Todd Golden to the Warriors? Golden State has him 'near the top of their list, if not at the top'

If you ask Draymond Green, Steve Kerr‘s future in Golden State is set to come to an end after 12 seasons leading the Warriors with four NBA championships to his name and a 604-353 overall record. It’s not that the four-time All-Star wants this era to come to an end, but Green feels that the franchise’s most recent play-in loss to miss the playoffs in two of the last three seasons was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

“I hope he’s our coach next season,” Green said on his podcast this week after the Warriors finished the season with a disappointing 37-45 record. “You want my opinion? I think not. Just because it feels like that. It felt like that was it.”

Kerr himself said his future in Golden State is very much up in the air, adding that every coach has an ‘expiration date’ and now could be that time.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Kerr said. “I still love coaching, but I get it. These jobs all have an expiration date. There’s a run that happens, and sometimes it’s time for new blood and new ideas and all that. … It may still go on, it may not. I don’t know at this point.”

Those would be big shoes to fill in the Bay, but maybe they could bring home a local legend to ease the pain? That’s currently the plan, according to Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo! Sports.

Todd Golden, who led the Florida Gators to a national championship in 2024-25 and the SEC regular season title in 2025-26, is the top candidate to replace Kerr with the Warriors — if that’s how things unfold with the 60-year-old coaching veteran.

“If Steve Kerr leaves, the Warriors will pursue Florida Gators head coach Todd Golden, according to my league sources,” O’Connor said this week. “… Golden would be near the top of their list, if not at the top of the list.”

Golden made the move to Gainesville from San Francisco following an NCAA Tournament appearance with the Dons in 2021-22. He went 57-36 in the Bay Area before leading the Gators to a 103-41 record in four seasons at Florida.

O’Connor believes that the native of Phoenix, who played four seasons at Saint Mary’s from 2004-08 and was with San Francisco from 2016-2022 — including his three-year stint as an associate head coach — is an obvious target thanks to his West Coast and Bay ties, along with his relationship with Warriors owner Joe Lacob and his family.

“Golden is the coach that they’re targeting, and that’s in part because the Lacob family has a relationship with him,” he added. “Golden was the head coach of the San Francisco Dons for three years before he went to Florida and won a national title there. They’ve been together, they’ve had lunches together. Those guys know each other.”

Would Golden be willing to leave his cushy situation in Gainesville for the NBA? His contract suggests it’s something he’d be interested in and has had his eye on. Should he leave Florida for another college coaching job, his buyout is currently $11 million after signing a six-year, $40.5 million extension with the program following the team’s championship last offseason. Should he leave for an NBA job? The buyout is only $2 million, so that’s certainly something to monitor.

Thomas Haugh returns for the Gators

Another situation to monitor? Florida is going to be freaking loaded again next season, thanks to the returns of not only Alex Condon — who made his announcement last week — but also Thomas Haugh.

The latter, a potential lottery pick, announced his decision to return to Gainesville on Tuesday. That likely puts the Gators at the top of the preseason rankings going into 2026-27, making them the favorites to run it back in the SEC for another league championship.

“Most guys in my position in the draft, it would be a no-brainer to go to the NBA,” Haugh told ESPN. “It’s not just the NIL. It’s a chance to play with my boys. To play for Coach Golden. To go to the school I love to play for. It was definitely a tougher decision than last year, but it was best for my career and future.”

Elsewhere, Rueben Chinyelu announced his decision to enter the draft — while also maintaining his eligibility, setting up a potential return for him, too.

Golden State may want Golden, but is this the right opportunity for Golden? He’d have to turn down coaching his group of Monstars again in Gainesville to do it.