The Golden State Warriors are in a tough spot after yet another failed offseason of chasing star players. They were in on Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jaylen Brown, as well as LeBron James, but they walked away empty-handed.
Jimmy Butler will miss a majority of the 2026-27 season due to an ACL injury, so the Warriors will be shorthanded for a few months. They could still use Butler’s salary in a trade to acquire that star player they’ve been searching for.
The options are much more limited at this time, and some of these targets may make sense at the deadline, but here are three stars the Warriors could target next.
Lauri Markkanen has long been a rumored target in Golden State. He would fit very nicely with their current core, and he wouldn’t cost an insane amount of assets.
Markkanen averaged a career-high 26.7 PPG last season for the Utah Jazz. He has been a 40% three-point shooter multiple times in his career. A decrease in volume with the Warriors should get him back to that rate. A really good fit for Markkanen.
Zion Williamson may be the best player they could reasonably get at this point. He obviously comes with injury concerns, but he did play in 62 games last season. If he is turning a corner and becoming a reliable player, a duo of Steph Curry and Zion could be really fun to watch. Keeping some spacing in the lineup with Kristaps Porzingis at center could give the Warriors a really dynamic offense with the rim pressure from Williamson.
Alperen Sengun would be a really interesting fit alongside Curry. The Warriors never gave Curry that elite center throughout the dynasty run, so seeing a pairing with one at this point could be really fun. Sengun’s playmaking upside could let him fit in a Draymond Green type of role.
The Warriors need to be aggressive and make some major moves while Steph Curry is still around. It may seem crazy now, but if they don’t put a championship-level roster around him soon, he may not finish his career in Golden State. The Warriors rumors won’t be put to sleep until something big happens.
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