What traits Warriors are looking for in offseason search for size

SAN FRANCISCO – Before my question was even complete, Warriors coach Steve Kerr already had his answer. 

Draymond Green is 35 years old. He just finished his 13th season. The incredibly unique defensive star has conquered giants and taken down the beasts of the NBA. But one man can only take so much.

Kerr is not comfortable with Green continuing to be his everyday starting center.

“I don't want to start next season with Draymond as our starting five,” Kerr said Friday. “I think it's doable for the last 30 games like we did this year, but you see the toll it takes on him. He's talked about it too.” 

At his exit interview media availability the day prior, Green joked he is the center of the future for the Warriors. It was said in jest, but it also might be his reality. 

The way the Warriors currently are constructed with Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler and Green as their core and everything having to fit around them, Green is their best center. He almost strictly played the position once Butler arrived in mid-February. Whether Green wants to admit it or not, his body wore down in the end. 

There weren’t a plethora of injuries that came out from Green’s grueling job. The miles, though, they caught up. 

Irrational confidence is a strength of Green’s. It’s partly how he went from a second-round draft pick to a future Hall of Famer. Green plays defense with eyes in the back of his head, popping out of his ears and growing from his forehead. He sees everything, including the gluttony of big men he has to deal with. 

“I think when you look around the league, yeah, guys are big,” Green said Thursday. “[Nikola Jokic], [Alperen] Sengun, [Ivica] Zubac, a healthy Joel [Embiid], yeah. But I don't back down from anyone, and if that's what our organization decides to do, I'll be right here ready to go. And if they decide that they want to go with one of the 5s on the roster, great. If they decide they want to go after someone, great.

“You know me. I'm always in favor of what's best for this organization. I can always see past myself when it comes to this organization.” 

The season started with training camp in Hawaii where Green said he’s best with a center next to him, and Kerr was in agreement. Trayce Jackson-Davis served as the Warriors’ starting center alongside Green in 18 of the first 19 games. He took a seat for a few games, was back into the starting five and then essentially was all the way out of the rotation from the end of January to the rest of the season, until he started the final three games of the 2025 NBA playoffs. 

Rookie Quinten Post was expected to spend the majority of the season in the G League, but his readiness as a 25-year-old who spent five years in college gave him a real role sooner than expected. 

The combination of the two checks the box of who an ideal center is in the same frontcourt as Green and Butler in the eyes of general manager Mike Dunleavy. 

"One way or another on the offensive end, that player has got to be able to finish, whether it's at the rim or shooting a three,” Dunleavy said. “We need, with the way Draymond and Jimmy can create and generally play near the rim, having somebody that they can finish near the rim or make a shot, it's going to be important in that situation.”

Jackson-Davis is built to be a rim-running lob threat who can protect the basket defensively. He also struggled finishing far too often early in the season. Post is the Warriors’ tallest player at 7 feet and was one of their deadliest shooters from long distance. While playing 16.3 minutes per game, Post averaged 4.3 3-point attempts at a 40.8-percent clip.

Kevon Looney for the second straight offseason is set to be a free agent. He’s one of Kerr’s favorite and most trusted players ever, and Dunleavy says he’d love to have him back.

Size, as Dunleavy said Friday, has been a “buzz word” around the Warriors for years. Their small-ball lineups changed the game. It’s a copy-cat league and teams began to catch up. Plus, there clearly has been a shift to skilled big men. 

Now, 7-footers are roaming the hardwood and launching threes like they think their last name is Curry. The Warriors need positional size across the board: At center, in the frontcourt, on the wing and in the backcourt.

Jackson-Davis will be entering his third season, and Post his second. They have shown promise with much different play styles, but whoever the Warriors add will have to fit the timeline of Curry, Green and Butler, who all are in their late 30s and signed through the 2026-27 season.

"We're at the point now where you've got to have an eye to the future down the road,” Dunleavy said. “But this league is year to year, and especially with the guys that we have, our focus is mostly 90 percent on next season. How do we make this group better? That can come in a myriad of ways.

"I would love to get guys in their pre-prime or prime where they're going to have more years when Steph and Draymond and Jimmy are gone, but at the same time, if we have to get a bunch of 33-year-olds or 35-year-olds that we think can really help us win a championship, that is the goal, and we will do that, cost permitting."

Old and small isn’t going to work. Players in between the ages of the Big Three and youngsters like Jackson-Davis and Post are required. The two-timeline plan didn’t bring another title, Curry did, as well as Green and Klay Thompson. 

But that 2022 title team also had players like Otto Porter Jr. and Nemanja Bjelica who brought shooting and size at 28 and 33 years old, respectively, and Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole as bridge players who can contribute to 16 playoff wins and the taxing 82-game season.

Dunleavy will have to strike a balance of size and age up and down the roster. The only question that needs answering is how he can maximize the years of Curry, Green and Butler. A couple of big guys of their own can be a giant first step in shaping the next iteration of these Warriors.

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast