Not all hope has been lost. But it seems right now as though the Golden State Warriors' season could rapidly be coming to an end.
We do not yet have an official update on Stephen Curry's return, and the Warriors have now lost eight of their last 10 games. They currently sit in the 10th seed in the Western Conference, with a full game separating them and the ninth-seed Los Angeles Clippers.
Winning two games on the road to advance to the playoffs seems unlikely (although not entirely impossible). But fans of Golden State must quickly come to terms with what this season could ultimately become— a complete and utter failure from a perspective of championship contention.
On the flip side, though, a play-in collapse could provide the Warriors with a lottery selection in the 2026 NBA Draft. They have not had that since 2021, when they selected both Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody in the first round.
It's not necessarily any consolation for wasting one of the final seasons of Curry's career. But if Sports Illustrated's latest mock draft, which has the Warriors selecting forward Thomas Haugh out of Florida at 12th overall, is any indication, there could be a silver lining after all.
Thomas Haugh is the ideal prospect to add to this current iteration of the Warriors
If Golden State were to somehow end up with the 12th selection, it would likely need to be the result of a loss to the Clippers or the Portland Trail Blazers in their first play-in game coupled with a bit of lottery luck. But with the way the Warriors have played recently, this is not entirely out of the realm of possibility.
Heading into next season, Golden State needs to determine what combination of role players can help propel their star duo of Curry and Jimmy Butler into genuine contention. Adding a player like Haugh could be a major help to that effort.
Through 33 games this season, Haugh averaged 17 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 2.2 assists while knocking down 32.9% of his shots from 3-point range. Although there are long-term questions about his athletic ceiling, he has the most immediately polished and well-rounded skill-set of almost any prospect outside of the draft's heralded top-three.
He's a skilled rebounder, connective playmaker, and formidable downhill scorer when needed. Although his perimeter shooting leaves much to be desired, his career 74% mark on free throws at the college level leaves hope that he can find his form in the NBA.
For a team like the Warriors, who need talent to immediately plug into their rotation, the opportunity to draft Haugh would be too good to pass up. This draft is deep enough that, even if Golden State makes the playoffs and takes themselves out of the lottery, there will be talent available.
But a prospect of Haugh's unique abilities will not fall that far. Perhaps picking in the lottery in 2026 wouldn't be the worst possible outcome if they're able to nab a player of his skill-set.