The Warriors have their eyes on both the present and the future, and for good reason.
Golden State, with its veteran core of Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green, has the pieces to potentially compete for another championship in the 2025-26 NBA season, but that very core also has a combined age of 36, which means the dynastic franchise has to start preparing for a very different-looking future.
And as The Athletic’s Sam Amick reported in a story on Tuesday, it appears the Warriors already have.
“[The Warriors] want to maintain maximum flexibility for that 2027 summer (as it stands, they only have [Moses] Moody’s $13.4 million and [Buddy] Hield’s $10 million player option on the books by then),” Amick wrote. “The Warriors, who are well aware that Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and Denver’s Nikola Jokić both have player options for the 2027-28 season, are hardly alone on this star-hunting front.
“High-profile teams like the Lakers and Clippers have sent similar signals in recent months.”
The 2027 offseason is a pivotal one for Golden State, as Curry, Butler and Green’s contracts all are set to expire that summer or, in Green’s case, potentially in 2026 if he were to decline his player option for the 2026-27 season.
As Amick mentioned, the Warriors currently only have two players (Moody, Hield) under contract for the 2027-28 season, and barring moves in the near future, could have an abundance of cap space to pursue, potentially, superstars like Antetokounmpo and Jokić, should they became available.
It’s no secret how the Warriors feel about Antetokounmpo, who they reportedly have been interested in potentially acquiring before, but regardless of whether he or Jokić become available that summer, Golden State should have enough flexibility to pursue whoever they want.
