ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins did not mince words after watching the Golden State Warriors squander a late lead, shrink themselves out of a game, and ultimately unravel in a 141–127 overtime loss to the Toronto Raptors on Sunday.
“The Warriors are broken!!!!” Perkins wrote on X. “One day Steve Kerr is going to realize that you need size and athleticism — Kuminga — to compete against the good teams in the league.”
The comments followed a loss that crystallized the Warriors’ growing identity crisis: an aging core, a shrinking lineup, and a coaching philosophy increasingly out of sync with the modern NBA’s premium on size, athleticism, and rim pressure.
Golden State blew a 12-point fourth-quarter lead, then played without a true center for much of overtime. Quentin Post and Al Horford combined to play just 35 minutes. Jonathan Kuminga, the team’s most athletic forward, was again a healthy scratch — his seventh coach’s decision DNP in the Warriors’ last eight games.
Jonathan Kuminga Benched as Raptors’ Youth Takes Over
GettyAmid Jonathan Kuminga trade rumors, he hasn’t played in the Warriors’ last few games.
Kuminga, the No. 7 overall pick in the 2021 draft, is averaging a career-high 6.2 rebounds per game this season. But his 2.4 turnovers per game and career-worst 43.1 percent shooting have rendered him unreliable in Kerr’s rotation.
The contrast could not have been sharper on the other end of the floor.
Toronto’s Scottie Barnes — the No. 4 pick in the same draft class — delivered a historic performance, posting 23 points, 25 rebounds and 10 assists for his seventh career triple-double while matching a Raptors franchise record for rebounds in a game.
Immanuel Quickley scored 27 points, Brandon Ingram added 26, and Ja’Kobe Walter chipped in a season-high 18 as Toronto leaned fully into its youth, length, and athleticism.
Golden State, by comparison, lived and died with its veterans.
Stephen Curry scored 39 points — including 14 in the third quarter — but went scoreless in overtime. Draymond Green finished with 21, Jimmy Butler added 19, and the Warriors ran out of answers as Toronto closed with a 19–5 overtime burst.
The loss snapped Golden State’s three-game winning streak and dropped the Warriors back to .500 at 16–16.
Warriors’ Championship Window Continues to Narrow
Golden State continues its East Coast road trip Monday in Brooklyn, where it remains a 3.5-point favorite against the rebuilding Nets, according to Coin Casino. But the urgency around the franchise is unmistakable.
Curry turns 38 in three months. The Warriors’ margin for error — strategically, physically, and financially — is rapidly evaporating.
That urgency is fueling increasingly aggressive trade exploration.
NBA insider Chris Haynes reported that Golden State has contemplated pursuing Anthony Davis as part of a broader effort to acquire a rim-protecting, vertical center capable of anchoring the defense.
“I was told they’re contemplating making a case to acquire Anthony Davis,” Haynes said on NBA on Amazon Prime. “And with that being said, I was told Dallas was not that fascinated with what Golden State has on its books.”
That blunt assessment underscores the Warriors’ dilemma: a desire to swing for a franchise-altering move colliding with limited assets, complicated contracts, and a timeline misaligned with younger teams.
Anthony Davis Trade Talks Reveal Warriors’ Structural Problem
Davis is owed $58.5 million next season and holds a $62.8 million player option for 2026–27. He is also eligible for a four-year, $275 million maximum extension in August.
Matching that salary is difficult. Matching Dallas’ incentive structure is harder.
Butler is the only Warriors player whose contract could absorb Davis in a straight swap, but Butler is older, carries durability concerns, and does not align with a Mavericks core built around teenage phenom Cooper Flagg and younger assets.
Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski are age-aligned but salary-insufficient. Buddy Hield’s $9.2 million contract helps only at the margins.
“If the Warriors really wanted to make a true play at Anthony Davis,” Haynes said, “they would likely have to acquire more assets or involve another team.”
That reality leaves Golden State caught between two paths: fully commit to retooling around Curry for one last title run — or finally accept that the era defined by small ball, switch-everything defense, and aging stars has reached its natural endpoint.
Sunday night in Toronto did not just expose a rotation issue.
It exposed a franchise standing at the intersection of nostalgia and necessity — still brilliant, still dangerous, but increasingly outpaced by a league that has gotten younger, longer, and faster than the Warriors ever imagined.
And for now, no amount of shooting can fully hide the size of that problem.
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