How many games a year do you think a coach is worth? Let's put it this way. Suppose a certain team will, with the league average coach, win 45 games this year. If we give them the worst coach you know of, or fits them worst, how many games would they win? And if we gave them the best possible coach, how many would they win?
I don't think that's so easy to figure. Good players might not be the right players for a given coach's style. There has to be a good fit, just as players need to fit with each other.
So, some think Jordan would be more Curry than Westbrook if the punch hadn’t derailed him?
I love this narrative, even if I don’t think it’s true. Let another team believe they can rehab JP, ala Wiggins to Warriors. We may get someone back who can defend (or has one year left on his contract). Because, whatever JP may have lost in offensive mojo this year that they’d like to blame on the punch, he is the same wanting player on the other side of the court. Our offense starts with stops and I’ll take GP2 all day - along side the core. Poole’s contract will hamstring us for years if he stays. I don’t see sufficient maturity to believe he will change.
Of course they'll both remain professional and work together but I'm having a hard time seeing JP bounce back with Draymond still on the team. Who knows though. Maybe a year is enough to let bygones be bygones? Everybody is different when it comes to that stuff. I just hope it doesn't come down to keeping one only because if it does I'm riding with Draymond.
To be clear I'm in the trading JP camp if it can get us some quality WIN NOW players back but I won't burn the city down if we decide to keep him.
People trashing Klay and Dray and saying Wiggs was better then both in Plsyoffs with certain disdain. Sure. But here is context for you
Dray : 73 games / 2297 total minutes
Klay: 69 games / 2279 total minutes
Steph: 56 games / 1941 total minutes
Wiggs: 37 games / 1190 total minutes
But let's just ignore what it took these guys to pull Dubs to 6th seed. There were multiple times where Dray came back and played the very next game after an injury.
Bottom line is I trust Steph. If he thinks Klay and Dray got it, gotta believe he sees something that we don't from the outside. Steph told people to not get on the bus if they were not ready to win before SAC game 7. I doubt that was aimed at Dray and Klay.
Also it's starting to seem like people are pretending that Klay didn't hit 301 threes on 41% shooting in the regular season, or that his constant motion isn't a key part of the Warrior offense, or that he didn't play good defense in the playoffs. I don't really get it. Maybe if he didn't really have to carry the offense with Curry and Wiggins out down the stretch of the season and then play big minutes every other day for most of the playoffs, his legs wouldn't have been so shot.
The core is fine and still championship worthy, Curry knows it. Just go get them a bench and a team full of people who have the same goal of winning a championship.
Klay doesn’t seem like a postseason player any more.
“play big minutes every other day for most of the playoffs” I mean... that’s the playoffs ain’t it? He doesn’t have the endurance to be a 16 game player.
Also, his defense didn’t seem all that great to me and the warriors had to do away with a lot of the motion stuff Klay is good in because of how well SAC and LAL played off ball stuff, no?
Agreed but there's a difference between whether you are not worth 40 million and not a good player. Klay's still a good player, what we saw in those most recent games was basically his floor.
It wasn't just Klay bricking threes either, it was Curry and Wiggins too. To me it speaks to the idea that those guys had way too much responsibility this season and it wore all of them down. If it was just Klay who all of a sudden couldn't shoot I'd be more concerned that there was something up with Klay.
Steph and Wiggs still brought it in other ways. They can still contribute when shooting poorly. Klay has never really done anything all that well besides shooting and D. This postseason, the shooting was obviously god awful and the D wasn’t exactly impressive. So what exactly is he good at anymore?
Klay probably needs a reduced minutes load in the playoffs, but this is where him being the only player on the Dubs with both size & +shooting is a problem
Yeah they would have had a top 4 seed and would still be playing right now if he didn't take that absence imo. At minimum even if they stayed at 6, Game 1 against Sacramento probably would have been a W which means they close it out earlier than 7 which means Game 1 against the Lakers is a W too.
The team is built with the expectation that Wiggins will not miss games and will soak up a ton of minutes. It's been a good bet for most of his career, didn't pay off for tragic but also fairly fluky reasons this season.
GP2 being injured and them not knowing until after the trade deadline was also a brutal and fluky blow.
There’s another universe where we win G2 of the Sacramento series, end that in 5 or 6, win G1 and G4 of Lakers series and end it in 5. But the team was operating on thin margins all year and throwing up klunkers all too frequently… next year.
