Ladies and Gentlemen, i should be paid to assist in GM duties. You get my insights for free. IMO Len would have been perfect on this squad. The perfect player to have saved Green and Looney from taking too much pounding inside during the regular season. Good re-sign for the Kangz
———————————————————
MarkJonesESPN
@MarkJonesESPN
7h
Listening to
@Matt_Barnes22
on the Warriors vs Hornets on ESPN
Talking about Golden St still needing size going forward.
I’m told that the Warriors kicked the tires on Alex Len during free agency. So did the Cavs. 💯
Gui has the advantage of playing professional ball since he was 17 years old. Lower level of competition, but he will have learned to play against bigger, older players in a way that Miller probably has not.
I prefer to flip it and say that Gui is coming along nicely. He still gets lost on defense, he needs to rebound better, and his handle needs work. But, the energy is there, his shot looks way better than I remember from the first summer league, and he can pass.
It's not impossible that he can be a Draymond-lite by the end of next year. More likely, he's just going to be a depth 3/4 for now, but I'll take that.
Ha ha! I was totally thinking Gui reminds me of Danny Rojas and I could see him saying “GuiSantos!GuiSantos!GuiSantos!” as he dribbles the ball down the court.
No. A good two way candidate but not a steal. Respectfully disagree on Miller. Miller is a good complementary player . Would have been perfect in Portland honestly (if Dame stays) but he’s surrounded with limited feel dudes right now in SL. Same thing with Jabari Smith playing next to Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr last year WOOF. However givr him a chance to play with Lamelo and Hayward and hes gonna look exponentially better
This was almost entirely a joke on my part, I've not done anywhere near the analysis on Miller/Santos to be able to determine who is the better long term prospect.
Probably, but not guaranteed. He looked lost today. He was probably overwhelmed by the Warrior pace, the product of the water being spiked with...?? /s
Jul 6, 2023·edited Jul 6, 2023Liked by Eric Apricot
Just finished watching the game on tape. Really enjoyed Podz - he'd be a lot more effective if his teammates could get on the same wavelength. Reminds me a bit of Rick Barry - obviously not as skilled but with plenty of tools and capable of shooting daggers into the eyes of his teammates if they fail to go where he expects them to go. Of course, I don't think Rick Barry would ever attempt a one-legged runner from 3 while wide open :)
He'll struggle a fair amount with the regular Dubs as he deals with the speed of the NBA game, but he's shown a lot of hustle and appears to have a real BBIQ. He had a great sequence on defense in the third quarter. First he got into the passing lane to tip a pass out of bounds. On the subsequent inbounds pass, he deflected Bouknight's pass back out of bounds. Hornets quickly discussed a new inbounds play and Podz backed off of the inbounder to double team the intended recipient of the inbounds pass. Good instincts there to give Hornets a different look.
Best thing I see is his 3pt release - it's really, really quick, and he's adept at getting shots up in small windows. I would like to see him be more aggressive and less selective in a couple of games (Steph Curry full launch mode) and take 25 shots or so just to see what it looks like under high pressure. Podz looks like a smart team defender, but his lateral movement on defense is a caution - particularly when you can compare it side by side with Quinones, Podz looks pretty slow. I'm going to be very sad if GS doesn't hold on to Lester.
Kudos to all the starters though in this one - 30 for 55 from the field for your starting 5 is pretty impressive, even in a summer game.
On the other hand, he might have been told, “We know you can shoot. We want to see you make the right reads, take care of the ball and execute the offense.”
I was just scouring the Wiki NBA Draft Boards looking at who the Lakers had drafted throughout Rob Pelinkas tenure (to try and reply to a sub thread) and bou oh boy that 2020 draft will always live in Infamy for who was drafted immediately after the Warriors 3 picks:
Pick 1: James Wiseman-Lamelo Ball drafted with the next pick
Pick 2: Nico Mannion-Isaiah Joe drafted with the next pick (this the one that still angers me the most)
Pick 3: Justinian Jessup (had completely forgotten about him until seeing his name listed just now)- kenyon Martin Jr drafted with the next pick
As much of an all time banger that 2012 draft was (Draymond, Ezelli, Barnes) that 2020 draft was absolutely brutal because it almost made no rhyme or reason in how we drafted and we ended up with the absolute worst possiblE picks (and not even hindsight is 2020 cause i lost my collective doodoo on this board when we bypassed Isaiab Joe for Mannion who was absolute trash every game i saw U of A play that season)
This is not exactly an endorsement for Myers. These things have a way of coming back at us in hindsight. Personally, I was not behind Myers' draft picks for several years.
I imagine you remember that Ball was a risky pick at the time too. His shot looked broken, he wasn't all that great playing in Oz, and there was drama around him because of his old man — but he had a lot of promise too. With 20/20 hindsight we probably should have reached for Haliburton but that's easy to say now.
