Kerr: did USA win Gold? if not, the GSW season will open with a whirlwind of doubt as to Kerr's ability to adapt his style beyond, well, his style. The goodwill and respect Kerr has built up over his illustrious career will prevail, but it will be noisy.
Curry: we all like to think of him as super-human, but is this the year, especially following the Olympics, that we acknowledge that he is older and his min p/gm, tot gms & on-court assignments need to be curtailed during the regular season, even at the risk of missing the playoffs? What's the point of getting to the playoffs anyway if Curry has been ground to a pulp during the regular season?
FO: MDJ has, imo, done a masterful job of getting the team out of its financial straight jacket. What he has now is flexibility, and waiting until the trade deadline may be the best play. Get a good look at the team, then GP2, Loon & Wiggs could be worth something to teams needing to fill holes due to injuries, etc. If Wiggs can't be moved, Moody would likely have to be as he would win the NBA's "Odd Man Out Award" if he & Wiggs finish the season together. Whatever happens, some money will be moved to make room for Post and/or someone on the buyout market for the stretch run.
Dray & JK: Who starts at PF? Dray will likely avg around 26 min p/gm. If he insists on starting and closing, it creates problems down the lineup. All Dray needs to do is come off the bench and log a few more minutes at center vs. other team's back-up centers (not as physically taxing), assume the old Iggy role, have more energy for closing, and then all the pieces in the lineup fall into place:
JK is your full-time 33+ min p/gm starting PF, he's a big part of the future and if the team isn't willing to go there by now, then trade him.
Wiggins, who avg a mere 27 min p/gm last year, gets back up to 33+. If he has a bounce back year, it will be on the court as a starter, not playing bench-player minutes.
Moody, penciled in as back-up SF behind Wiggins, and nobody, and I mean nobody not named Moody subs in behind Wiggs. Again, if Moody can't have definitive role on this team, trade him. At this point, it's just wrong. If Wiggs moved mid-season, Moody slips right into his starter role.
If Dray starts & continues to eat up the lion's share of min at PF, JK pushes Wiggs out of SF minutes and Wiggs pushes Moody out of the lineup entirely and I expect a repeat of last year's Merry-Go-Round of "trying to find out who we are" lineups.
In my groggy mind, Dray starting or coming off the bench will be the biggest foretelling of the season to come. Are Steph/Dray/Kerr willing to throw a change-up at the start of games? If you are trying to break out of old patterns, if you are trying to get out of old habits that aren't working for you, what better way than to start off games doing something different? Yada-yada-yada.
I don't understand. Do you also want Steph to come of the bench? Dray and Steph are playing together a majority of the time. Dray will be starting. It will not foretell anything one way or the other about the season.
You forgot all the new guys and didn't account for the possibility of Wiggins playing better. I don't think your analysis is as in depth as you think it is.
"The New Orleans Pelicans have claimed Trey Jemison off waivers from the Memphis Grizzlies, league sources told @hoopshype. Memphis waived Jemison to sign Jay Huff to a two-way deal."
I want to hope for good things for Kevon Looney next season as a Warrior. I will always remember his many seasons of truly punishing picks and his incredible rebounding against Sacramento 2 seasons ago. His limitations and injuries may have taken him way down the pecking order, but he's a young wise old yogi in the locker room, and he'll play his part if the team needs it. Sure, I'll be happy if TJD continues to be a better and better option, but Loon overcame so many injuries and became such a brick house.
All Hail Loon-Dog. My hope is that he becomes a big-man coach with GSW post his playing career. Keep that guy in the building. Same for GP2. Their bodies may be failing them, but both of those guys are filled with knowledge and can be great mentors.
Most of this is regurgitated information but here's a quick recap... last season we won 46 games despite Draymond missing 27 games, Klay completely mentally checked out, CP3 missing 24 games, throwing two rookies straight into the fire (granted they played well), spent the whole season trying to find a defined role for JK and Moses and a Wiggins down year because of injuries/off the court issues. There might be other stuff I'm forgetting too.
Now this offseason we lost:
-Klay Thompson (explained above)
-Chris Paul (played well for us but missed a lot of time and we have viable replacements for him)
-Dario Saric (became a non factor when we buckled down and made a push)
-Lester Quinones (played well for us but fringe NBA player at best)
-Usman Garuba (lol)
-Jerome Robinson (lol)
We will certain miss Klay's gravity even in a down year but I think our offseason additions outweigh the losses by a lot. I'm not counting Post, Waters, Plowden, Beekman and Spencer because I don't expect anything from them this year and anything we get would be a pleasant surprise. This team will look A LOT different if JK takes that leap. That's what it comes down to if we're keeping the roster as is.
-Healthy 15-17pts a night with good defense Wiggins returns
-Draymond plays a suspension free season
-JK takes the next step into fringe stardom
-Moses, Podz and TJD improves even more & becomes full time consistent contributors
Call me crazy but if all 4 of those things happens I think we'll be in business for a puncher's chance in the playoffs. I think they're all pretty realistic expectations. Let's not forget how horrid we were at closing games last season too. Figuring that out alone might win us a few extra games. We won't be in the conversation as far as contenders goes but it should still be a fun and competitive team with our homegrown guys running the show. The most important thing is we'll still get a chance to build through the draft because we didn't give away every pick for the next 4-5 years.
I think the counter point to this is that Steph and Dray may play fewer games due to injuries, and that are odds of winning when Steph is out are just so low.
Tim MacMahon: "My best educated guess is that Lauri will not be traded this summer. He will sign the extension after Aug 6. Lauri's made it clear: He wants to be a part of the future there...My point is Lauri is not on the market.
