The Golden State Warriors’ season came to a disappointing end on Wednesday night as they were eliminated from the playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Of course, the Warriors entered Game 5 of their second-round series against the Timberwolves on Wednesday in a must-win situation after they had dropped three consecutive games to fall behind 3-1 in the series.
Unfortunately for Golden State, they once again struggled without their star guard Stephen Curry in Wednesday’s game as Minnesota picked up an easy 121-110 victory to advance to their second consecutive Western Conference Finals.
For the Warriors, their series against the Timberwolves turned quickly after Curry’s injury in Game 1 as they nobody was able to consistently step up in his absence outside of Jonathan Kuminga.
Now the Warriors enter a crucial offseason as they try to once again build a championship roster around their veteran trio of Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green, and they also have a major decision to make regarding Kuminga’s future with the team.
After the Warriors’ loss on Wednesday, NBA legend and TNT analyst Charles Barkley made a massive statement regarding Kuminga and the future of the Warriors.
“The Kuminga thing is interesting… He either plays or he doesn't play. But now you gotta make a decision… You can't go to war with three old guys against the West,” Barkley said after Golden State’s season-ending loss on Wednesday.
"The [Jonathan] Kuminga thing is interesting… He either plays or he doesn't play. But now you gotta make a decision… You can't go to war with three old guys against the West."
Charles Barkley on the Warriors 👀
(via @NBAonTNT)pic.twitter.com/MHz4UofnOr
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 15, 2025
This is a bold statement by Barkley but one that makes perfect sense.
Golden State’s star trio is aging and it is clear that they need some help around them to be a legitimate title contender, though Curry’s injury did not help their cause this season.
Of course, the Warriors have a massive decision to make regarding Kuminga due to him being a restricted free agent in the offseason and after Steve Kerr benched him early in the playoffs, he could be on his way out of Golden State.
If this does happen, the Warriors will need to add more key young players around their aging core if they want to have a chance to come out of the stacked Western Conference next season like Barkley said.