What we learned from the Warriors preseason

ByNBAUSA



SAN FRANCISCO – Everyone has been dying since the start of the regular season. Al Horford he said it best afterwards Golden State Warriors‘ the last preseason game of 2025.

“We’re happy to get that part over with,” Horford joked, half joking, half serious. “We can get ready to start.”

Clearly, after five preseason games and two long weeks of training camp, The warriors are more than ready to start the regular season and play in the games that really matter.

And while it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s not in the preseason, especially with rotations in flux, starters playing limited minutes and third-stringers accounting for the majority of second-half minutes, there are still some takeaways from Golden State’s preseason.

The preseason can be essentially meaningless in the eyes of the basketball databases we’ll forever keep hidden. But it still has its purposes. In the case of Stephen Curryit’s to step up for the regular season.

In keeping with his usual preseason routine, the Warriors have slowly increased his minutes this preseason each game to bring him closer to what they will ask of him in the regular season. In the preseason finale against the Los Angeles Clippers, Curry played close to 30 minutes, collecting 20 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds in what appeared to be a dress rehearsal for the 37-year-old future Hall of Famer. Head coach Steve Kerr talked about Curry’s continued growth this preseason.

“He’s been developing, and I think the most he’s played was in Portland. Maybe 24, 25 minutes and he wanted to get to 30 tonight. This was all according to plan. … This is his routine. He likes to get the last preseason game, get to about 30 minutes, and he’s ready to play.”

Curry, who has looked as sharp as ever this preseason, talked about the reasons behind his unique routine, one that most NBA stars do not strive to follow.

“That’s been my usual pattern in the preseason,” Curry said. “Try to slowly build each game, as close to a full volume of minutes as possible. Just to get over the hump, your second wind, and feel what it feels like down the stretch after a few breaks. It’s more mental than anything, just to kind of get ready for Tuesday.”

The two-time MVP was later asked how he feels physically as he enters his 17th season in the league.

“As much as I can. Take advantage of the offseason, we’ve had a really good camp overall. It’s been tough obviously, a couple of injuries with Moses (Moody) and Jimmy (Butler III) being out for a while, but as long as we come in, hopefully, Tuesday with as many guys as possible ready to go, and hopefully I’ll feel good about the former.”

The Warriors will be much more diverse than in previous years

As Curry said, the injuries somewhat dampened the Warriors’ anticipation this regular season. But that doesn’t change the fact that Golden State enters this season with more options in the rotation than it has had in a long time.

With addition of Al HorfordThe Warriors finally have a true fifth-length center who can play alongside Draymond Green. With the option to play more traditionally with Green and Horford in the backcourt, the Warriors won’t have to overwork Green in the small-ball box like they did last season. Before the game, Kerr talked about where Golden State is in terms of their rotation and lineup.

“The big question for us is how do we want to start. Do we want to start big with Al? Or do we want to start small with Draymond at the five?” Kerr said.

He listed the starting lineup of Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody as a potential option alongside the core of the star trio that helped lead the Warriors to the postseason. But Kerr also talked about the nuances of managing Horford’s minutes because of his advanced age.

“It’s hard to start a guy if he only plays 20 (minutes) and finish the game. If he starts and finishes, he sits almost the entire middle part of the game, which is very awkward. You have to take that into account; we have to take Draymond into account. I don’t want him guarding seven-footers, so we can end up with multiple games, we can end up with 82. They haven’t decided.”

It looks like he will oscillate between those two types of lineups throughout the season, depending on the matchup. But with Horford and the wing depth they’ve accumulated, Golden State has a lot more tools at their disposal than perhaps the 2022 championship team.

Rookie Will Richard is on the rise

I can’t stress enough how different preseason basketball is than regular season basketball. As Kerr and Curry explained, teams don’t plan these games. There’s no scouting, and the players basically let him play freely to a certain degree.

But if there are a few things that translate from half-baked, borderline pointless games, it’s IQ, hustle, and defensive principles. And second-round pick Will Richard showed those three things and a little more here in the preseason.

Richard finishes the preseason with a respectable 8.6 ppg, 3.0 ppg, 1.8 ppg and 1.4 ppg on 36.8% shooting and 32.0% shooting from behind the arc. Along with his hustle and activity on defense, he looked fluid in the Warriors’ offense. He was good at cutting off the ball as well as a willing passer, finding the open man on the move.

Kerr expressed his confidence in Richard throughout the preseason and believes he will be ready when his number is called this season. He was transparent that the rookie is “on the outside looking in” in terms of the rotation, barring injuries.

“Will can really play. It’s exciting. You can see that when he’s out there, and the play makes sense. He’s in the right spot. The ball moves, he’s not afraid to shoot it. He’s good defensively. I think Will will be around for a long time,” Kerr said. High praise from a man who has done literally everything in the NBA.

We’ll see how Richard fares in his rookie campaign, but this preseason has shown that the Warriors can break him out in minutes and feel comfortable that he won’t be a negative.





2025-10-18 12:50:00

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