DNHQ comments of the week: the endless trek to a Kuminga contract; Summer League

ticking away the moments that make up a dull day

The case for re-signing Jonathan Kuminga | by Dr. Duncan Stein

• SabWrites (27 ♡):

  r/warriors

  •

  7 hr. ago

  baros91

  Nikola Milojević, son of the late Dejan Milojević, will join the Warriors coaching staff next season, per Serbian sports agency BeoBasket CEO Miško Ražnatović.

• Abaddon (16 ♡):

  > His jumper is fine unless he's still suffering effects from concussions or broken noses or injuries. Will he learn to avoid some of those injuries?

  Let's not forget - Jun 12, 2025 — Warriors guard Brandon Podziemski, who had left wrist surgery in May, underwent surgery to repair a core muscle injury Tuesday.

  Podz was playing with an injured left wrist that required surgery (shooting hand) AND a core muscle injury that also required surgery. How much these were avoidable is up to debate, but clearly his level of play was affected much of last year by injuries. If he is able to stay closer to injury free, what might his 3rd year look like? I have a lot of hope myself.

• Ando (14 ♡):

  Off Topic: GS Valkyrie game, Podz sitting courtside with Lacob and rookie Cryer. Good sign for Cryer.

  • SabWrites (11 ♡):

    And GSV wins!

• Eric Apricot (13 ♡):

  [[ Update: The San Antonio Spurs signed Lindy Waters to a one-year, partially guaranteed deal worth $500K, sources told @hoopshypeofficial.bsky.social. Waters is a career 37% 3-point shooter over his four NBA seasons combined with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Golden State Warriors, and Detroit Pistons. ]]

• Ando (12 ♡):

  I thought today was going to be the day where I didn't see Dino make a request for the Warriors to get Klay.

  I was wrong.

• GlueAndBold (10 ♡):

  Kuminga has shown no growth in terms of rebounds, passing, or team defense. That’s my observation, backed up by numerous stats- you can ascribe it to whatever you want, but Kuminga’s contingent is talking about him being an all-star and the Kobe stuff comes from JK himself, so I think there are easy dots to connect here. Dude wants to be a star, and is not doing the things needed to be a team player. Of course that would bother Kerr.

  I also completely disagree on your Lebron take. What he is leveraging is one thing. That he is an arrogant narcissist is another.

• Abaddon (10 ♡):

  >Again fits and starts across the middle of an up-and-down, though mostly-down season, including a proclaimed “he’s the future, Dray’s coming off the bench” which lasted maybe two games? Then the really bad ankle injury

  You're completely missing the stretch he had before the ankle injury after two straight DNPs; 30.7MPG 20.9PTS 15.4GmSc 7.5FGM 15.7FGA 47.8% 1.43PM 3.63PA 52%eFG 4.6FT 6.9FTA 6.2RB (1.8O) 2.6AST 0.8STL 0.8BLK 1.6TOV 2.1PF

  This was a 14 game stretch against the following teams: Denver, Houston, Minnesota 2x, Houston, Dallas, Memphis, Minnesota, Indiana, Lakers, Clippers, Phoenix, Cleveland, and Philly. Things were really looking up, then the high ankle sprain that ended up costing in 31 (!) straight games, and clearly when he came back he wasn't 100% (and Jimmy had arrived). If you want to point to hope for JK here or elsewhere, that's the stretch to be looking at.

• Arnold (9 ♡):

  Too soon to say this, in my opinion. JK's only 22. He's still learning and growing as a basketball player and as a person.

• Asher B. (6 ♡):

  I am both appreciative of and yet critical of the above article, the latter more in the way that it represents problems I have with the ongoing debates about Kuminga and Kerr, rather than for some massive sin of its own.

  To be clear: I have no issue on anyone forming a position on Kuminga's *observable* shortcomings and strengths as a basketball player, nor on Kerr's *observable* strengths and weaknesses as a coach. That's how we ought to do it as fans: offer our energetic opinions *on what we actually see.*

  But what bugs me is when we stray from observable things like Kuminga's free throw percentage or Kerr's substitution patterns to something else -- an evaluation of the situation based on *personality* or internal worldview of the player or coach, when we don't know what those are.

  I liked the above article, I'm interested in the lineup ideas. But I think this kind of thing as seen in the article is counterproductive:

  "Honestly if my coach had nine rings with three of the greatest players of all time I wouldn’t be working out with murals of Kobe on the walls, and mid-range iso YouTube highlights playing in my mind, I’d be listening to everything he said and doing that."

