As the Golden State Warriors enter the 2025-26 NBA season, their major offseason signings, of veterans Al Horford and De'Anthony Melton, will serve to provide the team with a fresh injection of veteran experience, shoring up two areas of need and giving head coach Steve Kerr more pieces who he can trust wholeheartedly.
Yet, as the Warriors attempt to carve out their rotation, Melton is likely to miss the beginning of the season rehabbing the ACL injury he suffered last year, and younger guards such as Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody will get the first crack at proving their worth to the rotation.
While Melton will be important to this team no matter what as long as he can stay healthy, he would have a serious case for a starting spot as a strong point-of-attack defender next to Stephen Curry. Yet, if Podziemski or Moody gets off to a hot start, Melton may have lost his chance at the job before he even plays his first game.
Brandin Podziemski or Moses Moody will now get the chance to start before Melton
Last season, as the Warriors faced an eerily similar backcourt conundrum, the team had a stark decision to make. Would they attempt to pair Curry with a strong defender or another viable perimeter shooter to feed off of his gravity?
Now, with Horford and Jimmy Butler in the starting lineup, the calculus has been altered slightly entering this season. While Horford, Draymond Green and Butler will form a formidable and staunch defensive unit, the team now needs additional scoring to surround these players.
Podziemski, who averaged 11.7 points and shot 37.2% from 3-point range last season, is the primary candidate to start at shooting guard as of now, especially given the fact that the organization thinks very highly of him as a potential future cornerstone of the franchise.
However, Moody might still have a say in this. In Golden State's first preseason game, Moody posted 19 points, shooting 5-of-7 from beyond the arc and looking as though he had returned to his pre-injury form from last season.
While Podziemski only had eight points in that game, both players performed rather well in their relatively limited minutes.
Melton, meanwhile, will need to re-ingratiate himself into the Warriors' system whenever he does return from his injury, meaning that he will need time to get back to his full form.
Therefore, in a loaded backcourt that will likely also feature Buddy Hield and Gary Payton II, Melton, who once had a serious chance to start, will now have his work cut out for him to earn his minutes once he returns, and Moody's performance in the team's first preseason game serves as a painful reminder of this fact.