"You mentioned like the Warriors. Lauri Markkanen at the right price for the Warriors will be unbelievable. The right price for the Warriors is not getting Lauri Markkanen.
"My point is Lauri Markkanen is not on the market. That doesn't mean he won't get moved, but in all the conversations the Jazz have had. Obviously, the Warriors have been out there. Spurs in preliminary talks. Kings before they went to DeRozan. A lot of teams have called and checked in. There's have been nothing even remotely tempting from the Jazz's perspective to this point.
"My forecast — and obviously this is going to be a fluid situation — my forecast is he will end up getting that renegotiation and extension. Getting that massive raise where it will be $40+ mil this year into an extension moving forward. And it will be signed after Aug 6 basically giving him a 1-year No Trade Clause."
Lowe: "My best intel is that there will not be a trade this season."
Yes… but Ainge has always had a bit of leverage like that… Markkanen has significant financial incentive to stay in Utah… it’s probably never been a real option.
Probably true sir! Probably true. Al he has to say to nix any trade deal is that he won’t re sign long term… speaks as to why all of the trade offers on the table haven’t been game changing… it all points to Ainge just F’ING with everyone this entire time, as I feared early on.
Guess they're cool with keeping him for the good vibes because it makes no sense for the direction their basketball team is heading in. Unless they're trying to win 30 games again and enter the lottery with low odds to win it. I still call BS unless he just wants money and a good living situation. Oh well. Kind of excited to see what Podz, JK and Moses can offer this year.
The problem though (and I think Sam Quinn said it best) is that the Jazz need both Podz and JK because they’ll need the Warriors to absolutely stink once Steph retires. That’s what’s going to give those 2028 and beyond draft picks some real juice. A Warriors team with Markkanen, Podz, and JK is probably still a playoff team, a Warriors team with Marrkanen and one of JK or Podz is potentially still a play in team. But a Dubs team with neither JK and Podz is an absolute bottom of the barrel team (which is where the real value of those draft picks get put into play
Yeah, and we're not giving that up. Nobody is taking Wiggins contract for an extra 1st rounder and our 1st rounders aren't that attractive to begin with. I'm really starting to think SA will end up with him or OKC will swing for the fences and go for the 1 year rental run
Yeah understandable but that’s the thing: Utah doesn’t care how San Antonio does. It’s their picks from Atlanta that hold the most value. I think for Ainge he’s trying to weigh if building around Marrkanen is more valuable than 1). Having a shot at the top dawg in both 2025, 2026 plus a solid rotation player in Podz 2). 3 middle of the first round draft picks. I don’t think it’s a stretch to think that they may just be better off keeping LM unless San Antonio budges
Sigh...that sucks. I see a lot of comments of people being OK with standing pat. MDJ has obviously set lines for how much he's willing to pay for upgrades and that is absolutely a vital skill as a GM, but the Warriors have the best Dub we will likely see in our lifetimes and are still in standings purgatory. The hardest step in team building is taking a 7-12 seed to a 1-3 seed, and some times you need to overpay to get stuff done. There's now been two opportunities for major improvement and getting a legit star next to Steph this offseason. Both have fallen through despite the Warriors being the most aggressive at points.
It's discouraging that Steph's age 37 season likely won't have any chance of a deep playoff run. It's disappointing that Steph will get overtaxed yet again because there's no secondary scorer. I really like Melton. I quite like turning Klay into Buddy and SloMo. Those are both really good moves. But they take a 41 team into like a 43 win team.
It ain't over til it's over. But color me disappointed.
I'd love for the team to be good enough to give Curry another couple of chances at a championship, but I'd hate the Warriors being thoroughly unwatchable for a decade afterward a lot more.
For me depend on how good a chance. So if you guaranteed me one more championship + 10 years of sucking or 10 years of no championships and not sucking I might take the first, but there are no guarantees so that makes it a harder choice
I think the problem is (and I also think MDJr. thinks this) that overpaying in this case would still lead to us being a 7-12 seed but with LM and without any other players OR prospect for improvement now or later since we traded all our youth and picks.
I think one reason a lot of us are okay with standing pat is the alternatives aren't that attractive, especially if we have to cripple our second unit to get them.
My guess is that Lauri's enjoying so much time being the #1 option on the Jazz's offense that he doesn't want to be traded to another team, even if other teams really want him.
I think the Warriors leaking Ainge’s ridiculous demands might have been 70% publicly kicking Ainge in the balls and 30% P.R. for their own fan base. Having your fans say “Screw Ainge!” is a lot better than “The brass is just sitting on their hands!”
Some of us were saying that long before the leak. Everyone knows Ainge doesn't negotiate in good faith. He's looking to find someone desperate enough for the overpay. I'm glad Dunleavy isn't in that category.
Steph said it well in one of his interviews: “ You’ve got to be able to bring your egos of who we are as individual players, but also let them go, knowing it doesn't matter who's the man scoring that particular night. When you're on the floor, you're asked to do a certain thing and do it to the best of your ability to play with energy. ”
A minor trade, but these players are both intellectually interesting.
EJ Liddell was in fact the winner of the 2022 DNHQ Draft Tourney, but after he was drafted #41 by New Orleans, he promptly tore his ACL in Summer League on July 11. Sigh. So, we may never know how good he was on track to be.
David Roddy was an analytics darling who was a really productive college player, but had a heavy football player’s build, so there was a question of eye test v analytics. So far, eye test seems to be winning out.
