As things stand, the Golden State Warriors are not clear of the business they’ll need to wrap up before the start of the 2026-27 season. There are two outstanding items no the to-do list, one of which is to find a contract number for Stephen Curry, who is eligible for a two-year, $137 million extension, and the second of which is tore-sign Brandin Podziemski, who will be a restricted free agent next summer if he does not get a deal done.
Or, the Warriors could be bold and punt on both of those new contracts. To do so, they’d need to lay out to both players the plans to keep them in the fold in 10 months, but show them that they intend to first create a mass of cap space, then re-sign both guys next summer. In each case, there could be some complications, but if the Warriors play their cards right, they could use a huge swath of cap space to sign free agents or to absorb a contract in a trade.
And one dream target the Warriors have: Devin Booker of the Suns.
Warriors ‘Love’ Devin Booker
Again, easier said than done for the Warriors, but a topic which veteran beat writers Marcus Thompson and Tim Kawakami broached on the latest “Warriors Plus/Minus” podcast. When looking at potential targets for the Warriors, Kawakami took aim at Booker, who has four years and a whopping $250 million on his contract with Phoenix.
Kawakami brought up coach Steve Kerr’s affinity for Booker, dating to his time as the Team USA coach.
He said: “Who does Steve love more than anybody else on that USA team, complimented more than anybody? Devin Booker. They love him. Steve loves him. I think the Warriors love him. When they were raving about Burries, they were like, ‘He could be as good as Devin Booker.’ Like, OK, that’s a name.”
Devin Booker Loves Phoenix
Booker averaged 26.1 points and 6.0 assists last season for Phoenix, though his shooting from the arc has dipped in the past two years, to 33.2% two seasons ago to 33.0% last year. He has not given any indication he wants out of Phoenix, and the Suns are not looking to trade him, though recent financial difficulties for owner Mat Ishbia could be an opportunity for the Warriors.
Said Kawakami: “He loves Phoenix, he signed long-term. But it’s a financial discussion here. If that plays out in a poor way, how do they get draft picks, how do they reset? The Warriors can say, we’ve got first-round draft picks for you, and what else do you want?
“You have to have targets. This is a team that signed Kevin Durant outright, traded for Jimmy Butler and signed-and-traded for Andre Iguodala. You have to have targets. You don’t get every one of them. But you have to have them, and you take a look and see if you can go get them.”
Warriors Could Offer 3 First-Round Picks
And that’s the other thing that the Warriors could hang their hats on in a potential pursuit of Booker: They could fill some needs for the Suns, who are a barren a draft-asset team as there is in the NBA, with five first-round picks, four of which are swapped, over the next seven drafts, and only two second-round picks.
The Warriors have three first-round picks to trade, and NBA executives guess that all three picks, plus a package of young players like Yaxel Lendeborg, Moses Moody and/or Podziemski, would be a starting point for a Warriors-Suns deal for Booker.
It would be a lot to give up, even for someone Kerr and the Warriors “love.” But when it comes to targets, Booker is at least on the wish list.
Warriors Ideal $250 Million Trade ‘Target’ Would Require a Draft Haul