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Bridges mocked to the Dubs in Vecenie's latest

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In a hypothetical world where we only get one of these next year, which would you rather have?

1. Kuminga improves his handle on drives & reduces his turnovers

2. Kuminga becomes a league average 3pt shooter

3. Wiggins becomes a 39% 3pt shooter again

4. Klay can effectively guard a starter on every team

5. Moody gets to play 30mins per game

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4

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2 is the most important to me

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#3 is low hanging fruit... the question is whether he will defend consistently well, and most importantly, will Andrew Wiggins be a Warrior...

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Jarrett Allen, Nic Claxton, or Clint Capela. Would any of these guys be solid 5s to add? I think we need to consider a long 5 like them to get back into contention.

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Robert Williams buy low trade and let Celebrini cook

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I don't even know what assets we'd have for a buy low type of trade. We have some young pieces on rookie deals or old guys on bigger salaries. We don't really have any mid level salaries outside of Loon and GP2

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Give 'em CP3 or something.

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Jun 5·edited Jun 5

They can partially guarantee CP3's contract for any amount of money they want up to 30 million from what I understand, so they could guarantee it for 13 million or however much Williams is making.

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Jun 5·edited Jun 5

Wiggs and a protected first for Rob and Thybulle works in the trade machine.

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If we're really buying low I was thinking something along the lines of Loon+ protected 1st for Time Lord lol

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They’re all variants on TJD, and I’m great with the one we have. I think the one we have already has a more advanced skillset (passing, e.g.) than Capela or Claxton.

Allen has better ball skills than the other two (plus much better FT shooting) so has some appeal, but not sure we have the assets to get him. I’d probably trade Wiggs straight up for Allen, if they were game.

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Jun 5·edited Jun 6

I think Wiggs for Allen is an interesting deal (that I've been occasionally pondering since I read something about the Cavs needing a true wing defender)

Allen is probably a better player, but Wiggs plays a more valuable position

not sure who says no to that one

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Jun 4·edited Jun 4

With TJD coming on, I don't see the 5 as a real weakness anymore. Not a strength, either, but Loon, TJD, Dray is a very serviceable rotation.

To me, the most significant roster hole is a good catch and shoot wing. We have a lot of meh to poor shooting wings.

Ideally, you'd like either Wiggs to get back to 2022 form, or Moody to step into that role, but the jury is still out on whether either of these things can happen.

I'm sure someone will mention Klay, but he's a roughly league average shooter these days (TS% 57.6 last season). Just streaky as hell. Plus, I kind of expect him to leave.

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Jun 5·edited Jun 5

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/wiggian01.html

Andrew Wiggins, since the beginning of the 2020/2021 season is 477/1246 (38.2%) from 3. That is inclusive of his horrible start of this year, as well as his struggles at the tail end of the 2022/2023 season. If you want to parse it differently, he's been a 38% or better 3pt shooter every year since 2020/2021 except this past year (and was over 38% from December through April this past year). He doesn't really need to get back to his 2022 shooting form, it's still here.

He does need to get his conditioning/strength and defensive intensity/timing back up. And stop flubbing layups.

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Wiggins is more of a case of being available, I'll grant you. He's been OK.

Defense has slipped a bit, though.

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Do you think loon dawg can come back to pre-last season form?

I got no take with his injury history. Season will jaut have to play out and see it.

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Yeah we need to replace out wings but also need a C thats bigger then 6'9/10 and thin as a rail.

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Jun 4·edited Jun 4

All three guys listed are around 6’-10”, and Claxton is thin as a rail (about 30 lbs. lighter than TJD).

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Jun 5·edited Jun 5

yeah ... I've seen Allen (who I believe people think of as a 'true' center) listed as 6'9".

Capella is the only on this list who has some serious muscle. Give me TJD at $2 mil a year, rather than Allen at $20 mil or Claxton between $5 and $12 mil a yr. Capella, I just haven't seen enough lately to have an opinion, but I doubt he's worth $20 mil a yr to us.

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Klay is staying. I don't know what the final numbers will be but it is destiny. This is a Captain Jack guarantee.