"Free agent guard David Duke Jr. is signing a two-way deal with the San Antonio Spurs, Todd Ramasar and Mike Simonetta of @LifeSportsagncy tell ESPN. Duke has played 49 games with the Spurs and Nets in parts of three NBA seasons."
"Free agent F Kessler Edwards has agreed on a two-way NBA contract with the Dallas Mavericks, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Edwards has averaged 3.5 points and 11.9 minutes across three seasons for Nets and Kings."
"Former NBA MVP Russell Westbrook is signing a two-year, $6.8 million contract with the Denver Nuggets, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Deal has a player option for 2025-26 season."
Snark aside, Westbrook running their underperforming second unit is a solid move. As long as he’s not expecting to play with the starters much if at all…..
Surprisingly enough, for his career, by DBPM, he is just mediocre not terrible though trending worse with age. I admit that "better than Cory Joseph" isn't anything to write home about.
Has Cory Joseph become the successor to Chris Chiozza and Brad Wannamaker as the latest former Dubs backup PG who is the butt of jokes and cutting remarks at DNHQ?
My take on Steph's & Dray's recent comments about the trade situation: I think they're speaking to Ainge.
I think these guys mostly release commentary through the media to send public messages to each other. In this case, I'm 100% sure Ainge is directly or indirectly trying leverage the pressure on MDJ to "maximize Steph & Dray's window" into getting more assets back, and Steph & Dray speaking publicly on it helps MDJ get the discussion moved past that Ainge angle.
Steph's comment: "And you can still be a competitive, it doesn't mean you guaranteed the championship. It doesn't mean winning. Winning is always a priority, but obviously you're realistic... if it is a situation where you're a bottom feeder and it's just because you want to stay there, I'd have a hard time with that. But I don't think that's going to be the reality."
So, he apparently doesn't need to be on a team guaranteed a championship, and doesn't even necessarily need winning (oddly), but he wants to be competitive, he explicitly doesn't want to play for a really bad team, and importantly he currently has confidence that is not going to happen with the Warriors. If the Warriors "trade the farm" for Markkanen, the Warriors roster is "bottom feeder" level in 2 years when Steph's looking to sign his next contract, and he's gone. If they do not trade the farm, they can almost certainly still be competitive. Message seems to be: Danny... I agree MDJ should be trying to #maximizestephsprime, but if MDJ trades you everything and everybody, he's also going to be the guy who let Steph leave by not building a roster worthy of keeping Steph around.
Dray's comment is much more transparent: “[The Warriors] were about to make a trade last week and I told them straight up like that trade helps me, it'll help me right now in my career but I've always spoken to y'all for what's best for the organization and I won't stop now. That’s a bad trade, don’t do that trade. I disagree with it, although it going to help me right now.”
Message between these two seems pretty clear to me. Neither Steph, nor Dray are desperate to win now at the expense of the future, so Danny Ainge can shut up about how them and their needs at the negotiating table.
Can Dray's comments be viewed as conciliatory based on what he has put the organization through the last couple of years. The organization stood behind him through his difficulties. Now, Dray makes a comment that just shows general support for the "franchise" as a whole. Publicly claiming that the Warriors should trade the farm so he and Curry could win another Chip would seem a tad off-putting. Given his past issues and his relationship with the organization, whether true or not, his comments 'sound' good. As a fan, I liked them. Why wouldn't you want to support the team that helped make your career? Why do we as fans always assume that everything an athlete says and does is out of pure selfishness? Maybe it is, but I like to believe there is still some degree of acceptance around the fact that not every athlete is entitled to a Championship every season of their career.
For some reason I don’t know how much I trust Draymond on that one, unless, unless if he was talking about LM and maybe he does not really believe LM is a real difference maker.
Hard to believe a super competitive guy who thrives on winning titles is passing on that chance.
Maybe he was really talking to Ainge like mentioned.
It will be fun seeing how it all turns out.
I would be happy with Cam J and giving up a lot less.
I would trust Draymond on most things basketball ... maybe not his personal issues as that is difficult to talk abot for many of us ... but to me he has a great breadth of knowledge about basketball and the NBA ... I see no reason for him to be less than honest when he says a trade would help him now but not help the team long term.
The other issue with Markkanen is availability. Maybe the Ws are counting on Celebrini to work his magic, but we've never seen any indication that LM is durable enough to be a factor in the playoffs.
Or it could have been for LaVine which I think is more likely. A healthy LaVine would have been an upgrade on Klay's last year but what happens if you trade away your picks and young players for an unhealthy Zach LaVine? You have no depth, no cap room, and no future.
Since the Bulls have had no luck trading LaVine without the other GM demanding picks from them, the trade at worst would probably be Wiggins, Looney, and GPII for LaVine (which would reduce our depth, especially if combined with a Lauri trade, although we'd have quite a few open roster spots to rebuild the depth chart). I personally would rather stay with steady, un-injured Wiggins myself, but we definitely shouldn't be giving up picks for LaVine.
Yeah, I'm sure there's been discussion of a LaVine trade, and Dray did also recently mention that Wiggs is due for a bounce back year... so maybe it was a "Wiggs + guys for LaVine", and Dray just has more faith in Wiggs rediscovering his consistency than in LaVine being decent at defense and healthy enough to contribute long term.