And as someone who publicly posted against the Wiseman pick and had Haliburton and Okongwu as their top picks, I choose not to victory lap because I realize this is mostly luck.
I hedged at the time. I said it was between Wiseman and Haliburton and it depended on whether we wanted to go big or small. But put up against the wall, I would go for the big fellow. We did, and I was all in on Wiseman. Oh well. I'm glad I'm not a GM.
The best thing about your Big Board site is that everyone who didn't post there (or at least somewhere public) has no right to brag about their supposed insight, and probably everyone who DID post there has no right to brag because we all have stinker picks in our list. Putting your predictions on the record teaches you humility quickly.
I never advocate for Ball and could see why the Warriors took Wiseman. We were split all that offseason but Ball was not the popular choice: Anthony Edwards was. Some of us (me) wanted a trade back with Chicago, Atlanta, or New York. Some wanted Deni. Quite a few wabted Halliburton (shoutout to them) and a few others were more than fine with Wiseman. My focus is solely on that draft as a whole. We absolutely pooched it no two ways about it.
I'll cop to the fact that I wanted NO part of Lamelo and the circus that is the Ball family. Yes, he was obviously talented. But I wasn't convinced he'd develop and await his turn patiently -- something was very likely to have to happen with the Ws.
I wanted Halliburton on a trade-down, but none of us knows if that was ever really there.
In the end, I was hopeful when the Dubs drafted Wiseman. It felt like a huge gamble, but with pundits throwing around comparisons like David Robinson, there was nothing to do but hope.
Can you imagine Lamelo in the hands of Popovic or Kerr? The coach and the system can make all the difference to certain players. Jordan's teams have mostly flopped.
He must have drawn the short straw to be assigned to play in the CA Classic. The Kings want to impress their fans in the building as well as ESPN's audience. Hope he doesn't get hurt.
Well, I hope they'll be careful with him, but I kind of like that he did it. It's a helpful measuring stick for what a good NBA player looks like comparatively. So before I get super excited with Quiñones getting 30 or whatever, I'll ask: How did he look compared to Murray?
So as I fantasize about our super duper future group:
PG: Podz
Wing: Moody
Wing: Gui
Big: Kuminga
Big: TJD
6th man: Lester
If these all reach my fairly high, but reasonable and hopeful expectations, I’d be very bullish on their ability to be useful to the current 5-man core and then eventually be pretty rad on their own.
I have no idea how good Podz, TJD, and Lester will be as non of them have played much against NBA competition. My guess is that Moody's floor is Alec Burks, but that might be his ceiling as well. Nothing wrong with that. Kuminga will be as good as his willingness to work and take coaching advice allows. In 3 years, he could be an all star or playing in Europe.
How far out in the future? I'd swap Gui with Les. Is Les supposed to be a shooting guard or a point guard? I guess I can't think that far ahead because I have this feeling Kerr might not renew. Since he wants to play with Joy, I hope it's a joyful year for all concerned.
No superstar there unless JK breaks out. Even then, they'd need more. However, Wiggs and Loon could still be in their prime when Steph, Klay, and Draymond hang 'em up, which would help a bunch.
Moody, Kuminga, and Lester I definitely believe can be starters and maybe more. Among Gui, podz, and TJD, I hope they can all be valuable rotation players, but I’d be surprised if more than one is ever a starter.
I don't want to stop anyone from fantasizing... But at least half the guys aren't going to end up what we optimistically hope. Even if they do better than expected, that would probably still be a terrible team if that's your best 6.
I'd like to be wrong, but at this point it seems pretty pointless to have any expectation for the "post-Curry" era. That hope may come eventually, but probably only if we score another top-5 lottery pick and it ends up being a winner.
On the first point though, I think it's fair to be hopeful that some of those guys can help the current core. I mean Moody and Kuminga already contributed to a championship team, and are only going to get better. It will be fun to watch Podz, and I hope to see TJD in action soon. Give Lester a spot!
We don't need a big for the playoffs, we just need one to take stress off of looney and Draymond during the regular season, what we do need is for Draymond to be aggressively looking to score in the playoffs, fresh legs should help with that.
Do you take in aging, wear and tear, plus tougher competition, younger and more athletic players when you project what the Dubs will be like next season and after? I hope you are not a betting man.
As far as bigs go, every analyst I've read thinks the Warriors need a big or two to help this team. The only question I have is who will they be.
And we need that big in the playoffs too. Remember what OPJ did for us in the 2022 playoffs? He hit the offensive boards for us in a big way and generally made a difference. Last year the one good game JMG had vs the Lakers, that 10 or 12 minutes really helped. We need more of that.
They were not bigs in my book. Neither plays like a big in the paint. They are undersized and morphed into 3 ball shooters. Warriors just won't change.
