{"id":159918,"date":"2025-09-23T18:00:53","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T22:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=159918"},"modified":"2025-09-23T18:00:53","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T22:00:53","slug":"warriors-projected-to-finalize-roster-before-training-camp-addition-of-handful-free-agents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/09\/23\/warriors-projected-to-finalize-roster-before-training-camp-addition-of-handful-free-agents\/","title":{"rendered":"Warriors Projected To Finalize Roster Before Training Camp Next Week With The Addition Of Handful Of Free Agents"},"content":{"rendered":"

After months of rumors and give and take, the Golden State Warriors<\/a> reportedly know who will be part of their 2025 -26 roster.\u00a0 According to NBA insider Marc Stein of\u00a0The Stein Line<\/em><\/a>, the Warriors<\/a> will be officially adding several players once Jonathan Kuminga<\/a> signs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a strong expectation leaguewide now that the Warriors will also be signing\u00a0Seth Curry<\/a>\u00a0in addition to the Al Horford,<\/a> De\u2019Anthony Melton<\/a>, and Gary Payton II<\/a> trio,\u201d Stein wrote. \u201cGolden State currently has six roster spots open. It\u2019s believed they will be filled by Horford, Melton, Payton, Stephen Curry<\/a>\u2018s younger brother Seth, second-round pick\u00a0Will Richard<\/a>,\u00a0and, of course, Kuminga<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Warriors Projected To Finalize Roster Before Training Camp Next Week With The Addition Of A Handful Of Free Agents<\/h2>\n

Kuminga, after posting career numbers in 2023-24, is coming off an inconsistent year, having dealt with injuries and an undefined role. The gifted 22-year-old forward<\/a> did close out the Warriors’ playoff run last season by pouring in at least 18 points in four straight games.<\/p>\n

Kuminga, whose qualifying offer is worth $7.9 million,<\/a> reportedly came into the offseason seeking around $30 million per year. After holding relatively steady at about $23.5 million a season over two years, the Warriors recently upped their offer to three seasons for $75.2 million with a team option for the final campaign.<\/p>\n

Ashish Matur of the Dallas Hoops Journal<\/a> said that Kuminga rejected the Warriors’ last offer because he prefers a player option over a team option. Matur added that Kuminga and his representatives had a three-year, $82 million offer \u2014 including a player option in Year 3- that was quickly rebuffed by the Warriors.<\/p>\n

There is no word whether Kuminga will sign the three-year deal or take the qualifying offer. However, Kuminga’s agent, Aaron Taylor, previously told The Hoop Collective podcast<\/a> that taking the qualifying offer is a realistic option.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of upside,\u201d<\/em> Turner said. \u201cHe wants to pick where he wants to go. So the QO is real for sure.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Golden State Projected Financials With Free Agent Signings<\/h3>\n

As mentioned above, the Golden State has nine players under contract with a salary cap hit of $170.5 million. Let’s say that Kuminga does indeed accept the qualifying offer. That would increase the Warriors’ cap hit to about $180.4 million, leaving them about $28 million under the second apron.<\/p>\n

Assuming the Warriors use a portion of their mid-level exception to sign Kuminga, that would mean they would have about $6.2 million left. Horford<\/a>, who would be the Warriors’ top target among the players mentioned, is expected to be offered the taxpayer mid-level exception of $5.7 million, according to ESPN’s Anthony Slater and Shams Charania<\/a>.\u00a0 He could earn a little more with Kuminga taking the qualifying offer, though don’t expect it to be much more.<\/p>\n

Horford<\/a> is the key for the Warriors despite his declining production. As the 39-year-old center would provide a center who can space the floor and is an excellent passer. He also sets solid screens and is a physical defender in the low post.<\/p>\n

The other three veterans will likely sign for the veteran minimum to meet the salary cap requirements. However, each player will likely receive more than that, given their years of service.<\/p>\n

Melton and Curry should have a role on the Warriors’ second unit as both players can facilitate the offense and shoot it from the 3-point line. Melton probably has the edge in terms of playing time, as he is the better defender. However, Melton is coming off a gruesome injury and has been sidelined since mid-November.<\/p>\n

