Warriors running on empty, still refusing to pull over

Golden State faces steep odds, but still won't quit

It’s not that a path isn’t there, it’s just that the Golden State Warriors refuse to walk it. For better or worse, the franchise is holding on to what they know. Trading Jonathan Kuminga for a still-injured Kristaps Porzingis is a choice. But then again, so is holding on to Curry rather than flipping him for assets to hasten whatever may come next.

From a purely basketball standpoint, tonight’s game is a tactical nightmare. Higher top end talent for the Houston Rockets in Kevin Durant, and a Warriors roster that is running on fumes will both come together in a tsunami wave of bad outcomes for the Warriors.

Adding to the slim pickings, Moses Moody has been ruled out for this game. The team is calling it a wrist injury, but for those that saw it, there’s a lot more than just the wrist that was impacted.

So, it’s Groundhog’s Day - again - as the short-handed Warriors find themselves looking up at a wall of water, holding nothing but one of those flimsy styrofoam kickboards.

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GAME DETAILS

WHO: Golden State Warriors (31-30) at Houston Rockets (38-22)

WHEN: Wednesday, March 5th, 2026; 430 pm PST

WATCH: NBCSBA

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Screw-ups, miscalculations, and the impending end

You may notice this article published a bit later than normal this morning. The simple answer is that I just couldn’t summon the words last night. I’ve been covering this team for over a decade now, and have greedily sucked up every aspect of the experience. From the elite squads that broke the league’s heart, to the marginal players that somehow managed to find an NBA foothold partially because of how well they played for the Warriors.

Which is why the current state of this team is so deflating. It feels inevitable. Like all of the little moves that the team has left just won’t be enough to move the needle. Of course, the reason they’ve only got “little moves” left is due to injuries - neither of which can be blamed on anyone other than Father Time and the slow heat death of all things. There is a high amount of entropy here. The stability and order have run their course, leaving whatever tonight’s game is going to look like.

Lots of miles on key players that finally caught up, and some unfortunate ankle rolls have six players sitting out, and one listed as Questionable for tonight’s game.

Entropy is central to the second law of thermodynamics, which states that the entropy of an isolated system left to spontaneous evolution cannot decrease with time. As a result, isolated systems evolve toward thermodynamic equilibrium, where the entropy is highest. "High" entropy means that energy is more disordered or dispersed, while "low" entropy means that energy is more ordered or concentrated. A consequence of the second law of thermodynamics is that certain processes are irreversible.

And that’s the part that stings. Not just the losses. Not even all the injuries. It’s the irreversibility. You don’t get to rewind on development time. You don’t get to undo trades made in haste or pride or misplaced optimism. You don’t get to pause Father Time while you squeeze one more run out of tired legs. The Warriors aren’t just fighting opponents right now - they’re fighting the fact that the clock only moves in one direction.

Injuries aside though, there have been critical mis-steps. The calculations were made, the moves decided… and then it just didn’t pan out. Not being able to keep Kevin Durant around. Losing out on promising young talent like Chris Boucher or Ryan Rollins because the franchise couldn’t afford to prioritize development time amidst the ongoing pressure to win now.

Of the seven players listed out or Questionable for tonight, we see the team’s two most important players: Curry and Butler. But we also see a couple of roster spots devoted to players that have been unable to help. With the top tier weapons removed, the Warriors are desperate for any help they can find further down the depth chart.

Seth Curry isn’t a huge deal. A low risk swing on a player that understands coach Steve Kerr’s system and could conceivably step right in any day and knock down some threes without derailing anything significant.

But that Porzingis for Kuminga trade is painful.

In his first three games with the Atlanta Hawks, Kuminga is averaging 21.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game while shooting an efficient 67.7% from the field and 55.6% from 3-point range. Those shooting splits aren’t likely to hold, but at this point who cares?

The Warriors couldn’t find a use for an athletic, rim-running 6’8” wing? And even assuming the answer to that question is indeed a legitimate “no” the returns from the trade have, if anything, further tanked the current season.

I have to stop here and point out that this tinfoil hat I’m wearing doesn’t preclude the idea that the Warriors were well aware of just what they were doing here. With Curry’s knee injury feeling more like the wheels falling off than just one of those little things that pops up, and Butler done for this season and beyond, maybe it is time to let out that big breath we’ve all been holding in.

Was this the conversation at the trade deadline?

Ugh.

There is a a certain graceful way to accept all of this. The Warriors have had one heck of a run. Finally, after growing up watching my favorite team try to hold hopes in a wet paper bag, Curry and the rest have given this fan base and franchise something to live for. The dream has been realized. Four times.

These things don’t tend to end well. My manager at work brought up the San Antonio Spurs as the only example of a team that has somehow managed to navigate the shoulder periods and smoothly transition from one core to another.. and then another. There’s no more Wemby to go around though, like that Pawn Shop meme, the best the Warriors front office could do was an oft-injured stretch big. Another spin at the same wheel that brought in Andrew Bogut, only now the spin wheel is a decrepit mess - and the prizes? Equally old and infirm.

Here at DNHQ, we don’t tend to choose the sad side of the bus to ride in, but there’s nothing endearing about where this team finds itself right now. Sure, the roster is still intact, the young players have been showing upside, Curry’s old man knees will come back for another little bit eventually; but everything - the whole damn bus - is hurdling towards a precipice.

On November 12, 2009, rookie Steph Curry tweeted this out. And while it wasn’t what changed the franchise, it was the beginning:

Promise to all the Warrior fans...we will figure this thing out...if it’s the last thing we do we will figure it out”.

It wasn’t the last thing. Curry and the Warriors figured it out. He’s delivered so many miracle shots and demonstrated greatness more times than can be counted. And now it’s time for the entropy to take hold.

So if you are masochistic enough to watch tonight’s game, try and do so with a warm heart. This is the denouement, the tail end of the story is already written out. Brandin Podziemski is making $3.5 million (or so) this season. It was never supposed to be his job to drive the offense for most of a game, he’s just the last one holding the bag as everyone else left the room.

And so too are there dedicated fans that are in this through the end - whatever that looks like.¹ Maybe that’s what this season is actually about. Not wins. Not seeding. Not even pride. It’s about witnessing the final act with clear eyes. About understanding that dynasties don’t collapse in explosions - they erode. Slowly. Publicly. In games like this one, on random Wednesdays in March, when the roster card looks unfamiliar and the burden feels misplaced.

The Warriors may refuse to walk a new path, but that doesn’t mean we don’t recognize the one they’re leaving behind.

Prediction

Sure, why not. Let’s have a win. The Warriors have so few players left that any scouting reports will be essentially useless. Nothing to lose, and everything to play for.

Music Mini-Friday

Here at my house, we like to refer to Thursdays as “mini Friday.” We pretty much made it! Anyways, I feel like we need to have some music in our lives today. This one isn’t punk. I’m not sure exactly what to classify this band, but their new album is sooooo good. I’ve been listening to the whole thing back-to-back for days now.

1. Probably will not look especially pretty.