Curry Shoulders the Warriors Load With Butler, Porzingis, Podziemski Out
Golden State opens against the Lakers missing three rotation pieces, and our model projects Curry for 37.8 PRA with the offense funneled through him.
Usage spikes with three teammates out in the opener vs. the Lakers.
- Butler, Porzingis, Podziemski all out for GSW opener
- Model projects Curry for 37.8 PRA vs. Lakers
- Curry averaged 39.7 FPTS/G last season (2025-26)
- Porzingis: #16 center in our ranks, played just 32 games
- Podziemski logged 82 games, 27.8 FPTS/G in 2025-26
Stephen Curry walks into Golden State's season opener against the Lakers on Wednesday with an already-thin supporting cast and a to-do list that just got longer. Jimmy Butler remains sidelined recovering from his ACL injury, and now Kristaps Porzingis and Brandin Podziemski are both ruled out too. That's three rotation players gone before the first tip of 2026-27.
The math here isn't complicated. With fewer bodies to absorb touches, the ball lives in Curry's hands. Our props model projects the future Hall of Famer for 37.8 points, rebounds and assists combined on Wednesday — a number that lines up neatly with the 39.7 fantasy points per game he averaged last season (2025-26) across 43 games.
Curry sits at #35 overall in our rankings and #16 at guard, which already bakes in some of the injury risk that's followed Golden State's roster. His last five games of 2025-26 ran 7.3 fantasy points below his season average, so he was fading a touch into the offseason. A full green light and a sky-high usage opener is exactly the reset his managers want.
Who's Missing and Why It Matters
Porzingis is the bigger loss on paper — he ranked as our #16 center and posted 30.8 fantasy points per game in 2025-26, though he only suited up 32 times and was already trending down (-6.5 fantasy points over his final five games). Podziemski, by contrast, was Golden State's iron man, playing all 82 games at 27.8 fantasy points per game. Losing both at once hollows out the secondary scoring and playmaking around Curry.
That vacuum is precisely the point for fantasy purposes. Every missing shot and possession has to go somewhere, and Curry is the obvious beneficiary. The Lakers won't make it easy, but volume is volume, and he's set to see a ton of it.
The Fantasy Takeaway
Start Curry with full confidence Wednesday — this is a top-tier usage spot and the projection backs it. Monitor the return timelines for Porzingis and Podziemski, because Curry's ceiling shrinks the moment either walks back through the door. For now, though, he's the engine, and you ride the engine in a season opener where he's doing everything.
