The Warriors’ 2022 championship already feels like the end of an era. Stephen Curry won the first Finals MVP of his career as Golden State beat the Celtics in six games and claimed its fourth title in eight years. It was the perfect validation of the franchise’s core, but that run was also built on a deep supporting cast that delivered in big moments all through the playoffs. Four years later, that part of the roster has aged fast.
A lot of the role players who helped the Warriors close that title run are no longer meaningful NBA pieces. Some are out of the league. Some are fighting for end-of-bench spots. Others are still around, but in much smaller roles than they had during that championship season. That is how quickly things change in the league, especially for veteran-heavy teams built around a superstar window.
The Warriors still have Curry and Draymond Green from that group, but most of the championship infrastructure around them has faded away. What looked like a deep, reliable rotation in June 2022 now looks more like a snapshot of a team that hit the right formula at exactly the right time.
Today, we are looking at nine players from that title team who have become largely irrelevant just four years later.
Andrew Wiggins – Miami Heat
Andrew Wiggins was not just a passenger on the Warriors’ 2022 title team. He was one of the biggest reasons they finished the job. In the Finals against the Celtics, Wiggins averaged 18.3 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game, finishing second on the Warriors in scoring and leading them in rebounding for the series.
His Game 5 performance, 26 points and 13 rebounds, was one of the swing moments of the entire matchup. Curry won Finals MVP, as he should have, but Wiggins gave the Warriors the two-way wing they had needed for years. He defended Jayson Brown and Jayson Tatum across that series, attacked the glass, and gave Golden State a physical edge it did not always have in earlier title runs.
Wiggins stayed with the Warriors for roughly two and a half more seasons after that championship. The problem is that he never fully matched that 2022 level again on a consistent basis. He remained a useful starter and still had stretches as a secondary scorer and perimeter defender, but the version that looked like an elite playoff connector slowly faded. By the time Golden State made its major move at the February 2025 trade deadline, Wiggins had become part of the cost of trying to maximize what was left of the Curry window.
That trade sent Jimmy Butler to the Warriors in a five-team deal. The Heat received Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson, Davion Mitchell, and a protected 2025 first-round pick as the Heat pivoted away from the Butler era. For the Warriors, it was a win-now swing. For the Heat, it was a reset built around depth, defense, and movable contracts. Wiggins was not the centerpiece of the entire transaction, but he was still the biggest on-court player asset the Heat got back.
Now with the Heat, Wiggins is still productive, but he is clearly operating in a smaller version of his peak value. He is averaging 15.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 2.8 assists this season, and the Heat entered this week at 36-29, seventh in the East, riding a five-game winning streak. That is solid, not special. He is no longer viewed as a championship-changing wing. He is more of a steady veteran scorer on a competitive team. Four years after helping lift the trophy, that drop in relevance says plenty.
Klay Thompson – Dallas Mavericks
Klay Thompson was still an important part of the Warriors’ 2022 championship run, even if he was no longer quite the same player from his peak years before the injuries. In the Finals against the Celtics, Thompson averaged 17.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists in six games. He shot 35.1% from three in that series and had one of his biggest moments in Game 5, when he scored 21 points and hit five threes in a win that pushed the Warriors to the edge of the title. He was not the second-best player on that team the way Andrew Wiggins was, but his shot-making still bent defenses, and his presence still mattered in every high-leverage possession. That version of Thompson was no longer prime Klay, but he was absolutely still a real championship starter.
Thompson stayed with the Warriors for two more seasons after that title, but the decline became harder to ignore. His scoring volume remained decent, yet the efficiency, defense, and overall impact kept slipping. By the end of the 2023-24 season, the partnership had clearly run its course. After 13 seasons with the Warriors, Thompson left in the summer of 2024 and joined the Mavericks in a six-team sign-and-trade. He signed a three-year, $50.0 million deal, ending one of the most successful eras any franchise has had with its homegrown core.
