The Golden State Warriors' start to the 2025-26 season, to put it plainly, has been nothing short of disappointing, with the team currently sitting at a 13-14 record and holding the eighth seed in the Western Conference.
Yet, as much heat as head coach Steve Kerr has gotten for his inability to find a rotational combination that truly works, Michael Pina, on the latest episode of The Zach Lowe Show, has made the argument that the team simply does not have the pieces to properly complement their stars.
""When you get past Jimmy [Butler] on this roster, and it's not the same Jimmy that it's been the past couple year, uh oh... If you were banking on the Warriors to make that push in the West and have that success and clear that win total, you were banking on the rest of this group to do something that they have not done this season.""
Michael Pina
The Warriors simply do not have the depth, no matter how far Steve Kerr reaches into his bag of tricks
Beyond the injuries that the team's veteran core has endured, Golden State's primary limiting factor has been the inconsistent performances of their role players.
While the Warriors have a deep roster in terms of bodies and capable players, the team has continously fallen short no matter which combinations Kerr has needed to employ. While players such as Brandin Podziemski, Buddy Hield and Quinten Post can have their strokes of brilliance, they have not proven to be reliable scorers on a game-to-game basis.
This issue has been intensified by the absences that Curry, Butler and even Draymond Green have endured, and, as of right now, it appears as though Butler is still being limited by a knee injury he suffered in early December.
Just over a quarter of the way into the season, Golden State has 11 players that are averaging 18 or more minutes: the same number as the behemoth Oklahoma City Thunder. The problem is that the Warriors do not have players of the caliber of Ajay Mitchell, Aaron Wiggins or Isaiah Joe coming off of their bench.
One of Kerr's strengths as a coach has always been to reach deep into his rotation and pull out the right guy for the moment when needed.
Yet, if Pina is right, and the team simply does not have the pieces no matter what buttons Kerr pushes, it could prove to be absolutely disastrous as the Warriors attempt to maximize what is left of Curry's career.