The revamped Golden State Warriors looked like a true contender after the first few weeks of 2024-25. Behind red-hot three-point shooting, palpable all-court chemistry and a roster overflowing with proven veteran depth, the Dubs raced out to a dominant 12-3 start, begging the question of whether they really needed to bring in a long-awaited second star behind Steph Curry.
That honeymoon ended almost as soon as it started, with a rash of injuries and absences pushing Golden State below .500 at the trade deadline. Enter Jimmy Butler, and with him an immediate late-season surge up the standings that has the Warriors and their legion of fans worldwide dreaming of yet another title.
Golden State knows what to expect from its trio of future Hall-of-Famers in the playoffs. Curry will stoke imminent fear in the heart of defenses even if he’s not draining jumpers from all over the floor. “Playoff Jimmy” may not be readily available at this late stage of his career, but Butler’s rare blend of instincts and physicality is sure to make life easier on teammates and hellish for opponents regardless. Green is bound to be a difference-maker on both ends whether or not he struggles to score and is limited by size and athleticism in the paint.
Beyond that veteran trio, though, the Warriors won’t exactly enter the postseason with vintage strength in numbers. Their only role players with ample experience playing under basketball’s brightest lights are the likes of Gary Payton II, Buddy Hield and Kevon Looney. Moses Moody and Jonathan Kuminga own less than 400 playoff minutes between them, while Brandin Podziemski’s lone taste of the postseason came in last year’s disastrous play-in loss to the Sacramento Kings.
Even peak performance from Curry, Butler and Green won’t be enough to take Golden State on a deep run into late May and June. The Warriors bookended the dynasty with championships won by the whole looming much larger than the sum of their individual parts. Can they manage that necessary alchemy again when the playoffs tipoff in mid-April, just over two months removed from forming a new identity on the fly around Butler?
Let’s break down the postseason viability of Golden State’s supporting cast, focusing on player-specific question marks with answers that will go a long way toward informing this team’s chances to raise another Larry O’Brien trophy.
Warriors’ unproven rotation mainstays
Moses Moody
The Warriors’ fifth and final starting spot has yet to be settled, and could very well turnover on a series-to-series let alone game-by-game basis under the playoff microscope. Go ahead and earmark Moody as an entrenched starter alongside Curry, Butler and Green, though. Far less certain is how he’ll fare as Golden State’s designated perimeter stopper and primary spot-up three-point shooter.
Can Moody compensate for his lagging foot speed checking elite ball-handlers with positional length, quick hands and a dogged disposition? He’s hit just 33.3% on catch-and-shoot triples since Butler’s arrival, too, a number that must come up in the playoffs to ensure defenses treat him like a reliable floor-spacer.
Moody’s usage won’t be high and his statistical averages will look pedestrian. Rest assured that if Golden State makes noise in the playoffs, his impact on both sides of the ball will have proven crucial nonetheless.
Jonathan Kuminga
It’s way, way too early to draw overarching conclusions on Kuminga’s fit with the new-look Warriors. He’s been restricted to short bursts of playing time across 92 total minutes over Golden State’s last three games, Kuminga’s first action since suffering a nasty right ankle sprain on January 4th. There was always going to be a re-acclimation period for Kuminga after 32 games spent on the sideline.
What seems fair to glean already, unfortunately, is that his pre-playoffs reintegration to the Dubs won’t go much smoother than expected. Kuminga’s rough personal numbers and ugly impact data—including an outlier, team-worst -21.1 on-off net rating, per NBA.com/stats—largely align with the eye test. He’s been unsure and ineffective as a scorer despite a steady diet of inverted ball screens with Curry, at times disrupting flow of the Warriors’ halfcourt offense with head-first drives and ill-fated post-ups. Two-way dirty work at forward a la Gui Santos has been more fleeting than consistent.
Golden State doesn’t have a chance at scraping its championship ceiling without Kuminga separating himself from his non-star teammates. This Warriors won’t scrape their ceiling unless he emerges as a fourth surefire closer next to Curry, Butler and Green. But that would also include an excited embrace of play finishing, pace-pushing and defensive attentiveness, the type of supporting role Kuminga’s never wanted—ahead of restricted free agency, no less.
Kuminga is poised to be a revelation or disappointment come the playoffs, with no in-between.
Brandin Podziemski
One broadly overlooked aspect of the Warriors’ in-season overhaul is what it’s meant for Podziemski. With Andrew Wiggins in South Beach, Dennis Schroder finding another home with the Detroit Pistons and the fate of De’Anthony Melton’s tenure sealed back in November, Podziemski has taken back some of the offensive burden the coaching staff made him give up earlier this season.