The move made sense on paper. The Mavericks had just reached the Finals and needed more shooting around their lead creators. Thompson was supposed to give them spacing, experience, and one more trusted playoff weapon. Instead, he has looked much more like a limited specialist than a difference-maker. This season, Thompson is averaging 11.8 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.4 assists, a steep drop from what he once was, and he’s been more of a bench piece than a pillar of the rotation.
That is the real point here. Thompson is still in the league, still capable of getting hot, and still dangerous if left open. But he is no longer a player who changes the shape of a contender. Four years ago, he was a starting guard on a title team. Now he feels more like a famous name attached to a shrinking role, which is exactly how relevance disappears in the NBA.
Jordan Poole – New Orleans Pelicans
Jordan Poole looked like the Warriors’ next bridge from one era to the next during the title run. In the Finals against the Celtics, he averaged 13.2 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 25.0 minutes per game, while shooting 38.5% from three. He was not a full-time starter by then, but he changed games with pace, pull-up shooting, and pure shot creation. His half-court buzzer-beater in Game 2 became one of the signature highlights of the series, and at that point, it felt like the Warriors had found their next offensive engine behind Stephen Curry.
Poole stayed with the Warriors for just one more season after that championship. In 2022-23, his raw scoring jumped to 20.4 points and 4.5 assists per game, but the overall feel of his season was much messier than the numbers suggested. The fit got shakier, the decision-making came under more scrutiny, and the team never looked fully stable after the Draymond Green punch incident early in the year. By July 2023, the Warriors moved off him and traded him to the Wizards for Chris Paul, a clear signal that they no longer believed Poole was the right long-term co-star for their veteran core.
His time with the Wizards gave him more freedom and more volume, but it did not really rebuild his value. He put up counting stats, yet the efficiency and winning impact remained shaky, and the Wizards ultimately flipped him again in July 2025. In that deal, the Pelicans acquired Poole, Saddiq Bey, and the No. 40 pick, while the Wizards brought back CJ McCollum, Kelly Olynyk, and additional assets.
Now with the Pelicans, Poole is averaging 13.9 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 3.1 assists while shooting 37.4% from the field, and he has even fallen out of the rotation at times. That is a massive drop from the player who once looked like one of the Warriors’ biggest long-term wins. Four years after helping close a title, Poole has gone from breakout scorer to unstable rotation guard, which makes him one of the clearest examples on this list.
Draymond Green – Golden State Warriors
Draymond Green once was the heart and soul of the contending Warriors, and in the 2022 Finals against the Celtics, he averaged 6.2 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 6.2 assists per game. The box-score scoring was never the point with Green. His defensive communication, switchability, passing, and edge still shaped the series, even if his offensive limitations were already becoming more obvious by then. The Warriors won that title because Curry was brilliant, Andrew Wiggins made a two-way leap, and Green still gave them championship-level defensive orchestration.
Unlike Andrew Wiggins, Klay Thompson, or Jordan Poole, Green never left. He stayed with the Warriors and remained part of the core all the way through this season. That alone makes him a tougher fit for the “irrelevant” angle. He is no longer close to his peak, and the offensive decline is real, but he still matters to what the Warriors do. Through March 2026, Green is averaging 8.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 5.2 assists, numbers that look modest until you remember his role has always been more structural than statistical.
More importantly, Green is still being used in major defensive assignments. He’s been taking on star matchups and embracing that responsibility at age 36, with Steve Kerr still praising his value in those spots. His defensive rating this season is 113.6, and while that is not vintage Green, it still reflects a player who is very much part of a real rotation and not some forgotten veteran hanging on at the end of the bench.
For Draymond Green, the key word is decline, not irrelevance. He is not the dominant force he was in the title years, and there are nights when the athletic slippage shows. But he is still a starter, still a defensive organizer, and still part of the Warriors’ identity. That is very different from what happened to several other players from that 2022 group. Green belongs in the “not the same anymore” category, not the “irrelevant” one.