Turn on the Olympics opening ceremonies, see five seconds of athletes on boats (cool!) and now I’m stuck with a long and dull lady Gaga performance where she is really obviously lip syncing
Something that I haven't seen mentioned basically anywhere is that in a recent Curry interview, he brought up "talent that's ready to blossom" on the team and one player is noticeably absent:
> I always say I want to win and I understand how hard it’s to win in this league. What we look like, I don’t know. It’s hard to envision all the change that’s happened. I know we have some talent that’s ready to blossom with JK [Jonathan Kuminga], BP [Brandon Podziemski], Trayce [Jackson-Davis]. I know we have some brought in some vets in De’Anthony [Melton], Kyle [Anderson] and Buddy [Hield]. It’ll look different.
Curry isn't the type to leave a teammate off the list even if he thinks Moody sucks, I think this is more him not expecting Moody to be on the roster for much longer.
EDIT: Although if he did just overlook Moody, it would be a solid addition to Moody's legacy of being treated like an afterthought on the Warriors.
> Paul George: "[GSW] were expressing how much they wanted me there. How I fit with Dray, Steph, Podz, Kuminga, Wiggins. Looney going to be there. It was very intriguing.
I recall that. I'm not certain that the transcription was accurate in terms of sentence starts and stops. This was the quote as it was transcribed:
> From what I was being told on the situation, they were expressing how much they wanted me there. How I would've fit in perfectly with Draymond, Steph, Podziesmki, Kuminga, Wiggins. They didn't know how or what package was going to be there to trade for me"
I'm not sure if it actually shouldn't have been this:
> From what I was being told on the situation, they were expressing how much they wanted me there. How I would've fit in perfectly with Draymond, Steph. Podziesmki, Kuminga, Wiggins, they didn't know how or what package was going to be there to trade for me"
Shifting the period over makes this more George saying he's not sure who of Podz, Kuminga, or Wiggins would have been included in the trade.
Either way though, you are right that he didn't mention Moody.
I can see that. Though it sounds like his pause was after Podz... so maybe like:
> How I would've fit in perfectly with Draymond, Steph, Podziesmki. Kuminga, Wiggins, they didn't know how or what package was going to be there to trade for me
But listening to it more, I think he only paused because the other guy said "Klay probably would've stayed" right in the middle and PG probably got caught off guard because he knew Klay was gone.
Asked, he can't demand. Even if they don't extend him he is an RFA at the end of the season so has 0 leverage. I do think the Warriors are still shopping Moody as with Melton, Hield, Podz, GPII, and maybe Beekman and Plowden they aren't hurting for depth at SG. I understand why the Warriors didn't play Moody much, but one result is that it also reduces his trade value.
After watching the Melton and SloMo pressers, I hereby declare myself irrationally optimistic about both of them. They both seem to get it and have games that will benefit and benefit from GSW’s unselfish play. They also both come across as good guys who will be good locker room guys and fun to hear from all season long.
I’m drifting further into #standpat as it looks like this team has a really good chance to be greater than the sum of their parts.
I'm definitely more than ok with STAND PAT (if it's in caps that means it's as exciting as ALL IN), which probably means that they are ironing trade details right now and the announcement will come on Monday at the latest.
They’re absolutely high IQ players. If SloMo got his eye sight under control and his shot comes back, look out. Melton’s back is the worry spot here. Backs are tricky as hell. But his defense is going to be crucial at the 2 spot
2024-25 Nostra-Dramas
Kerr: did USA win Gold? if not, the GSW season will open with a whirlwind of doubt as to Kerr's ability to adapt his style beyond, well, his style. The goodwill and respect Kerr has built up over his illustrious career will prevail, but it will be noisy.
Curry: we all like to think of him as super-human, but is this the year, especially following the Olympics, that we acknowledge that he is older and his min p/gm, tot gms & on-court assignments need to be curtailed during the regular season, even at the risk of missing the playoffs? What's the point of getting to the playoffs anyway if Curry has been ground to a pulp during the regular season?
FO: MDJ has, imo, done a masterful job of getting the team out of its financial straight jacket. What he has now is flexibility, and waiting until the trade deadline may be the best play. Get a good look at the team, then GP2, Loon & Wiggs could be worth something to teams needing to fill holes due to injuries, etc. If Wiggs can't be moved, Moody would likely have to be as he would win the NBA's "Odd Man Out Award" if he & Wiggs finish the season together. Whatever happens, some money will be moved to make room for Post and/or someone on the buyout market for the stretch run.
Dray & JK: Who starts at PF? Dray will likely avg around 26 min p/gm. If he insists on starting and closing, it creates problems down the lineup. All Dray needs to do is come off the bench and log a few more minutes at center vs. other team's back-up centers (not as physically taxing), assume the old Iggy role, have more energy for closing, and then all the pieces in the lineup fall into place:
JK is your full-time 33+ min p/gm starting PF, he's a big part of the future and if the team isn't willing to go there by now, then trade him.
Wiggins, who avg a mere 27 min p/gm last year, gets back up to 33+. If he has a bounce back year, it will be on the court as a starter, not playing bench-player minutes.
Moody, penciled in as back-up SF behind Wiggins, and nobody, and I mean nobody not named Moody subs in behind Wiggs. Again, if Moody can't have definitive role on this team, trade him. At this point, it's just wrong. If Wiggs moved mid-season, Moody slips right into his starter role.
If Dray starts & continues to eat up the lion's share of min at PF, JK pushes Wiggs out of SF minutes and Wiggs pushes Moody out of the lineup entirely and I expect a repeat of last year's Merry-Go-Round of "trying to find out who we are" lineups.
In my groggy mind, Dray starting or coming off the bench will be the biggest foretelling of the season to come. Are Steph/Dray/Kerr willing to throw a change-up at the start of games? If you are trying to break out of old patterns, if you are trying to get out of old habits that aren't working for you, what better way than to start off games doing something different? Yada-yada-yada.