  This is the sort of "Kuminga isn't focused and doesn't listen well" narrative that seems based on no evidence, and strikes me as unfair to the player and to the discourse. It doesn't matter what murals are on the wall, and we don't know what YouTube highlights are playing in his mind, and we have no evidence that when the coaches talk he doesn't listen. It's in fact the case that, last we heard on the matter, Kerr has been going out of his way to say that JK did everything asked of him in rehab, during the benching against Houston, etc. Praised his work ethic and team spirit.

  I'm similarly guarded about conclusions about Kerr's coaching. Does he curse out Kuminga to his closest friends and then put on a smile in public? No one here knows. Does he have an unmitigated bias against him because Kuminga is not "his type of player?" Does he put Steph and Jimmy and Dray in for heavy heavy minutes and leave Kuminga on the bench because he just doesn't know how to develop young players and is biased against change; or simply because those guys are really fucking good?

  The most frustrating of these *Psychoanalyses of Kuminga TM* is the narrative that claims "He is so greedy for money, he doesn't realize he's a role player, he is trying to get much more than he's worth, when he should practice free throws." That's ridiculous stuff. EVERY player is trying to get paid. If his agent is NOT trying to get him top dollar according to their plan, he should be fired. If Kuminga wants as much as he can get, that's the business of the NBA. Moody doesn't get $12 million a year because he's so very humble, unassuming, and pure of heart. He gets that because that was what the market for his skills dictated.

  I would love if we could move on from character analysis and disparagement.

  In a non-Warrior example, there is this narrative over the past decade that LeBron is too full of himself and is "LeGM" and teams have just been capitulating to him. Nonsense. Yes, he has ambitions and plans, but so does everyone and unlike most other players ever, he has *accumulated great influence* by being pretty much the GOAT, and the biggest box office draw. If I were the front office of a team and he said "Trade Kuzma and Ingram and five other guys for AD" i would be quite likely to do it, too, because the threat of LeBron leaving is too great.

  But that doesn't mean LeBron is arrogant, or spoiled, or "doesn't know his place." (which has racial overtones that trouble me). He is leveraging his power to try to get what he wants. That's how it is in a workplace sometimes. It's not some condemnation of his soul.

The Kuminga Konundrum: understanding the math of sign-&-trades and aprons | by GSWCBA

• Evan Zamir (15 ♡):

  Like a basketball version of Prisoner's Dilemma. I don't see how Kuminga could possibly take the QO when it means he would lose probably $12M in that first year that he'd have to make up in his next contract above and beyond what he's asking for now. It's like a landlord who refuses to rent their property to hold out for $100 more rent when they're losing thousands of dollars for even one month vacancy.

• Eric Apricot (14 ♡):

  [On figuring out the CBA] Here is the flaw in your strategy:

  > I'm trying to make logical sense of this

• Loon Gehrig (13 ♡):

  Big thanks to Perks for going the extra mile again!

• Eric Apricot (12 ♡):

  It occurred to me that if Kuminga was the only big RFA available, this would be done. He would realize there’s no $30m market and settle with the team.

  However, the fact that there are four RFAs all in almost the same position (JK, Cam Thomas, Quinten Grimes, Josh Giddey wanting 25m-30m being offered less than what they can accept in a terrible market) means there is strong incentive for all of them to wait. Suppose Cam Thomas (as is whispered) makes the 1st move and takes the qualifying offer. Now BRK has more money to make a move and possibly snap up one of the other 3 RFAs with an offer sheet. Then either that will be matched or not or there will be a sign-and-trade, and that will leave either BRK or the original team left with more cap space. Etc. Or, one of the teams could re-sign an RFA for $X. Then the other 3 go to their team and put pressure to exceed $X.

  So that is a plausible scenario for how more $ could shake loose for JK. This reasoning is symmetric, so all the 4 RFAs have the same incentive to not sign first. So it’s not just a blinking contest between player and team but between all 4 RFAs. Which means we wait…

• SabWrites (12 ♡):

  Steph says he isn't any where close to retiring.

  Steph's extension keeps him signed with the Warriors till 2026-27 season.

  https://www.reddit.com/r/warriors/comments/1m8hrqm/steph_curry_on_how_he_wants_to_retire_and_how/

• Captain Jack (12 ♡):

  Can't believe J. Butler finally made his way to Phoenix

• Klon (11 ♡):

  The much more interesting (and damning) stat is found in Kuminga's scoring.