Some people choose the path of agony, and I can't tell others what to do. But I for one am feeling blessed that next year I likely will still have the fortune of watching at least 5 of Curry, Dray, Klay, Looney, Wiggins, Poole, and GP2 represent the Dubs, if not all 7. And that's not to even mention Moody, Kuminga, and the rising guys to track who may still be with us. Soak in the Cancun beams, recharge, ready to bring the joy back in the Fall!
Its just pop culture, absolutely meaningless. But yeah, you’d probably know who she is if you’re 15. Other than that you’d have to be following crappy pop music (i’m forced to because I have teens) 👍
One thing kerr hasnt tried yet but I think could work is Wiggins at the 5, he rebounds good enough to play small ball n we can run defenses that'll stop him from getting posted
Steph moody lamb kuminga wiggins could have been interesting
The good 5s are out of the Warriors price range, and their chance to get one in the draft didn't pan out.
Really though, as Draymond continues to age, he probably needs to play more Center, so what the Warriors really need is a Power Forward that can spread the floor and rebound at a high level. Basically, an Otto Porter Jr that isn't constantly on the verge of breaking.
So...I'm not sure exactly about what you're saying--re: Wiggins at the 5--but I like the concept of small, fast, aggressive (esp at O rebounding). [Aside: I have been trying to teach my teams aggressive O rebounding from anyone who is along the baseline on O. e.g. So if you're a corner three spacer, you crash boards on your way back on D. You can do this without sacrificing getting back on D, and often gives several extra possessions per game]. Crashing the O boards is what made Wiggins help us win last year. It's one of the reasons GPII is awesome. DDV also routinely does it, but I'm not sure if it is a team concept, because some guys never do it. It's one of the reasons I love energy/effort guys like Lamb. I think too many teams miss out on extra possessions by conceding rebounds to the D.
I guess we didnt win 4 championships with dray at the 5, yes this not as good defensively but ad would get double teamed in this lineup n on offense hes forced to guard curry kuminga pnrs with 3 shooters
[Center] would get double teamed and then it would turn into open catch & shoot shots for his teammates against a rotating defense... and [Center] grabbing all the rebounds for put backs against that same rotating defense being out of rebounding position. No thank you.
We won those 4 championships BECAUSE Dray can defend centers 1-on-1 without needing a constant double team. And because Steph is a cheat code to destroy drop coverage on the other end.
We also had Bogut, Zaza, JaVale, and/or DWest (although DW was a PF-size 4/5) on the first three champions. And of course Loon more recently. It wasn't just Dray defending 1 on 1 at the 5. We could switch things up, throw different defenders at opposing bigs. Bogut was a fine paint defender and mentored Dray in how to run the defense.
The Milwaukee Bucks have received permission to interview Phoenix Suns associate head coach Kevin Young for the franchise’s coaching job, sources tell ESPN. Young is also a candidate with Toronto and expected to interview with the Suns for the new opening there.
I believe based on the new CBA, we will also no longer be able to buy second-round picks by sending out cash, and we don't have any of our own until '27 per the article. Anyone know if that restriction is immediate or whether kicks in next year? If next year, we gotta buy all we can this year, and then try to trade them for future seconds on draft night.
Poole is KOj all over again. La Sigh. Why do we keep getting these young head cases with talent but not talent enough to put up with their antics/attitude.
So far, it seems difficult to make Poole understand that his defense must get better, but once he does get it (whether with the Dubs or someone else), I think he'll get quite a bit better (say below average, but not horribly so).
The other thing is that he is built so slightly, there aren't a lot of players he can physically stand up to. He's probably going to need to hit the weight room, as Curry did.
"However bad or lethargic you thought Joel Embiid was in this game, James Harden was several levels worse. Harden spent most of Sunday's game actively undermining the Sixers as the rest of the group did their best to try to make up for the putrid efforts of the stars. It was a version of the same Harden stinker we have seen in so many big playoff moments in the past, whether they came in Philadelphia, Houston, or Oklahoma City."
So, after some time to marinate on this season and post-season, here's where I'm at:
1. In the end, it's a make or miss league and the team missed a lot of shots in the playoffs. The good news is, we got a lot of good looks, so the process is still mostly working.
2. By the end, the Warriors looked very tired and frustrated. It was a lot like the '21 season where we had a strong finish to the regular season despite injuries, and then narrowly lost the play-in (to LAL and then Memphis).
3. Moving forward, I think the team's goals should be to get rid of frustration and make basketball fun again. Play smarter, channel frustration in a positive way, and bring back weaponized joy.