Ideally, TJD can be good enough to eat minutes without the wheels coming off (CP3 is an ideal fit with him. Not only does it take stress off Loondawg and Draymond, he gets developmental minutes instead of languishing on the bench like PBJ.
PBJ was a lot younger than TJD, and honestly seemed like a "I am tall and can shoot 3s ok but have no other aspect to my game atm". I wish we still had PBJ to develop, but I think the reality of paying him 1st round salary for a long-term project probably didn't make sense in our luxury cap world.
I don't have much more hope for TJD (not really based on anything other than you should never have hope for a #57 pick), but I think a lot of it comes down to that he is cheaper.
The money angle and time needed to develop him are both legit points.
I do think PBJ has more than just being able to shoot the 3. He apparently has a high basektball IQ, knows where to be on court, can pass, etc. All moot from a Warrior fan perspective now.
I want to tell yall that no show has made me as happy watching it as Warrior does. That show takes like 30 different characters and makes them all really interesting. It doesn’t hurt that i have a legit follower count on Twitter of 19 people and two of those 19 people that follow me are Kieran Bew (Sergeant Bill O Hara) and Langley Kirkwood (Mayor Buckley)
[Charania] RFA Matisse Thybulle will sign a three-year contract offer sheet in the $33 million range with the Dallas Mavericks, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.
I like what I see from the Lakers, so far. Schifino and Castleton look like good drafts for them. The team plays very differently than the Dubs, more controlled, less frenetic. The pace of the Dubs is too fast. This leads to TOs and fouls and is very dependent on shooting prowess, not playmaking. This was the problem with Poole.
I love frenetic pace they play and the assist-driven basketball. I think the key (and problem) is to find the right guys for it. The combination of skill, effort, BBIQ, selflessness and commitment to defense that Kerr looks for isn’t easy to find. Ty and #40 both had it and jumped in front of both the kids and even vets during the season.
In Podz and TJD, it clearly looks like they were looking for guys who have a balance of all 5, even if it means getting less elite skill or athleticism.
In Poole’s case, he had skill, effort and flashes of BBIQ (he’s young!), but I think there are legitimate questions about his selflessness and, to put it mildly, his commitment to defense.
Amount the kids, I’d put Moody at the top of the heap as currently demonstrating the best combination of skill, effort, BBIQ, selflessness and commitment to defense. This doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll ultimately be the best of the bunch, but I think it means he’s the surest bet to fit in Kerr’s style long-term.
There is no way the Dubs can play at the pace of our Summer League team. Not only is it inelegant, it's chaotic and doesn't really develop a player's skills. If they are looking for cardio conditioning, they've got it.
The Lakers are the absolute kings of identifying talent in the draft and scouring for undrafted FAs. Thats why i was afraid they were going to be the ones drafting Jaquez (ended going one pick later)
I don't have any evidence to counter this, but is that really the case? I feel like what Lakers have is that an unusually high % of players love the Lakers and want to play for them. Austin Reeves for example, I think his agents basically pulled a "we won't play for anyone else than the Lakers, so don't draft him" move. Then Lakers look like geniuses for getting him undrafted, but should we really credit their FO for that?
I mean GSW are much maligned for have a non-effective #2 pick in Wiseman, but Lakers got D'Angelo #2 in 2015 and Lonzo #2 in 2017, both guys are ok but disappointments for a #2 pick as well. I guess I just can't think of a lot of recent amazing Lakers draft picks, but I also try to not think too much about the Lakers so I could be missing things for sure.
DLO, Brandon Ingram, Lonzo, all #2 picks. Julius Randle #7, & Zubac 2nd round #32. All are with other teams and starting. The Lebron and Davis acquisitions cleaned them out and they are still in rebuilding mode with only 1 ring in this time period. I guess it depends how you look at all this. Lakers have had major shakeups since the demise of Phil Jackson and his triangle system. Makes our team look like the rock of Gibraltar.
I believe yhey traded Lonzo plus 2019-2021 draft picks for Anthony Davis. But od all the players theuve drafted all of them are on an NBA roster currently
I agree that the Lakers might have extra capital since they're the Lakers, but I think it's fair to credit them for playing to that strength. Like, if you transplanted the apparent ability the Wolves FO has shown onto the Lakers, you get... the 2013 Lakers or something?
"we won't play for anyone else than the Lakers, so don't draft him" On what planet does a guy like Austin Reaves have the juice to say that? He's not a Wemby. If a team wanted him, they'd have taken him, and he can play for that team or go overseas, his choice. Especially since he could have been taken in the 2nd round.
