Three games, four nights, then home: Warriors start year-end trip in Toronto
Curry continues to shine as rest of roster comes into form, 2026 is looking up!
The Golden State Warriors have three games left in the calendar year. A back-to-back starts tonight in Toronto against a surprisingly good Raptors team, then in Brooklyn to face the Nets tomorrow before a final New Years Eve game against the Charlotte Hornets at 10am Pacific time that is so early it’s guaranteed to be weird. A fitting end to the year. But this final push does come with a bit of a rainbow at the end of it, with a promising slate of home games in January just around the corner.
Today (not tonight; note the early tip today!) the Warriors are coming in with fresh legs and some lessons learned. The victory in Dallas stretched the Warriors’ winning streak to three games, tying their longest of the season. Along the way, the rotation picture is starting to sharpen as Golden State figures out what works - and what doesn’t. That process may come with real costs, and it’s fair to wonder if we’ve just seen the last of Jonathan Kuminga in a Warriors uniform.
GAME DETAILS
WHO: Golden State Warriors (16-15) at Toronto Raptors (18-14)
WHEN: Sunday, December 28th 2025; 12:30pm PST
WATCH: NBCSBA
A hopeful end to a challenging year
The Warriors came into their previous game with a chilling air of questions hanging over their heads, but a couple of wins under their belts and some growing belief. Belief that this roster was closer to the 12-3 start than we all remember. That there is a path forward towards relevance.
Seven players scored in the double digits against Dallas, including De’Anthony Melton’s season-high 16 points. Al Horford, in his first game back since December 4th, had 14 points and led a blistering final minute of the first quarter against the Mavericks that was central to the Warriors’ path to victory. Those are two free agent signings that have been pointed to since the preseason, but haven’t yet really had much of a chance to shine.
Horford has played less than 300 minutes this season for the Warriors, appearing in just 14 of Golden State’s 39 games. Melton has been even more delayed, managing to eek out 148 minutes in 8 appearances since his return from last season’s knee injury. The only player on the roster with fewer minutes logged is Seth Curry.
[author’s note: I spent far too long here looking for the Curry and CP3 meme template, but apparently all we have is the images of Curry going up and Chris Paul going down]
On the opposite side of that escalator, Kuminga is firmly glued to the bench, alongside Buddy Hield. That’s over $30 million of salary stagnating. 20 percent or so of the team’s salary cap tied to guys that aren’t playing any minutes. So, it’s safe to assume that the Warriors front office staff are busy working the phone lines and seeing what they can make happen.
The numbers matter, sure- but what fans really care about is whether all of this translates to wins on the court. Every idle contract, every benching, is a choice that tells us what kind of basketball the Warriors are willing to play right now. Are they leaning fully into Curry’s brilliance, testing the depth pieces, or trying to see who might fit into the rotation down the stretch? Each decision shapes the team’s second-half identity, and with a three-game win streak giving fans reason to hope, the consequences of these choices feel immediate. Every point, every minute, is suddenly part of a story with stakes that go beyond spreadsheets and salary caps: this is about whether the Warriors can turn potential into results before the calendar flips to January.
The Warriors never had a hot streak to start the year, never saw the full image of something they could believe in. But now that Melton and Horford are back in the swing - plus Seth Curry in the fold and Pat Spencer showing value off - the picture is becoming clear.
It’s becoming more evident what works for Golden State. With coach Steve Kerr acknowledging the fading dynasty status of the core, the franchise is doing their best to provide Curry with the best shot at relevance possible. What that means is leaning into what works best right now - building around Curry mostly, with Butler and Green as secondary pillars. What that recent public blowup between Kerr and Green showed wasn’t so much that their relationship is frayed, but moreso that the pressure now is as intense as it has ever been. The kids are coming. If it’s not the defending champions Thunder, Wemby and the Spurs are sure to deliver the final nail in the framing around Curry’s championship window.
As Daniel Hardee wrote the other day:
Dub Nation isn’t cheering blindly anymore. We’re watching with narrowed eyes and held breath, needing everything this team can give because there’s nothing left to waste.
But those squinted eyes can see the pattern as it has begun to emerge. It was Horford, nailing two three-pointers in the final 30 seconds of the 1st quarter to let the Mavs know that this game wasn’t going to be handed to them. It was Melton, in during that closing stretch, who hit the final dagger three to put the game comfortably away. Moses Moody and Brandin Podziemski rounded out the rotation.
So the Warriors are at a bit of a fulcrum here. Poised knowing that the whole “second timeline” arc has come to a zenith - well, probably well past the highest point, but certainly the idea that a second overall pick (James Wiseman) and seventh (Kuminga) would boost this franchise is well killed. Jordan Poole left after getting punched in practice by Green. Wiseman is struggling to even stay in the league. Ironically, the greatest success of the bunch, Moses Moody, might end up being a transaction cost to move one of the team’s more burdensome contracts.1
This is one of those times where I find myself aware of how thankful I am that these decisions are not mine to make. I don’t want the responsibility. If the players are feeling it, you know the executives and team management are feeling the pressure as well. I don’t know what the market value of a player like Kuminga might be, but if there was any huge demand, it’s almost certain that he would have been moved this summer. The sweeteners - hell even the nuclear “trade everyone but Steph” options - aren’t all that compelling. But on the other hand, there are a number of buyers and sellers out there, and some desperate NBA teams.
I mean… the Warriors are desperate too, but they have some near term hope.
One thing that this current season has taught us is that Curry is still elite. At the highest level of performance, Curry is almost guaranteed to be able to take over any game. It’s also clear that he pairs well with both Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green - two of the Warriors most important veterans, but neither adequate to serve as primary drivers without Curry. But so what? As long as Curry continues to play at the highest level, there will be hope.
Just a couple of weeks left until that January 15th trade window opens on Kuminga’s contract and the Warriors can throw in another dart in pursuit of maximizing Curry’s opportunity.
But the one thing Golden State has learned is that the viable path here doesn’t really need all that much tinkering. This isn’t the time to come up with a fully new blueprint - and not just because the team doesn’t have the resources to pull off some sort of massive move. Curry is the core; Green, and Butler are the secondary supports. Beyond that? The Warriors aren’t building to compete with Wemby era. Maybe OKC Thunder are a dynasty, maybe not, but the Golden State window with Curry doesn’t extend far enough for a question of that extent to come into play. This season matters, as does the year after. Beyond that? A dust cloud of Speedy Claxton-level uncertainty. A massive serving of the unknown.
The Warriors will close the calendar year the same way much of this season has unfolded: on the road, slightly off-balance, playing games that don’t quite fit normal rhythms. But there’s something useful in that discomfort. The rotation is narrowing. The margin for experimentation is gone. As January approaches and the schedule finally turns friendly, Golden State isn’t searching anymore - it’s committing. This team may not be whole, and it may not be finished, but it now knows what it’s willing to be. That clarity, even when it’s inconvenient, is progress.
Prediction
The Warriors march into this final stretch with something rare this season: momentum, clarity, and just enough chaos to keep things interesting. Curry is cooking, Horford and Melton are proving their worth, and the rotation is finally starting to make sense. Warriors win a tough one; are too good of a team on both ends of the court to lose.
Not included in the clipped salary table: Buddy Hield (currently not playing) is locked in for $9-10 million per year this year and next, with a player option in 2027-2028.