Ok, back to the espresso machine.
I don't understand. Do you also want Steph to come of the bench? Dray and Steph are playing together a majority of the time. Dray will be starting. It will not foretell anything one way or the other about the season.
You forgot all the new guys and didn't account for the possibility of Wiggins playing better. I don't think your analysis is as in depth as you think it is.
"The New Orleans Pelicans have claimed Trey Jemison off waivers from the Memphis Grizzlies, league sources told @hoopshype. Memphis waived Jemison to sign Jay Huff to a two-way deal."
https://x.com/MikeAScotto/status/1816944026878152776
Pels are in need of a starting center, so I can see why they picked Jemison up.
2024 Paris Olympics Men’s Basketball 5x5 Schedule
https://x.com/TomerAzarly/status/1816645658746728499
I want to hope for good things for Kevon Looney next season as a Warrior. I will always remember his many seasons of truly punishing picks and his incredible rebounding against Sacramento 2 seasons ago. His limitations and injuries may have taken him way down the pecking order, but he's a young wise old yogi in the locker room, and he'll play his part if the team needs it. Sure, I'll be happy if TJD continues to be a better and better option, but Loon overcame so many injuries and became such a brick house.
All Hail Loon-Dog. My hope is that he becomes a big-man coach with GSW post his playing career. Keep that guy in the building. Same for GP2. Their bodies may be failing them, but both of those guys are filled with knowledge and can be great mentors.
Most of this is regurgitated information but here's a quick recap... last season we won 46 games despite Draymond missing 27 games, Klay completely mentally checked out, CP3 missing 24 games, throwing two rookies straight into the fire (granted they played well), spent the whole season trying to find a defined role for JK and Moses and a Wiggins down year because of injuries/off the court issues. There might be other stuff I'm forgetting too.
Now this offseason we lost:
-Klay Thompson (explained above)
-Chris Paul (played well for us but missed a lot of time and we have viable replacements for him)
-Dario Saric (became a non factor when we buckled down and made a push)
-Lester Quinones (played well for us but fringe NBA player at best)
-Usman Garuba (lol)
-Jerome Robinson (lol)
We will certain miss Klay's gravity even in a down year but I think our offseason additions outweigh the losses by a lot. I'm not counting Post, Waters, Plowden, Beekman and Spencer because I don't expect anything from them this year and anything we get would be a pleasant surprise. This team will look A LOT different if JK takes that leap. That's what it comes down to if we're keeping the roster as is.
-Healthy 15-17pts a night with good defense Wiggins returns
-Draymond plays a suspension free season
-JK takes the next step into fringe stardom
-Moses, Podz and TJD improves even more & becomes full time consistent contributors
Call me crazy but if all 4 of those things happens I think we'll be in business for a puncher's chance in the playoffs. I think they're all pretty realistic expectations. Let's not forget how horrid we were at closing games last season too. Figuring that out alone might win us a few extra games. We won't be in the conversation as far as contenders goes but it should still be a fun and competitive team with our homegrown guys running the show. The most important thing is we'll still get a chance to build through the draft because we didn't give away every pick for the next 4-5 years.
And you didn't even mention Hield, Melton, and Slo Mo. Each can contribute.
I think the counter point to this is that Steph and Dray may play fewer games due to injuries, and that are odds of winning when Steph is out are just so low.
Tim MacMahon: "My best educated guess is that Lauri will not be traded this summer. He will sign the extension after Aug 6. Lauri's made it clear: He wants to be a part of the future there...My point is Lauri is not on the market.
"You mentioned like the Warriors. Lauri Markkanen at the right price for the Warriors will be unbelievable. The right price for the Warriors is not getting Lauri Markkanen.
"My point is Lauri Markkanen is not on the market. That doesn't mean he won't get moved, but in all the conversations the Jazz have had. Obviously, the Warriors have been out there. Spurs in preliminary talks. Kings before they went to DeRozan. A lot of teams have called and checked in. There's have been nothing even remotely tempting from the Jazz's perspective to this point.
"My forecast — and obviously this is going to be a fluid situation — my forecast is he will end up getting that renegotiation and extension. Getting that massive raise where it will be $40+ mil this year into an extension moving forward. And it will be signed after Aug 6 basically giving him a 1-year No Trade Clause."
Lowe: "My best intel is that there will not be a trade this season."
https://old.reddit.com/r/warriors/comments/1ed3n7w/macmahon_my_best_educated_guess_is_that_lauri/
Tim McMahon? His brother Jim was a stud in a headband.
Full Clip here: https://youtu.be/Eiks_oJDPZ8?si=oSIjh-lrs2wLWoev
Or Ainge is leveraging them to speak this to the media…as Lacob does w TK
More bold strategies by Danny to impress his will upon all involved
Yes… but Ainge has always had a bit of leverage like that… Markkanen has significant financial incentive to stay in Utah… it’s probably never been a real option.
Probably true sir! Probably true. Al he has to say to nix any trade deal is that he won’t re sign long term… speaks as to why all of the trade offers on the table haven’t been game changing… it all points to Ainge just F’ING with everyone this entire time, as I feared early on.
But Ainge can only f* with those who play the game. I think MDJ probably knew the score, did his due diligence, and if nothing came of it, so be it.
Guess they're cool with keeping him for the good vibes because it makes no sense for the direction their basketball team is heading in. Unless they're trying to win 30 games again and enter the lottery with low odds to win it. I still call BS unless he just wants money and a good living situation. Oh well. Kind of excited to see what Podz, JK and Moses can offer this year.