The article about I think is behind a WSJ paywall, but in the end it's not about Reaves having some kind of supernatural pull. If anyone was really confident he would be as good as he has been, they would have picked him anyway. But as a 45+ pick, those guys generally never get any contract, a 2-way at best. Reportedly Reaves agents said they don't want that. If you have a 45+ pick and the option is to pick some guy who probably isn't going to make it and also will be actively angry about you picking him, it's a pretty easy decision to pass on him
It sounds like TJD may have gone a similar route, saying only wanted to be drafted by a team that would give him an NBA contract, which may have led to Warriors getting him so late.
I think I'm beginning to see the method in the madness of trading off of PBJ and RR.
Getting below the second apron is going to be pretty important for retaining LQ and maybe even Gui next summer.
I'm not entirely sure we keep LQ this year (he could get signed away, the way Ty was), but regardless, next year, we need to have a plan to retain him. Even if he's an RFA next summer, he could get signed away, unless we get below the second apron and can offer him a partial MLE.
We might sign him to a 2-year main roster minimum deal now, but somehow I'm guessing that's not the Dubs plan.
Additionally, I don’t think they abandoned two timelines like people are saying, but just tried to close the gap between the two timelines by getting rid of guys who were paid too much for being so far off. (Wiseman, PBJ and RR) and keeping/getting guys who are closer to being ready and are cheaper; MM, JK, Podz, TJD and LQ
With CP3 "running the 2nd unit" I'm hoping for some interesting player combinations that will give the 2nd unit some swagger.
JP, though talented, couldn't find a way to run the 2nd unit. It took the coaches too long to accept this, improve the stagger of substitutions, and let one of the guards run plays and let JP shoot. They moved JP to the starting lineup and of course his scoring improved as he received elite passing. Sadly, that didn't stop his occasional erratic passes or odd decisions. JP's off to a great future, but I bring it up because I feel that in spite of it all, the 2nd unit isn't all bad.
For a time, Klay was doing well with the 2nd unit as the main shooter, freely bombing 3s and serving some passes.
The 2nd Unit's main weakness was defense. In the substitution phase, you'd see Loon or Draymond and one of the guards stay around as the bench came in. Eventually they'd sit and it'd be all 2nd unit until some first unit subs re-entered. We really missed Wiggins giving us some size and 2-way play while the centers rested. I haven't looked up any records, but I seem to recall JaMychal Green mostly subbed into the first unit, not the second.
Sometimes when the 2nd unit had a majority of bench players they looked more comfortable running simpler plays that could succeed against the opponent's bench.
The good news for CP3 is we have GP2 and Wiggins back and some inexpensive and teachable (I hope) youngsters. If we keep CP3, I believe we can do something with our 2nd unit, regardless of the configuration.
Agreed. I think they still see young, relatively cheap players as the key to contending now and leaving some kind of window open. Just not 4 year dev projects.
Ladies and Gentlemen, i should be paid to assist in GM duties. You get my insights for free. IMO Len would have been perfect on this squad. The perfect player to have saved Green and Looney from taking too much pounding inside during the regular season. Good re-sign for the Kangz
———————————————————
MarkJonesESPN
@MarkJonesESPN
7h
Listening to
@Matt_Barnes22
on the Warriors vs Hornets on ESPN
Talking about Golden St still needing size going forward.
I’m told that the Warriors kicked the tires on Alex Len during free agency. So did the Cavs. 💯
Just trade Lacob, Dunleavy, and Kerr for JZAlvarado and call it a day! 😊
Gui Santos is exactly five months older than Brandon Miller. Brandon Miller was the second pick in the NBA draft while Gui Santos was the 55th pick.
And yet . . . he completely outplayed Brandon MIller in this game . . . have we found another steal?
Also why can I totally picture Gui screaming "BASKETBALL IS LIFE" as he runs around with a basketball in his arms.
Gui has the advantage of playing professional ball since he was 17 years old. Lower level of competition, but he will have learned to play against bigger, older players in a way that Miller probably has not.
I prefer to flip it and say that Gui is coming along nicely. He still gets lost on defense, he needs to rebound better, and his handle needs work. But, the energy is there, his shot looks way better than I remember from the first summer league, and he can pass.
It's not impossible that he can be a Draymond-lite by the end of next year. More likely, he's just going to be a depth 3/4 for now, but I'll take that.
Ha ha! I was totally thinking Gui reminds me of Danny Rojas and I could see him saying “GuiSantos!GuiSantos!GuiSantos!” as he dribbles the ball down the court.
Like a pokemon?
No, like Danny Rojas! https://youtu.be/KuM8VGvBIVk
Miller needs to be partnered with a good playmaker in order to be effective. The Summer League is not a good place to showcase his talent.
No. A good two way candidate but not a steal. Respectfully disagree on Miller. Miller is a good complementary player . Would have been perfect in Portland honestly (if Dame stays) but he’s surrounded with limited feel dudes right now in SL. Same thing with Jabari Smith playing next to Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr last year WOOF. However givr him a chance to play with Lamelo and Hayward and hes gonna look exponentially better
This was almost entirely a joke on my part, I've not done anywhere near the analysis on Miller/Santos to be able to determine who is the better long term prospect.
