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On the record
Called Shots →Golden State's apron-basis team salary is still above the first apron of $209,015,000 on opening night of the 2026-27 season.
The Golden State Warriors record more than 346 total blocks in the 2026-27 regular season.
Al Horford leads the Golden State Warriors in total blocks in the 2026-27 regular season.
Al Horford averages fewer than 21.0 minutes per game across the games he appears in among Golden State's first ten regular-season games of 2026-27, October 21 through November 7, 2026, by the official box scores. If he appears in none of the ten, the call is wrong.
Draymond Green plays in both of Golden State's back-to-back games: at home against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday, October 23, 2026, and at the Phoenix Suns on Saturday, October 24, 2026. 'Plays' means any minutes in ESPN's box score for each game. If either game is postponed, VOID.
Written about him
Golden State won the 22 minutes after Draymond Green's ejection by 14
Draymond Green was ejected with 10:00 left in the third quarter of Golden State's 116-113 home win over the Phoenix Suns on Monday, November 2, after a technical foul for throwing Khaman Maluach to the floor and a double technical with Dillon Brooks. The Warriors trailed 68-57 after the technical free throw and outscored Phoenix 59-45 the rest of the way. Charles Bassey replaced Green and scored a career-high 19 points with eight rebounds in 23 minutes; Stephen Curry scored 34 in 33 minutes. It was Golden State's fifth straight win after an 0-3 start. As of early Tuesday the NBA had announced no discipline.
The Warriors scored 122 on the night Curry, Green and Horford sat
Golden State opened 2026-27 at 0-3: 127-105 at the Lakers on October 21, 111-108 to Memphis on October 23 and 131-122 at Phoenix on October 24. Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Al Horford played the first two and sat the third, the second night of a back-to-back, with Brandin Podziemski, who played only the Memphis game. By ESPN box scores the Warriors shot 41 percent in each of the two games the veterans played and 22 of 77 from three; on the night they sat the club shot 45 percent and 17 of 39. Opponents shot 136 of 253, 54 percent, across the three games. Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg led Golden State in minutes all three nights, 102 in total, with 29 against the Lakers, 37 against Memphis and 36 at Phoenix. The club is at Denver on Monday, and ESPN's injury notes of October 25 list Gui Santos questionable with left knee tendinitis, Brandon Williams and Charles Bassey probable, and none of the four veterans on the report.
Curry and Podziemski are not expected at Phoenix, a night after Ike started
Stephen Curry said 'Probably not, but I'll talk to the staff' when asked Friday night about playing at Phoenix on Saturday, per Kevin Topley of NBC Sports Bay Area, and Anthony Slater of ESPN reported that Curry is expected to rest and that Brandin Podziemski will miss the game with back soreness. Podziemski said he 'tweaked it a little bit, nothing too serious.' It is the second game of Golden State's first back-to-back, eight days after Steve Kerr said the club does not play Curry in back-to-backs. On Friday the Warriors started Graham Ike, a two-way center, against Memphis with Charles Bassey out with a knee injury; Ike scored 10 points in 12 minutes. Golden State led 106-94 with 3:47 left, did not make another field goal, and lost 111-108 to fall to 0-2. Jimmy Butler, Moses Moody and Kristaps Porzingis are also out.
Horford played both nights of no back-to-back last season, and Friday starts one
Golden State lost its opener 127-105 at the Lakers on October 21 and plays four games in six nights from Friday: Memphis at Chase Center on October 23, at Phoenix on October 24, at Denver on October 26 and at Minnesota on October 28. The first two are the season's first back-to-back. Kristaps Porzingis is not expected around the team in the immediate future, the club said Wednesday, and ESPN reported the Warriors are exploring trades for him. Charles Bassey did not play Wednesday with a knee injury. That left the center minutes to Draymond Green, 21, and Al Horford, 17, with two-way big man Graham Ike playing 12, while Walker Kessler scored 26 points on 12-of-12 shooting for Los Angeles. Across Golden State's 16 back-to-backs in 2025-26, by ESPN game logs, Green played both nights of eight, Stephen Curry both nights of five and Horford both nights of none. Golden State opened with all 15 standard roster spots filled, Brandon Williams among them, and sits $347,568 under the second-apron hard cap, by Spotrac.
Porzingis is out indefinitely, and Bassey started when Green and Horford sat
The Warriors announced Wednesday that Kristaps Porzingis, who missed training camp and the first five preseason games, met with general manager Mike Dunleavy and Dr. Rick Celebrini at the practice facility on Tuesday and will remain out indefinitely due to the same health-related matter, but will be around the team. The club said it will give an update on a potential resumption of practice, playing status or timeline when available and appropriate. ESPN's Anthony Slater reported he is not cleared to practice. With Green and Horford resting in Tuesday's preseason game against the Lakers in Las Vegas, Charles Bassey started at center beside Stephen Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Gui Santos and Yaxel Lendeborg and played 27 minutes with 12 rebounds, and Graham Ike played 12, in a 101-89 win. The season opens October 21 at the Lakers, with a back-to-back on October 23 and 24.