Otto Porter Jr. – Retired
Otto Porter Jr. was never a star on the Warriors’ 2022 championship team, but he was a real part of the formula. In the Finals against the Celtics, Porter averaged 5.2 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.0 assists in 16.9 minutes per game while shooting 58.8% from the field and 56.3% from three. That line does not jump off the page, but his value was obvious. He gave the Warriors a smart, low-maintenance forward who could space the floor, move the ball, and survive defensively in playoff minutes. His 12-point Game 1, when he hit four threes, was an early reminder that the Warriors’ depth mattered in that series.
The funny part is that Porter barely lasted beyond that title run. He left the Warriors that summer and signed with the Raptors, but injuries wrecked almost all of his next two seasons. He played only eight games in 2022-23, then appeared in just 15 more in 2023-24 before getting moved to the Jazz at the trade deadline. He never played a game for the Jazz. That whole post-title stretch was basically one long injury battle, and it ended fast.
By March 2024, Porter officially retired after 11 NBA seasons, saying his body no longer allowed him to play at the level he expected from himself. That says everything. Four years after helping the Warriors win a championship, he was already out of the league entirely. There was no second act, no late-career bench role, no quiet veteran phase. His relevance disappeared almost immediately once the injuries took over.
Gary Payton II – Golden State Warriors
Gary Payton II was one of the cult heroes of the Warriors’ 2022 title run. In the Finals against the Celtics, he averaged 7.0 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.6 steals in five games. The numbers were modest, but the energy was not. He pressured the ball, blew up actions, finished cuts, and gave the Warriors a completely different defensive look off the bench. His 15-point outing in Game 5 was one of the most important bench performances of the series, especially on a night when the Warriors needed life beyond Stephen Curry.
Unlike Otto Porter Jr., Payton did not disappear right away. He left the Warriors after the title and signed with the Trail Blazers, but that stint went nowhere because of injuries and limited availability. The Warriors brought him back at the 2023 trade deadline, which said a lot about how much they trusted his fit in their system. Still, the bigger picture since the championship has been pretty clear. He has struggled to stay healthy and has not reclaimed the same impact he had during that 2022 run.
Now, through March 9, 2026, Payton is still with the Warriors, but he is averaging just 6.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.6 assists. His minutes were cut early this season before he stepped in when needed, which is a very different reality from being one of the Warriors’ trusted playoff disruptors. He is still useful, still professional, and still capable of swinging a game with hustle plays, but he is no longer a core rotation piece with real weight around the league.
Payton fits this piece, but in a softer way than Porter. He is not out of the league, and he is not fully irrelevant. But he has gone from one of the Warriors’ most unique role players on a title team to a low-minute specialist whose role depends on injuries and matchup needs. Four years later, that is still a major fall in relevance.
Kevon Looney – New Orleans Pelicans
Kevon Looney was one of the quiet pillars of the Warriors’ 2022 title run. In the Finals against the Celtics, he averaged 5.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 2.7 assists in 21.7 minutes per game. Those numbers were very Looney. He was never there to score. He was there to rebound, screen, keep possessions alive, and make the smart pass that kept the offense flowing. He also had a bigger overall playoff impact than his Finals line alone suggests, especially earlier in the run when his work on the glass helped stabilize the Warriors against bigger frontcourts.
Looney actually lasted longer than most names from that championship supporting cast. He stayed with the Warriors through the 2024-25 season, giving them three more years after the title. But his role kept shrinking. The athletic limitations became harder to hide, the Warriors leaned into smaller and faster lineups more often, and Looney went from trusted starter-level big to a more situational center. By the summer of 2025, his decade with the Warriors ended when he signed a two-year, $16.0 million deal with the Pelicans.
That move basically confirmed where he stood in the league. Looney was still respected, still useful, and still valuable in the right setting, but no longer viewed as an essential playoff big for a contender. In his first Pelicans season, he is averaging 2.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in only 18 games, as his year has been a start-stop one with injuries.