[Aside: If we'd beaten the Lakers in 7 for the first round and then lost to the Kings in 6 in round 2, I would have been a lot happier with the outcome of the postseason even though it would be substantially the same for us. But I have more respect for the Kings and what Mike Brown has done with that team, and I do think the tough series against them wore us down and contributed to the outcome of the Dubs/Lakers series.]
How do we free ourselves from being tired and frustrated? It's multi-faceted, so let's look back and see what happened and what we can do about it.
1. Expectations and distractions. Nobody likes losing, but context matters, too. I'm mad we lost to the Lakers because I hate the Lakers and what they stand for. But losing in the 2nd round of the playoffs takes some weight off the team's shoulders. We don't have the burden that comes with defending a title next season. Expectations were also tough for a lot of players individually, too: Poole to live up to his contract, Draymond to fit in with the team and atone for The Punch, Klay to immediately be his former self despite being out of shape, etc. (Tangential, but Wiggins' situation was more complex, but coming back from a tough personal situation to play in the playoffs is not exactly a recipe for success either.)
2. The two-timeline plan and the offseason in general. This was a big whiff and ultimately responsible for a lot of the team's pain this year. Early on, the team racked up losses in part because Wiseman was so hopeless on defense, DDV+JMG were quite a bit below expectations out the gate, and running the youngsters together wasn't working. Topping that off, Andre's availability was even worse than anticipated. Those losses piled up and gave the team less margin for error as the season went on. Even after switching some things up like sending guys to the G-league and giving Lamb + Jerome as many major league minutes as possible, the center position was tenuous (thank heavens for Loon being an iron man this year) and rotations were weird.
3. Officiating and the team's handling of it. There were a lot of times that it felt like the refs were against us (more than usual). Poole getting picked on early in the season for carries, Draymond getting suspended "for history", and the disparity of calls in the Lakers games 1 and 3. To some extent that's out of the team's control, but it matters how the players respond. Remember when Steph got so mad at Marat Kogut over a no-call and subsequent technical that he went on a rampage ending in an insane dagger shot and Steph "T'ing up" the ref? That's channeling it in a productive way. Poole, on the other hand, seems to have let it tilt him and compound the frustration. I hope the team spends some time thinking about this and how to address it. Some people can be mentored on mindset things like this, and some people can't (aren't willing), so that'll be one of my preferences for how the team handles the roster going forward. Draymond's role in this is especially complicated, since I think he often handles things well enough despite loudly complaining, and I think his barking at the refs is actually productive sometimes, but he sets a terrible example for his teammates and then there are the occasions where he absolutely does not handle things well.
4. The mysterious home/road splits. I can't explain this one, but it seems to have been more than you would expect from just the other problems. I hope someone is taking a look at this though and maybe booking the team some nicer flights or something. I'll also lay some of the blame on the league for scheduling the Warriors the most B2Bs of any team in the league and a pretty tough schedule overall.
As far as the roster goes, I hope we have someone *fun* like JTA or Damion Lee to be a spark on and off the bench, a little more size/bulk in the frontcourt positions to help Looney, and I hope we have Steph Curry. Honestly I would like to keep many of our other guys, too, but the luxury tax makes it complicated. Thankfully, that's not my job, it's Bob's (or whoever else's) so I'll let them handle that and go back to cat curling videos.
A lot of good points but, once again, someone just mushes the young guns into blame without carefully looking at the sequence of events. The team started 3-1 at home and 0-6 on the road. The young guns were playing. But Klay was shooting everytime he touched the ball, and, not only that, bricking shot after shot, messing up the offense; JP and Klay were turnstiles on defense, leaving the frontcourt constantly over-matched, which led to foul-city for the first team (and put the second team in the penalty all the time). Looking at 3-7, Kerr panicked, COMPLETELY benched the young guns, and the team went 7-3. Woo-hoo, it worked! Not so fast--they went 7-3, but it was 1-3 on the road and 6-0 at home. During that time Klay kept bricking (so much so eventually they had a team meeting about it some 20 games later), JP/Klay kept waving opponents into the lane, and the fouling continued. The only reason the second 10 games look better than the first in the record books is the second ten games have 6 home games while the first ten games had only 4. Benching the young guns did not help. A seasoned, non-panicky coach would not have abandoned the entire season plan because some youngsters lose a few road games, especially given the clear problems with the vets, most notably Klay. Please stop blaming Wiseman, JK, and Moody for errors and losses that should be at the foot of their "no accountability" elders.
Blaming new or young players for losses caused by old players or coaches you like but, because you like them, cannot soberly assess their contribution or lack thereof.
