The Golden State Warriors have found their new starting center, with Al Horford reportedly committing to a multi-year deal. Horford is a fine addition to the Warriors, but he is another old player joining what is already an aging core. Here’s a potential starting lineup they could roll out, and the average age comes to 35.8 years.
PG: Stephen Curry – 37 years old
SG: Buddy Hield – 32 years old
SF: Jimmy Butler – 36 years old
PF: Draymond Green – 35 years old
C: Al Horford – 39 years old
Buddy Hield is the least likely among this group to be a starter, but even if we replace him with a younger teammate, the average age isn’t going down drastically.
De’Anthony Melton could be an option for that spot, having also reportedly committed to signing with the Warriors. The 27-year-old Melton would only bring the average down to 34.8 years.
The Warriors could alternatively look at 23-year-old Moses Moody or 22-year-old Brandin Podziemski. Moody would bring the average to 34, while Podziemski gets it down to 33.8.
To give some context to those numbers, there has been a lot of talk about the Los Angeles Clippers being an old team. Even the Clippers’ starting lineup, though, will have a younger average age than the Warriors’.
The Clippers are set to start 36-year-old James Harden, 32-year-old Bradley Beal, 34-year-old Kawhi Leonard, 28-year-old John Collins, and 28-year-old Ivica Zubac. The average age for this lineup is 31.6 years. They’re significantly younger than the Warriors’ five.
While having players who have a lot of experience playing in critical high-stakes games is beneficial, you do wonder if the Warriors just have one too many old players now. It’s often spoken about how the NBA is a young man’s game, and we saw that last season.
The four Conference Finalists in 2024-25, the Oklahoma City Thunder, Minnesota Timberwolves, Indiana Pacers, and New York Knicks, had an average age of 26.5 years. According to Tom Haberstroh, it was the youngest final four in NBA history.
Stephen Curry believes the Warriors can contend with aging stars leading the way, and time will tell. Even if this team does fire on all cylinders, you would still be a bit concerned due to the injury factor.
As you get older, you are more likely to get injured, and Curry himself suffered a hamstring strain in Game 1 of the Conference Semifinals against the Timberwolves last season. He played no further part in the rest of the series, and that led to the Timberwolves winning in five games.
So, there are a fair few reasons to believe that the Warriors won’t be serious title contenders in 2025-26. Draymond Green has still declared they will win it all in 2026, and they’d be backing themselves to prove the doubters wrong.