  In regular season games where Kuminga scores 20 points or more, the Dubs were 5-4. In games where he scored 10 or fewer, it's 11-1. That and his on-off numbers spell a very simple truth: the fewer minutes the Dubs play Kuminga, the better off they are.

• Bel (10 ♡):

  I hope he just goes somewhere else. The sooner, the better.

• Captain Jack (10 ♡):

  I'd love a 5th year leap from Moses and have him start at the 2 next to Steph.

• ChemKoala (10 ♡):

  It's not a pretty formula, but the matching salary does come closer to the base salary as it increases. As you move through the buckets, you see a step change, but the matching rules tighten as you increase the salary (compared to the base ofc). Here's a spreadsheet containing a couple figures showing this, as well as my work: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vTet_Uz12z9DgGJDoRO_hX-YHiKO0jKpzsIT8OE9v1JVr5PDSn6LhP4Xfd-j1eF3_YT9ObceQNbjsCR/pubhtml

• Eric Apricot (9 ♡):

  [what happens if JK doesn’t sign any contract?] JK will not be in breach of anything, but there will be natural consequences. In short, GSW will hold JK's right of first refusal indefinitely by making new QOs every year. And JK cannot play in the NBA without signing an offer sheet or a contract with GSW.

  For instance, GSW makes Nico Mannion a QO of a two-way contract every year and Nico declines to sign it (or with any NBA team). This is to hold onto his rights.

  The references:

  (CBA XI.4.c.ii.) If a Qualifying Offer is neither withdrawn nor accepted and the deadline for accepting it passes, the Team’s Right of First Refusal shall continue, subject to Section 5(a) below.

  (CBA XI.5.a) If a Restricted Free Agent does not sign an Offer Sheet with any Team by March 1 of the Season for which the Qualifying Offer is made, and does not sign a Player Contract with the ROFR Team before that Season ends, then his ROFR Team may reassert its Right of First Refusal for the following Season by extending another Qualifying Offer (with the same terms, including the amount of Salary (excluding Incentive Compensation), Likely Bonuses, and Unlikely Bonuses, respectively, that were included in the prior Qualifying Offer) by 5:00 p.m. eastern time on the next June 29. A ROFR Team may continue to reassert its Right of First Refusal by following the foregoing procedure in each subsequent year in which that Restricted Free Agent does not sign an Offer Sheet with any Team by March 1 of the Season for which the Qualifying Offer is made, and does not sign a Player Contract with the ROFR Team before that Season ends.

• GlennR (9 ♡):

  Cue Ennio Morricone's gunfight theme

• Sleepy Freud (9 ♡):

  > If he never had an offer for $30 mil, what does he think will change by not signing now?

  My guess is the Ws — knowing they hold the cards, how lukewarm the JK market is, and how little $$$ is out there — have lowered their offer significantly from what it was last offseason, even if it was *only* $25M-ish then. Like, what if they offered $24M then but have drawn a line in the sand at something like $18M now?

• Perks (GSWCBA) (9 ♡):

  [JK deadline to sign to stay trade-eligible in Feb] It's 3 months of January 15th, whichever comes later. So, assuming the deadline is 2/6, if he doesn't sign by 11/6 then he wouldn't be trade-eligible.

  For Markkanen, it was 6 months because he was extending.

• Chadara (8 ♡):

  I'm not so sure that J Kuminga is creating any ill will with the GSW team ( players, coaches, management, owners). My feeling is they all understand that this situation is a part of the NBA as a business.

  The CBA and NBA rules and regs are the prime driver in the current lengthy uncertainty.

  Those involved have all been a part of contract negotiations in the past and I really think they do understand at least to some degree what both sides are trying to achieve.

  Both sides seem to have been very patient as they have gauged the market and what $$ and trade possibilities are out there. Other RFA agents do not appear to be in any better or even different positions with their teams than Kuminga and the Ws.

  This happening in the off season makes it very different from the K Durant situation.

