The Golden State Warriors announced that they will be facing off against the Denver Nuggets on Christmas later this year. They may have inadvertently leaked the team’s projected starting lineup in the process though.
It’s not exactly a shocker, but in the very strange AI-seeming image that the team posted as part of its announcement, it depicts Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Brandin Podziemski, Kristaps Porzingis and Yaxel Lendeborg gathered around as Curry opens a present.
Warriors starting five doesn’t inspire much confidence but may be decent
That’s slightly different than another projected starting lineup that has Gui Santos in the starting five rather than Lendeborg, but by midseason Lendeborg should be a regular in the starting rotation. He certainly looked like a starter during Summer League, but that is obviously against lesser competition.
Perhaps the most noteworthy thing about the image is how optimistic it is about the team’s injury fortunes. It would be a minor miracle if those five players are all healthy and able to start on Christmas, but one can only hope that’s the case.
Home for the Holiday 🎄 pic.twitter.com/uVJF1JgUfF
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) August 11, 2026
Obviously Jimmy Butler will not be ready to go by then, nor will fellow wing Moses Moody. It also seems rather unlikely that the Warriors will make any notable additions over the rest of the offseason that will have a chance at cracking a healthy starting five.
Maybe if the Warriors had a time machine they would go back and make a harder push for Jaylen Brown or LeBron James, but sadly they can't do that. Perhaps the geniuses in Silicon Valley are working on time machines after AI.
Health will obviously dictate a lot of what the Warriors can accomplish next season, even if their ceiling is being the No. 5 or No. 6 seed in the Western Conference. If the Warriors do indeed roll that starting five out next season then, one can at least envision a scenario where they are .500 at Christmas.
That would definitely be a win and would likely mean the team hasn’t been completely ravaged by injury. That seems to be the plan with this group, even though “plan” may be a bit of a strong word to describe whatever it is the Warriors are attempting to do.
It’s not much to get excited about, but it’s something. Not unlike the AI image, Golden State’s projected starting five isn’t particularly inspired and fans don’t seem to be thrilled about it, so maybe it’s the perfect encapsulation of where the team is at right now.
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