The Golden State Warriors dynasty isn’t officially over, but it’s running on memories. Four championships still shine in the rafters, yet the hope of adding a fifth feels more like wishful thinking than a realistic goal. Even with Stephen Curry still capable of magic, this version of the Warriors looks nothing like the juggernaut that once terrified the league.

Tuesday night offered another uncomfortable reminder. Golden State’s 113-94 home loss to the Philadelphia 76ers wasn’t just another defeat – it felt like a blunt reality check for Steve Kerr and his struggling roster. In front of their own fans at Chase Center, the Warriors were outplayed, outworked, and ultimately outclassed by a Philly team riding a four-game winning streak.

Afterward, Kerr was left searching for answers and wondering whether the looming trade deadline chaos has begun creeping into his locker room. Speaking with the media in the post-game press, the reporters asked the 60-year-old if the ongoing tension about trade is shifting the atmosphere in the locker room. Is that the reason for such poor performance? “Maybe, I don’t know,” Kerr responded.

Across the 82-game regular season, it becomes easy for the team to feel the ebbs and flows. However, “When you coach a team, when you’re part of a group, you can almost predict when things are going to go well and when they’re going to go poorly. Just overall health, mood, vibe. This was not a good vibe for us tonight,” Steve Kerr explained.

The Warriors briefly grabbed a two-point lead in the first quarter, but any hope of building momentum quickly vanished. With Curry sidelined, Golden State lacked direction and firepower, watching the game slip away in frustratingly familiar fashion.

But that’s not all. The veteran coach also expressed his true disappointment over Tuesday’s loss. “It’s everyone’s job to come and bring the energy, bring the fight… First five minutes, we had guys turning it over, not running back, sulking. It’s like, no, it’s about competing. You have to establish that. That’s the most disappointing thing about tonight’s game for me. I just didn’t feel that like I needed to feel it, like we need to feel it as a group.”

Kerr pointed to what he called “weird turnovers” that didn’t even feel forced, yet completely derailed Golden State’s night. The Warriors scored 94 points on an efficient 47.4 percent shooting (37-of-78) and knocked down 19-of-48 threes at a respectable 39.6 percent. On paper, the offense looked serviceable. In reality, it never had a chance to find rhythm.

The problem was ball security. Golden State coughed it up 20 times, gifting Philadelphia 15 easy points and repeatedly killing any momentum. Meanwhile, the 76ers were far more composed, shooting 45.2 percent from the field, 34.2 percent from deep, and converting 16 of 21 free throws.

Even with the Warriors tallying 27 assists, six blocks, eight steals, and 18 fast-break points and briefly holding a five-point lead, the constant stream of mistakes made all those positives irrelevant.

“It’s one of those games where nothing went right, but when you’re missing your best scorers, that’s kind of what I’m talking about,” the head coach firmly said. “You have to make up for that with collective competitiveness. You can’t sulk, you can’t feel sorry for yourself.”

Meanwhile, the Golden State Warriors might be preparing themselves for another emotional goodbye. Steve Kerr had to let go of Klay Thompson in 2024 as he chose the Dallas Mavericks in free agency. But Draymond Green? He might be more than happy to sacrifice his legacy in the Bay for Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Three Warriors stars, including Draymond Green, are up for trade

Tension has the Warriors in a chokehold as Thursday’s trade deadline knocks at the door. Interestingly enough, several Golden State stars have their names in the offer for Giannis Antetokounmpo. Primarily, Draymond Green, Brandin Podziemski, and Jonathan Kuminga sit at the center.

NBA veteran insider Marc Stein confirmed on Tuesday that Draymond Green is part of the Warriors’ pitch to the Bucks, “in presumed combination with Jonathan Kuminga, Milwaukee native Brandin Podziemski and draft capital.” It was almost a guarantee that the Dubs would offer Green or Butler for the trade to happen. But it looks like the 14-year-old veteran will be the most suitable name in the package.

Green, Podz, and JK make a total of $52.07 million, which would force the Milwaukee Bucks to add Kyle Kuzma at $22.4 million or Myles Turner at $25.3 million to balance the books.

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That’s not all, the trio will fail to surpass the threshold for Antetokounmpo’s paycheck, which is currently at $54 million. In that case, the Warriors would have to stack additional contracts to make the deal happen.

Landing a generational superstar like Giannis Antetokounmpo has never been a simple salary-cap exercise – it’s financial choreography performed under the brightest lights and strictest league oversight.
On paper, the trio carries a combined 2025-26 salary of roughly $52.08 million.

Giannis, meanwhile, is scheduled to earn $54.13 million next season under the final year of his current extension. That $2.05 million gap may sound modest in a league where max contracts routinely crest $60 million, yet it is anything but trivial.

Under current CBA rules, especially for teams already operating well above both the luxury-tax line and the second apron, outgoing salary must closely match incoming salary.

The Warriors cannot simply absorb the difference with cash or a future pick; they would need to either route in additional outgoing contracts (Moses Moody and/or a veteran minimum deal are the most obvious candidates) or engineer a multi-team structure that creatively redistributes dollars.

Now that the Dubs are entering a transition period with Draymond Green most likely moving on, Steve Kerr needs to redesign his defense.

A final championship run before the curtain call at San Francisco? Maybe that’s possible at some point, but not this season, until a true miracle happens.