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DENVER, COLORADO – NOVEMBER 07: Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors talks with Quinten Post #21 during a break in the game against the Denver Nuggets in the third quarter at Ball Arena on November 7, 2025 in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Justin Tafoya/Getty Images)
At 13-14, the Warriors are a far cry from the team they had hoped they would be at this point of the season, and the disappointing loss to the Blazers on Sunday night was a repeat of many of the laments the team’s fans have had early in 2025-26. Stephen Curry was brilliant with 48 points, but the rest of the Warriors were not, and the young Blazers ran them off the floor with a 136-131 decision.
Coach Steve Kerr is clearly struggling to find something that clicks with this team, and while there was much to like about the way Curry performed, the way the team’s defense and role players showed up left much to be desired.
Kerr has been trying to shuffle the deck of players he has on hand. On Sunday, he tried his 15th starting lineup of the season, a remarkable number for a team just 27 games into its season. By way of comparison, when the Warriors won their first Curry-era championship in 2014-15, the team used just eight starting lineups.
Warriors’ Steve Kerr: ‘No Idea’ About New Starting Lineup
On Sunday, it was Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green along with Moses Moody and Quinten Post, a lineup that was getting its first look of the season. It was Post’s 13th start of the season, and the 14th for Moody. Kerr has tried 14 different players in the starting five this year.
He was asked on Sunday whether he might give the latest lineup more of a “runway” to see if it starts clicking. Kerr sounded like a man who has just not been able to think that far ahead in what’s been a bummer of a season.
“I have no idea. Honestly,” he said. “We have had so many guys in and out of the lineup. We’ll see if we can stay healthy then maybe this is the way we go. We would like to build some consistency, we just haven’t been able to to this point.”
Size, Age Intractable Warriors Problems
The Warriors problem, ultimately, is one that has haunted them throughout recent seasons. They lack both size and quickness, the product of having 35-year-old Green in the middle at 6-foot-6, and deliberate, half-court 36-year-old forward Jimmy Butler on the floor with 37-year old Curry.
Kerr can tinker with the other two spots in the lineup all he wants–try for defense (with Moody on the wing) and size (with the 7-foot Post), or plug in a shooter, a ball-handler, more defense–but as long as the meat of the lineup is old, short and slow, he is going to have a problem.
Green has struggled badly this year, shooting 39.4% from the field, and committed eight turnovers on Sunday. Butler has played well at times, but has not had the same impact when he’s been on the floor that he had last year. He was just 3-for-11 shooting on Sunday.
“Just making bad reads, bad decisions,” Green said. “Be more decisive. Take better care of it. Too (expletive) old to be doing that.”
Sean Deveney is a veteran sports reporter covering the NBA, NFL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2019 and has more than two decades of experience covering the NBA, including 17 years as the lead NBA reporter for the Sporting News. Deveney is the author of 7 nonfiction books, including “Fun City,” “Before Wrigley became Wrigley,” and “Facing Michael Jordan.” More about Sean Deveney
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