Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green is at it again, making a bold prediction: the Warriors will win the NBA championship next season.
Green shared his confident outlook following an intense summer workout with teammate and six-time All-Star Jimmy Butler.
“[I’m feeling] great! We’re about six weeks out, right where I need to be, baby. And we’re getting that [expletive] this year,” Green said in an Instagram video posted by Butler, referring to the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
A History of Bold Guarantees
The declaration is not unusual for Green, whose outspoken nature has become part of his persona. He made similar proclamations after Butler joined the Warriors at last season’s trade deadline.
“I think that we were kind of headed in the wrong direction, thinking we figured it out and never figuring it out throughout the course of this year,” Green said in February on TNT before the NBA All-Star Game. “Since he’s been here, we’ve walked into every game thinking and believing we’re going to win that game. And that goes a long way in this league. When you walk in like, ‘Aw man, we’re probably going to lose this game,’ it’s not good. He’s brought back that belief, and I think we’re going to win the championship.”
Butler’s arrival helped the Warriors surge late in the season, finishing 23-8 after the trade deadline and climbing from a fringe play-in team to the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference.
The Warriors won a first-round series against the No. 2 seed Houston Rockets, only to fall in five games to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round after a hamstring injury sidelined Stephen Curry.
Experts Skeptical of Warriors’ Chances
ESPN experts remain cautious about Golden State’s prospects next season. With a crowded Western Conference, they project the Warriors to return to the play-in tournament.
“The West is so crowded with contenders that a couple of them will inevitably be bumped into this bracket, forced to play an extra game or two with their playoff hopes on the line,” ESPN writer Anthony Slater wrote. “That’s particularly dangerous for older teams like the Warriors and Mavericks, who will likely spend the final month of the season in a full-out standings sprint and won’t get the extra week of pre-playoff rest the top teams receive. However, two teams still make it out of the play-in. The seventh-seeded Warriors beat the second-seeded Rockets in the first round last April. If Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler III and Draymond Green are healthy, the West’s top two seeds won’t be ecstatic to see the Warriors emerging from the seventh or eighth slot this spring.”
ESPN predicts Golden State will finish the 2025-26 season 48-34, once again as the No. 7 seed in the West.
Adding 39-year-old Horford to the starting lineup will make Golden State one of the oldest teams in the league, with four starters in their mid-to-late 30s.
Will it be enough for Green’s bold prediction to come true? Warriors fans will find out when the 2025-26 season tips off.
