The One Player Warriors Can't Afford to Lose This Offseason

The Golden State Warriors have one player who is truly untouchable, and everyone knows that it's Stephen Curry.

But considering there is no chance they will lose him—he's under contract through next season—that makes him exempt from being chosen.

Using that logic, Jimmy Butler, Moses Moody, Brandin Podziemski and Gui Santos can't be chosen either.

But we are including anyone who is either entering free agency or has a pleyer option they can decline to enter free agency.

Let's briefly explain why two players aren't the correct choice before revealing who is the one player they can't lose.

Green Is Slowing Down

Draymond Green has a $27.7 million player option for the 2026-27 season. It's not a foregone conclusion that he'll be back, though it's more likely he gets traded than declines the option to become a free agent.

Regardless, losing Green would not be the blow it would have been a couple of years ago. He posted a minus-4.3 net rating this season, per Cleaning the Glass, which was his worst mark since his rookie year.

At 36 years old, Green appears to be on the decline. The Warriors could afford to lose him, though they would need to find someone who can do a decent portion of what he can do on the defensive end, which would be no easy task.

Melton's Skill Set Is Not Too Difficult to Replace

De'Anthony Melton has a $3.5 million player option that he will decline in search of a bigger contract in free agency. The Warriors don't have his Bird rights, so they will have to offer some, it not all, of ther mid-level exception to try to retain him.

Assuming they can't get LeBron James on the MLE, they should try to keep Melton. But losing him would not be crushing.

Melton undoubtedly has his strengths. He's a solid on-ball defender who gets a lot deflections, and he has the ball-handling chops to attack defenses in the paint.

But Melton is not a particularly good finisher, and his three-point shooting was a mess this past season at 29.4 percent.

Will Richard does not have Melton's ball-handling, but Richard has already developed some of Melton's defensive prowess. And if you look at the rosters of Western Conference teams with winning records, you'll find several inexpensive guards who play a Melton-like role. To name a few, there are Kris Dunn, Jordan Goodwin, Marcus Smart and Bruce Brown.

If the Warriors lose Melton, they will need to find a new guard on the cheap who can defend well and provide some offense. That should be doable.

Can't Afford to Lose Porzingis

Kristaps Porzingis is set to become an unrestricted free agent, but the Warriors have his Bird rights, which means they can go over the salary cap to sign him.

As laid out here, the Warriors don't have the spending power in free agency to go after top free agents. Put simply, Porzingis is the most talented free agent the Warriors can sign unless James chooses to join Golden State on the MLE.

Even in that scenario, losing Porzingis would be devastating.

The Warriors haven't had anyone like Porzingis at center. His offense was already starting to open things up for Curry in the few games they played together. With an offseason together to build chemistry, they would be a more dynamic duo, and Porzingis would also fit well with Butler when he returns.

Porzingis' history with injuries and illnesses is scary. It would be irresponsible to think that the 7'2" Latvian can play a big percentage of next season's games.

But the Warriors can't let that stop them from making a competitve free-agent offer.

They need what Porzingis provides too much to worry about how many games he'll miss.

It would be very surprising if anyone offered Porzingis more than the full non-taxpayer MLE of about $15 million. The Warriors can and should beat that number by a few million with the hope that being the highest bidder wins his services.

Add us as a preferred source on Google