I'm a Kerr supporter, but I do think he did a major disservice to the team by giving Poole more playing time than his defensive effort deserved.
(If that punch incident really had to do with JP disrespect of Kerr, i wonder if Kerr kinda over compensated by not being as hard on JP as he otherwise would have).
It was the contract, they had/have no leverage over Poole anymore once he signed it.
We saw in the playoffs how Poole started acting once he got his "opportunities" cut. It would have been a lot worse had it happened in the regular season.
That's a hypothetical cop out, his extension doesnt start til next season but we cant say "hey we need you atleast to try defensively or your minutes will be reduced"? That doesnt even make sense
If someone with that contract doesn't buy in/acts out/etc., the team gets negatively impacted way more than the player. Now you have a toxic, large asset on your books that will hinder your ability to build a good team and that you will have to attach significant assets to in order to remove. The player is getting paid either way though, as we see in the NBA these guys at most have to sit out like half a season to get what they want when they have this much leverage (Ben Simmons).
Let's say the Warriors benched Poole earlier in the season because they didn't like his effort. Let's say Poole doesn't respond well to the "tough love" approach, instead he gets mad about it, becomes a distraction in the media, and acts out on the court by not giving a shit because he wants off the team.
Who is hurt more by this, Poole or the Warriors? Where would Poole's trade value be in this scenario?
And don't get me wrong, I don't think Poole's trade is that high right now. But I think it would be significantly lower had they done all that in the regular season.
> his extension doesnt start til next season
It's not about his current salary though, it's about how many dollars/years he has guaranteed. Only some players in the NBA get those contracts and the players with those contracts need to be a significant part of the team's identity or else it really handicaps the team. That's what gives him leverage. It's what gave Wiggins leverage too which is why I was worried about this same thing when they traded for Wiggins, but luckily Wiggins turned out to be very flexible/coachable/etc.
On the other hand, he doesn't have a no-trade clause, and the team can trade him wherever they can find the right deal. So he does not have all the leverage.
But we've used the tough love on poole before by sending him to the g league instead of playing him over wanamaker and it worked? He doesnt have to be fully benched just hey if you want 30 minutes you have to give a defensive effort, the fucked up part is everything you described is what we have now lol a bad contract toxic player who through multiple fits in the playoffs and looked like he didnt even fucking try in game 6 elimination. Idk why holding a player accountable for defense game 1 would have been such a big deal
If he's trying but not knowing what he should really be doing, he'll give up blow bys, and get discouraged. If his teammates get frustrated by this, he'll get more discouraged... if he gets knocked over and doesn't get an offensive foul called (because the offensive player easily kept their balance), he'll get discouraged. If all of these things start piling up, he'll start questioning even the things he thinks he should be doing... it can all easily spiral...
What you are describing is a loser mentality though. A younger Steph gave up blow bys, got knocked over and did not get the offensive foul called (heck, still doesn't sometimes), and more — serious ankle injuries too — and he absolutely refused to let it get to him that we could ever see in his performance. He was determined to triumph, whatever was thrown at him. Heart of a champion.
If he wears himself out defensively, he loses his burst, his only real offensive weapon, besides FT which he no longer gets. Weak handle, loose with the ball, outside shot not falling, layups getting blocked. He does have nice assists on occasion, but he'd have to develop more consistent vision and feel for his teammates.
Poole has been called an effort guy all along and supposedly was focused on defense last offseason, so either that was smoke or there's more to it than not having the willingness.
But all that effort seems to be directed for O only. And he clearly put in a lot of work on his O game, which is why I'm fine with his struggles at that end of the floor, but not at all ok with him at the D end--which is HALF the game.
The problem with trading both Poole and Kuminga is not only are they are as low in value as they've ever been, but they fill positions we will need to fill. Trade Poole, and this team badly needs someone who can create offense. Trade Kuminga and we lack athleticism and youth. But there's enough smoke now that they have to be traded.
Keeping both on the roster limits any options of improvement, it keeps the murky 2 timeline going, and finding the PT to keep guys happy becomes a full-time job for Kerr and one that may be impossible if we want to try to win a championship. We have to rip the band-aid off and have 15 guys playing for the same goal, which, frankly, I don't think we had this year.
Even combining the two, I don't think you can get sexy names for Poole/Kuminga. You're getting back a bad contract and maybe one useful player. I went through every team, and to me, the option that makes the most sense is Joe Harris and DFS. Brooklyn wants off Harris, and they don't have one of the plethora of young all offense guards that litter the league. They need to be taking swings on young guys. Maybe it's enough for them to say yes. Maybe the Poole contract is too negative for this to work.