Kerr wants Green or Horford out there as often as possible. Saturday it was 37 of 48
Steve Kerr said after Monday's practice that he is leaning toward starting Stephen Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Gui Santos, Yaxel Lendeborg and Draymond Green on October 21, with Al Horford off the bench, as reported by Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area. His reason was Horford's minutes: about 20 a game is the limit, and he wants Green or Horford on the floor as often as possible to anchor the defense. Saturday against Sacramento was the only preseason game Horford has played as a reserve. By NBA.com's substitution log, Green or Horford was on the floor for 37:32 of 48 minutes, both for 6:10, and neither for 10:28, of which Charles Bassey covered the last 8:09. Horford averaged 21.6 minutes across 45 games last season by ESPN's game log, 20.0 across the first 30, and did not play both nights of any of Golden State's 16 back-to-backs. The second and third games of the season are a back-to-back. Kristaps Porzingis is expected at Chase Center on Tuesday to meet the performance staff, and Kerr could not say whether he will be available for the opener. Horford is not traveling to Tuesday's game in Las Vegas, which Kerr called planned maintenance.
Kerr sat three starters at halftime and kept Yaxel Lendeborg on the floor
Golden State lost its preseason opener to the Clippers, 104-101, in Honolulu on Sunday, October 4. The five Steve Kerr named on October 1, Stephen Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Yaxel Lendeborg, Draymond Green and Al Horford, started and played three minutes and 14 seconds together before the first substitution, per the NBA's play-by-play. Curry, Green and Horford played the first half only, at 12:58, 13:52 and 15:42. Lendeborg played 18:44, the most minutes of the 18 Warriors who appeared, and started the second half with Podziemski, De'Anthony Melton, Gui Santos and Charles Bassey. He had four points on 1-of-6 shooting, a game-high nine rebounds and three assists. Kerr said afterward that Lendeborg was good and needs to be more aggressive. When Kerr named the five, he said he did not know whether it would start on opening night, and the reason he gave was Horford's age and minutes. Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody did not play. Five preseason games remain before the October 21 opener at the Lakers.
The Warriors have one center who shoots threes, one night at a time
Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy said at media day on Monday, September 28, that Kristaps Porzingis is out indefinitely with a health issue the club learned of on Sunday, and that he will not travel to training camp at BYU-Hawaii. The club gave no timeline and did not describe the issue. Steve Kerr said the same day that Golden State is 'playing a more modern brand of basketball now, five-out.' Basketball Reference lists three centers on the roster. Porzingis took 74 threes in 356 minutes for Golden State last season; Al Horford took 205 in 969; Charles Bassey has taken 13 in 1,410 career minutes. Horford, 40, did not play on consecutive days last season: of Golden State's 16 back-to-backs he played one night 12 times and neither night four times, per his game logs at Basketball Reference and ESPN. Golden State's first back-to-back of 2026-27 is Memphis at Chase Center on October 23 and Phoenix on the road on October 24. Butler and Moody traveled to Hawaii with no return timeline.
Vogel gets the Warriors defense, and its shot blockers played 1,425 minutes
Golden State blocked 346 shots in 2025-26, 4.2 a game, 26th in the league, and pulled down 31.0 defensive rebounds a game, 25th. It also finished second in steals and sixth in turnovers forced. Three men who are still under contract blocked shots at better than 1.5 per 36 minutes last season: Charles Bassey at 2.52 on 100 minutes, Al Horford at 1.89, Kristaps Porzingis at 1.62. They played 1,425 of the team's 19,805 minutes, 7.2 percent, across 65 games. The next rate on the list is Draymond Green's 0.81. Quinten Post and Trayce Jackson-Davis, third and eighth on the team in blocks, are gone, and with the other departures go 75 of the 346 blocks and 578 of the 2,540 defensive rebounds. The three players added since are a rookie forward, a power forward and a guard. Frank Vogel was announced as associate head coach on September 17 and Steve Kerr says he is turning the defense over to him. Vogel's twelve seasons as a head coach produced three defenses that finished first in the league and two that finished third. Camp opens in Hawaii on September 29. Two takes filed.
Georges Niang's New Contract Protects The Warriors Against Georges Niang's Foot
Georges Niang's one-year minimum deal with Golden State is only partially guaranteed at $1,838,009 against a full-season salary of $3,876,529, and it carries Exhibit 3 language protecting the club if he has further trouble with the left foot that cost him all of 2025-26. Brandon Williams' deal is entirely non-guaranteed until he makes the opening-night roster. Charles Bassey's salary does not lock until January. Twelve of Golden State's standard contracts are fully guaranteed and three are not, which is the number that matters with training camp opening at BYU-Hawaii on September 29. Dalen Terry signed a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 on August 28 and Alex Toohey agreed to one on September 9, both of them convertible to the third two-way spot the club has left open, and 2026 draft pick Lajae Jones is still unsigned. Two takes filed, on Jones and on whether Niang is still here in January.
Brandon Williams Will Be Paid More Than Golden State Is Charged For Him
Free agent guard Brandon Williams agreed to a one-year, $2.6 million deal with the Warriors on Tuesday, reported by Shams Charania at ESPN through agents Derek Lafayette and Curtis Lawrence. The figure is the four-year veteran minimum of $2,625,627 for 2026-27. Because the league reimburses part of a one-year minimum signed by a veteran of three or more years, the charge against Golden State is fixed at $2,449,421, the two-year minimum, and the difference of $176,206 is the league's. Williams becomes the 14th man on a roster that carried 12 fully guaranteed standard contracts plus Charles Bassey on a partial one, against a limit of 15. He averaged 13.0 points, 3.9 assists and 2.9 rebounds in 22.2 minutes across 66 games for Dallas last season, and 10.7 points in 19.3 minutes across 140 career games and 34 starts in four seasons since Portland. ESPN reported Tuesday that Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody will miss the opening months of the season rehabilitating knee injuries. No take is filed with this piece; three open calls on the ledger already run into it.