriors don’t need size only at the center position. They need size at any position. They were the shortest team in the league again this season, a mantle they’ve often held since the early years of the dynasty. 

“It’s important if those guys of positional size are good basketball players,” Kerr said. “You can’t just add size for size’s sake, and the pieces need to fit together. We have a really unique puzzle. Draymond and Steph, each of them, are incredibly unique players and have learned how to play together at an incredibly high level.” 

Big, athletic, two-way players are likewise difficult to acquire. The Warriors have their own future first-round picks to dangle and some more trade ammo but don’t project to have enough cap space to be super active in free agency. 

Shooting is also always at a premium in the NBA. When Curry was sidelined, some of the Warriors’ shooters were exposed as teams sagged off them to crowd the paint against Butler isolations. The Warriors will never be a five-out team, but their offensive style generates open 3-pointers, so opportunities to knock shots down will always be there.

The biggest inflection point of the Warriors’ offseason is Jonathan Kuminga, who finished a turbulent year with a strong performance against Minnesota. 

Kuminga will be a restricted free agent. That means the Warriors will have the right to match any offer sheet he signs. They could also negotiate a sign-and-trade with him, with 50% of his salary counting as outgoing money. Kuminga could also sign the $7.9 million qualifying offer and become an unrestricted free agent in 2026, though that path seems unlikely. 

Kuminga said he doesn’t know what his future holds. Kerr and Dunleavy both noted the possibility he could be on his way out the door. 

“As far as bringing him back next season, I think it’s something we’re very interested in doing,” Dunleavy said. “Because when I look at the things JK does well, in terms of getting to the rim, finishing, getting fouled, these are things we greatly need. We know he can bring those to the table. It’s not hypothetical. It’s not a guy in the draft that we think can do it. He’s shown for four years he can do that.” 

Kerr committed to playing Kuminga alongside Curry, Butler, and Green to start next season if Kuminga returns. The Warriors didn’t have the luxury of doing that because Kuminga was injured when they acquired Butler and in a heated race to secure a playoff berth once he returned. Kuminga struggled in a small sample of playing with Butler, and the Warriors couldn’t afford to experiment. 

Kerr benched Kuminga in the season finale, the play-in game against the Grizzlies, and for most of the Rockets series. The decision worked, but Curry’s injury thrust him back into a featured role against Minnesota. 

“It felt square peg, round hole for us,” Kerr said of the late DNPs. “We obviously went away from JK as part of the rotation, and he handled it really well. For him to stay ready, stay positive, and then get his chance and play well in those last four games of the Minnesota series speaks highly of JK and his approach.” 

Dunleavy said it’d be “reasonable” for Kuminga to come back. But he’ll have a say in that, too. The wing’s desire to play in a different system and have the ball more — like other lottery picks of his stature — could steer negotiations. 

“All in all, he’s a guy who’s got a lot of talent and a lot of ability,” Kerr said. “Still growing, still raw in many ways, but a lot of what we have to figure out is roster construction and the combination. Basketball is always a five-man game, and combinations were tricky, they just were. Within all that, we’ve got to do a better job as a staff of figuring out some things, how we’re going about our business.”

Veterans Kevon Looney and Gary Payton II are set to hit free agency this summer. The Warriors would love both of them back, as they’re viewed as embodiments of the team’s culture.

Kerr calls Looney the Warriors’ “moral compass.” Payton, when healthy, is an effective on-ball defender and knows how to play off of Curry. 

“I really want those guys back,” Kerr said. “I’m hopeful they will be. You just never know how those things play out.” 

Looney won three championships with the Warriors and Payton was a huge piece of the 2022 title team. Dunleavy said he told them in their exit interviews that he’d love to have them back. 

Payton has been injury prone and Looney’s game is unique, which likely limits their markets. It’s possible the Warriors could re-sign them for cheap. 

Curry, Butler, and Green’s contracts are aligned, but Kerr is entering the final year of his deal. No coach likes to be a lame-duck, but there’s no reason for Kerr to be worried about his standing within the organization. 

“He’s as big a part of this as anyone,” Dunleavy said. “He’s been great being here. I love him as a partner in this profession. I think it’s one of those things where we want him here as long as he wants to be here. If it means going year to year or doing an extension, I think we can figure stuff out.” 

Dunleavy said Kerr’s contract situation isn’t high on his to-do list because he knows “Steve will be around for a while.” 

Kerr is on the same page. The idea has always been to tie Kerr to Curry, and there’s no sign of a change of plans. 

“I loved every second of this year,” Kerr said. “I love my job. But I know where the team is, I know where the organization is, so I’m perfectly comfortable just going year by year at this point.”