Summer LVSL Game 5, finale vs CLE Saturday at 4:30 pm PST, NBA TV

• Eric Apricot (26 ♡):

  I think something like this will happen…. [JK guaranteed all he can eat with starters out]

  However, in my opinion, JK is *already* featured in this way. GSW doesn’t run that many set plays (basically only after time stoppages) and in the close watches I’ve done, most/all the bench unit plays are for JK. There’s this widespread idea that Kerr isn’t using JK on offense properly but I believe they’ve tried a lot of different things and JK just isn’t efficient at creating on-ball offense (yet). The best on-ball play for JK is an inverted pick and roll (so he can attack the small if switched or the gap if not) but defenses counter by stunting in and stripping JK’s dribble. On offense, JK is very good at off-ball cuts and transition and below average at everything else. That’s why Kerr says if JK leaned into those things and being a defensive menace, then he’d be a star in his role. JK doesn’t want that.

• SabWrites (18 ♡):

  Moody Injury: “I did it in March when we were playing against the Bucks,” Moody told NBC Sports Bay Area on Sunday. “The last two, three months of the season, it was like I couldn’t palm the ball. Every time I’d catch the ball, it would hurt. Every time. If I would hand check somebody, it would hurt. I couldn’t touch nobody. I had to shoot with four fingers; I couldn’t grab the ball,” he said. “I didn’t know that it was torn. If I knew that, then that might have been different. And then it was that stretch when we were in that sprint to the playoffs. We were trying to get there. We were winning. Stuff was going good for us, so I wasn’t going to stop.”

  Moody’s hand/thumb stayed in a brace for six weeks after surgery, but it’s off now and he has resumed all basketball activities.

  https://sports.yahoo.com/article/moses-moody-reveals-injury-caused-113316852.html

• Arash (16 ♡):

  When it comes to basketball success, I’ve always been heavily on the side of talent/scheme playing the largest role in who wins the championship in the end. I’ve had very little patience for the whoohoo spiritualistic “chemistry” convos, but of late I’ve begun to shift my tune. Reading literature on the top organizations, you quickly begin to see a pattern where those groups are the best NOT because of a talent gap but rather because they created an environment which allowed for “clusters of high communication” where members engage in consistent egalitarian social interactions that facilitate high level/speed problem solving. Aka they have chemistry.

  Applying this to basketball with the help of Phil Jackson’s excellent book “Eleven Rings”, Jackson emphasized trying to create environments where everyone “played a leadership role . . . [where they had] enough latitude to express themselves creatively . . . [so as] to bring the team into a state of harmony” which activates the potential of a team. Aka, they all feel like they can communicate/do communicate/and are therefore high quality/speed problem solvers.

  Now that they had this chemistry which allowed for them to “solve problems” on the court with high speed/accuracy, players could then be trusted to “read the defense and react appropriately. This allows the team to move in a coordinated manner- depending on the action at any given moment all five players bust be fully engaged every second - or the whole system fails”.

  In a league with arguably EIGHT teams that are more overall talented than the Warriors, the Warriors edge HAS to be greater chemistry/familiarity with the system that allows for them to problem solve on the court faster than other teams. Unfortunately, we only have 5 players on our roster with the familiarity with our system (aka 3 years with the Warriors). Kuminga being on the squad is undoubtedly a drain on chemistry, not necessarily by any fault of his own, but just by virtue of the contract situation.

  With that in mind, even assuming that we sign Horford/Melton, I’d still advocate we sign GP2. He has familiarity with our system, championship experience, has proven to be productive with minutes, and is a great locker room presence for us. Its also why, while I like Simmon’s skillset with the Warriors, I’d rather not sign him because of potential impact on chemistry. Also, with the potential impact on chemistry in mind, I’ve shifted to rather trading Kuminga asap even if it means getting lesser value than we could down the line.

• Sleepy Freud (14 ♡):

  Paul: NOK, NOH, LAC, HOU, OKC, PHO, GSW, SAS, LAC

  Westbrook: OKC, HOU, WAS, LAL, LAC, DEN, ??

  Durant: SEA, OKC, GSW, BRK, PHO, HOU

  Harden: OKC, HOU, BRK, PHI, LAC

  James: CLE, MIA, CLE, LAL

  Curry: GSW

• Captain Jack (13 ♡):

  I still can't believe Buddy Hield dropped 33 in a Game 7 to send the Rockets home lol

• Eric Apricot (12 ♡):

  Keith Smith on Summer League & Draft

  [[ “This year’s draft was the worst in my 25-plus years in the NBA. The entire second round could have just been agents making the picks. They were already telling teams all over to not draft guys. It’s gotten a little out of control and we’ve allowed it to be that way,” a Western Conference front office executive said.

