As the Golden State Warriors have largely sat stagnant in free agency, they have shown an apparent comfort with the bulk of their roster heading into next season.
While this comes with some evidence behind it, given the team's improvement following their acquisition of Jimmy Butler, young guard Brandin Podziemski's recent bold prediction of the Warriors earning a top seed in the Western Conference next season writes a check the team may not be able to cash.
"We feel like we can be a top-four seed in the West."
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) July 12, 2025
Brandin Podziemski details the Warriors' mentality heading into next season pic.twitter.com/Br1I0GQp3I
Golden State, who went 23-7 to finish out the season following the Butler trade, only managed to grab a play-in spot in an absolutely loaded West, but they evidently believe that, with a full year together, this core can lead the team through the gauntlet.
Warriors will need a number of things to go right to achieve Podziemski's goal
As a result of both the large amount of money they have committed to their veteran trio as well as the lingering Jonathan Kuminga situation, the Warriors have yet to make a single move this offseason, signaling trouble if the glaring holes in their roster are not filled.
At the same time, by letting veterans Kevon Looney and Gary Payton II walk in free agency, the team showed their desire to reshape the roster for next season, especially at the position of center.
However, as the top players in the shallow positional market have signed elsewhere, Golden State has been left with essentially one remaining option: veteran center Al Horford.
Given the fact that the Warriors likely cannot depend on youngster Quinten Post to lead them to a top seed in the West as a starter, the organization is dependent upon the addition of Horford and perhaps another guard to shore up their roster.
At the same time, Golden State had the best defensive rating and the seventh-best offensive rating in the league following the All Star break, giving the team a solid shot if its veteran core is able to remain healthy.
Yet, while they have sat still this offseason, many of their conference rivals have made blockbuster moves, making the West as tough as it's ever been.
The Houston Rockets have re-shaped their roster around all-time offensive threat Kevin Durant. The Denver Nuggets have finally gotten Nikola Jokic frontcourt support in the form of Cam Johnson and Jonas Valančiūnas. The Los Angeles Clippers have added Brook Lopez and John Collins, diversifying their scoring attack.
On top of all that, the first overall pick in the most recent NBA Draft, Cooper Flagg, has joined the Dallas Mavericks, leaving the Warriors in an exceedingly precarious position to even grab a bona-fide playoff spot.
Therefore, while the Jimmy Butler experiment has found success thus far, and Podziemski's confidence is not entirely unfounded, it is difficult to see Golden State repeating that success this season without at least one major move to rework their ros