The Dubs get better on defense with DFS and can now have three hyper-dangerous 3p threats. But they need a 7 footer to eat minutes still. They need a creator on offense who can fill in for the 20 games Steph misses. With #19, I target Kris Murray. I target Kevin Love for vet min. I pray Toronto buys out OPJ. But there's a lot of holes springing in this ship.
If Joe Harris + DFS is the best you can get, then stand pat. I'll take the chance that Poole and Kuminga both rebound and improve over the near certainty that Harris + DFS will be mediocre and not help us win another chip.
I think trading Kuminga would be foolish. He played damn well for a 20 year old in his second season, despite inconsistent minutes. He has big upside and already can contribute a lot. I don't see him bringing back something better than what he gives us. Kerr needs to commit to playing JK serious minutes next season. It's not like starting rookie Wiseman, JK is going into his third season and has learned a lot. He's ready to play.
From my seat overlooking the river........the 3 players I like in Brooklyn are Dinwiddie, Bridges, & Claxton. A trade for Poole + Kuminga can bring either Bridges or Dinwiddie + Claxton. My preference is Bridges + Clax. Maybe wishful thinking on my part but you don't trade 2 young studs like Poole/JFK for someone like Harris and DFS. Not that they are bad players but they are not our future.
I don't think we come close to getting Bridges unless the Nets are out of their ever-lovin' mind. That man can flat-out ball, and he plays every night. He's 26 and coming into his prime. He should be a building block for them. But if they're that stupid, I'd make that deal.
I think there are many factors that go into making deals depending on where teams feel they need to be headed to in acquiring players. If Poole and Kuminga wouldn't be enough to get Bridges and Claxton, who would be enough to move the needle? Green and Kuminga? Klay? Poole has a high ceiling, higher than is currently be talked about, in my view. Poole has some major talent, both scoring and passing. He needs more seasoning and if Kerr isn't willing to do it, we shouldn't keep him as the numbers are really inhibiting the Warriors' chances of building for the future. But, perhaps you are of the mind that we should keep it all together for another go at a ring? If so, what did we just witness this season and our 'fall from grace?'
My point there is if I'm the Nets, Bridges is not on the table except if it significantly improves their team. Wiggs is probably be the only guy we realistically could trade that might get it done. We obviously are not trading Steph, probably not Loon. Bridges is better than Poole, at least right now. Dray cannot be dealt except if he opts in and is willing to be traded to a rebuilding team, and then he's an expiring deal. If I'm the Nets I'd rather rebuild with 26 yr old Bridges than with Draymond. Similarly Klay is too old and expensive and he's a one-year rental, not a guy you rebuild with. We don't have anyone else that's worth it to them. So it would be Wiggs, and why would we do that?
I get it. The only reason I thought about this is because someone else was thinking about a deal with Brooklyn and I put my 2 cents in. I like Bridges more than Wiggins. More upside with Mikal, more attack. The trade I like is Wiggins/Kuminga for Bridges/Claxton. I'd even do Kuminga for Claxton. I'm not saying Brooklyn would be interested or the Warriors, but the trade works in my mind.
Kerr has said he wants Draymond back. He seems committed to Win Now. For me, the unknown element is still Lacob. His team, money, and vision of the future. He has to think about what comes next.
"The restriction on signing buyout players who had made more than the MLE also seemed slightly ridiculous to most insiders; these players rarely end up mattering. However, it would invalidate a couple of scenarios that happened this year, such as the Clippers’ acquisition of Russell Westbrook or the Suns’ addition of Terrence Ross."
Am I missing something? This talks about the first tax apron but we will be way over the second tax apron, and that's where it really gets restrictive - albeit the restrictions are being phased in over the next two seasons.
I heartily disagree with this, which will probably surprise no one. First of all, there are no trades that have to be made. Maybe they are preferable, maybe they are not, but nothing *has* to be done. I also think that a really good reason to keep Kuminga is that he’s really really good. Not “might someday be good if we squint,” not “value is low,” but really really good. So why didn’t he play in the playoffs? Don’t look at me, that’s my question. But that lack of
PT hardly proves that his regular season should be ignored.
For being "really, really good", his catch-all metrics suck. He was negative by EPM. He was negative by Raptor. He was negative by BPM. Now, maybe all the metrics are wrong. It's not impossible, but I think there's absolutely many worlds where you play Kuminga 2000 minutes and he is the biggest reason the Dubs go 34-48. And you've wasted Steph Curry's age 36 season.