  Related to the above: “Oh cry me a river. The idea of draft is ridiculous anyway. US sports are the only sports in the world where a player is told where he has to play. You don’t think I’m going to try to control that process for my guy? Get out of there!” a longtime agent said.]]

  [[ On the offseason so far: “Well, this will be a quick conversation! (laughed) I mean, we haven’t done anything yet, right? Are we the only team in the league?” a Warriors front office executive said. “We’ve got things we hope to do. But we’re got other things that have to fall in line first. We’re being very mindful of our sequencing here, because we know the aprons and hard caps can become an issue for us really fast.”

  On Quinten Post: “BC guy thing, right? (laughed) We’re really happy with Quinten. We think he can be a starting five in the league. He needs to improve on defense, but that will come. The shot, the passing and the interior scoring are all there. He also fit right in and wasn’t afraid to go at it with our long-term guys. That confidence was huge for him,” a Warriors front office executive said.

  On Jimmy Butler: “Adding a player like that, with all the guys we had to send out, can mess up your season really badly. But Jimmy was awesome from Day 1 with us. He just wanted to play high-level hoops with a group of guys who are chasing greatness. That made the adjustment so easy. Looking forward to having a full year together this year,” a Warriors coach said.

  On Jonathan Kuminga’s restricted free agency: “We’re trying to be responsible. With the aprons and hard caps and all of that, you can’t just throw money around. We still love Jonathan. We’re hopeful we can figure out a way to strike a balance that works for him and for us. But we’re not going to compromise our roster-building ability now, or in the future. We have to be responsible in the way we build our team,” a Warriors front office executive said. ]]

  https://www.spotrac.com/news/_/id/2913/western-conference-summer-league-notes

• fzwinter (12 ♡):

  [On LAC] Do they still have room for Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan?

• Run_TMC (10 ♡):

  Patience Grasshopper!

  I see so many posts with variations of wanting the Kuminga thing to be resolved and/or the Ws to just sign someone already. Look, MDJ and Co. need to make the best decisions possible for the team not the decisions that will make fans feel a little bit better about the summer.

  I don't necessarily trust MDJ explicitly, but so far, I don't see where he messed up. The combination of the CBA with the extra punitive aprons and so many teams at or near cap or aprons has combined to change the off season landscape and it affects the Ws and lots of other teams.

  So a couple points:

  JK is a talented player (maybe not as talented as he thinks he is) and has value. More value than even the NTPMLE. Suggesting that the Ws just outright relinquish his rights is crazy. So they could get Beal? If worse comes to worse, I doubt JK pouts and tanks his own value, but that's a better risk than paying Beal 14M or whatever he got.

  JK and agent are having the same problem a seller gets when the thing they are selling is just not worth what they think. Eventually they will accept the actual value (that value, in this case, dictated by a combination of the market and maybe the small number of teams able to pay him).

  What I am hearing sounds like the Ws are handling this as best they can and we can all just hope that we find a way to make whatever the outcome is work.

  For the record. My prediction is that the Ws and JK do not find a sign and trade this off season, agree to a 20M-ish contract and look to trade him by the deadline or find a way to incorporate him better.

• GovernorStephCurry (10 ♡):

  Lacob’s love for Kuminga over the years has lead to the strangest off season ever. We’re completely held hostage by an overrated 22 year old as we try to squeeze the last juice out of Curry and Jimmy’s prime. A team has never gone this long without adding anyone or re-signing a player in modern NBA history.

• AttilaTheHun (10 ♡):

  "Hopefully, JK improved his handles this offseason"... said almost every DNHQ poster in every off season since JK joined the team. It's the perpetual dream. Someday!

• jaxfor3 (9 ♡):

  Browsing basketball reference and came across all the players that played for the Warriors. Sorted by game appearances, Steph tops the list:

  1. Steph Curry - 1026

  2. Draymond Green - 881

  3. Chris Mullin - 807

  4. Klay Thompson - 793

  5. Nate Thurmond - 757

  6. Jeff Mullins - 716

  7. Paul Arizin - 713

  8. Al Attles - 642

  9. Rick Barry - 641

  10. Adonal Foyle - 641

  Kevon Looney came in 13th at 599

  https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/GSW/players.html

Summer LVSL Game 4 vs Toronto Raptors at 7 p.m. PST, NBA TV

• Loofus (25 ♡):

  Edit: Tworing’s comment below reminded me that Melton sounds like he’ll ready for camp!