Ahhh fair enough. I think Santos is the type of candidate you look to use a 2 way on not a Ty or Lamb. Same with hopefully a project big.
Probably, but not guaranteed. He looked lost today. He was probably overwhelmed by the Warrior pace, the product of the water being spiked with...?? /s
Just finished watching the game on tape. Really enjoyed Podz - he'd be a lot more effective if his teammates could get on the same wavelength. Reminds me a bit of Rick Barry - obviously not as skilled but with plenty of tools and capable of shooting daggers into the eyes of his teammates if they fail to go where he expects them to go. Of course, I don't think Rick Barry would ever attempt a one-legged runner from 3 while wide open :)
He'll struggle a fair amount with the regular Dubs as he deals with the speed of the NBA game, but he's shown a lot of hustle and appears to have a real BBIQ. He had a great sequence on defense in the third quarter. First he got into the passing lane to tip a pass out of bounds. On the subsequent inbounds pass, he deflected Bouknight's pass back out of bounds. Hornets quickly discussed a new inbounds play and Podz backed off of the inbounder to double team the intended recipient of the inbounds pass. Good instincts there to give Hornets a different look.
Best thing I see is his 3pt release - it's really, really quick, and he's adept at getting shots up in small windows. I would like to see him be more aggressive and less selective in a couple of games (Steph Curry full launch mode) and take 25 shots or so just to see what it looks like under high pressure. Podz looks like a smart team defender, but his lateral movement on defense is a caution - particularly when you can compare it side by side with Quinones, Podz looks pretty slow. I'm going to be very sad if GS doesn't hold on to Lester.
Kudos to all the starters though in this one - 30 for 55 from the field for your starting 5 is pretty impressive, even in a summer game.
On the other hand, he might have been told, “We know you can shoot. We want to see you make the right reads, take care of the ball and execute the offense.”
I was just scouring the Wiki NBA Draft Boards looking at who the Lakers had drafted throughout Rob Pelinkas tenure (to try and reply to a sub thread) and bou oh boy that 2020 draft will always live in Infamy for who was drafted immediately after the Warriors 3 picks:
Pick 1: James Wiseman-Lamelo Ball drafted with the next pick
Pick 2: Nico Mannion-Isaiah Joe drafted with the next pick (this the one that still angers me the most)
Pick 3: Justinian Jessup (had completely forgotten about him until seeing his name listed just now)- kenyon Martin Jr drafted with the next pick
As much of an all time banger that 2012 draft was (Draymond, Ezelli, Barnes) that 2020 draft was absolutely brutal because it almost made no rhyme or reason in how we drafted and we ended up with the absolute worst possiblE picks (and not even hindsight is 2020 cause i lost my collective doodoo on this board when we bypassed Isaiab Joe for Mannion who was absolute trash every game i saw U of A play that season)
This is not exactly an endorsement for Myers. These things have a way of coming back at us in hindsight. Personally, I was not behind Myers' draft picks for several years.
I imagine you remember that Ball was a risky pick at the time too. His shot looked broken, he wasn't all that great playing in Oz, and there was drama around him because of his old man — but he had a lot of promise too. With 20/20 hindsight we probably should have reached for Haliburton but that's easy to say now.
Everyone who publicly posted at the time against the Wiseman pick and that LaMelo was definitely the pick can have a lucky victory lap.
Everyone else is just another kibitzer bragging about how they would have done better and never talking about the many picks they got wrong.
And as someone who publicly posted against the Wiseman pick and had Haliburton and Okongwu as their top picks, I choose not to victory lap because I realize this is mostly luck.
I was right there with you on Haliburton - but we couldn't have afforded him and his $250 mil rookie extension.
#humblebrag 😂
I hedged at the time. I said it was between Wiseman and Haliburton and it depended on whether we wanted to go big or small. But put up against the wall, I would go for the big fellow. We did, and I was all in on Wiseman. Oh well. I'm glad I'm not a GM.
as someone who also posted against the Wiseman pick and had Haliburton and Okongwu as their top picks, I think this is clearly our brilliance.
The best thing about your Big Board site is that everyone who didn't post there (or at least somewhere public) has no right to brag about their supposed insight, and probably everyone who DID post there has no right to brag because we all have stinker picks in our list. Putting your predictions on the record teaches you humility quickly.
I thought Wiseman was a terrible pick and Tyrell Terry would be a good NBA player.
since you appreciate humility I'll admit that I had Okongwu above Haliburton 🫥
I never advocate for Ball and could see why the Warriors took Wiseman. We were split all that offseason but Ball was not the popular choice: Anthony Edwards was. Some of us (me) wanted a trade back with Chicago, Atlanta, or New York. Some wanted Deni. Quite a few wabted Halliburton (shoutout to them) and a few others were more than fine with Wiseman. My focus is solely on that draft as a whole. We absolutely pooched it no two ways about it.
