The Golden State Warriors have had a rough go of it in the past couple of weeks without Steph Curry in the lineup. Even though Draymond Green and Al Horford have been in the lineup, the absence of Curry running the offense meant that Steve Kerr and the rest of the Dubs have been getting a taste of what basketball at the Chase Center may look like in a few years' time.

With Gui Santos inking a three-year, $15 million contract extension on Saturday and some of the other Warriors' core already signed or set to be signed in the near future, this may be a free trial for the future of Warriors basketball once Curry, Green, and the other veterans retire.

After the Warriors loss to the Lakers on Saturday, where the majority of minutes went to younger guys like Santos, Moses Moody, Brandin Podziemski, etc., Moody talked about what it was like to be playing big minutes alongside those other young players. 

"You feel that, especially right now without superstars playing, other than Draymond Green, we're building just like any other young team in the NBA. That's kind of the feel of the locker room and of the team right now."

Moody also talked about what it was like to hear about Santos' extension in the locker room and complimented his teammate's personality and mindset.

"It happened when we weren't in the locker room, so coming in, I talked to him about it and it was cool. I don't mean to sound like an oldhead, but watching him come in, work for it, not looking like it was a clear path to success, staying down, capitalizing on opportunities. Not being overly ambitious, but still working everyday and keeping the composure that he had when it wasn't looking good. Then, it started looking good and he's being that same person — it's cool to watch."

The Warriors young core has been a topic of discussion ever since the front office and ownership introduced the idea of the "two timelines" model a few years ago, consisting of the win-now timeline and the future young core timeline.

Originally, that young core was supposed to be led by the duo of James Wiseman and Jonathan Kuminga — two top-ten picks in back-to-back drafts that would have taken the mantle from Curry, Green, and Klay Thompson. Ideally, Jordan Poole was also in that conversation after his breakout between 2021 and 2023.

However, all three of those players are on different teams now — Wiseman isn't even on an NBA team anymore — and the young core is instead headlined by Moody, a lottery pick in his own right, Podziemski, Santos, Will Richard, and Quinten Post. 

In terms of draft stock, it's certainly a step down, but the NBA success that many of them have had, at least as solid role players, give some hope that a player such as Wiseman was not, due to his injuries and general lack of fit.

Santos' extension marks a third player to be under contract beyond the 2026-27 season, joining Moody and Richard. Podziemski is expected to ink some sort of contract ahead of the final year of his rookie contract next year, but nothing has been reported yet. The same goes for Post, who's second-round rookie contract is set to expire this summer unless a new deal is constructed for him.

Ultimately, it's tough to balance the greatness of Curry at his veteran age versus building for the future, but it helps that players like Moody and Santos have been great contributors this year.