Podziemski’s usage is up 3.3 points to 19.4% with Butler in the Bay, per NBA.com/stats, an increase accounted for by additional shots as opposed to assists and turnovers, both of which are down. His below-average shooting efficiency has barely moved, though, and he’s launching slightly fewer three-pointers.
As Butler has bided time with the Warriors letting the game to him, Podziemski’s importance on offense has increased. Is he ready for that role in the playoffs if Butler can’t sop up more usage? Can he knock down enough open threes to keep defenses honest while holding his own as an individual defender?
Podziemski could become a regular closer for Golden State during his first taste of the playoffs, or lose minutes to a veteran currently slotted lower in the rotation. If the latter scenario unfolds, the Warriors’ backcourt will be missing the sense of reliability and ingenuity Podziemski offers at his best.
Exploitable specialists
Gary Payton II
No player embodies the bold individual strengths and weaknesses of Golden State’s reserves better than Payton.
Not quite the defensive monster he was while helping the Dubs to a title in 2022, Young Glove is still clearly this team’s best option checking elite guards at the point of attack and remains an ultra-disruptive help defender for his size at the nail and the rim. Payton’s ball-screen and dribble hand-off mind meld with Curry rivals Green’s, and he frequently ignites transition play through deflections and sprinting the floor to finish.
The crux of Payton’s game remains the same: Teams won’t guard him beyond the arc, and there’s only so much pick-and-roll he can run with Curry. Payton is shooting 47.2% from three on a bit extra volume since Butler’s arrival, compared to 21.6% before then—not only a more accurate indicator of his career norms as a shooter, but a number that could relegate him to the bench almost full-time if matched in the postseason.
Buddy Hield
It’s very simple for Steve Kerr and the Warriors’ coaching staff when it comes to Hield. If he has the jumper going consistently, Hield will be a fixture off the bench in the playoffs as a three-point shooter off movement and the catch, as well as a second-side ball-handler.
Otherwise, the bright red target on his back defensively and a nagging penchant for mistakes in execution may make Hield a matchup-dependent part of Golden State’s playoff rotation.
Quinten Post
The Warriors’ gem of a floor-spacing center has been nearly as pleasant a surprise as their all-around play over the last six weeks.
Post, remember, became a rotational mainstay prior to the trade deadline, only splashing triples with more accuracy and confidence in the interim. Is he really a 44.4% long-range shooter, though? That’s the scorching clip from deep Post has managed with Butler wearing blue and gold, and close to the one he’ll have to maintain in the playoffs given what he inherently gives up defensively.
It’s tough to imagine a seven-footer with Post’s limited perimeter mobility and lack of explosiveness at the rim surviving defensively in the playoffs. Prospective battles with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers would make it especially hard for Kerr to give Post a major reserve role.
Still, expect the No. 52 overall pick of the 2025 draft to at least get a chance to play from round to round in the postseason. Golden State’s offense sorely needs the stretch and volume Post’s three-point chops provide.
Kevon Looney
Looney’s place in the Dubs’ playoff pecking order will be pretty much the same it’s been since 2022.
He’d be a rotational mainstay in potential series against the Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Clippers, but could be subject to DNP-CDs versus the Thunder, Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves should Golden State struggle to score. Post’s playing time will obviously effect Looney’s, too.
No matter how his minutes fluctuate, expect the same stalwart screen-setting, offensive rebounding and one-on-one defense down low that Looney’s been giving the Warriors at this time of year dating back to the dynasty.
Energy wild cards
Gui Santos
The two-way connectivity Santos has offered as a shooter, cutter, screener, switch defender, defensive helper, overall rebounder and transition runner upon entering the rotation in early January is basically the blueprint for how the Warriors want Kuminga to play. It’s likely earned Santos a long-term future in Golden State, too.
This team is stacked with forwards and questionable shooters now, though, and Santos doesn’t do any one thing quite well enough be earmarked a nightly role in the playoffs. Even if he opens single games or full series as part of the rotation, don’t be surprised if Santos’ total minutes wane compared to the regular season.
Trayce Jackson-Davis
In the proverbial dog house for going on two months, Jackson-Davis’ only paths to steady court time in the playoffs is the Warriors suffering an injury in the frontcourt or becoming subject to the dire need for an alley-oop threat offensively.
The problem, as Dub Nation knows all too well, is that he’s missed on a maddening number of bunnies this season, eroding the confidence both Kerr and his teammates used to have in Jackson-Davis as a finisher.
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