Power Ranking Warriors' Roster Based on Regular-Season Performance

The Golden State Warriors brought championship expectations into the 2023-24 NBA season.

They'll likely exit it with a ticket to the Play-In Tournament.

Very little has gone according to plan, in other words, but the Warriors are playing some of their best basketball down the stretch, so maybe they'll wind up having that prolonged postseason run just yet.

Before looking ahead, though, let's take a moment to look back at how this club arrived here by ranking all 17 players on the roster based off of their regular-season performance.

17. Pat Spencer

The former college lacrosse star signed a two-way deal in late February and has since handled mop-up duty on three occasions.

16. Usman Garuba

A 22-year-old who was taken 23rd overall in 2021, Garuba has some interesting upside (especially on defense) and could be worth further developing. Golden State's win-now intentions, though, have limited his NBA work to just eight minutes across three games this season.

15. Jerome Robinson

The 13th pick in 2018, Robinson wasn't on an NBA roster the last two seasons, but he signed a two-way deal with the Warriors in September and has held onto it since. His 69-minute sample this season is admittedly microscopic, but those runs have been rough, as he's put together an unsightly 31/13.3/60 shooting slash.

14. Gui Santos

Santos scored a three-year pact in November and has since seen sporadic minutes at the NBA level. He has occasionally handled non-garbage time duties, though, and flashed good energy on both ends.

13. Lester Quinones

Undrafted in 2022, Quinones has thrice signed two-way contracts with Golden State before having his deal converted to a standard NBA pact this February. He held a (mostly) regular rotation role for more than a month and showed a quick-strike scoring ability, tallying double-digit points and multiple three-pointers in four different outings.

12. Dario Šarić

Recency bias might be working against Šarić, as he was a rotation player (and spot starter) for most of the season before seeing his floor time dry up over the last month. His offensive game has fit this system, but coach Steve Kerr has ultimately opted for defensive versatility (Draymond Green), bounce (Trayce Jackson-Davis) or interior muscle (Kevon Looney) at the center spot instead.

11. Moses Moody

Moody still isn't playing as many minutes as it feels like he could, and it isn't entirely clear why. In the 21 games when he's seen at least 20 minutes—13 of those Warriors' wins, by the way—he has averaged 12.4 points on 49/42.2/81.4 shooting.

10. Kevon Looney

It's been a trying season for Looney, who lost his starting spot a few times and dropped far enough in the rotation where he's no longer guaranteed to hit the hardwood every night. He looks a step slower (and was hardly a burner to begin with), but he also might suffering from the fact the stars he's so often supported simply haven't shined as brightly as they typically do.

9. Gary Payton II

Payton remains an impact defender who can energize this group whenever his number is called, but his injury issues have to play a part in this. He has only played 40 games to this point, or just seven more than Quinones.

8. Trayce Jackson-Davis

Is it too early to dub Jackson-Davis the steal of last year's draft? Not at all. He was the 57th pick and has since posted the second-most win shares in the class (4.1), per Basketball-Reference. His above-the-rim play gives Golden State a different dimension, and it has manifested in his 70,4 field-goal percentage and team-best (by a mile) 2.3 blocks per 36 minutes.

7. Brandin Podziemski

Podziesmki, the No. 19 pick, has been another draft-night heist. He is fourth on the team in minutes and seventh in starts while being just the ninth rookie since 2010 with at least 600 points, 350 rebounds, 250 assists and 50 steals, per StatHead Basketball.

6. Chris Paul

Paul's scoring punch has never been less powerful, but the 38-year-old continues making consistently smart decisions that help his team. The days of the Dubs nosediving when Stephen Curry needs a breather are finished. In fact, there's hardly a difference in the net differentials of Curry (plus-1.2) and Paul (plus-0.3), per NBA.com.

5. Andrew Wiggins

A couple months back, this ranking would've felt way too high. Now, it's hard to tell if it's high enough, which hopefully makes it just right. It's been a rough shooting season for Wiggins, and his activity level hasn't always been there, but when he delivers—which he has with much more frequency of late—he makes a substantial impact at both ends.

4. Klay Thompson

Thompson's 17.3 points are his fewest in a decade-plus, his 38.0 three-point percentage is the worst of his career and his minus-1.0 box plus/minus is lower than it's been since his rookie year, per Basketball-Reference. And yet, he's still been the Warriors' second-leading scorer and the threat of his three-point shot remains a gravitational pull on defenders to lure them away from Stephen Curry. Plus, Thompson deserves an extra nod for handling his shifts from the starting group to the reserve unit without a hitch.

3. Draymond Green

The second spot would probably be Green's if he didn't force his way off the floor so often. Still, it's a testament to his talent that he lands No. 3 despite suiting up just 50 times so far. He ties everything together on defense and remains the primary passer in the starting lineup. He's even hitting 38.5 percent of his perimeter shots. When he plays, he typically means as much to this team as anyone not named Stephen Curry.

2. Jonathan Kuminga

This might be a touch aggressive considering how (frustratingly) long it took for Kuminga to start seeing major minutes, but his second-half surge—combined with the lack of real competition here—feels worthy of this honor. Since becoming a full-time starter on Jan. 27, he has averaged 19.1 points on 52.7 percent shooting while serving as one of this squad's best on-ball defenders.

1. Stephen Curry

Curry isn't having a particularly great season by his own astronomic standards—his 20.3 player efficiency rating is his worst since 2010-11, per Basketball-Reference—but his place atop the franchise food chain remains unchallenged. No Warrior comes close to putting as much stress on opposing defenses as Curry does.