The Golden State Warriors just had their media day and even though not much is expected of this team going into the 2026-27 season, the players, coaches, and front office are all trying to strike a positive tone going into it.
While that’s the right thing to do, it's hard for fans to escape some frustrating comments from general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. about where the team is at and what happened during the summer.
“We run out a lot of ground balls. We look at a lot of stuff, and we ultimately make what we think is the best decision… We maintain some flexibility. We have all a bunch of assets, so we're in a really good spot," Dunleavy said.
There’s no easy way for Dunleavy to try to spin the offseason in a positive way, but a response like that which essentially amounts to, “We tried,” is not going to be met very positively by the fans who think Golden State should be doing more to capitalize on the final years of Stephen Curry’s career.
Former Warriors coach P.J. Carlesimo defends Mike Dunleavy Jr.
Former Warriors head coach P.J. Carlesimo is one of Dunleavy’s few defenders. He's much more bullish on the Warriors than others and outlined that in an interview with Kyle Odegard for Next Predict:
“If they are healthy, they’re good right now, and they are always a player away. By the middle of the year Mike will figure something out. I’m not good with money, cap, (stuff) like that, but if they have the wherewithal to do something, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Golden State does something (major) and they’re in the mix.”
That’s a more sunny view of the current state of the Warriors and Carlesimo clearly has faith that Dunleavy will make a move. The general manager has talked about how the Warriors might make a move midseason, and if they do that could be what catapults them to being a playoff team.
To be fair to Dunleavy, he’s done it before. Back in early 2025 he swung a trade for Jimmy Butler which gave the Warriors enough juice to make it into the playoffs and make a little run, before Curry went down with a hamstring injury that effectively ended the team’s season.
Warriors likely don't have enough on the roster to make a big move midseason
The question is whether he did enough in the offseason to even put the Warriors in a position where they could be buyers at the trade deadline. Dunleavy essentially just decided to run it back with the same old, injury-prone roster that went 37-45 last season and missed the playoffs.
Maybe if the Warriors are at .500 or so in the first half that would be enough to get Dunleavy to make a move, but even that seems like it could be a tall task especially since the team’s injury issues are already rearing their ugly head with Kristaps Porzingis being out with another strange ailment.
Carlesimo may believe in Dunleavy, but his mixed track record up to this point suggests that faith is misplaced and the Warriors are headed for another season of mediocrity.
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