  Interesting Summer League story from Tommy at the beginning of this new edition of Light Years. He saw Melton, started casually chatting him up and Melton talked a lot more than you’d expect. He sounds if his return is a done deal and he’s just waiting it out (presumably for JK to get resolved). He also said he loves the whole Dubs environment and that Steph is the best human being he’s ever met.

• Eric Apricot (14 ♡):

  I have to re-iterate that I think this TOR extreme full court press is BS. This only works when you have a big roster that you’re playing low minutes and you have 10 fouls. It gives an unrealistic idea of how these players will play in a real game. This should be socially shamed.

• Hoops2518 (11 ♡):

  Would we rather have Beal or a healthy Melton?

  I vote Melton.

• Sleepy Freud (11 ♡):

  The Jimmy & Buddy Show (on and off court) was one of the most unexpectedly delightful aspects of the second half of last season. Very much looking forward to a full season of it.

• Abaddon (10 ♡):

  I greatly prefer Hield over Beal and it's not really close

• Sleepy Freud (9 ♡):

  2024-25 "Actual EPM" rankings, fwiw...

  #13 Jimmy Butler

  #109 Andrew Wiggins

  #255 Buddy Hield

  #260 Bradley Beal

• Eric Apricot (9 ♡):

  Warriors offseason: Always Close Enough to Hurt™

Transcript: Toohey on getting used to NBA speed and the Australian connections

• Sleepy Freud (13 ♡):

  He wasn’t the beall and end all. ;-P

  Some sour grapes, but — assuming Melton was coming back onboard — I was kinda worried Steph-Podz-Melton-Beal-Buddy might be too many small guys anyway.

  In terms of overall roster size and team defense, we might be better off gambling on JK to step it up as a scorer than adding another smallish guy with defensive limitations.

• cpt nemo (9 ♡):

  In case it has not been posted yet - a real nice article by Scott Ostler in the chron on looney-kerr relation!

  Does Kevon Looney have legit beef over last Warriors season? Steve Kerr responds

  https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/ostler/article/warriors-steve-kerr-addresses-kevon-looney-s-20772474.php

• Captain Jack (8 ♡):

• Warriors Rookie Will Richard is Mic'd Up at NBA Summer League

  ----------------------------------------------------

  I am irrationally excited about Will Richard

• Loofus (8 ♡):

  I’ve always liked the cheers that sound like “Booooo!” but are actually cheering for a certain player. The earliest I can recall was “Loooooouuuuuu” Pinella.

  If we get Horton, fans should yell “Whooooo”. I’m pretty sure he’ll hear it.

• Sleepy Freud (8 ♡):

  DNHQ — where the writers and readers are sophisticated enough to appreciate the subtle nuance between meh and ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Summer LVSL Game 3 vs. Memphis Grizzlies at 7:30 p.m. PST, NBA TV

• AFineCat (21 ♡):

  Happy Larry Ellison Doesn't Buy GSW Day, for those who celebrate.

• Fantom (10 ♡):

  I came to Mexico for a few days and found the game on TV. Amazingly the (Spanish), Broadcasters really focus on the game and seem to be interested in it and making points about the players. No weird interviews. No discussions of other teams or other past games. I only saw a part of the game. I was happy to see Ccrer back, and I thought he looks good and Bolen. Maybe it’s coming back into the shape which will make him stable and strong with Richard and Matson. We’re starting to see some summer week potential. I like too he y also but it seems like he needs more experience, and so far I feel that way about Armstrong

• Mr.Plow (8 ♡):

  The success in the Lacob/Guber era was so outrageous that I don't think you could expect any other owner to have done better

• SabWrites (7 ♡):

  Sigh....

  "It was not one moment. Like, even this year, probably in the playoffs. We're going against Steven Adams. This is what I do. They're not giving me the chance to really let me do what I do. It's like, alright, y'all don't trust me. I thought y'all would trust me."

  "Nah, you get sick of that at some point," Looney told Thompson II. "When you prove yourself the first four, five years, all right, cool. But after 10 years of it, it's like, all right. You either trust me or you don't."

  While Looney felt some type of way about Kerr's decisions, he knows it's not personal.

  "I just know it's never personal with Steve," Looney said. "He's going to do whatever is best to try to win. It ain't just me. He's done this to everybody. I might've been the one it was happening to the most because I was here the longest. I know it's not personal. He just wants to win.

  https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcsportsbayarea.com/nba/golden-state-warriors/nba-free-agency-kevon-looney-truth/1862142/%3famp=1

• Ando (7 ♡):

  Just glad that John Fisher didn't get his hands on the Warriors.