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Haha, another question. My take is that klay can be a serviceable regular season player who can win you some to many games, but when the defense intensity ratchets up in the playoffs, you can't count on him.

Agree or disagree? This is also just a general question to dubnation

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Good Klay might contribute to wins, but I don’t think he’s really winning games anymore. Even on the rare-ish games where he’s scoring big and efficiently, he gives too much back on defense.

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Good summary assessment of the situation.

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With a name like "Bridges" he's got to be a glue guy. Right?

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I voted for Reeves but if I could switch to Bridges, I would.

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Can we fully trusst him to avoid suspensions? Especially if he cantilever alone.

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Does your butt ever ress?

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That is really a stupendous pun collection.

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Jun 4Liked by Eric Apricot

Okay ya'll I did the thing! https://dnhq.draft-vote.xyz/

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Alright... so #1 looks like a legit ball handler. #2 has terrible floater form, #3 looks long and lanky, probably a solid defender who can't shoot... #4 & #6 look like good shooters, but #5 is CLEARLY the most athletic of the bunch capable of flying above the rim to tomahawk defenders into posterized oblivion. #5 is obviously the pick... but probably won't fall to us.

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Jun 4·edited Jun 4

lol took me a sec to figure this out 😜

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Jun 4Liked by Eric Apricot

Not sure if it was posted here but TK wrote an article comparing JK to Jaylen Brown

- I think it has already been mentioned on DNHQ that JK in year three at 21 yrs is better than JB was in year 3 at age 22

- but JB took a huge leap in year 4 as he went to nearly 34 mins a game of playing time

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5535388/2024/06/03/warriors-jonathan-kuminga-jaylen-brown-playoffs/?source=user_shared_articleJonathan Kuminga’s Jaylen Brown comp, more size and other playoff points for the Warriors

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I wouldn't mention them in the same breath. I would swap players in a heartbeat if it were possible.

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Jun 5·edited Jun 5

They’re mentioned in the same breath because they profile similarly as versatile, crazy-athletic 6’-7” scoring wings.

Implied in the comparison is that Jaylen at 27 has realized all the athletic potential he showed as a 21 year old, whereas Jonathan is … a 21 year old. But it’s worth noting that at comparable ages (20-21), JK was the much better player of the two: much better scorer, FT shooter, rebounder, and passer.

Whether anyone would trade one for the other is not really relevant since our guy makes $7.6M next season, where their guy makes $50M (escalating to over $60M).

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If it makes you feel good to explain it your way, great. Me, I'm not buying.

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I've always thought of JK as more of a Kawhi Leonard comp.

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For me, the comp was always Jimmy Butler and his demonstrable preference for mid range J's in year 3 makes me feel more and more comfortable with that.

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Jun 4Liked by Eric Apricot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qr5AieFPxXs

Apparently we brought in Sam Griffin for a workout. His shot is butter. I'm a fan.

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Shot 35.1%, 39%, 33.3%, 32% and 39.2% in his 5 year career from deep but aside from his freshman year where we shot 71.9% from the line he was at the 83-85% range the rest of his time in college. Gives me hope his shot will translate at the next level.

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https://twitter.com/TheWarriorsTalk/status/1797764098266218967

Need JK to start shooting 35% (minimum) from distance on 3 or 4 attempts a game, up that FT to 80% and come back with a tighter handle. That's reasonable expectations for year 4, right? I think that's pretty doable.

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Jun 4·edited Jun 4

I don't think that is likely to happen, personally. He takes wide open threes, there are only so many of those that are available. If his shot actually does improve enough to the point where defenses feel the need to try to guard it, his percentage will probably fall again. If they don't feel the need to try to guard it, I don't really think the difference between 32% and 35% on a couple attempts a game is that meaningful.

I don't think he looks like a guy that is going to be a shooter for awhile if ever. I think the most crucial development for his game is that he needs to figure out how to rebound the ball, otherwise he's a non-rebounding, non-shooting 4 and those types of players are tough to win with.

A return to his previous on ball defense would be nice at least, he fell off last season but we've seen the flashes.

