Ахмад тоглогчдын бүрэлдэхүүнтэйгээр 2026-27 оны улирлыг эхлүүлэхээр зэхэж буй Голдэн Стэйт Уорриорс багийн ахлах дасгалжуулагч Стив Керр тоглолтын үргэлжлэл болон багийн тогтвортой байдлыг хангах зорилт тавьжээ.
Стив Керр өнгөрсөн тавдугаар сарын 15-нд болсон хэвлэлийн хурлын үеэр багийн бүрэлдэхүүнд залуу тоглогчид дутагдаж байгааг онцолж, ахмад тоглогчдод хэт их ачаалал ирэх нь улирлын туршид тогтвортой тоглолтыг харуулахад хүндрэлтэй байгааг дурдсан юм. Тэрээр багийн ерөнхий менежер Майк Данливитэй хамтран бүрэлдэхүүнд өөрчлөлт оруулах шаардлагатайг хүлээн зөвшөөрсөн ч баг одоог хүртэл Стефен Карри, Дрэймонд Грийн, Ал Хорфорд, Кристапс Порзингис, Де’Энтони Мелтон зэрэг гол тоглогчдоо хадгалж үлджээ.
Хэрэв Леброн Жэймс багтай нэгдэх тохиолдолд Голдэн Стэйт Уорриорс илүү өрсөлдөх чадвартай болох ч Стив Керр багийн бүрэлдэхүүнийг хоёр хэсэгт хувааж, ахмад тоглогчдын ачааллыг зохицуулах шаардлагатай болно. Ирэх улиралд багийн залуу тоглогчид болох Брэндин Подземски, Уилл Ричард, Ги Сантос, Яксел Лендеборг, Лажае Жонс нар илүү их хариуцлага хүлээж, өөрсдийгөө батлан харуулах боломжтой болно.
Багийн удирдлага ахмад тоглогчдын туршлагыг ашиглан аварга авах боломжийг эрэлхийлж байгаа ч энэ нь багийн залуужих зорилготой зөрчилдөж байна. Өнгөрсөн улиралд өрнө бүсийн чансаанд доошилж, нэмэлт тоглолтуудад оролцсон нь ахмад бүрэлдэхүүнд хүндээр туссан тул Стив Керр ийм нөхцөл байдлыг дахин давтахгүй байхыг хичээж байна.
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SAN FRANCISCO — When Steve Kerr signed a two-year extension last month, he outlined a clear goal for the Golden State Warriors heading into the 2026-27 season.
After spending the previous year managing one of the NBA’s oldest rosters, Kerr wanted more continuity in the lineup. Too often, he and his staff had to accept that there would be nights when veterans Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Al Horford, De’Anthony Melton (recovering from an ACL injury the previous year) and trade deadline acquisition Kristaps Porziņģis would have to sit out and rest.
Kerr trusts Warriors vice president of player health and performance Rick Celebrini and his staff completely. After four decades around the NBA, he also understands just how tough the grind of an 82-game season can be. But he also knew how difficult it would be to juggle an aging roster, especially when he has to constantly wonder who actually might be available on any given night.
“I do think it’s important that we don’t have the vast number of players who couldn’t play back-to-back,” Kerr said at a news conference on May 15. “We can’t do that again. It’s too hard to build continuity. We need some younger legs for sure. We know that. How do you do that? It’s a difficult job. So that’s up to Mike (Dunleavy), and obviously he will consult with me on moves, and we’ll hash that stuff out.
“I feel very strongly that what we have here is something special and strong, and despite the injuries, we can have a year where we get back in the hunt, and I’m confident of that.”
A month and a half later, the Warriors are running it back largely with the same roster that ended last season. That reality came clearer on Wednesday after the organization came to terms with Melton on a two-year deal, as The Athletic’s David Aldridge reported. Outside of draft additions Yaxel Lendeborg and Lajae Jones, the Warriors are on track to deal with many of the same issues Kerr was hoping to avoid.
And that’s before we find out whether 41-year-old LeBron James will come to the Bay to team up with Curry and Green for one final run.
If the Warriors stick with this same roster heading into the regular season, Kerr is going to have to do what he didn’t do last season. He’s essentially going to have create two separate teams within the same roster. Almost like a split squad that a baseball team uses during spring training. There will be one team — made up of Brandin Podziemski, Will Richard, Gui Santos, Lendeborg, Jones and whichever other players Dunleavy decides to fill up the roster with — and then a veteran group made up of Curry, Green, Horford, Porzingis, Melton, potentially James — and maybe one more veteran the Warriors add between now and then. The second group isn’t going to play both sides of every back-to-back and its minutes will have to be managed, especially early in the year.
As much as Kerr was fighting against the idea of carrying another roster full of players who wouldn’t play both sides of a back-to-back, the moves the Warriors made make sense from a basketball standpoint. Kerr loves Melton and appreciates that he can fit into a variety of different lineups. He respects Horford and the way he carries himself on and off the floor. The 40-year-old big man played in just 45 games last season, but the fit was clear. Whether Horford can stay on the floor remains one of the biggest questions heading into a new year. The same goes for Porziņģis, who proved to be a fit in his brief 15-game stint with the Warriors. He appears to be a strong complement to Curry and Green, but his health will continue to be a lingering issue hovering over this group.
If James indeed signs with the Warriors, he immediately makes the team more competitive — and a lot more interesting — but his addition adds to the same quandary that Kerr and his staff spent all season trying to work out. Kerr can mix and match lineups as he did a year ago and give players an extra night when they need a break. After all, the Warriors aren’t going to ask James to carry them through some mid-December game in Milwaukee. Horford, Porzingis and Jimmy Butler, assuming he returns at some point next season from an ACL injury, were brought in specifically to give Curry one more chance to compete for a title. That would also be the case for James.
What the Warriors were reminded of last season is the same lesson they’ve learned repeatedly in recent years: If you fall too far down the Western Conference standings in the regular season, the price to pay is steep. It’s the extra games it takes to get out of the Play-In Tournament. The postseason road is difficult enough without a couple extra games where veterans have to exert themselves for heavy minutes. Kerr knows this, and it’s why he said what he did in May while discussing roster construction. The chance to add James and run it back with a group of trusted veterans on reasonable contacts proved to be too much to change the collective thinking of the group, though.
Kerr and Dunleavy’s goal of getting younger pieces on the roster likely won’t be achieved — at least not the way they envisioned it. But depending on what happens over the next few days, the Warriors may have actually gotten better if James signs on the dotted line.
Just like they did last season, the Warriors’ younger players are going to have plenty of opportunities to show they belong. They’ll once again have time to play through their mistakes on a team that remains heavily reliant on a group of older core that won’t be available every night. That isn’t exactly the way Kerr drew it up — but it’s the tradeoff the Warriors appear willing to make in hopes of landing one of the greatest players of all time.
