Warriors Open 2026-27 Shorthanded: Butler, Porzingis, Moody All Out Early

Golden State is walking into the 2026-27 season a man or three short. Jimmy Butler III, still rehabbing the torn ACL he suffered last year, won't play opening day, and neither will Moses Moody, who missed the final 22 games of 2025-26 with a torn patellar tendon. Add center Kristaps Porzingis, sidelined with an undisclosed health issue per GM Mike Dunleavy, and the Warriors' opening rotation looks noticeably thin.

This is a team banking on continuity. Steve Kerr signed a two-year extension after flirting with retirement, and the roster is nearly identical to the 37-45 group that snuck into the Play-In before losing the No. 8 elimination game to Phoenix. Georges Niang and Brandon Williams are the notable additions. Projections aren't kind either — one outlet has them at 41-41 and ninth in the West, while another pegs them two games worse at 35-47.

What The Injuries Mean For Your Draft

Butler was a genuine fantasy asset when healthy, averaging 37.3 fantasy points per game across 38 games last season (2025-26), good for our #45 overall rank and #17 at his position. That's top-20-at-forward production, but an ACL recovery means you're drafting a delayed return, not a Week 1 contributor. Butler and Moody will travel to Hawaii for camp and preseason, which is encouraging, but neither is suiting up when the games count.

Porzingis is the murkier one. He posted 30.8 fantasy points per game over 32 games last season (2025-26) — our #83 overall, #16 among centers — and his last five games of that stretch actually dipped 6.5 fantasy points below his average. An 'undisclosed' issue with no timeline is a red flag you fold into your center depth, not one you ignore.

Moody is the sneaky one. He averaged 22.3 fantasy points per game across 60 games last season (2025-26), and his final five before the injury ran 6.1 fantasy points above his average — a real upward trend. He sits at #175 overall in our rankings, so he's a late-round or waiver piece, but the arrow was pointing up before the patellar tendon derailed him.

The wildcard is rookie Yaxel Lendeborg. The No. 11 overall pick led Golden State's Summer League squad to a title and took MVP honors, and he's openly targeting All-Rookie First Team and Rookie of the Year. Butler's scouting report, cleaned up: the kid is massive. With three rotation bodies out early, Lendeborg has a runway for minutes right away.

Bottom line: treat Butler as a mid-round stash, not a plug-and-play. Handcuff him with the understanding that returns from ACL surgery rarely hit the ground running. Grab Moody late for the rebound upside, keep Porzingis off your must-draft board until we get a timeline, and put Lendeborg on your watch list — his path to early minutes just got a lot clearer.