I'll cop to the fact that I wanted NO part of Lamelo and the circus that is the Ball family. Yes, he was obviously talented. But I wasn't convinced he'd develop and await his turn patiently -- something was very likely to have to happen with the Ws.
I wanted Halliburton on a trade-down, but none of us knows if that was ever really there.
In the end, I was hopeful when the Dubs drafted Wiseman. It felt like a huge gamble, but with pundits throwing around comparisons like David Robinson, there was nothing to do but hope.
Can you imagine Lamelo in the hands of Popovic or Kerr? The coach and the system can make all the difference to certain players. Jordan's teams have mostly flopped.
Woj and Shams have a threads account.
https://www.threads.net/@wojespn
https://www.threads.net/@shamsnba
Some kind of error for me. I’ll head over there soon.
Looks like the death of Twitter has arrived sooner than expected.
Just made the jump myself. Twitter has been awful the last few days.
What the...? Keegan Murray went off for 41 points against the Heat tonight.
He must have drawn the short straw to be assigned to play in the CA Classic. The Kings want to impress their fans in the building as well as ESPN's audience. Hope he doesn't get hurt.
If he wasn't part of the rotation, we would have beaten them. He really looks to be out of place playing in these games.
Well, I hope they'll be careful with him, but I kind of like that he did it. It's a helpful measuring stick for what a good NBA player looks like comparatively. So before I get super excited with Quiñones getting 30 or whatever, I'll ask: How did he look compared to Murray?
Different kind of player than Murray. Put into a team concept, LQ gets the job done as well as Murray. But, Murray has size and can play in the paint.
Good on Keegan for proving how little he must prove in SL!
Warriors/Hornets SL highlights:
https://youtu.be/5r43xmKAcFA
So as I fantasize about our super duper future group:
PG: Podz
Wing: Moody
Wing: Gui
Big: Kuminga
Big: TJD
6th man: Lester
If these all reach my fairly high, but reasonable and hopeful expectations, I’d be very bullish on their ability to be useful to the current 5-man core and then eventually be pretty rad on their own.
Where's the Koolaid? I'll take a gulp.
But, even if you figure 3-4 of these guys move on or wash out, it's more hopeful than I would have thought a couple of weeks ago.
Gui, LQ and Podz all look like very solid prospects, and none of them are high draft picks. That's pretty good for this stage.
Just wait till Kerr get hold of them......Surprise, surprise, guaranteed.
I have no idea how good Podz, TJD, and Lester will be as non of them have played much against NBA competition. My guess is that Moody's floor is Alec Burks, but that might be his ceiling as well. Nothing wrong with that. Kuminga will be as good as his willingness to work and take coaching advice allows. In 3 years, he could be an all star or playing in Europe.
How far out in the future? I'd swap Gui with Les. Is Les supposed to be a shooting guard or a point guard? I guess I can't think that far ahead because I have this feeling Kerr might not renew. Since he wants to play with Joy, I hope it's a joyful year for all concerned.
I might sway Podz or Moody with Les at this point. He looks really good right now.
No superstar there unless JK breaks out. Even then, they'd need more. However, Wiggs and Loon could still be in their prime when Steph, Klay, and Draymond hang 'em up, which would help a bunch.
Moody, Kuminga, and Lester I definitely believe can be starters and maybe more. Among Gui, podz, and TJD, I hope they can all be valuable rotation players, but I’d be surprised if more than one is ever a starter.
I wouldn't even assume TJD will be an NBA player after this season. I hope so but he has it all to prove.
Put that group around Giannis, Wiggins, Looney and a 39 yr old Steph in 4 years and you might have something.
I don't want to stop anyone from fantasizing... But at least half the guys aren't going to end up what we optimistically hope. Even if they do better than expected, that would probably still be a terrible team if that's your best 6.
I'd like to be wrong, but at this point it seems pretty pointless to have any expectation for the "post-Curry" era. That hope may come eventually, but probably only if we score another top-5 lottery pick and it ends up being a winner.
On the first point though, I think it's fair to be hopeful that some of those guys can help the current core. I mean Moody and Kuminga already contributed to a championship team, and are only going to get better. It will be fun to watch Podz, and I hope to see TJD in action soon. Give Lester a spot!
That's Goofus' job. Don't hate on him for it :)
We don't need a big for the playoffs, we just need one to take stress off of looney and Draymond during the regular season, what we do need is for Draymond to be aggressively looking to score in the playoffs, fresh legs should help with that.
Do you take in aging, wear and tear, plus tougher competition, younger and more athletic players when you project what the Dubs will be like next season and after? I hope you are not a betting man.
