Trade chatter aside, the Warriors showing they can win
Are they good though? Pistons tonight will help with that question
The Golden State Warriors saw nine players score in the double digits while blowing out the Utah Jazz. That’s every player that played meaningful minutes, minus Al Horford (9 points) and Draymond Green (zero points, but whatever). That’s a crazy outcome for a team that suddenly finds itself elbows deep in the trade rumor pond. But while the front office fishes around, and Jonathan Kuminga stays glued to the bench, there’s a viable rotation emerging here.
Per coach Steve Kerr, not-so-newly arrived free agent, Al Horford will be starting in the frontcourt alongside Green until further notice:
“Now that he can play 24 minutes, which is where his restriction is, I feel comfortable starting him and still being able to close with him… We can work the math on that. And it’s nice having him with Draymond to start the game defensively. I like what I’m seeing from that group.”
It makes sense. After De’Anthony Melton, Horford is the big fish from the off-season, and now that Butler is out of the picture for the remainder of the season, Horford is the next man up in-house. In that Jazz game, he delivered 9 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 blocks (season highs in assists and blocks), and one steal for good measure.
Up tonight though, the Warriors will face the surging Detroit Pistons, a young team that is thriving this season. They lead the Eastern Conference, with the second-best Net Rating and win total. Even more unfortunate, Detroit leads the league in both steals and blocks, all but guaranteeing a tough night for Golden State. Not impossible, but this isn’t going to feel anything like playing the Jazz.
GAME DETAILS
WHO: Golden State Warriors (27-22) vs. Detroit Pistons (34-11)
WHEN: Friday. January 30th, 2026; 7pm PST
WATCH: NBCSBA
The trade winds are a-blowin’ but the waters seem calm
There’s now less than a week until the NBA’s in-season trade window closes, essentially locking rosters through the end of the season. It’s no secret that the Warriors have been shopping Jonathan Kuminga and are now getting caught up in the big fish rumors. Giannis Antetokounmpo is now publicly on the trade market, and a number of teams are throwing what they have into the water.
For the Warriors, Kuminga is nothing but salary ballast at this point. In combination with Jimmy Butler’s massive salary (an expiring $56 million next year) the Warriors will also be forced to throw in whatever young talent they may have. Per Anthony Slater, this is real:
"League sources told ESPN that the Warriors have contacted the Bucks in the past week and expressed their firm interest in Antetokounmpo and their willingness to put a substantial offer on the table regardless of his calf strain and undetermined return timetable."
That “substantial offer” will certainly include a bunch of lottery picks during what would presumably be a dark, post-Curry future. Monte Poole confirmed this much and more, reporting that Golden State is “ready to give up a whole lot. The general assumption is that Curry is, of course, the only untouchable.”
That’s a pretty good offer. These picks have been carefully guarded for a while now, in the hopes that just such an opportunity should present itself. I’d like to say that this will all be over by Thursday’s deadline, but the saga could easily extend through the off-season - though it would certainly make for some awkward sidelines as both Antetokounmpo and Kuminga play out their respective times.
For the Warriors, the pressure to do something to meaningfully help Curry is palpable. Just as the historic performances have defined this franchise, so too do the front office moves tell a story. Obviously, the Kevin Durant acquisition and subsequent pivot to NBA champion, Andrew Wiggins was solid enough, but if what Monte Poole is talking about here (h/t to BobRoss4Life) it may well have been Mr. Light-years himself that overruled the folks within his organization whose job it was to recommend which personnel to draft:
“Somebody in the building… told me... ‘We’ve really kind of screwed Steph over the past few years.’ ...The way they drafted... The way they bypassed some players where you had scouts/coaches saying one thing, the people upstairs saying another... It went against the personnel people.”
So, that’s not unique to this one team, but a bit problematic, especially viewed in light of the grandiose claims and shadows of the failures.
Every path forward here claims to be about Stephen Curry. The blockbuster trade is framed as urgency. The depth-first approach is framed as sustainability. Both are defensible. Both are risky. What’s harder to quantify is which one actually respects the version of Curry still showing up every night - not the myth, not the past, but the present-tense player who still bends games and deserves a roster that doesn’t ask him to be perfect.
All of this is to say, the Warriors have gone full open books with the Bucks here. The offer? Whatever you want it to be. And now we all wait to see what unfolds.
In the meantime, there’s still basketball games to play, and playing without Butler or Kuminga seems to have tightened the rotation enough that Kerr and his team are finding a comfortable groove in what’s left. Even if there’s no trade, this team is still going to be competitive.
Moses Moody had a monster game against the Jazz, and will be sorely needed against the young and athletic players on the Pistons tonight. Sure, it was against one of the very worst teams in the NBA, but Moody’s 26 points in 26 minutes (on just 15 shot attempts) - plus 5 rebounds and 2 steals - was one heck of a game. Out of all the draft picks, Moody seems to have found the most natural fit in Golden State’s system and seamlessly meshes with any of the team’s primary ball handlers and defensive personnel.
Any reticence to trade for Giannis would be silly, but looking at the box score of that win over Utah, I find myself worrying over the very bottom of the roster - in a good way. Golden has found tremendous value down there, from Gui Santos to Quinten Post, to Will Richard - all of whom are continuing to prove their value and cement their place in Kerr’s rotation. Gutting the team mid-season for an injured Giannis would force a massive readjustment period, but in the interim, this version of the roster is doing well enough, thank you.
It isn’t always pretty, but this team is real easy to root for. With the wily veterans and one year free agent visitors hoping for a lightning in a bottle shot at a ring with Curry, the youth movement has arrived in Golden State from an unexpected direction: the bargain bin.
The Warriors might still swing big. They might still tear this down in pursuit of one more transcendent roll of the dice. But in the meantime, they’ve accidentally built something honest - a rotation that knows its limits, plays for each other, and doesn’t pretend to be more than it is. That may not be the ending this era is remembered for. But it’s a surprisingly compelling middle.
Prediction
Warriors make you think they will lose early, but comes storming back for the close win. Detroit is real - athletic, disciplined, opportunistic - the exact kind of team that exposes whether a rotation makes sense or merely survives softer nights. If Golden State can hang defensively here, it strengthens the case that the current roster deserves more time than the trade clock might allow.
Music Friday
You still with me? In honor of the nation-wide action today, some (you guessed it) punk rock music for us all. Stay strong, don’t let this world break your ability to hope.
Post game thread up!
LFG!!!