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As the Golden State Warriors face another brutal Stephen Curry injury update, a potential replacement could come by way of the 2026 NBA Draft.
The Golden State Warriors have extended their contention window with superstar point guard Steph Curry far further than most could have predicted, but the franchise is now getting advice that it is time to remove its collective foot from the proverbial gas pedal.
Curry has not played since January 30 against the Detroit Pistons due to lingering pain from what the team has described as “runner’s knee.” The Warriors went 23-16 prior to Curry’s injury, but have posted a record of just 10-22 since. All of those contests have also come absent Jimmy Butler, who suffered a season-ending ACL tear on January 19 against the Miami Heat.
The Dubs are now 33-38 and residing in the 10th spot in the Western Conference, which also represents the final berth into the NBA’s play-in tournament on that side of the bracket.
Prominent league insider Ramona Shelburne of ESPN suggested that due to their positioning, the Warriors should tank for this summer’s draft starting now, which would also obviously mean sidelining Curry for the remainder of the campaign.
“The Warriors have been very, very clear that they want to make the playoffs,” Mark Willard of the “Willard & Dibs” show on 97.5 The Game said Monday, March 23. “There is absolutely no tank in their DNA.”
“I would tank,” Shelburne responded to Willard’s subsequent question of what Golden State should do moving forward. “This draft is so good, man. I just think that the way to get better in this league is to get a player in a really high-caliber draft class.”
Warriors Have Better Chance to Break Into Top-4 of NBA Draft Than Ever Before
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GettyRookie forward Cooper Flagg of the Dallas Mavericks.
Any of the 14 teams that don’t make the playoff field of 16 will enter into the draft lottery.
The league has changed the rules in recent years to flatten the odds, which has provided opportunities for franchises like the Dallas Mavericks, for instance, to leap from the No. 11 spot heading into last year’s lottery all the way to No. 1 overall, where they picked Cooper Flagg.
Since 2019, the lottery decides the top four spots in the draft rather than the top three. So while the Warriors are never going to have the same chances as teams like the Indiana Pacers, who are basically guaranteed to finish with one of the three-worst records and get a 14 percent shot at the top pick, Golden State can improve its odds at a top selection by finishing as low in the standings as possible.
Warriors Benefit Most by Sitting Steph Curry for Remainder of Season, NBA Play-In Tournament
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GettyPoint guard Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors.
At this point, it will be almost impossible for Golden State to finish worse than 10th in the West. The New Orleans Pelicans are in 11th place and trail the Warriors by nine games in the loss column with approximately 10 contests to play.
However, if the Dubs keep Curry out and finish 10th, then go on the road for the first play-in game in the West and take the court without Curry, the chances are good that Golden State will not make the playoffs. That puts the team in the draft lottery.
If the Warriors lose in the first play-in game, that puts them in 13th position, at worst. Continued losing down the stretch should also bump the Warriors up a couple of spots based on the fact that the Charlotte Hornets occupy the No. 10 position in the East with a record of 37-34.
Assuming that both teams that finish 9th and 10th in the East also have better records than Golden State, the Warriors can guarantee themselves a spot as low as 11th in the draft lottery.
That is probably as strong as the Dubs’ lottery position can get, though winning runs to finish the year by the Milwaukee Bucks and/or Chicago Bulls could bump Golden State to 9th or 10th in the lottery standings.
Finishing between 11th and 9th in the lottery would afford the Warriors somewhere between a 2-percent and 4.5-percent chance of getting the first overall pick. However, the team’s odds of jumping up into the top four would be better than that in what many analysts believe is among the most talented draft classes in recent memory.