As far as bigs go, every analyst I've read thinks the Warriors need a big or two to help this team. The only question I have is who will they be.
And we need that big in the playoffs too. Remember what OPJ did for us in the 2022 playoffs? He hit the offensive boards for us in a big way and generally made a difference. Last year the one good game JMG had vs the Lakers, that 10 or 12 minutes really helped. We need more of that.
They were not bigs in my book. Neither plays like a big in the paint. They are undersized and morphed into 3 ball shooters. Warriors just won't change.
Ideally, TJD can be good enough to eat minutes without the wheels coming off (CP3 is an ideal fit with him. Not only does it take stress off Loondawg and Draymond, he gets developmental minutes instead of languishing on the bench like PBJ.
Was PBJ even healthy enough to get more developmental minutes than he did? Seems to me they spent a lot of the year just trying to rehab him.
I guess it's moot for him now. Long live TJD!
PBJ was a lot younger than TJD, and honestly seemed like a "I am tall and can shoot 3s ok but have no other aspect to my game atm". I wish we still had PBJ to develop, but I think the reality of paying him 1st round salary for a long-term project probably didn't make sense in our luxury cap world.
I don't have much more hope for TJD (not really based on anything other than you should never have hope for a #57 pick), but I think a lot of it comes down to that he is cheaper.
The money angle and time needed to develop him are both legit points.
I do think PBJ has more than just being able to shoot the 3. He apparently has a high basektball IQ, knows where to be on court, can pass, etc. All moot from a Warrior fan perspective now.
I did not have the impression that PBJ's issues were health related after the earliest part of the season. Maybe I just don't remember it clearly.
I want to tell yall that no show has made me as happy watching it as Warrior does. That show takes like 30 different characters and makes them all really interesting. It doesn’t hurt that i have a legit follower count on Twitter of 19 people and two of those 19 people that follow me are Kieran Bew (Sergeant Bill O Hara) and Langley Kirkwood (Mayor Buckley)
Kings v Jaquez is pretty lively. But not at all the same bloodlust as the SAC-GSW rematch on Monday.
Jaime pretty passive for 1.5 quarters. Team seemed to play more through Jovic and ball just didn’t get to Jaquez.
Cult hero stretch 5 Stephens has looked not like a stretch so far.
I think if Jaime hadn’t been dominant on Monday, people would be calling him a scrub today.
I always thought he regressed to scrub status some games at UCLA. Often removed in the closing lineup.
You watching Colby Jones somewhat closely, Eric?
Not that closely. He seems to be fitting in. Hit a corner three.
Jay Huff is playing on the Rockets' summer league squad, for those interested in watching him.
Warriors play the Rockets on the 13th so might get to see him up close.
[Charania] RFA Matisse Thybulle will sign a three-year contract offer sheet in the $33 million range with the Dallas Mavericks, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.
But now Portland can match, right?
I like what I see from the Lakers, so far. Schifino and Castleton look like good drafts for them. The team plays very differently than the Dubs, more controlled, less frenetic. The pace of the Dubs is too fast. This leads to TOs and fouls and is very dependent on shooting prowess, not playmaking. This was the problem with Poole.
I love frenetic pace they play and the assist-driven basketball. I think the key (and problem) is to find the right guys for it. The combination of skill, effort, BBIQ, selflessness and commitment to defense that Kerr looks for isn’t easy to find. Ty and #40 both had it and jumped in front of both the kids and even vets during the season.
In Podz and TJD, it clearly looks like they were looking for guys who have a balance of all 5, even if it means getting less elite skill or athleticism.
In Poole’s case, he had skill, effort and flashes of BBIQ (he’s young!), but I think there are legitimate questions about his selflessness and, to put it mildly, his commitment to defense.
Amount the kids, I’d put Moody at the top of the heap as currently demonstrating the best combination of skill, effort, BBIQ, selflessness and commitment to defense. This doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll ultimately be the best of the bunch, but I think it means he’s the surest bet to fit in Kerr’s style long-term.
There is no way the Dubs can play at the pace of our Summer League team. Not only is it inelegant, it's chaotic and doesn't really develop a player's skills. If they are looking for cardio conditioning, they've got it.
The Lakers are the absolute kings of identifying talent in the draft and scouring for undrafted FAs. Thats why i was afraid they were going to be the ones drafting Jaquez (ended going one pick later)
I don't have any evidence to counter this, but is that really the case? I feel like what Lakers have is that an unusually high % of players love the Lakers and want to play for them. Austin Reeves for example, I think his agents basically pulled a "we won't play for anyone else than the Lakers, so don't draft him" move. Then Lakers look like geniuses for getting him undrafted, but should we really credit their FO for that?