The problem though (and I think Sam Quinn said it best) is that the Jazz need both Podz and JK because they’ll need the Warriors to absolutely stink once Steph retires. That’s what’s going to give those 2028 and beyond draft picks some real juice. A Warriors team with Markkanen, Podz, and JK is probably still a playoff team, a Warriors team with Marrkanen and one of JK or Podz is potentially still a play in team. But a Dubs team with neither JK and Podz is an absolute bottom of the barrel team (which is where the real value of those draft picks get put into play
Yeah, and we're not giving that up. Nobody is taking Wiggins contract for an extra 1st rounder and our 1st rounders aren't that attractive to begin with. I'm really starting to think SA will end up with him or OKC will swing for the fences and go for the 1 year rental run
Yeah understandable but that’s the thing: Utah doesn’t care how San Antonio does. It’s their picks from Atlanta that hold the most value. I think for Ainge he’s trying to weigh if building around Marrkanen is more valuable than 1). Having a shot at the top dawg in both 2025, 2026 plus a solid rotation player in Podz 2). 3 middle of the first round draft picks. I don’t think it’s a stretch to think that they may just be better off keeping LM unless San Antonio budges
Sigh...that sucks. I see a lot of comments of people being OK with standing pat. MDJ has obviously set lines for how much he's willing to pay for upgrades and that is absolutely a vital skill as a GM, but the Warriors have the best Dub we will likely see in our lifetimes and are still in standings purgatory. The hardest step in team building is taking a 7-12 seed to a 1-3 seed, and some times you need to overpay to get stuff done. There's now been two opportunities for major improvement and getting a legit star next to Steph this offseason. Both have fallen through despite the Warriors being the most aggressive at points.
It's discouraging that Steph's age 37 season likely won't have any chance of a deep playoff run. It's disappointing that Steph will get overtaxed yet again because there's no secondary scorer. I really like Melton. I quite like turning Klay into Buddy and SloMo. Those are both really good moves. But they take a 41 team into like a 43 win team.
It ain't over til it's over. But color me disappointed.
I'd love for the team to be good enough to give Curry another couple of chances at a championship, but I'd hate the Warriors being thoroughly unwatchable for a decade afterward a lot more.
For me depend on how good a chance. So if you guaranteed me one more championship + 10 years of sucking or 10 years of no championships and not sucking I might take the first, but there are no guarantees so that makes it a harder choice
Perhaps the deal with the devil was already made in 2022, and we've already signed up for 10 years of sucking for that championship :P
Once you get a championship, no one's content with sucking, the goalposts always move to the next one xD
Oh. good point. And yeah, I don't make the deal if it means I have to be content. I hate when they suck.
I think the problem is (and I also think MDJr. thinks this) that overpaying in this case would still lead to us being a 7-12 seed but with LM and without any other players OR prospect for improvement now or later since we traded all our youth and picks.
I think one reason a lot of us are okay with standing pat is the alternatives aren't that attractive, especially if we have to cripple our second unit to get them.
My guess is that Lauri's enjoying so much time being the #1 option on the Jazz's offense that he doesn't want to be traded to another team, even if other teams really want him.
I’m ok with that.
I think the Warriors leaking Ainge’s ridiculous demands might have been 70% publicly kicking Ainge in the balls and 30% P.R. for their own fan base. Having your fans say “Screw Ainge!” is a lot better than “The brass is just sitting on their hands!”
Some of us were saying that long before the leak. Everyone knows Ainge doesn't negotiate in good faith. He's looking to find someone desperate enough for the overpay. I'm glad Dunleavy isn't in that category.
Lebron's ego is going to be even more inflated after this. Spoilers for Olympics opening ceremony.
r/nba
2 hr. ago
sewsgup
United States Flagbearer LeBron James and Team USA weathering the rain during the 2024 Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony
https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1ecxo2j/united_states_flagbearer_lebron_james_and_team/
Is that Simone helping him hold the flag?
Coco Gauff.
I’m koo koo for Coco Gauff!
not coo coo?
Steph said it well in one of his interviews: “ You’ve got to be able to bring your egos of who we are as individual players, but also let them go, knowing it doesn't matter who's the man scoring that particular night. When you're on the floor, you're asked to do a certain thing and do it to the best of your ability to play with energy. ”
"The Phoenix Suns are trading forward David Roddy to the Atlanta Hawks for forward EJ Liddell."
https://x.com/wojespn/status/1816939722200973743
A minor trade, but these players are both intellectually interesting.
EJ Liddell was in fact the winner of the 2022 DNHQ Draft Tourney, but after he was drafted #41 by New Orleans, he promptly tore his ACL in Summer League on July 11. Sigh. So, we may never know how good he was on track to be.
David Roddy was an analytics darling who was a really productive college player, but had a heavy football player’s build, so there was a question of eye test v analytics. So far, eye test seems to be winning out.
Roddy was also traded on draft day 2022 . . . for De'Anthony Melton
<x-files music>
Definitely one of the trades of all time.
"Free agent guard David Duke Jr. is signing a two-way deal with the San Antonio Spurs, Todd Ramasar and Mike Simonetta of @LifeSportsagncy tell ESPN. Duke has played 49 games with the Spurs and Nets in parts of three NBA seasons."
https://x.com/wojespn/status/1816907072438698091
unfortunate name tho
That’s really bad…intentional by his folks?
he's Black, so probably not
Well that makes it a lot worse then 😬
Yeah, amazing no one warned the parents...
