The ideal answers to Warriors’ 5 spiciest offseason questions

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The ideal answers to Warriors’ 5 spiciest offseason questions

Kenzo Fukuda, ClutchPoints · ClutchPoints

Tue, Apr 21, 2026 ·

10 min read

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SAN FRANCISCO – For as wild and frantic as the Golden State Warriors ’ 2025-26 season was, the rollercoaster ride is about to get all the more tumultuous as the team enters a monumental offseason.

With multiple inflection points on the table, from the uncertainty of Steve Kerr ’s future as the Warriors’ head coach to Draymond Green ’s long-term security, the team has a lot to address. Especially as franchise cornerstone Stephen Curry comes another step closer to the end of his storied career.

How general manager Mike Dunleavy, and to a wider extent, owner Joe Lacob, answer these offseason question marks on the docket will dictate the course of this franchise for years to come. It’s no secret that the Warriors are at the tail-end of their dynastic run; that’s been obvious for a while now.

Thus, here are the Warriors’ five most intriguing offseason questions and the ideal answers to each of those burning storylines.

Will Steve Kerr return to the Warriors?

It’s quite literally a coin flip as to whether or not Kerr returns to coach his 13th season with the Warriors. To the point where it’s kind of futile to read through all the tea leaves he and the team have left because Kerr himself doesn’t know what he wants to do.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Kerr said in the wake of the Warriors’ season-ending loss to the Suns. “I still love coaching, but I get it. These jobs all have an expiration date. There’s a run that happens, and when the run ends, sometimes it’s time for new blood and new ideas and all that.”

From a player’s perspective, Kerr is beloved in that locker room. Curry and Green have gone on the record to say that they want Kerr back. And that love was made abundantly clear in the rest of the team’s exit interviews, in which every player expressed their gratitude for Kerr’s coaching and guidance.

But from a front office perspective, it’s far murkier. ESPN reported that Lacob wants Kerr to display a hunger for coaching rather than his returning out of obligation to Curry and Green. That’s a big reason why they’d want him back on a multi-year deal, to avoid a “last dance” farewell tour situation. There are also feelings internally that they relied too heavily on 3-point variance and that there needs to be philosophy tweaks, should Kerr return.

So nobody knows if Kerr will return, not even himself. And it sounds like if he does, it will come with caveats. For now, Kerr will take some time to figure out what to do next.

“It might still go on. It may not, I don’t know at this point,” Kerr said. “But we all need to step away a little bit and then reconvene.”

Answer: The Warriors re-up Kerr for one final year, compromising on the multi-year caveat by reorganizing his assistants. Maybe even put the eventual successor on the bench. There’s no one better suited to coaching Curry, Green, and Butler.

What happens with Draymond Green and his player option?

The other key pillar of the Warriors’ dynasty, with their future on the table, is Green. The veteran point forward showed his age as his offense continued to regress, but ultimately showed he’s still capable of winding back the clock when it matters. Look no further than when he locked up Kawhi Leonard in the Play-In. There is absolutely still a useful, winning player in Green.

But with a massive $27.7-million player option on the table, a lot of the Dubs’ offseason rests on whether or not he picks it up, beyond just his own career implications.

If Green opts into his player option, the Warriors’ cap space shrivels up, and they would become unable to re-sign both Kristaps Porzingis and De’Anthony Melton, which would already be difficult without Green’s cap hit. And then at that point, it may become necessary for the Warriors to move off of Green’s would-be expiring deal, either for cap relief or in a big trade for a superstar.

The alternative to that scenario is a decline-and-extend, which is something Green seems willing to do, according to ESPN. In that scenario, the Warriors would add more years and money to the $27.7 million owed to him to reduce the yearly cap hit. That would give them the room to offer Porzingis what he wants and potentially retain Melton.

Regardless, Green believes he has a lot left in the tank.

“I’m not retiring from basketball,” Green said in his exit interview. “I still love to play. I still think I’m pretty decent. But this league is interesting. You don’t really control everything. For me, I hope I’ve done enough to be here. If I ain’t done enough, I don’t want to be here. I don’t ever want, ‘Yo, we just going to keep him around because of what he’s done before.’ What can I still do?”

Answer :The best solution for both sides is for Green to decline-and-extend. That should be amicable for both sides. Green secures more money long-term while the Warriors clear up the books to retain key free agents and or pursue a bigger fish. Plus, it’s in everyone’s best interests for Green to retire having only donned the blue and yellow.

