The Golden State Warriors won their fourth championship in June 2022, and everything about that roster made sense at the time. Stephen Curry finally got his first Finals MVP award to go along with his fourth ring, Klay Thompson was back on the floor after two devastating injuries had kept him out for almost two full seasons, Draymond Green was still the defensive anchor he had always been, and Andrew Wiggins put together the best season of his career, good enough to earn his first All-Star selection.
Even with all of that, the years after the title have not been kind to this team. Since that championship, the Warriors have won exactly two playoff series, and last season they finished 37-45, tenth in the Western Conference, and were sent home after losing the deciding Play-In game.
Curry still played at a high level through all of it, averaging 26.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 4.7 assists last season. Jimmy Butler gave the team 20.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 4.9 assists across 38 games before a torn ACL ended his year early. None of that was enough to turn the season around, and it says something about where this roster actually stands.
What makes the last four years so frustrating for Golden State is not a lack of effort. The front office has stayed busy the entire time, picking up the phone for nearly every star that has become available since 2022. They have offered picks, dangled expiring contracts, and floated their own young players in trade talks more than once. And yet, over and over again, the same story repeats itself: the Warriors get close, and then somebody else walks away with the player.
Here is a full look back at the stars Golden State has chased and missed since winning it all in 2022.
The Giannis Antetokounmpo Chase Was The One That Got Away
No name on this list carries more weight than Giannis Antetokounmpo, because he was the one player they wanted for almost five years to pair him with Curry’s prime all on his own.
Formal talk of Golden State pursuing Antetokounmpo went back to 2025, when ESPN’s Brian Windhorst explained that the Warriors had a realistic path to landing him only if he pushed to leave Milwaukee himself, since they were unlikely to win a straight trade offer war otherwise.
That reporting turned out to be accurate, as in January 2026, ESPN reported that the Warriors had joined the Heat, Knicks and Timberwolves as teams making real offers to the Bucks before the deadline.
On the court, it is easy to understand why Golden State wanted him so badly. Antetokounmpo averaged 27.6 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 5.4 assists last season, and his combination of size and athleticism would have given the Warriors another superstar player to win a title since the Kevin Durant departure.
In the end, Milwaukee traded him to Miami instead. The Bucks sent Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis to the Heat in exchange for Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis, three first-round picks, a pick swap and a second-round pick. That outcome stings a little more than most misses on this list, because it proves Antetokounmpo really was gettable. He simply chose, or ended up, somewhere else.
Kawhi Leonard Slipped Away When All The Signs Pointed To The Warriors
Kawhi Leonard became a trade target for Golden State before the 2026 deadline, and the Warriors actually came closer to landing him than most people realized at the time. ESPN’s Anthony Slater reported that the Warriors discussed a Leonard deal with the Clippers in the final days leading up to the deadline, before Clippers owner Steve Ballmer stepped in and effectively shut the idea down.
The interest didn’t disappear once the deadline passed. Slater later reported that the Warriors still considered Leonard their ideal win-now trade target heading into the offseason, as they remained interested in pursuing him after that deadline push fell apart. It is not hard to understand why. Leonard averaged 27.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.6 assists across 65 games last season, giving the Clippers exactly the kind of half-court scorer the Warriors have been missing alongside Stephen Curry.
Once again, though, the situation moved quickly, and Golden State never really had control of it. According to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line, Leonard had genuine interest in joining the Raptors, as he was not particularly interested in signing a new extension with the Warriors. Toronto moved fast and acquired Leonard from the Clippers in exchange for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, a first-round pick swap in 2027, and two second-round picks.
Still, this was always going to be a difficult bet to win. Leonard is 35 years old with a long injury history, and he played in only 331 of a possible 554 games across seven seasons with the Clippers. Golden State was chasing a short, immediate window of contention. Toronto offered the history, a clearer path through the East, and the extension leverage that ultimately decided where Leonard ended up.
Pascal Siakam Might Be The Miss That Ages The Worst
Pascal Siakam never generated the same headlines as some of the other names on this list, but looking back, he may have been one of the most sensible fits the Warriors ever had a real shot at.
Jake Fischer reported in early 2024 that Golden State was one of several teams engaged in talks with Toronto about a Siakam trade, though concerns about roster fit and his approaching free agency eventually stalled any real progress. At that point in his career, Siakam was already averaging 22.1 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 4.9 assists a night.