I mean GSW are much maligned for have a non-effective #2 pick in Wiseman, but Lakers got D'Angelo #2 in 2015 and Lonzo #2 in 2017, both guys are ok but disappointments for a #2 pick as well. I guess I just can't think of a lot of recent amazing Lakers draft picks, but I also try to not think too much about the Lakers so I could be missing things for sure.
DLO, Brandon Ingram, Lonzo, all #2 picks. Julius Randle #7, & Zubac 2nd round #32. All are with other teams and starting. The Lebron and Davis acquisitions cleaned them out and they are still in rebuilding mode with only 1 ring in this time period. I guess it depends how you look at all this. Lakers have had major shakeups since the demise of Phil Jackson and his triangle system. Makes our team look like the rock of Gibraltar.
On a semi related note
https://twitter/AnthonyIrwinLA/status/1676810008439189505
Esfandiar Baraheni
@JustEsBaraheni
When you think about it
The Lakers scouting department rarely misses lol
Quote Tweet
Anthony F. Irwin
@AnthonyIrwinLA
12m
Buy up as much Max Christie stock as you can get your hands on
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0:52
11:30 PM · Jul 5, 2023
Rob Pelinka
2017: Lonzo Ball, Thomas Bryant
2018: mo wagner, Mykhailiuk
2022: Max Christie
I believe yhey traded Lonzo plus 2019-2021 draft picks for Anthony Davis. But od all the players theuve drafted all of them are on an NBA roster currently
In addition to the three first round picks, Lakers also gave up Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart to get AD
I agree that the Lakers might have extra capital since they're the Lakers, but I think it's fair to credit them for playing to that strength. Like, if you transplanted the apparent ability the Wolves FO has shown onto the Lakers, you get... the 2013 Lakers or something?
"we won't play for anyone else than the Lakers, so don't draft him" On what planet does a guy like Austin Reaves have the juice to say that? He's not a Wemby. If a team wanted him, they'd have taken him, and he can play for that team or go overseas, his choice. Especially since he could have been taken in the 2nd round.
The article about I think is behind a WSJ paywall, but in the end it's not about Reaves having some kind of supernatural pull. If anyone was really confident he would be as good as he has been, they would have picked him anyway. But as a 45+ pick, those guys generally never get any contract, a 2-way at best. Reportedly Reaves agents said they don't want that. If you have a 45+ pick and the option is to pick some guy who probably isn't going to make it and also will be actively angry about you picking him, it's a pretty easy decision to pass on him
It sounds like TJD may have gone a similar route, saying only wanted to be drafted by a team that would give him an NBA contract, which may have led to Warriors getting him so late.
Ah crap, the game ended already?
I think I'm beginning to see the method in the madness of trading off of PBJ and RR.
Getting below the second apron is going to be pretty important for retaining LQ and maybe even Gui next summer.
I'm not entirely sure we keep LQ this year (he could get signed away, the way Ty was), but regardless, next year, we need to have a plan to retain him. Even if he's an RFA next summer, he could get signed away, unless we get below the second apron and can offer him a partial MLE.
We might sign him to a 2-year main roster minimum deal now, but somehow I'm guessing that's not the Dubs plan.
Additionally, I don’t think they abandoned two timelines like people are saying, but just tried to close the gap between the two timelines by getting rid of guys who were paid too much for being so far off. (Wiseman, PBJ and RR) and keeping/getting guys who are closer to being ready and are cheaper; MM, JK, Podz, TJD and LQ
With CP3 "running the 2nd unit" I'm hoping for some interesting player combinations that will give the 2nd unit some swagger.
JP, though talented, couldn't find a way to run the 2nd unit. It took the coaches too long to accept this, improve the stagger of substitutions, and let one of the guards run plays and let JP shoot. They moved JP to the starting lineup and of course his scoring improved as he received elite passing. Sadly, that didn't stop his occasional erratic passes or odd decisions. JP's off to a great future, but I bring it up because I feel that in spite of it all, the 2nd unit isn't all bad.
For a time, Klay was doing well with the 2nd unit as the main shooter, freely bombing 3s and serving some passes.
The 2nd Unit's main weakness was defense. In the substitution phase, you'd see Loon or Draymond and one of the guards stay around as the bench came in. Eventually they'd sit and it'd be all 2nd unit until some first unit subs re-entered. We really missed Wiggins giving us some size and 2-way play while the centers rested. I haven't looked up any records, but I seem to recall JaMychal Green mostly subbed into the first unit, not the second.
Sometimes when the 2nd unit had a majority of bench players they looked more comfortable running simpler plays that could succeed against the opponent's bench.
The good news for CP3 is we have GP2 and Wiggins back and some inexpensive and teachable (I hope) youngsters. If we keep CP3, I believe we can do something with our 2nd unit, regardless of the configuration.
Agreed. I think they still see young, relatively cheap players as the key to contending now and leaving some kind of window open. Just not 4 year dev projects.