Led by Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and head coach Steve Kerr, the Golden State Warriors remain competitive in a blistering Western Conference. The trio feels like, health permitting, they can compete with the best of the NBA like the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets.
But one thing is becoming more and more real with each passing day: This era of Warriors basketball is nearing its end.
37-year old Stephen Curry has one year left on his deal after the 2025-26 season. Draymond Green, who just turned 36 years of age on Wednesday, has a player option for the 2026-27 season worth $27.7 million. And head coach Steve Kerr is coaching in the final year of his deal.
While Curry and Green are expected back with the Warriors next season, what does the future of head coach Steve Kerr look like?
As reported by ClutchPoints' NBA insider Brett Siegel after the trade deadline, the possibility of the Warriors moving on from Kerr is as close to zero as it could be. All signs point to Kerr continuing on with Steph and Draymond, and the Warriors will work out the details of a short-term deal if that is what Kerr would like.
The talk about Golden State not wanting him back couldn't be farther from the truth, and there is nothing to suggest that Kerr's coaching staff or the Warriors have been preparing for this to be his last season. ”
Warriors GM Mike Dunleavy Jr. recently spoke with Tim Kawakami, Bay Area writer for the San Francisco Standard and the host of “The TK Show on 95.7 The Game, in a wide-ranging interview that also touched on the future of Kerr as head coach of the Warriors.
It was there that Dunleavy Jr. says he envisions Kerr being back next season and beyond.
“Yeah, I don’t see why not,” Dunleavy Jr. responded. “I mean, I think Steve [Kerr] has mentioned wanting to get to the end of the season and figure it out. I think things are, for him, going well. We’ll figure all that out when it comes, but I think it’s been interesting that the focus for us internally between myself, Joe [Lacob], the players, and Steve, has really been on getting this thing right the rest of the season. So, we haven’t put a whole bunch of thought into it.”
“But obviously, on a personal level, I love having Steve here. Yeah, I would project that he’s our coach next year. But again, we’re going into absolute certainties, and a lot of it is in his court, so we've got to see.”
In his 12 seasons coaching the Warriors, Steve Kerr has put together a 598-338 record (.639) across 936 regular season games and a 104-48 record (.684) in 152 playoff games.
In February 2024, Steve Kerr and the Warriors agreed to a record two-year, $35 million extension to keep him as head coach of the franchise.
Entering this season on an expiring deal, Kerr said he wasn't particularly worried about getting a new deal done before the end of the season.
“I'm very comfortable going into the season with a year left,” Kerr explained. “I'm so aligned with [general manager] Mike [Dunleavy] and [owner] Joe [Lacob]. We talked about this — there's no reason for discussion or concern. This is kind of a point in our relationship where let's just see how it is at the end of the year.
“I don't anticipate any negotiation during the season. Who knows — maybe it all comes up at some point, and they come to me. But I'm not the slightest bit concerned about it. I don't think about it. I just think it makes perfect sense for all of us [to wait].”
Through 61 games, the Warriors have a 31-30 record and currently sit four games back of the Phoenix Suns for the seventh seed and just 1.5 games ahead of the LA Clippers for the eighth seed. According to Positive Residual, the Warriors have the fourth toughest remaining strength of schedule behind the Pelicans, Blazers, and Suns.
