Golden State's Best Lineup Last Season Isn't on This Roster
The best five-man group Golden State ran last season isn't intact anymore, and two of the players meant to fill the gap won't play until December.
Last season's top-performing lineup for the Warriors outscored opponents at a rate no other grouping matched, but the roster the team is taking into camp doesn't include the player who made it work. With Moody and Butler both trending toward the same December timeline, Golden State opens the season searching for a lineup, not restoring one.
A Lineup That Isn't Walking Back In
Last season's best five-man group for Golden State was Curry, Butler, Green, Kuminga and Podziemski. In 65 minutes across eight games, it posted a net rating of plus-16.9, an offense of 119.7 and a defense of 102.8 — the strongest numbers logged for any Warriors lineup. Kuminga isn't on the training-camp roster. Whatever spacing and shot-creation made that unit work has to be found somewhere else this fall.
Two of the Answers Are Hurt
Moody and Butler are both dealing with knee injuries, and the team's own estimate has each returning around December 1. That matters because the next-best lineup logged, Butler, Green, Moody, Podziemski and Post, ran for 64 minutes across 12 games last season and produced a plus-2.3 net rating — modest, but positive. Neither Butler nor Moody will be available to attempt it again until well into the season.
The Deeper Problem
The most-used lineup from last season doesn't offer a fallback either. Curry, Butler, Green, Moody and Post played 125 minutes over 17 games, the largest sample of the three groupings logged, and still finished at minus-6.5, with a defense of 119.9. Golden State's biggest sample last season was its worst-performing five, not its best. There's no proven group sitting on the bench waiting to be reinserted.
So the Real Question
The season's opening question isn't whether Golden State can restore last year's form — it's whether Kerr can build a group that works from what's left: Curry, Green, Podziemski, Melton, Niang, Payton II, Horford and a camp full of new names, before Moody and Butler are healthy again. Four preseason games, starting October 4 at the Clippers, are the only live testing ground before the regular season opens October 21 at the Lakers. Golden State isn't picking up where it left off. It's starting over, again, with less time than it thinks.
Is Kuminga still on the Warriors' roster this season?
He isn't on the camp roster list, even though he was part of Golden State's most effective lineup last season.
When are Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody expected back?
Both are working through knee injuries, and the team's own timeline has each targeting a return around December 1.