The hesitation around fit was not unreasonable at the time. Siakam has never been a knockdown three-point shooter, and pairing him alongside Draymond Green in the frontcourt raised legitimate questions about spacing.
But Golden State’s offense was already dealing with spacing problems of its own, and what the roster genuinely lacked was size, downhill scoring, and a forward capable of creating offense in the playoffs without needing the ball constantly.
Siakam has only continued to prove his value since. Playing for the Pacers last season, he averaged 24.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 3.8 assists, numbers that confirm he was never just a name attached to an older, more successful Raptors roster. The Warriors waited around for a more perfect fit to appear, and in hindsight, a very good and available player might have served them better than that.
Lauri Markkanen Was A Perfect Fit For This Team
If there is one player on this list who matched the Warriors’ system almost exactly, it was Lauri Markkanen. A seven-footer who can shoot from deep, run in transition, attack a closing defender, and score without slowing anything down is close to an ideal partner for a Curry-led offense.
The Warriors did make a real attempt to get him in 2024, but the Jazz’s asking price ended up being too steep for the front office to accept. According to Shams Charania, Utah wanted a major package built around the Warriors’ young players and draft capital, with Moses Moody, Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski, first-round picks, pick swaps and second-round picks all part of the broader discussion.
ESPN’s Anthony Slater later reported that Draymond Green personally advised Mike Dunleavy Jr. and Joe Lacob against approving the deal, since the Jazz were asking for basically all the draft picks and young talent.
That is where the whole thing got stuck. Podziemski became the key name in negotiations, while the Warriors were also unwilling to put both Podziemski and Kuminga into the kind of massive package Danny Ainge wanted. The funny part, and not in a good way for Golden State, is that Kuminga was eventually moved anyway. The Warriors sent him and Buddy Hield to the Hawks at the 2026 deadline for Kristaps Porzingis, a much lesser move after refusing to use him as part of a Markkanen deal.
Markkanen’s production since then has only made the miss harder to look past. He averaged 26.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists last season while shooting 47.7% from the field, exactly the kind of frontcourt scoring the Warriors have been searching for since Kevin Durant left the organization.
And after those 2024 talks died, the Jazz gave him a five-year, $238.0 million renegotiation-and-extension that increased his 2024-25 salary and added long-term control, so the chance to get him got much more complicated right away.
OG Anunoby Turned Into Exactly What Contenders Pay For
OG Anunoby was never going to be the headline star of any trade, but in a lot of ways, he represented precisely the type of player Golden State has spent years trying to find.
According to reporter C.J. Holmes, the Warriors made a serious push to acquire Anunoby ahead of the 2023 trade deadline, with Toronto reportedly asking for Jonathan Kuminga along with additional players and draft picks. Shams Charania also reported that Golden State was among several Western Conference teams actively trying to work out a deal at the time.
Choosing to hold onto Kuminga was a reasonable decision in that moment. He was young, cheap, and still developing, while Anunoby already carried a steep trade value of his own, and the Warriors were understandably reluctant to empty out their remaining young assets.
The problem is that Anunoby has since become exactly the type of player winning teams are willing to pay for. He averaged 16.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.6 steals for the Knicks last season, defending elite wings, spacing the floor, and doing it all without needing a heavy offensive workload.
This particular miss has aged especially poorly, because Golden State has spent years searching for a big, low-usage wing defender in bits and pieces across multiple trades, when a real one was sitting right there in 2023.
The Kevin Durant Reunion Never Made It Off The Ground
Out of everything on this list, the Kevin Durant situation is unique, because it was Durant himself who ultimately closed the door on a return to Golden State.
CBS Sports reported that the Warriors had a Durant trade structured and ready to go in 2025, one that would have sent Jimmy Butler to Phoenix as part of the deal. Durant reportedly shut the idea down on his end. He later said publicly that his decision had nothing to do with his history with the organization or with Draymond Green, and that he simply did not want to be traded in the middle of a season.
The basketball case barely needed explaining. Curry and Durant already won two championships together, and even in his later years, Durant’s scoring efficiency has not dropped off in any meaningful way. Last season, in his Rockets debut, he averaged 26.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4.8 assists while shooting an excellent 52.0% from the field.