Clayton Bigsby
If he's a "Junior", then it's his grandparents' fault first
Not hard to for parents to make that change…
No politics, lol
"Free agent F Kessler Edwards has agreed on a two-way NBA contract with the Dallas Mavericks, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Edwards has averaged 3.5 points and 11.9 minutes across three seasons for Nets and Kings."
https://x.com/ShamsCharania/status/1816903915939541337
He signed that deal in 12 parsecs.
I always get mixed up when I read "Walker Kessler" and "Kessler Edwards". Got excitedly confused for a sec.
Antoine Walker Kessler Edwards
or Ant Edwards, as he's often known
... Edwards...cissorhands?
Curry just interviewed as the US contingent going past on the boat - Olympics opening ceremony
Watching the opening and saw that. He looked a little concerned about the rain. Hope nobody gets sick.
"Former NBA MVP Russell Westbrook is signing a two-year, $6.8 million contract with the Denver Nuggets, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Deal has a player option for 2025-26 season."
https://x.com/ShamsCharania/status/1816896650004021415
Since the Nuggets play in Ball Arena, I guess you could say that all in all, it’s just another brick in the Ball.
Snark aside, Westbrook running their underperforming second unit is a solid move. As long as he’s not expecting to play with the starters much if at all…..
as long as he isn't expected to shoot outside of the key. I don't see why he can't play with the starters given that caveat.
He’s a terrible defender and fit for their 1st unit.
Surprisingly enough, for his career, by DBPM, he is just mediocre not terrible though trending worse with age. I admit that "better than Cory Joseph" isn't anything to write home about.
Has Cory Joseph become the successor to Chris Chiozza and Brad Wannamaker as the latest former Dubs backup PG who is the butt of jokes and cutting remarks at DNHQ?
My take on Steph's & Dray's recent comments about the trade situation: I think they're speaking to Ainge.
I think these guys mostly release commentary through the media to send public messages to each other. In this case, I'm 100% sure Ainge is directly or indirectly trying leverage the pressure on MDJ to "maximize Steph & Dray's window" into getting more assets back, and Steph & Dray speaking publicly on it helps MDJ get the discussion moved past that Ainge angle.
Steph's comment: "And you can still be a competitive, it doesn't mean you guaranteed the championship. It doesn't mean winning. Winning is always a priority, but obviously you're realistic... if it is a situation where you're a bottom feeder and it's just because you want to stay there, I'd have a hard time with that. But I don't think that's going to be the reality."
So, he apparently doesn't need to be on a team guaranteed a championship, and doesn't even necessarily need winning (oddly), but he wants to be competitive, he explicitly doesn't want to play for a really bad team, and importantly he currently has confidence that is not going to happen with the Warriors. If the Warriors "trade the farm" for Markkanen, the Warriors roster is "bottom feeder" level in 2 years when Steph's looking to sign his next contract, and he's gone. If they do not trade the farm, they can almost certainly still be competitive. Message seems to be: Danny... I agree MDJ should be trying to #maximizestephsprime, but if MDJ trades you everything and everybody, he's also going to be the guy who let Steph leave by not building a roster worthy of keeping Steph around.
Dray's comment is much more transparent: “[The Warriors] were about to make a trade last week and I told them straight up like that trade helps me, it'll help me right now in my career but I've always spoken to y'all for what's best for the organization and I won't stop now. That’s a bad trade, don’t do that trade. I disagree with it, although it going to help me right now.”
Message between these two seems pretty clear to me. Neither Steph, nor Dray are desperate to win now at the expense of the future, so Danny Ainge can shut up about how them and their needs at the negotiating table.
Can Dray's comments be viewed as conciliatory based on what he has put the organization through the last couple of years. The organization stood behind him through his difficulties. Now, Dray makes a comment that just shows general support for the "franchise" as a whole. Publicly claiming that the Warriors should trade the farm so he and Curry could win another Chip would seem a tad off-putting. Given his past issues and his relationship with the organization, whether true or not, his comments 'sound' good. As a fan, I liked them. Why wouldn't you want to support the team that helped make your career? Why do we as fans always assume that everything an athlete says and does is out of pure selfishness? Maybe it is, but I like to believe there is still some degree of acceptance around the fact that not every athlete is entitled to a Championship every season of their career.
For some reason I don’t know how much I trust Draymond on that one, unless, unless if he was talking about LM and maybe he does not really believe LM is a real difference maker.
Hard to believe a super competitive guy who thrives on winning titles is passing on that chance.
Maybe he was really talking to Ainge like mentioned.
It will be fun seeing how it all turns out.
I would be happy with Cam J and giving up a lot less.
I would trust Draymond on most things basketball ... maybe not his personal issues as that is difficult to talk abot for many of us ... but to me he has a great breadth of knowledge about basketball and the NBA ... I see no reason for him to be less than honest when he says a trade would help him now but not help the team long term.
Draymond pounded the table for Jacob Evans. After that I never listen to his draft advice.😊
Eh, players are not necessarily the best GMs. See Avery Bradley vs GPII.
The other issue with Markkanen is availability. Maybe the Ws are counting on Celebrini to work his magic, but we've never seen any indication that LM is durable enough to be a factor in the playoffs.
My skepticism about LM does stem from being giving free rein on a mediocre team. His paper stats are great but they can be very misleading.
Is he partly like a back up qb building up stats against a prevent D?
Knox in SL?
How is he vs playoff D?
I think getting him is rolling the dice. He could surprise positive or negative. It is an unknown. Fun for us to ponder, not so much for the GM.
