When talking about the Golden State Warriors and the chances they have of taking home a championship this season, I think the part of the discussion everyone seems to be missing is the possibility that their young core of Trayce Jackson-Davis, Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, Brandin Podziemski and Quinten Post could be drastically improved.
Star power and external roster additions will always be factors that matter for teams that are serious about vying for a championship. But internal development and role players taking a step up can arguably be just as important when you're a team like Golden State trying to get one last deep playoff run out of your aging core of Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green.
The Warriors have a chance for their ceiling to be raised this year if any of these five guys reach a new level in their individual development. All of Jackson-Davis, Kuminga, Moody, Podziemski and Post are up-and-comers who haven't reached their respective primes and should thus improve year over year. Conventional wisdom would say that at least one or two of these players should be bound to take a step forward in 2025-26.
The Warriors' young players could realistically be much better
For Trayce Jackson-Davis, his limited jump shooting and inconsistency on defense have been among the biggest things holding him back from being a more meaningful contributor. Improve in these areas, and we could see his value rise sharply. With Kuminga, we know that growing in his mental discipline, making smarter reads on offense and embracing more of a defined role with this team is going to be key.
As for Moody and Podziemski, the focus is going to be more on locking in defensively while becoming increasingly autonomous offensively. If these two can create more of their own high-percentage looks while remaining assets on defense, they're going to see their stock rise as well.
Post has spoken about how he worked on getting better at defending without fouling as well as passing in short-roll situations over the summer. And we also can't forget the rookie Will Richard, who has already shown flashes and seems to have a strong feel for the game.
Basically, there's a ton of room for internal growth as this season gets going, and I think there's certainly potential for several of these guys to be greater difference-makers than they were in their first or second season. If that's the way this ends up playing out, Golden State could be an even stronger and deeper team than expected this year.