The Golden State Warriors’ blowout loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on January 26 served as an unwelcome preview of life without their cornerstone players. In a rescheduled matchup that exposed the team’s depth issues, the Warriors fell 83-108, shooting a dismal 34.7% from the field and just 23.1% from three-point range against a Minnesota defense that had been struggling lately.
The game came on the back end of adjustments forced by a weekend postponement, and Golden State was severely shorthanded. Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, De’Anthony Melton, and Al Horford were all unavailable, while Jimmy Butler—acquired to provide a legitimate second scoring threat—remains sidelined for the season with a torn ACL.
With the veterans out, the offense fell almost entirely to the young supporting cast. Brandin Podziemski, Moses Moody, and rookie Quinten Post were handed major minutes and responsibility. Post led the team with 13 points, but the group as a whole lacked the assertiveness and shot-creation needed to keep the game competitive. The result was one of the Warriors’ most lopsided defeats in recent memory.
In isolation, it’s just one game on a long schedule. The Warriors will get healthier, Curry will return, and the team should stabilize. But viewed through a longer lens, Monday night’s performance offered a sobering look at what the post-Curry era could resemble—and it’s not pretty.
The Warriors are nothing without Stephen Curry
Even before Butler’s season-ending injury, championship expectations for this roster were tempered. Curry remains an elite performer, but without a reliable co-star or third scoring option, true contention felt out of reach. Butler’s ACL tear only sharpened that reality while simultaneously shining a harsh light on the franchise’s future timeline.
Curry, Butler, and Green are all under contract only through the 2026-27 season. Head coach Steve Kerr’s deal expires at the end of this current campaign. When those pillars depart, the Warriors will be left relying on the young core they’ve developed in recent years—a group that has yet to show it can carry a franchise.
Against Minnesota, that core was thoroughly outmatched. The offense stagnated, spacing collapsed, and no one stepped up as a consistent creator or finisher. Podziemski and Moody are talented complementary pieces with upside, but neither has demonstrated the aggression or elite shot-making required to be a primary option. Post, still raw, flashed potential but couldn’t move the needle.
This is the reality Golden State faces in the not-too-distant future. The organization has not successfully built a high-impact young nucleus capable of sustaining success after the Curry era ends. The consequences of that failure are starting to come into focus.
Fans can only hope that over the next season and a half—while Curry is still anchoring the team—players like Podziemski, Moody, Post, and others make significant developmental leaps. Otherwise, the dark vision glimpsed in Minnesota could become the Warriors’ permanent reality.