Will Richard and the Warriors Two-way Spots<\/h3>\n
\"\"
Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Curry<\/a> is one of the best shooters in the league, as he connects on 3.8 threes at a 43.3% clip for his career. Curry led the league in 3-point p three-point shooting last year, making 45.6% of his attempts. Meanwhile, Payton II is an efficient shooter and superb defender.<\/p>\n

Richard projects to be added to the NBA<\/a> second-round exception.\u00a0 Richard, the No. 56 pick in the 2025 draft, was acquired by the Warriors in exchange for the draft rights to\u00a0Justinian Jessup<\/a>, the draft rights to\u00a0Jahmai Mashack<\/a>, and a conditional 2032 2nd round pick. He started all six of his summer league games, tallying 11.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.5 steals. He hit double-figures in five of six games while posting splits of 43.3\/20.7\/92.9.<\/p>\n

Even if Richard remains on the team all season long, it would be surprising if he saw action in 20 games for Golden State. So, expect the 6-4 wing to shuttle between Santa Cruz, the Warriors’ G-League affiliate, and Golden State quite often.<\/p>\n

Other Options<\/h3>\n

If Richard does indeed get a standard contract, that would mean the Warriors will carry 15 players on standard deals. Now, it is conceivable that the Warriors decide to have just 14 players on standard contracts to begin the campaign for flexibility purposes. In that case, Richards would join Jackson Rowe<\/a>, who is currently the only player to sign a two-way deal, on a minor league contract.<\/p>\n

Depending on whether Richard Deal is a standard or two-way contract, it will determine Golden State’s course of action. The Warriors have a qualifying offer to Taran Armstrong<\/a>. Armstrong signed a two-way deal with the Dubs for last season in February. The 23-year-old Australian showed well in his 11 games with Santa Cruz.<\/p>\n

Regardless, Alex Toohey appears destined for one of the Warriors’ minor league spots.\u00a0 Toohey was selected by the Phoenix with the 52nd pick in this year’s draft, but was shipped to Golden State as part of the bigger Kevin Durant<\/a> deal. The 6-8 forward is raw but oozing with potential. However, it is possible that the Warriors could stash Toohey overseas or in the G League this season without signing him.<\/p>\n

Now, if for some reason Toohey or Armstrong isn’t inked to a two-way deal by the time training camp starts, LJ Cryer<\/a> or Chance McMillan<\/a> could end up with a deal. Cryer and McMillan have Exhibit 10 deals.<\/p>\n

Warriors 2025 Projected Depth Chart<\/h3>\n

Starting Lineup<\/h4>\n

PG: Stephen Curry<\/p>\n

SG: Brandin Podziemski<\/a><\/p>\n

SF: Jimmy Butler\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

PF: Jonathan Kuminga<\/p>\n

C: Draymond Green<\/a><\/p>\n

Second Unit<\/h4>\n

6th Man: Buddy Hield<\/a><\/p>\n

7th: Al Horford<\/p>\n

8th: Moses Moody\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

9th:\u00a0 De’Anthony Melton<\/p>\n

10th or 11th: Quenten Post<\/a>\/ Seth Curry<\/p>\n

Deep Bench<\/h4>\n

12th or 13th: Trayce Davis-Jackson<\/a>\/ Gary Payton II<\/p>\n

14th: Gui Santos<\/a><\/p>\n

15th: Will Richard<\/p>\n

16th: Jackson Rowe (2-way)<\/p>\n

17th: Taran Armstrong (2-way)<\/p>\n

18th: Alex Toohey (2-way)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a9 Darren Yamashita, Imagn Images<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After months of rumors and give and take, the Golden State Warriors reportedly know who will be part of their 2025 -26 roster.\u00a0 According to NBA insider Marc Stein of\u00a0The Stein Line, the Warriors will be officially adding several players once Jonathan Kuminga signs. \u201cThere is a strong expectation leaguewide now that the Warriors will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3146,"featured_media":160001,"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":[1608,2,25,62],"tags":[50219,250,1593,2795,4297,585,48],"class_list":["post-159918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-featured","category-warriors","category-nba","tag-2025-nba-free-agents","tag-al-horford","tag-deanthony-melton","tag-gary-payton-ii","tag-jonathan-kuminga","tag-seth-curry","tag-stephen-curry"],"modified_by":"Daniel Benjamin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159918","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\/3146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159918"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159918\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":160049,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159918\/revisions\/160049"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}