EDIT: I agree that a tightened handle would help him out a lot.

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I tend to agree with you. I think he needs a lot more improvement in his overall game. He is still a disappearing act. I don't think he's got the BBIQ we need to win with. He should be a nice trade chip whenever a coveted player might appear.

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If his shot actually does improve enough to the point where defenses feel the need to try to guard it, his percentage will probably fall again... but it this attention creates all sorts of other good opportunities for himself and his teammates (as TRT details).

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Jun 5·edited Jun 5

If Kuminga got to the point where he forced a defender to stay on him at the 3 point line, that would be huge for court spacing So, I think this is a little negative.

If he pushes his unguarded 3 point shooting up to 35-37% or so, and the defense is forced to guard him at the 3 point line, that's a win, and probably a big one.

It gives more space for other shooters and drivers, and it gives Kuminga a chance to drive by his man and get to the rim. In reality, it's no different than any other player (Moody, say). If you force the defense to guard you closely at the 3 point line, you open up opportunities elsewhere on the court, even if your personal shooting numbers go down.

Whether he can or not: Who knows? In February, I though it was a sure thing. By the end of the year, not so much.

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6.5 rebounds per 36 (career) is not “non-rebounding.”

It’s a better rebounding rate than LeBron, KD, or Jimmy Butler at the same age.

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Idk any of those three would be huge. All three would be 2K shit lol

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He started the season stinking from the line and managed to bring it up to 74% in the second half of the season. I think he ends up being a career 78%-80% type of guy. I'm just worried about his handles the most. It's holding him back from being a legit star caliber type of player

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Totally agree. His handle has improved a lot, but it's still not nearly good enough. I think his game would blossom dramatically if he could use his dribble not only to get to spots, but to do it in rhythm and with a bit of space.

Watching, say, Jalen Williams is sort of eye-opening. He's almost surely a better pure shooter than JK anyway, but he also just dribbles into much, much cleaner looks. It's maybe an unfair comparison, since JK is bigger and likely to land a notch higher on the positional spectrum, but even incremental improvements in that direction would really help his other skills play up.

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Jun 4·edited Jun 4

Just looked up his percentages over the years: 33%, 37%, and 32% on just over 2 shots a game.

Definitely doable if he focuses on it the summer.

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Didn't talk about his defense because I suspect everyone will look better on that end than they did this year if we make the necessary changes this offseason.

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Jun 4·edited Jun 4

#Bridges

Jeebers, if we got him, I'd say we hit the 50+ pick lottery.

Jones would be my second pick. He seems like one of those all-around guys that needs to pop with one skill, and he'd be a lot more valuable (longish shot at age 23, I know). The size is very intriguing. It could all fall apart though, if he has no shooting (don't know).

TBH, from what little I know, I'd be pretty happy with any of these guys at 52.

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#Bridges gets my nod just for the defense, although Reeves' better offense and playmaking would be welcome too ( his advanced stats are here btw: https://barttorvik.com/playerstat.php?year=2024&p=Antonio Reeves&t=Kentucky )

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#Reeves promises to bring a dynamic scoring presence to the second unit, something that is currently lacking.

Bridges looks like a slightly older Moses Moody, and Jones looks like a TJD clone. Crawford could be compared to a poor man's version of JK.

I guess Bridges would be my second choice in case Reeves is gone, he's the type of player that's easy to plug into multiple lineups.

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I wish I could change my pick from Reeves to Bridges. Reeves is a ghost on D. We need some tough D players if we are going to get anywhere.

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The Cleveland Cavaliers received permission to interview Minnesota Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori for franchise’s head coaching job, sources tell ESPN. Nori has also talked with the Lakers for vacancy there. Nori is an Ohio native.

https://x.com/wojespn/status/1797692929722691714

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Jun 3Liked by Eric Apricot

Eric, I just want to say thank you for putting these together the last 5 years. Before this I didn’t pay attention to the draft at all, partly because I discounted any pick that was far outside of the lottery. This has been a really fun format for learning more about a bunch of players, getting a chance to form an opinion and be excited about the draft, and then following the various players throughout their career as well. There’s no way I’d end up digging into the draft to this extent without you doing these tournaments in this format, but it’s a blast.