So Looney fits this list, but in a specific way. He did not fall off a cliff like Otto Porter Jr., and he is not fully out of the league. Still, four years after being a trusted rotation center on a championship team, he has settled into a low-usage bench role on a different roster. That is a clear drop in importance, even if his value to coaches still exists in small doses.
Andre Iguodala – Retired
Andre Iguodala was already at the tail end of his career when the Warriors won the 2022 title, but he was still part of the group. In the Finals against the Celtics, he played only 4.8 minutes per game across four appearances and averaged 1.3 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 1.5 assists. At that point, the real value was not statistical. It was experience, defensive awareness, and locker-room credibility. Iguodala was no longer the Finals MVP version of himself from 2015, but he still had enough respect inside that building to matter.
The truth, though, is that by 2022, he was already more symbolic than essential on the floor. The Warriors brought him back for one more season after the title, but injuries kept him from having much impact in 2022-23. He appeared in just eight games that year, and by October 2023, he officially announced his retirement after 19 NBA seasons. The Warriors later retired his No. 9 jersey in February 2025, which tells you how central he was to the dynasty, even if his final chapter was mostly ceremonial from a basketball standpoint.
So Iguodala is a slightly different case from the others here. He did not become irrelevant because of some shocking collapse. He became irrelevant because his playing career was already ending when that championship happened. The 2022 title was his last ring and effectively his last meaningful contribution as an active player. After that, there was no real on-court second act.
Nemanja Bjelica – Retired
Nemanja Bjelica gave the Warriors exactly what they needed from a deep rotation big during the 2022 title run. In the Finals against the Celtics, he averaged 3.0 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 1.0 assists in 10.5 minutes per game. That does not sound like much, but he had real value in short bursts. He could pass, space the floor enough to keep the offense organized, and hold up well enough in certain switching lineups. For a minimum signing on a veteran team, that was a win.
His time with the Warriors lasted only that one season. Right after the championship, Bjelica left the NBA and returned to Europe, signing with Fenerbahce. That alone tells you where he stood by then. He was useful for one title run, but there was no long-term role waiting for him in the league after that. His post-Warriors stretch never really regained momentum. Injuries limited him overseas; his stint there was short, and by March 2024, he officially retired from professional basketball.
That makes Bjelica one of the easiest names to place in this article. In 2022, he was a credible bench piece on a championship team and someone Steve Kerr trusted enough to throw into Finals minutes. Within two years, he was done playing. There was no transition into a lesser NBA role, no bouncing around as an end-of-bench stretch big, and no comeback. His relevance disappeared almost as fast as Otto Porter Jr.’s did.
Final Thoughts
Stephen Curry is the reason the Warriors stayed relevant through all of this. So many key pieces from the 2022 championship team either declined fast, left, retired, or faded into much smaller roles, but Curry kept carrying the franchise forward anyway. He won Finals MVP in that title run, remained the face of the organization after it, and even now, the Warriors are still trying to compete around him instead of fully turning the page.
That is why this roster looks so different now. The supporting cast from that championship mostly disappeared, and what is left is a much older core built around Curry, Jimmy Butler, and Draymond Green. Butler joined the Warriors in the February 2025 blockbuster that sent Andrew Wiggins out, giving the team another established star, only to miss the entire season with an ACL tear back in January after a great first playoff performance last year.
The bigger question is what comes next. The Warriors are no longer the deep, flexible machine they were in 2022. They are older, more expensive, and much more dependent on star power. That is why the offseason could matter so much. There is already reporting and league chatter pointing to Golden State continuing to chase another major name, with Marc Spears saying that there’s going to be somebody next summer that’s going to join him.
That does not guarantee a superstar move, but at least that is Curry’s own expectation for the upcoming summer. But it does fit the reality of where the Warriors are. Curry has kept them afloat for years, and Golden State looks like a franchise that knows one more major swing may be its best shot at extending what is left of this era.
