With Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody out until at least mid-season, the Golden State Warriors are going to need all hands on deck in 2026-27. And that's without even factoring in the potential time missed for the rest of the team's active veterans.
Hopefully it doesn't get to the point it did last season. But the Warriors, no matter what, are going to need to depend on their fringe rotational contributors and two-way pieces at some point in this campaign. That certainly adds some extra weight to their looming roster decisions as their preseason draws to a close.
Both LJ Cryer and Graham Ike are virtually guaranteed to hang onto their two-way spots. Cryer has too much upside as a sharpshooting guard, and Ike represents vital depth for Golden State at the center position. Since Dalen Terry isn't eligible for a two-way contract, that leaves the Warriors' lone true decision as one between forwards Malevy Leons and Alex Toohey.
It seems like that decision has already been made as well. Steve Kerr said yesterday that he thinks Leons can "help us win some games" over the course of the season. Given the way both players have performed during the preseason, it's likely the right choice.
But if the Warriors were betting on upside and development rather than immediate need, Toohey would actually have a case. The fact that Leons is their true option, for now, is an unfortunate side effect of the roster predicament Golden State has found itself in at this point in Stephen Curry's career.
Alex Toohey still has some NBA upside—but the Warriors can't afford to gamble on it right now
Let's start by saying this—Leons is not a consistently viable NBA player, and there's very few situations where he would see any sort of consistent minutes outside of Golden State. He's learned, gradually, to operate within the flow of the Warriors offense, but he's too inconsistent at the rim and too passive with the ball in his hands to make a major impact on a night-to-night basis.
Through four preseason games with the Warriors, Leons has averaged just 4.5 points, two rebounds, and half an assist on an average of 14.3 minutes per night. He's shot 33.3% from the field in that span.
But he's proved, at the very least, that he can be a body on the court for the Warriors when they need him. Given the injury risks this team will face this season, it seems like Kerr is comfortable leaning on that.
Toohey isn't ready for NBA action, either. He was always going to need time to acclimate to the speed and physicality of the league when the Warriors selected him at 54th overall in the 2025 NBA Draft, even after playing two professional season in the NBL, and he missed almost all of his rookie year due to injury. He still looks largely outmatched against the size and strength of NBA defenders—averaging just 3.3 points and two field goal attempts per game in limited preseason minutes.
Most teams, though, don't need to worry about activating all three of their two-way players. In a vacuum, giving Toohey a two-way spot and allowing him some garbage-time minutes over the course of the season to continue to improve may very well be the best thing for his development. He simply needs time and experience against NBA defenders, and the G-League can't truly provide that.
But the Warriors don't have room for that sort of patience in 2026-27. They need Leons to act in a rotational capacity almost immediately, and that leaves Toohey, in spite of the sub-par production of both players, likely left in Santa Cruz for his sophomore season.
Perhaps it's an issue to be revisited next offseason, but for now, Golden State simply doesn't have the wiggle room it needs to maximize Toohey's development.
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