Assistant GM Larry Harris on how Kuminga gets back in the lineup, Saric, the rookies, and the 14th roster spot

Better spacing, better shooters with JK

I transcribed some interesting remarks by Assistant GM Larry Harris on 95.7 on 2023.07.10.

Here are my takeaways:

• Staff identified a stretch big as top priority.

• Saric is looking healthy and Chris and Draymond endorsed him.

• TJD can might get 8-10 MPG just by rebounding and passing in the post.

• Podz was drafted to be a point guard.

• JK was hurt by bad spacing last year and now there are more shooters on the roster that can play with JK.

What’s next in free agency? Waiting for the big trades

Obviously Draymond was the number one priority going into free agency and we're able to get that done quite quickly.

We went into free agency thinking that we were going to sign three guys. We certainly reached out to a number of players. Dario being one, Cory Joseph being another. We were able to acquire those guys and what Mike decided to do is put a little bit of a pause on that with two more roster spots potentially open for us. Just to see how many more trades are out there. There's so much activity in the league right now. You read all the social media, there's probably more trades to be done. And you've got certain teams that have over 15 guaranteed contracts.

So I think we're open to just see what's going to be left out there for us. But I could see where if somebody pops and it's somebody that we really like, that we've targeted that we add as a 14th roster spot. But other than that, I think we'll keep it open. I think with the two-way spots, we had some success with Ty and Anthony last year. We're looking for in that two-way spot is trying to find a big guy. Somebody that just has an ability to maybe step on the floor in case Draymond or Kevon need to sit out, or there's a slight injury along the way that we just feel like we probably need another big guy in there. And maybe that two-way will satisfy it.

Dario Saric

The second call that we made was to Dario and his agency. As a front office even before Bob left, the one thing that we knew we needed this summer was a stretch big. Whether that was Belly [Nemanja Bjelica] or Otto Porter. The way we play we need to space the floor and I think the one thing we recognize on the championship team was having a threat out there that you have to guard. I think Dario, a full year from the injury, I think he started getting his legs toward the end of the year.

Chris was very high on him, Draymond was very high on him. He adds an IQ, a toughness, an ability to make shots, but also ability to pass and just know how to play. I think he's gonna find it a lot easier to score on our team. I think we're going to actually get a little bit more once he gets in the fray of what it looks like to play in our system.

Trayce Jackson-Davis

I think the two things that will translate right away that has the ability possibly to get him on the floor as far as a rookie a few minutes is obviously his ability to pass and rebound the basketball. For big guys there's not a lot of shots for them unless you’re a spacing guy that can shoot the ball like Dario can. So I think he's going to be in a Kevon Looney role where he's gonna be a screen setter. He's gonna be a guy that can play out of mid post, pass, learn from Draymond, learn from Kevon. Having a older guy that depending on matchups and foul trouble, he could be in a position to play eight to ten minutes on the floor because at 6-9, 6-10 and 250, 260, physically he can put himself in a game.

Brandin Podziemski

His IQ is great, his ability to see the floor and pass, I think everybody sees that he could be a point guard which is why we drafted him. I think in Summer League I think you've seen that he's checking a lot of boxes in the box score. I know he wants to shoot a little bit better which is ironic. One of the reasons we drafted him outside of his ability to rebound was his ability to shoot the ball. Now he's not shooting it nearly as well from the line or from the field in Summer League, but I think he's impacting the game at both ends and I think more of a spaced floor if he's playing with our better players, I think he's gonna find the game a little bit easier. Right now it seems to be he's playing a lot in a crowd and trying to do some things offensively that'll open up once he gets to play with the real players.

Jonathan Kuminga, how he can get back in the lineup

I think with Steve [Kerr], like anything else, when you get to the playoffs, it's really a trust factor. It's really like, "Who can help me right now?" And the rotation shortened. So, obviously getting Gary healthy and playing, and then obviously Andrew coming back healthy and playing. Those two things really factored into Jonathan not playing as much.

We still feel like there's a lot more to his game. I think he's got to mature as a player. Hopefully the addition with Chris will help. But also, I think there's a clearer path for him now. We obviously had some players on the roster last year that kind of impeded a little bit of his progress. We identified that this year in free agency and decided that Dario is a different look, and we think that Dario can play with JK. And we have more players now that we think we can put JK in different positions to help us.

So, his growth is shooting the ball better, which he did when he got that opportunity in the last third of the season. But it's just his game maturing at both ends of the floor. And really, Steve having faith and trust in him that when he puts him in the game. He knows what he's going to do. He understands our system. And so, I think it's a big year for him personally, and obviously for us in an evaluation to just see how much growth he does have still left in the game, which we believe is quite a bit.