Golden State ended up leaning on Butler instead, and that pivot was not necessarily a bad one, at least until the injury. But Durant remains the bigger loss in terms of pure talent, since he would have given the Warriors that quality of beating a playoff defense entirely on his own.
Paul George Was Inches Close To Arriving
Long before he ended up with the Celtics, Paul George was seriously discussed as a trade target for the Warriors back in 2024, and this pursuit reportedly went further than most of the others on this list.
Golden State held real conversations with the Clippers before George opted out of his contract that offseason. Reports at the time described a possible package built around Chris Paul’s contract, Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, and a future first-round pick. Marc Stein had already reported earlier that the front office was actively exploring trade options using Paul’s $30 million non-guaranteed salary as the key financial piece.
The logic behind pursuing George made complete sense at the time. Golden State needed another big, versatile wing, and George could offer shooting, defense, and the ability to create his own shot. During the 2023-24 season, he was still averaging 22.6 points and 5.2 rebounds for the Clippers, well before any real decline had set in.
The deal never came together, and George opted out to sign with Philadelphia instead. Looking at it now, this miss feels far less painful than it once did, since George is no longer the same player he was in 2024. Last season, limited to just 37 games, he averaged 17.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.6 assists, and he has since moved on again, this time landing with the Celtics as part of the Jaylen Brown trade.
Zach LaVine Was A Simpler Kind Of Miss
Unlike most names on this list, Zach LaVine was never really pitched as a franchise-altering star. He was, plainly, a scorer, and Golden State needed more scoring on nights when Curry sat or got trapped by two defenders.
Chris Haynes reported back in 2024 that the Bulls had offered LaVine to the Warriors in a package built around Chris Paul and Andrew Wiggins, an offer Golden State turned down. The conversation picked back up in 2025, when Brett Siegel reported that the two sides had significant trade talks involving LaVine, with Wiggins potentially included depending on how the final structure looked.
LaVine only really made sense for Golden State if the front office accepted him for what he actually is. He was never going to fix the defense or be a playmaker, but his scoring numbers speak for themselves. Playing for the Kings last season, he averaged 19.2 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists while shooting 47.9% from the field and 39.0% from three.
In hindsight, walking away from that deal was the right call. The $49 million contract was huge, the defensive fit was questionable, and LaVine was never going to be the player who single-handedly changes a playoff series.
Damian Lillard’s Pursuit Was A Great Idea
After the Bucks waived Damian Lillard following his Achilles injury, Marc J. Spears reported that the Warriors were among the teams that reached out to gauge his interest. Amid their intentions, Lillard ultimately agreed to a three-year, $42.0 million deal to return to the Trail Blazers.
Given the severity of his injury, Lillard was never going to be in the cards for the 2025-26 season anyway. This was always about the years beyond that. Before the injury, during the 2024-25 season, he had still been averaging a strong 24.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 7.1 assists, proof that the talent had not disappeared.
The connection to Golden State was easy to understand on a personal level. Lillard grew up in Oakland, and the idea of pairing him with Curry offensively was always going to generate excitement. In the end, though, he chose to go home.
According to ESPN, his new deal with Portland includes a player option and a no-trade clause, signaling a full commitment to retire where his career began rather than one final shot at a title elsewhere.
The Warriors Keep Being Shy To Get A Deal Done
The pattern across all these missed stars is pretty clear by now. The Warriors kept getting into serious conversations without ever really going all the way. They would make calls, explore packages, and get meetings, but they rarely put their best assets on the table in a way that forced a deal to happen.
Part of that came from trying to protect the future while Curry was still playing at a high level. They didn’t want to gut the roster for a rental or overpay in picks and young players. The problem is that this cautious approach didn’t lead to anything better. They stayed competitive for a while, but they never actually built anything stronger than what they already had. Eventually, the window started closing anyway, and they were left with the same problems and fewer options.
It’s easy to understand why they operated that way. After 2022, they still had Curry, Green, and Thompson, so there was always hope that one more smart move or one more healthy season would be enough. But that hope kept them from taking real swings when the opportunities were there. They talked themselves into waiting instead of pushing, and now they’re in a much worse spot with even less time left.
They showed ambition. They just never matched it with the kind of aggression that actually gets deals done.