Does Kristaps Porzingis re-sign? And for how much?

Porzingis was the only asset the Warriors recouped from the Jonathan Kuminga trade, hence the desire to retain him this offseason. But Porzingis has not made a hard commitment to Golden State, despite the successes both fit-wise and health-wise .

“I do love my time here, honestly,” Porzingis told The California Post. “Not one bad thing I can say about the organization, the team, the teammates. I really love it here, I really do.

“As I said before, I haven’t had a good year. If I had a good year, I think I’d have a more clear picture of what I want to do. Because I’ve had an up-and-down year like this, this is an offseason in my career that I think I’m just going to take a step back, look at the whole picture, and then see what’s the best direction for me.”

Translation: Porzingis is likely to test the market. It makes sense. To get the money he wants from the Warriors, he’ll need another offer to show his value. What that amount is remains the big question because his short stint with the Dubs showed the upside and the downside.

In 15 games with Golden State, Porzingis averaged 16.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists. At his best, he showed he’s still an elite offensive threat who theoretically fits with Curry. His 20 points against the Clippers in the Play-In were proof of that, as he kept Golden State alive in the fourth quarter.

But his mysterious six-game absence, his inability to play both ends of a back-to-back, and his shaky health history are what the Warriors will bring up when he asks for a bag. Availability matters. Especially in contract negotiations. And especially on an old team like the Warriors. Hence, why the number Porzingis is worth is so tricky.

Answer : Porzingis re-signs with the Warriors, either a pricey one-year prove-it deal – one-year, $22-million – or a multi-year, team-friendly deal that secures him more money total over a longer stretch – say three years, $51-million. A lot depends on who the Warriors are bidding against, based on what other teams offer him. But it’s good for both sides to stay together. Especially since Porzingis enjoyed the training staff and the fact that they kept him relatively healthy.

Where does their lottery pick land? Do they keep it?

The Warriors losing in the Play-In means they’ll have a lottery pick, which is a nice asset to have going into the offseason.

But where that lottery pick lands could be franchise-altering. They have a 77.6% chance of just staying at 11th overall and a 12.6% chance of falling to 12th. However, the Warriors have a 9.4% chance to jump into the top four, and a 2.0% chance at the first overall pick. That would put them in a real position to take a franchise cornerstone.

An AJ Dybantsa or a Cameron Boozer would obviously change a lot for the Warriors as they transition out of the Curry era.

Of course, that’s the dream scenario. Again, in all likelihood, they land at 11th, which is not a bad place to be. Quality prospects like Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg and Arizona’s Brayden Burries are projected in that range. All would help the older Warriors get much younger.

No matter how the pick conveys, the Warriors will have to consider whether or not to package it in a blockbuster trade. Any Giannis Antetokounmpo trade package has to include this pick. Golden State has to weigh competing now in Curry’s closing window, or setting itself up for the future post-Curry.

Answer : Obviously, the clear ideal answer is to win the lottery and take Dybantsa or whoever they like the most among the Top-4. But speaking realistically, Golden State has to keep this pick. In the past, there was an argument to trade picks for proven players – ie, don’t do the two timelines. But this team is so far away from contention that they have to prioritize the future. Especially in a draft this strong.

Can the Warriors land a big fish in free agency?

It’s not a Warriors offseason without them kicking the tires on a superstar free agent addition.

There are rumblings that Golden State will do it’s do-diligence on names like LeBron James , Kawhi Leonard, and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Any of those players would do wonders for their desire to maximize Curry’s closing window. But whether that’s realistic or a pipe dream is the question.

The Warriors have had to eat a lot of crow lately when it comes to getting a star. They struck out on both Antetokounmpo and Leonard at the deadline this year . Skip back a couple of seasons, and names like Paul George and Lauri Markkanen headline their failed star pursuits.

Sure, they landed Jimmy Butler , but even that required a lot going their way. Namely him being disgruntled in Miami and other teams being scared off by his behavior.

And ultimately, what does getting a big fish even do for this team? How much can an elder James raise the ceiling of this veteran team? Is it worth dumping everything into Antetokounmpo, who also has a sneaky concerning injury history? Who knows with Leonard and his Aspiration investigation?

Answer : The ideal scenario is probably for the Warriors to land another superstar. Because ultimately, they owe it to Curry to give him the chance to play in meaningful games . We saw how fun it was to see him in a game with stakes in the Play-In. But the ideal is not always possible. And it’s especially not ideal if the Warriors have to surrender a ton of assets to do so.

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