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Coincidentally I've become a draft expert (only in the months of May and June) since 5 years ago!

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author

Thank you for your enthusiasm! I honestly wasn't that much of a draft buff when I started doing these in 2020. Given the historically bad first-round drafting by GSW (and historically lucky second-round drafting), the GSW draft just felt like a complete crapshoot.

I started the Tourney because it was the pandemic and we had time, but also because I was aggressively in denial that GSW was going to take Wiseman and I was hoping hoping hoping GSW would trade down, and the Tourney was going to have us all ready for that possibility.

This is the first Tourney that has explored the late second round, and call me crazy, but I think these are pretty good prospects, with the major issue that they are older and are less likely to keep improving their game.

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Jun 3·edited Jun 4

Assuming “Jalen Bridges” is a real person and not just a generic NBA-sounding name spat out by a bot: give me the guy who’s 6’-7” in bare feet (so, 6’-8”), pulls ~8 boards per 40, plays tough defense, and puts up ~40% 3FG and ~80% FT.

#BRIDGES

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From GreenDray above:

> Bridges looks like a slightly older Moses Moody

I can't believe you neglected to take advantage of this opportunity to remind folks that Moses Moody is still a year younger than many of these players. I know everybody has off days, but maybe you're just getting too old for this blogging game...

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Moses Moody is now 14 years younger than Davion Mitchell.

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Jalen Bridges; a figment of Apricot designed to be the platonic ideal of a 2025 replacement-level NBA rotation player; perfectly ordinary in name, stature, skills & stats in order to maximize appeal without seeming out of the ordinary.

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Jun 4·edited Jun 4

Chat GPT 5 has joined the draft

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author
Jun 4·edited Jun 4Author

Okay, I asked Perplexity to create a believable fake scouting report for the #52 pick and here it is. I think it actually created Jalen Bridges.

((

Here is a scouting report for a fake player name as the #52 draft pick in the NBA draft:

## Scouting Report: Jalen Ngumezi, Wing (Michigan State)

Ngumezi is an intriguing 3-and-D wing prospect with good size, length and defensive potential. At 6'7" 210 lbs with a 7'0" wingspan, he has the physical tools to guard multiple positions.

### Strengths

- Excellent defender who can use his length to disrupt passing lanes

- Good overall athlete with the lateral quickness to stay in front of defenders

- Consistent outside shooter who hit 38% from three in his final season

- High basketball IQ and feel for the game

- Solid rebounder and effort player who competes on both ends

### Weaknesses

- Needs to continue adding strength to his frame

- Struggles at times to create his own shot off the dribble

- Doesn't have an elite first step or blow-by speed in halfcourt

- More of a straight-line driver, has trouble changing directions

- Upside may be limited as a role player rather than star scorer

While he may not have superstar upside, Ngumezi's two-way ability could allow him to carve out a role as a valuable 3-and-D wing in the NBA. His size, length, shooting stroke and defensive potential should make him a solid rotation player early in his career. With continued development, he has the makeup of a potential starter down the road.

))

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*distant rumbles are heard everywhere as a new island emerges from the depths of the ocean with pristine beaches and fertile ground...

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Jun 3·edited Jun 3

As others have said, this is a competitive group. I have a feeling Bridges at least will be taken way before the Dubs pick. In a vacuum though, I just want to get an NBA player in the 2nd round. I think Reeves is an NBA player. Shooting with size is the skill I most believe in. And Reeves has it. I still would prefer #Bridges to Reeves, but I'd be happy with either.

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Jun 3·edited Jun 3

If Bridges is taken a few picks earlier, the Warriors might be able to do something like renounce their rights to CP3 and trade their pick, cash and maybe the rights to Garuba (who is actually younger than Bridges) to move up. Once they get out from over the 2nd apron, there will be a lot of ways to get a deal done for a player they really want.

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I like the Defensive skill set coupled with the strong off-ball movement and spot up shooting, but most intrigued by the Hi B-ball IQ profile #Bridges

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