The revamped Golden State Warriors have had an uneven start to their 2025-26 season.
Golden State looked like one of the West’s best teams out of the gate, posting a 4-1 record in its first four bouts with an egalitarian, balanced offensive attack supporting All-Stars Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler. The team’s relatively thin frontcourt — it has often settled into starting 6-foot-6 Draymond Green at center, with 6-foot-9 free agent signing Al Horford and 7-foot second-year center Quinten Post spotting him off the bench — wasn’t initially a major impediment.
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The Warriors fell back down to earth, winning just two of their next seven bouts. Things have stabilized a bit since, as Golden State rides a three-game win streak as of this writing, but things are clearly a bit tenuous in a conference where younger, bigger, deeper, longer clubs like the 13-1 Oklahoma City Thunder, the 10-2 Denver Nuggets, and the 9-3 Houston Rockets rule.
Part of the issue was a uniquely (perhaps, unfairly?) brutal schedule.
To kick off the first month of the season, Golden State had a league-most 17 games — including an NBA-most 12 road games. Only one other team, the Toronto Raptors, also had double-digit road games on its slate. Just four other clubs overall had over eight road tilts. In that timespan, Golden State had a league-leading five back-to-back games, two clear of any other teams. The Warriors had to travel ahead of their next contest 15 times in those first 17 bouts.
Still, size does matter in the NBA today. Neither Horford or Post is much of an interior bruiser, and Green is too small to face off against, say, Victor Wembanyama (which became quite clear during Golden State’s two fluky wins against Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs over the last week). As a 9-6 club looking to win now, the Warriors should be open to an upgrade in the paint.
Former four-time All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins, who played for Golden State during the club’s Finals-bound 2018-19 season, set social media ablaze when he pitched that his old team add his one-time Los Angeles Lakers teammate Anthony Davis, now saddled with the lowly Dallas Mavericks (4-10 on the year), in what would be a league-reshaping blockbuster trade. Davis has already been privy to a lot of those in his career.
On Monday, Cousins’ current teammates on FanDuel TV’s “Run It Back” weighed in on the pros and cons of such a deal. Hosts Michelle Beadle and Lou Williams are rooting for a trade package headlined by young Warriors power forward Jonathan Kuminga.
“I like this deal as well, especially for Dallas,” three-time Sixth Man of the Year guard Lou Williams said. “As many young pieces as you can possibly get right now. Get rid of all of the old, let’s start fresh, let’s start new — with the exception of [injured 33-year-old vet point guard] Kyrie Irving… I really like this a lot for Dallas, and I like it for the Warriors as well. They’ve shown the more talent that they can have, the more they’re going to make a splash in the West.”
Davis’ current $54,126,450 salary is an exact match to the present contract of six-time All-Star Warriors small forward Jimmy Butler. Bringing in 36-year-old Butler doesn’t make much sense for a Mavericks club that, to Williams’ point, should prioritize a youth movement around 18-year-old rookie superstar-in-waiting Cooper Flagg. Adding Kuminga, still just 23, may make more sense, but matching salaries and grappling with cap hurdles could prove tougher.
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