SAN FRANCISCO – It’s hard to pin down precisely what the Golden State Warriors are going to do this offseason. Will they go big fish hunting for a Giannis Antetokounmpo-level superstar? What’s going to happen with Draymond Green and Kristaps Porzingis in free agency? How will they maximize the final years of Stephen Curry?
But if there is one thing that seems to be solidifying, it is their plans for the 11th overall pick and the 2026 NBA Draft.
“I think everything is on the table. We’ll look at it all. I feel pretty confident that we will draft a player,” general manager Mike Dunleavy said at his pre-draft press conference a week before draft night.
“Does that mean we move back? Do we move up or something like that? Sure, but I feel like as strong as this draft is, we should probably come out of this draft with a player, unless if something falls into our lap trade-wise, of a veteran guy that we really think can make a difference, we’ll certainly look at it and potentially do it. But this is a really good draft to be in, especially at 11. We don’t want to overlook that.”
Dunleavy’s sentiments match what has been floating around the team as of late, which is a change of tone from what seemed to be on the table.
In May, ClutchPoints’ insider Brett Siegel reported that the Warriors were likely to deal the 11th pick in a deal for a star-level player.
However, with the Warriors’ trade talks with the Milwaukee Bucks cooling off, and the Los Angeles Clippers showing little interest in dealing star forward Kawhi Leonard, Golden State appears to have quietly shifted its approach to retaining the 11th pick and adding a promising young prospect to bridge the present with the future.
Mike Dunleavy’s view on the 2026 draft class
A big part of the Warriors’ calculus in keeping the 11th overall pick is the strength of the 2026 draft class.
“Everybody has talked about this for multiple years about how great of a draft this is,” Dunleavy said. “You start to see it and understand, like, yeah, there’s not a whole lot of warts.”
And with the strength and depth of this year’s class, there’s a wide range of players the Warriors can select at 11.
Thus far in the pre-draft process, Golden State has hosted Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg, Morez Johnson Jr., and Houston’s Chris Cenac Jr.
Arizona’s Brayden Burries, Alabama’s Labaron Philon Jr., and Washington’s Hannes Steinbach are scheduled to work out this Thursday. Not to mention the team’s vested interest in Michigan’s Aday Mara, Louisville guard Mikel Brown Jr., and Houston guard Kingston Flemings.
It’s a draft class that breaks right for the Warriors, as they enter a summer with holes to fill all across their roster, whether it’s shooting, defense, athleticism, youth, or just flat-out depth.
“Frankly, we need everything. So we don’t need to be picky about this thing,” Dunleavy said. “We’ll take whoever we feel is the best player, kind of for the next — this arc of their prime of their career that they will be coming into shortly. I think that’s the look on it, and we could use a little bit of everything.”
There are still factors in the evaluation process that the Warriors are combing through: Age of the prospect and their experience level, whether they are a specialist or a jack-of-all-trades, how the Finals and NBA Playoffs inform who’s more valuable.
“I think we’ll get a really good player at 11,” said Dunleavy. “And we’ll just have to see with 54 the way things shake out in the second round. But, you know, we’ve done pretty well in the 50s in the past. We’ll study it and have a good process and, you know, probably come away with two players on draft night, but we’ll just have to see. Everything is on the table.”
How will this rookie contribute to the Warriors?
And regardless of who the Warriors select, the rookie is going to play, with Steve Kerr having expressed a commitment to developing the future.
“It’s obvious where we are with the injuries to Moses [Moody] and Jimmy [Butler],” Kerr said at his postseason press conference. “You look at our depth on the wings. That guy has to play. He’s got to earn it, but we’re committed to absolutely, you know, the development of our young players and trying to do this thing in a way that allows for success down the road. Down the road, meaning, the end of next season and beyond. We’re excited about that.”
It’s a commitment that extends organization-wide as Dunleavy reaffirmed that plan in his pre-draft presser, citing how their injuries necessitate the eventual rookie to play.
“I think the situation of the roster as it stands is going to lend itself to that. Any time we draft a player, we want to be apprehensive about the fact that the guy can come in and contribute right away, but in this scenario, I think we’ve got four guys right now under contract that will be healthy for training camp. So I think there’s opportunity abound for whoever we draft, both at 11 and 54, to play.”
“It’s probably a little bit different than we’ve had in the past with some of these guys. Whether we like it or not, the guys are going to be out there, you would think, barring injury or whatever. That’s a good thing. That probably speeds up their development.”
As such, the Warriors have their plans in place as of this moment. A lot can change in the coming days, but Golden State remains confident it’ll move forward with its plans of retaining the 11th pick.
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