From Russell Westbrook to … uhh … Jonathan Kuminga.
The 2025 NBA free agency period got off to quite a frenzy. We’re two days in, and dozens of names have already found new homes, while others have re-upped with their team. You can keep track of all the moves with our free agency tracker.
For the Golden State Warriors, it’s been a few days spent in the shadows. The Dubs haven’t signed anyone, and they’ve lost one of their longest-tenured players, as Kevon Looney opted to sign with the New Orleans Pelicans. But the Warriors have been involved in a lot of reports and rumors. They remain one of the frontrunners to sign Al Horford; there’s increasing optimism in a reunion with Jonathan Kuminga; and they’ve been ‘in touch’ with Oakland native Damian Lillard, who was shockingly waived.
A lot of good players still remain on the market, even as options are disappearing. On Wednesday morning, my colleague Ricky O’Donnell ranked the 10 best free agents who are still available. So let’s go through them one by one, and see which ones might be a good fit for the Dubs.
1. Josh Giddey
Giddey would be an excellent fit on the Warriors, but don’t even entertain the idea. He’s out of the team’s price range, and he’s a restricted free agent, meaning the Chicago Bulls control his fate. The only possible way he ends up on the Dubs is through a sign-and-trade, and it’s hard to imagine either side wanting to do that. Plus, there’s the whole Giddey being a creep thing.
2. Jonathan Kuminga
Hey, well here’s a player the Warriors have a good shot of signing! We’re still waiting to see how this one shapes out, but Kuminga is at least a player the Dubs have a direct route to signing. I support signing him.
3. Quentin Grimes
Another restricted free agent, so there’s no use spending much time here. The Warriors won’t be signing him.
4. Deandre Ayton
Shortly after this list was published, Ayton signed with the Los Angeles Lakers. The Warriors were likely never very interested in him. While they could use an interior scorer, they’d much prefer one who is a strong defender and/or a floor spacer. And Ayton’s lackadaisical attitude is probably a match made in hell on a team employing Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler III.
5. Cam Thomas
Thomas is another restricted free agent, and someone the team can’t afford to sign anyway. It won’t happen.
6. Chris Paul
Would the Warriors consider a reunion with CP3? The first attempt didn’t end poorly, but I don’t think it went well enough for either side to be eagerly chasing another go at it. Paul had a good enough — and healthy enough — season that he won’t be signing for the minimum unless it’s chasing a ring, and the Warriors have bigger issues elsewhere in the lineup. I don’t hate the idea, but I don’t think it’s one they’ll really be considering, either.
7. Al Horford
Defense? Check. Three-point shooting? Check. Veteran savvy? Check. Great leadership? Check. Respected locker room guy? Check. Tough? Check. Championship experience? Check. Intelligent enough to thrive in the team’s system? Check. Plays the position the team needs the most help at? Check.
The only knock on Horford is his age — he’s 39 — but that’s also the only thing that makes it feasible for the Warriors to sign someone who checks pretty much every other box. He should be their highest priority this offseason, other than Kuminga.
8. Mo Wagner
Wagner would be a good fit on the Warriors. He’s smart, tough, shoots threes well, is versatile defensively, and is a good locker room guy. The questions are: would he consider the Warriors a good fit, and can the team afford to stash a player, as he’ll likely miss a few months to start the season as he recovers from an ACL that he tore in December. I’d put him in the “backup plan” bucket.
9. De’Anthony Melton
I’m going to write about Melton tomorrow, so I won’t say much now. I’ll just leave it at this: there was a reason the Warriors signed Melton last offseason and, in the six games he played for them before tearing his ACL, that reason was reinforced.
10. Russell Westbrook
I am 1000000% in favor of the Warriors signing Westbrook just for the takes, narratives, jokes, and good fun of it all. But I think we can all agree that Westbrook’s style of play is fairly antithetical to everything the Warriors do and that Steve Kerr grew an additional 2,000 grey hairs just seeing the name.