The Golden State Warriors fell at the Play-In Tournament stage in 2026. But Gary Payton II believes they could win the NBA Championship in 2027.
The NBA Western Conference could be dominated by the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder again this year. Nobody is giving the Golden State Warriors a chance – except the players themselves.
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The big problem with the Warriors is that Steph Curry and Draymond Green are ‘too old’ and have not been surrounded by enough top-tier young players.
More recently, the Warriors have been leaning into their weakness. 33 year-old Gary Payton II believes that adding more veterans around Curry has actually helped the team.
Speaking to the San Francisco Chronicle, he says that the core of six veteran players – not including himself – can help Steph Curry cause a major upset this season.
Payton II explained: “I know they wanted to build that veteran core to help those young guys carry over. with Al (Horford), KP.”
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“When we get Jimmy back, and Dray, and Melt (De’Anthony Melton). Georges (Niang) … just a bunch of guys that know what it takes to win. And it’s kinda starting to feel like that 2022 year, when we didn’t have any expectations, and everybody counted us out.”
Jimmy Butler is not expected back from his torn ACL until January, and his return will give the team a vital mid-season boost at a critical time heading into the All-Star break. The Warriors just need to stay competitive until then.
Warriors have an exciting youth player too
The Warriors recent high draft picks failed to change their course, with James Wiseman and Jonathan Kuminga enduring different degrees of difficulty.
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But there is fresh hope with rookie Yaxel Lendeborg, who was taken with the number 11th overall pick.
Lendeborg earned the Summer League MVP, and was recently praised by new associate coach Frank Vogel.
But there will be no pressure on him. Instead it will all be on the veterans.
Steph Curry will lead the team again. He still averaged 26.6 points per game last season. But he does need a healthy Jimmy Butler, and all of the other players mentioned by Gary Payton II too.
And even then, it probably won’t be enough.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