Summer LVSL Game 2. vs. Utah Jazz at 7 p.m. PST, ESPN2

• DubsNerd (15 ♡):

  Man, that's way I always worry about all the new sports teams in Vegas, I mean, you have these 24 year old kids with money, they go there, next thing you know they are hanging out at chess clubs, winning tournaments. Just a bad look for the league.

• ServantOfLuna (14 ♡):

  >>>Victor Wembanyama has announced he’s officially recovered from the blood clot in his shoulder:

  “I'm officially cleared to return. It just happened — I got the green light from the Spurs' medical staff just a few hours ago (last Friday). Phew, I’ll finally be able to play a bit of basketball again !”<<<

  https://old.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1lztpjw/lequipe_victor_wembanyama_has_announced_hes/

• Captain Jack (12 ♡):

  Welcome new voices with a shared purpose.

  Moses Moody and Santi Aldama join the NBPA Foundation Board, bringing their passion and perspective to support community-driven change and deepen our impact across the communities we serve. @TheNBPA

  ------------------------------------------------------------

  It's taking so long for us to figure the JK situation out that Moses Moody has completely given up on basketball.

2025 Warriors Summer League Overview: Roster and Schedule; plus Kuminga saga threatens to drag on for weeks

• Mycroft (44 ♡):

  I don't agree with the prompt at all. Points:

  1. Kerr has developed multiple young players very successfully, including Kevon Looney, Brandon Podzemski, Quentin Post. And for me, Moses Moody (Some guys take longer than a year or two, and I have previously discussed extensively Moody's specific problems that cost him playing time - problems that Kerr has repeatedly, and publicly discussed). Gary Payton was not as young, but barely could play anywhere else. Gui Santos looks pretty damn good. Jordan Poole developed pretty well at GS I think. And Javale McGee went from Shaqtin' a Fool's all-time list to a long career, thanks in large part to Kerr. Kerr even developed a former lacrosse player into a third string point guard.

  2. I'm not convinced Draymond would have been "good anyway" because I'm not sure most coaches would have seen the potential, or been willing to change the paradigm so he could play.

  3. I feel lilke this narrative is unfairly skewed by GS horrible draft decision to take James Wiseman (who no one else has been able to develop) and the Kuminga-industrial complex's media machine. Given all of the successful development listed above, I would argue that most of the time when people say Kerr isn't good at developing "young players" they mean Kerr is not good at developing Jonathan Kuminga. This is a player that a) doesn't fit Kerr's system at all, b) by his own statement has no interest in fitting Kerr's system, because c) he wants to be a lead guy on a team that already has one of the best lead guys that ever lived. He has not been interested in or willing to pursue Kerr's requested development goals in summers. Kerr wanted ball-handling and all JK's videos were post moves. So I don't see him as Kerr's "failure. I see him as a square peg with a lot of ego. To "develop" JK on JK's terms would be to change systems and put Steph out to pasture. I'd draw that line in the sand too.

  4. Other than that, GS has been a high end winning team for a bunch of years. Low draft picks don't "develop" most of the time for any coach on any team. Expecting Steve Kerr to develop:

  Patrick Baldwin

  Ryan Rollins

  Nico Mannion

  Justinian Jessup

  Alen Smailagic!!!!!!

  Jacob Evans

  Eric Paschall

  Jordan Bell

  into NBA rotation players is putting a pretty high bar on what you would think is good young player development.

  5. This is professional basketball at the highest level. If you need "more help" you are responsible for finding it yourself. The NBA is, and always has been, a league for self-starters.

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• Eric Apricot (13 ♡):

  I’d like to hear a coach who *has* been good developing talent when trying to *continue* winning. (I mean Kerr oversaw the flourishing and growth of the greatest young core in history Steph / Klay / Dray / Barnes but unfairly doesn’t get credit for that.)

  The last one who I noticed celebrated as the anti-Kerr was Mike Malone for developing Braun. But then he was fired for not developing youth and playing Russ to win now.

  So my assumption until proven otherwise is that no one is good at it and everyone complains about their coach all the time and thinks the other coach is better.

• Kelly Wheaton (13 ♡):

  🎆 Happy 4th Everyone!

  I watched all the interviews for Summer League. I am always interested to get a feel for who they are as people, not just BB players. First impression is the FO is definitely looking for TEAM PLAYERS with high BB IQ, as well as hopefully some that will make it to NBA status.

