The Golden State Warriors have a problem that doubles as a philosophy, and it boils down to five names: James Wiseman, Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, Patrick Baldwin Jr., and Brandin Podziemski.
Between 2020 and 2023, Golden State used five first-round picks on young talent while Steph Curry was in his prime and Draymond Green was still anchoring a championship defense. The question that won’t go away — and surfaced again this week across NBA fan circles — is whether those picks should have been packaged for veteran help instead of spent on teenagers who needed years to develop.
The early returns are not flattering.
Wiseman, the No. 2 overall pick in 2020, played 60 games for Golden State before knee injuries derailed his development. The Warriors traded him to Detroit in February 2023 for a package centered on Gary Payton II — essentially converting a top-three pick into a role player rental. Baldwin, the No. 28 selection in 2022, appeared in 33 games as a rookie and was shipped to Washington the following summer in a deal that brought Chris Paul to the Bay. Two of the five picks, gone before they could meaningfully contribute.
The remaining three tell a more complicated story. Kuminga, taken seventh overall in 2021, has flashed star potential in bursts — including a 2023-24 stretch where he averaged over 16 points per game — but his minutes under Steve Kerr have been inconsistent enough to fuel constant trade speculation. Moody, the 14th pick that same year, has settled into a reliable rotation role without ever seizing a starting job. Podziemski, the 19th pick in 2023, made the All-Rookie First Team and looks like the one unambiguous hit of the bunch.
Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy addressed the tension directly after the 2025 NBA Draft, telling Tim Kawakami on “The TK Show” that the franchise is “probably more protective of them than most teams” when it comes to future first-rounders. His reasoning cuts both ways: Curry and Green will be unrestricted free agents entering the 2027-28 season, when they’ll be 39 and 37. Jimmy Butler, acquired at the 2025 trade deadline and signed to a two-year, $112 million extension, hits free agency that same summer.
“The reality is Steph and Draymond, Jimmy, those guys probably aren’t going to be playing for the Warriors in 2032,” Dunleavy said. In other words, the same distant picks that other teams covet in trades — because they’ll likely land high in the draft once the Warriors’ core retires — are the ones Golden State fears surrendering, because they represent the only bridge to a post-Curry future.
That balancing act has produced a roster caught between timelines. The Warriors won the 2022 title with Wiseman injured and watching from the sideline, Kuminga playing sparingly in the playoffs, and Moody earning spot minutes. The championship was built on Curry, Green, Klay Thompson, and Andrew Wiggins — not on the lottery picks. Thompson is gone now, departed for Dallas in free agency. Wiggins was traded to Miami in the Butler deal.
The what-ifs are brutal in hindsight. The 2020 draft class alone featured LaMelo Ball and Tyrese Haliburton, both taken after Wiseman. The 2021 class included Scottie Barnes, who went one pick after Kuminga. Any of those players could have been the centerpiece of a trade for an established star — or, in Ball’s and Haliburton’s cases, a foundational piece in their own right.
Dunleavy has shown he’ll act when the price is right. The Butler trade cost the Warriors Wiggins, a protected first-round pick, and Dennis Schröder. The franchise reportedly made a run at Kawhi Leonard at the 2025 trade deadline before the Clippers balked. With Leonard entering the final year of his deal and the Clippers coming off a play-in loss, that door may reopen — and the Warriors still hold their 2026 and 2027 first-rounders.
The clock is the thing. Curry turns 38 next March. He just averaged 24.5 points on 44% shooting from three in a season where the Warriors traded half their rotation to land Butler and still couldn’t survive the second round. Every draft pick spent on a 19-year-old who needs three years to learn the system is a pick not converted into someone who can help Curry right now.
Podziemski might justify the whole approach. Kuminga still might. But Wiseman and Baldwin already didn’t, and the Warriors can’t get those years back.