MJD is in a tough spot
Or it could have been for LaVine which I think is more likely. A healthy LaVine would have been an upgrade on Klay's last year but what happens if you trade away your picks and young players for an unhealthy Zach LaVine? You have no depth, no cap room, and no future.
Why would you trade picks and young players for a negative contract?
LaVine's contract is what's keeping him in Chicago for at least awhile longer. He's good but he's not worth that contract given the current CBA.
Since the Bulls have had no luck trading LaVine without the other GM demanding picks from them, the trade at worst would probably be Wiggins, Looney, and GPII for LaVine (which would reduce our depth, especially if combined with a Lauri trade, although we'd have quite a few open roster spots to rebuild the depth chart). I personally would rather stay with steady, un-injured Wiggins myself, but we definitely shouldn't be giving up picks for LaVine.
Yeah, I'm sure there's been discussion of a LaVine trade, and Dray did also recently mention that Wiggs is due for a bounce back year... so maybe it was a "Wiggs + guys for LaVine", and Dray just has more faith in Wiggs rediscovering his consistency than in LaVine being decent at defense and healthy enough to contribute long term.
Wiggins will bounce back next year when he’s playing for an extension.
He'll bounce back this year when he's not coming off an offseason with a broken rib.
Turn on the Olympics opening ceremonies, see five seconds of athletes on boats (cool!) and now I’m stuck with a long and dull lady Gaga performance where she is really obviously lip syncing
I didn’t watch it so I won’t dispute your assessment, but I’m still here to say Lady Gaga is awesome
Something that I haven't seen mentioned basically anywhere is that in a recent Curry interview, he brought up "talent that's ready to blossom" on the team and one player is noticeably absent:
> I always say I want to win and I understand how hard it’s to win in this league. What we look like, I don’t know. It’s hard to envision all the change that’s happened. I know we have some talent that’s ready to blossom with JK [Jonathan Kuminga], BP [Brandon Podziemski], Trayce [Jackson-Davis]. I know we have some brought in some vets in De’Anthony [Melton], Kyle [Anderson] and Buddy [Hield]. It’ll look different.
Curry isn't the type to leave a teammate off the list even if he thinks Moody sucks, I think this is more him not expecting Moody to be on the roster for much longer.
EDIT: Although if he did just overlook Moody, it would be a solid addition to Moody's legacy of being treated like an afterthought on the Warriors.
Poor Moses. All he ever did was not complain and stay ready for when they called on him. And this is his reward. 🫥
> Paul George: "[GSW] were expressing how much they wanted me there. How I fit with Dray, Steph, Podz, Kuminga, Wiggins. Looney going to be there. It was very intriguing.
https://www.reddit.com/r/warriors/comments/1dybasq/paul_george_gsw_were_expressing_how_much_they/
I found that one interesting too... specifically naming Podz and JK.
I recall that. I'm not certain that the transcription was accurate in terms of sentence starts and stops. This was the quote as it was transcribed:
> From what I was being told on the situation, they were expressing how much they wanted me there. How I would've fit in perfectly with Draymond, Steph, Podziesmki, Kuminga, Wiggins. They didn't know how or what package was going to be there to trade for me"
I'm not sure if it actually shouldn't have been this:
> From what I was being told on the situation, they were expressing how much they wanted me there. How I would've fit in perfectly with Draymond, Steph. Podziesmki, Kuminga, Wiggins, they didn't know how or what package was going to be there to trade for me"
Shifting the period over makes this more George saying he's not sure who of Podz, Kuminga, or Wiggins would have been included in the trade.
Either way though, you are right that he didn't mention Moody.
I can see that. Though it sounds like his pause was after Podz... so maybe like:
> How I would've fit in perfectly with Draymond, Steph, Podziesmki. Kuminga, Wiggins, they didn't know how or what package was going to be there to trade for me
But listening to it more, I think he only paused because the other guy said "Klay probably would've stayed" right in the middle and PG probably got caught off guard because he knew Klay was gone.
I bet Moody's basically demanded a trade, too
Asked, he can't demand. Even if they don't extend him he is an RFA at the end of the season so has 0 leverage. I do think the Warriors are still shopping Moody as with Melton, Hield, Podz, GPII, and maybe Beekman and Plowden they aren't hurting for depth at SG. I understand why the Warriors didn't play Moody much, but one result is that it also reduces his trade value.
I have the impression Beekman's a PG who will mostly be on the ball rather than a SG.
He's represented by Klutch, the Warriors can't just do whatever they want to him without possible consequences.
If he was better, he would’ve played more.
I'm sure some Celtic fans were saying the same thing about Aaron Nesmith.
After watching the Melton and SloMo pressers, I hereby declare myself irrationally optimistic about both of them. They both seem to get it and have games that will benefit and benefit from GSW’s unselfish play. They also both come across as good guys who will be good locker room guys and fun to hear from all season long.
I’m drifting further into #standpat as it looks like this team has a really good chance to be greater than the sum of their parts.
I'm definitely more than ok with STAND PAT (if it's in caps that means it's as exciting as ALL IN), which probably means that they are ironing trade details right now and the announcement will come on Monday at the latest.
Does “stand pat” mean we think Spencer should be playing instead of sitting on the bench?
He can lead bench celebrations, assuming he's on the team.
Join us beside the fire ... here, have a hot dog.
They’re absolutely high IQ players. If SloMo got his eye sight under control and his shot comes back, look out. Melton’s back is the worry spot here. Backs are tricky as hell. But his defense is going to be crucial at the 2 spot