{"id":139915,"date":"2025-05-16T15:56:49","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T19:56:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=139915"},"modified":"2025-05-16T15:56:49","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T19:56:49","slug":"warriors-offseason-plans-involve-chasing-big-3-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/05\/16\/warriors-offseason-plans-involve-chasing-big-3-support\/","title":{"rendered":"Warriors Offseason Plans Involve Chasing Big 3 Support"},"content":{"rendered":"

While the main downfall of the Golden State Warriors’ season came down to Steph Curry<\/a> missing almost the entirety of the second-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, his absence wasn’t the only element playing a role. Trading for Jimmy Butler<\/a> changed the trajectory of Golden State’s season, no question about it. That said, a major roster flaw was left unattended: the center position. The lack of size was evident against the Houston Rockets. Still, the Warriors got through that series, albeit in seven games. The Timberwolves were a different story, though, considering Rudy Gobert<\/a>‘s presence, easily out-towering all of Golden State. It’s the center position that the Warriors’ offseason plans<\/a> will be focused on, among other positions that help the franchise’s Big 3.<\/p>\n

Warriors Offseason Plans Involve Chasing Big 3 Support<\/h2>\n

Golden State Warriors’ offseason plans will revolve around landing a center and wing defender<\/h3>\n

According to ESPN’s Shams Charania<\/a>, the Warriors intend to improve their paint presence over the summer and look at upgrades to their wing. Aside from a true center, or a big man in general, the Warriors lack athleticism on the perimeter, specifically wing defenders. Golden State’s primary source of athleticism came from Jonathan Kuminga<\/a>. Unfortunately, Kuminga was sparsely used for much of the postseason<\/a>, that is, until Curry injured his hamstring. At that point, Steve Kerr likely felt forced to play Kuminga, and he stepped up.<\/p>\n

Overall, what Golden State currently has around Butler, Draymond Green<\/a>, and Curry is evidently not enough. As Shams reports, the Warriors will go into the offseason with the goal of bolstering support for the Big 3.<\/p>\n

“Sources told me in the last few hours, the Warriors will be incredibly aggressive in the marketplace to go find help, to continue to retool around their big 3 of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Jimmy Butler.” <\/em>Charania continued, “I am told, their priority is finding a playmaking wing defender or a center to this group. A lot of it will come down to [who] Steve Kerr and the Big 3 feel like will help this team and fit their culture and their identity.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Free agent centers on the market<\/h3>\n

The free agent market isn’t exactly ripe with top-tier center prospects. Instead, there are several more secondary options the Warriors might have to settle for. Either way, the West is home to a fair share of premier big men, and the Warriors must find someone to boost them in any way possible.<\/p>\n

\"Atlanta
Jan 4, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Atlanta Hawks center Clint Capela (15) reaches for a loose ball against the Los Angeles Clippers during the first half at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A few first option names like Brook Lopez<\/a>, Clint Capela<\/a>, or Myles Turner<\/a> jump out at first glance. Turner is still playing in the playoffs, but is a free agent this summer. In Lopez’s case, ESPN’s Bobby Marks recently reported<\/a> that the Warriors could have interest in the Milwaukee Bucks’ big man, and that he might be their best target. Turner will also be a coveted option for a few teams, provided the Indiana Pacers choose to let him walk. If Golden State can’t land a top-tier name, they have the likes of Jaxson Hayes<\/a>, Andre Drummond<\/a>, Al Horford<\/a>, Steven Adams<\/a>, or even Luke Kornet<\/a>, who has suddenly splashed onto the scene for the Boston Celtics. All of the above are free agents this summer.<\/p>\n

Another possibility for the Warriors to consider is Naz Reid<\/a>, if Minnesota doesn’t bring him back. Reid isn’t a traditional centre in any way, and plays a lot of his basketball outside of the paint. That said, he is a quality big man who can defend centers any given night. His three-point shooting would be an added bonus for the Warriors.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a9 Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While the main downfall of the Golden State Warriors’ season came down to Steph Curry missing almost the entirety of the second-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, his absence wasn’t the only element playing a role. Trading for Jimmy Butler changed the trajectory of Golden State’s season, no question about it. That said, a major […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5081,"featured_media":139923,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25,1608,62],"tags":[250,341,233,346,409,1962,142,4297,1776,637,1881,394,48],"class_list":["post-139915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-warriors","category-basketball","category-nba","tag-al-horford","tag-andre-drummond","tag-brook-lopez","tag-clint-capela","tag-draymond-green","tag-jaxson-hayes","tag-jimmy-butler","tag-jonathan-kuminga","tag-luke-kornet","tag-myles-turner","tag-naz-reid","tag-rudy-gobert","tag-stephen-curry"],"modified_by":"Aaron J Zacharias","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5081"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139915"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139915\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":139939,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139915\/revisions\/139939"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}