  Coleman Hawkins has been on my radar a long time. Looking forward to see him on the court. I liked Isaiah Mobley interview. Marques Bolden has also been on my radar for awhile. Bummed about Chance McMillian's literally bad break. A local boy (Vallejo) I'd like to see make good. Down to earth. And of course Alex Toohey. Very nice prescence. Looking forward to seeing him on court too.

  Impressed with coach Lainn Wilson at least in the interviews. The Warriors Summer League/G league have proven to be a worthy incubator.

  And starting tomorrow, the Valkyries get to prove if they can win on the road. 5 out of the next 6 are away games.

  As for the trading I need a chill pill and wake me up when there's a definite signing! 😂

• thesarunas (11 ♡):

  What did Kuminga do over the season that was so egregious? Played well, got hurt, got benched post-JB trade. Then showed some cojones in the playoffs with Curry out while most of the rest wilted?

2025 Free Agency Day 4: Kuminga trade with SAC and DET discussed; Horford leaning towards GSW; courting Lillard

• TwoRingTest (18 ♡):

  I don't mean this very negatively, but I'm a little surprised at the hand-wringing here that the Dubs haven't made their move (if they make one) so far.

  Dunleavy got Butler on a very reasonable deal by waiting, and not going after bad deals (Markkanen). He got Toohey and Richards by waiting (trading down) ... jury's still out on whether that's going to be successful, but it's certainly not an obvious mistake.

  To me, the fact that he hasn't lunged at any of the rumored trades is a huge positive. Having the patience to wait things out until you get a transaction that actually improves the team is a skill, and an important part of a GMs job.

  We have the counter-example of the Kings to look at. They tweak, tweak, tweak, because they have an impatient owner. It's fairly debatable whether they are any better (they could have had Doncic, and did have Hali).

  I think we need to wait for the paint to dry a bit before we start worrying about the results of this offseason.

• Captain Jack (13 ♡):

  The Hawks’ front office “could not believe” the Pelicans were including next year’s unprotected 1st-round pick in their draft day trade, per

  @FearTheBrown

  They even called Joe Dumars directly to triple check, and the Pelicans GM confirmed his interest. (h/t

  @YourManDevine)

  ---------------------------------------------

  Not news... but LOL

• SabWrites (11 ♡):

  "Some Dubs FO members want to retain JK in case Giannis or Lebron is possible at a later date."

  Okay which DNHQer got a job in the Warriors FO?

• Abaddon (11 ♡):

  Joe Dumars gets a call asking "REALLY!?!??!" - and apparently doesn't think twice about the fact that the other side felt the need to triple check....

• Captain Jack (10 ♡):

  I'm so glad Slater has come out and basically said the Warriors said f**k no to the Saric/Carter offer by the Kings

• void (10 ♡):

  soo boorinngg... sigh

  but hey, I wanna thank ya'll -- every time I have the urge to click some BS clickbait article I just come here cause I know if anything actually interesting happened it'll be here in the comments.

• Sleepy Freud (10 ♡):

  Jordan career .327, Kobe career .329, etc...

  "Player X who is 35 years old simply has to get much better at this one thing he has never been very good at" doesn't seem like a particularly serious plan.

• hammystyle (8 ♡):

  The Alex Toohey comp that I finally landed on: Maxi Kleber

  I'm enough of a draft nerd, that I remember Maxi Kleber as a prospect and remeber thinking he' was an interesting stretch 4 type. At the time I think he was about 6'9 barefoot, 6'11 wingspan and 220 lbs. (I can't find anything to substantiate this, but that's my recollection.) He had a reputation as a quality defensive prospect and a very mobile if not explosive athlete. Kleber came back to the league at age 26, weighed 240 and was a pretty well formed big 3 and D guy.

  All that lines up pretty well for Toohey. He might be an 1 or 1.5" shorter, but the weight and wingspan are similar at that age. The way he carries it seems similar. Not super bulky, but stout bottom half and maybe stout enough to one day bang with a C.

  The real similarity is the way they move. It's not super bouncy or explosive, but they mix some nice fluidity with IQ to get to the right spots on D pretty quickly. It's why Kleber was able to make it as a spacing 5. He's not a lock down perimeter defender but he can move his feet well enough on switches and he gets to the right spots to disrupt PNR plays.

  The shot form is also pretty similar. We'll see if Toohey ever makes it well enough, but his form is quick and clean.