In fact, I hope you're right. I hope some other GM sees the same in Kuminga and we get him straight up for Anunoby or something. I'll take eating my words in 2026 for a slight upgrade today. Brandon Ingram is an amazing basketball player, but the Lakers don't regret the AD trade.
Using all those metrics in kumingas case ignores all context, how could he have another almost 60% ts season, pass the eye test defensively, and greatly improve on his assist ratio while being such a negative? The context is the role he played and the lineups he played in
He's pretty good defensively on ball, but he remains terrible off ball. He also messes up the spacing offensively since his shot is not respected, and isn't a good screen setter yet. That means he can't be the roller in a pick and roll, nor can he be a spacer. And he's not the ballhandler I'd want either.
What scares me the most is his lineups with Curry. He played 460 minutes with Steph. And they were -8.0. How does that happen if he's a great player? It used to be that Steph was a cheat code that could make lineups with McKinnie, Quinn Cook, and other scrubs positives. With Kuminga and Steph together, they're the Detroit Pistons or Houston Rockets. With Steph, Klay, Dray, and Kuminga all together that rating falls to -22.2, by far the worst team in the league. Even if you do believe JK's a great player, he doesn't fit in lineups with the one player whose prime I care about most.
Imo, hes a good screen setter, showed it all season, go watch his kings minutes and tell me hes terrible off the ball and if he kills spacing on offense that is because steve kerr failed to utilize his strengths as a roller/cutter wether it be his role(why is he spotting up in the corner while donte or lamb is setting screens? Why didnt he play more small ball five like he did rookie season? Theres no way a curry n kuminga lineup should fail with all the progress he showed, that's on kerr
I get what you’re saying but I think this is on the coaching staff not just on JK. I think they don’t know how to use him. They have their system and they want him to be Draymond or Looney but he’s not. He’s like a low rent giannis, a guy you get the ball to and clear some space. He’s certainly not in that league or any kind of all star but that’s how they could be using him rather than putting him on the corner.
How many games a year do you think a coach is worth? Let's put it this way. Suppose a certain team will, with the league average coach, win 45 games this year. If we give them the worst coach you know of, or fits them worst, how many games would they win? And if we gave them the best possible coach, how many would they win?
(By "coach" let's assume "coaching staff")
I don't think that's so easy to figure. Good players might not be the right players for a given coach's style. There has to be a good fit, just as players need to fit with each other.
So, some think Jordan would be more Curry than Westbrook if the punch hadn’t derailed him?
I love this narrative, even if I don’t think it’s true. Let another team believe they can rehab JP, ala Wiggins to Warriors. We may get someone back who can defend (or has one year left on his contract). Because, whatever JP may have lost in offensive mojo this year that they’d like to blame on the punch, he is the same wanting player on the other side of the court. Our offense starts with stops and I’ll take GP2 all day - along side the core. Poole’s contract will hamstring us for years if he stays. I don’t see sufficient maturity to believe he will change.
- prove me a fool Mr Poole. I’d love to be wrong.
Of course they'll both remain professional and work together but I'm having a hard time seeing JP bounce back with Draymond still on the team. Who knows though. Maybe a year is enough to let bygones be bygones? Everybody is different when it comes to that stuff. I just hope it doesn't come down to keeping one only because if it does I'm riding with Draymond.
To be clear I'm in the trading JP camp if it can get us some quality WIN NOW players back but I won't burn the city down if we decide to keep him.
People trashing Klay and Dray and saying Wiggs was better then both in Plsyoffs with certain disdain. Sure. But here is context for you
Dray : 73 games / 2297 total minutes
Klay: 69 games / 2279 total minutes
Steph: 56 games / 1941 total minutes
Wiggs: 37 games / 1190 total minutes
But let's just ignore what it took these guys to pull Dubs to 6th seed. There were multiple times where Dray came back and played the very next game after an injury.
Bottom line is I trust Steph. If he thinks Klay and Dray got it, gotta believe he sees something that we don't from the outside. Steph told people to not get on the bus if they were not ready to win before SAC game 7. I doubt that was aimed at Dray and Klay.
> he sees something that we don't from the outside
We can see it from the outside too. For instance, anyone stand out in this graph?
https://twitter.com/automaticnba/status/1658185107339894800
Also it's starting to seem like people are pretending that Klay didn't hit 301 threes on 41% shooting in the regular season, or that his constant motion isn't a key part of the Warrior offense, or that he didn't play good defense in the playoffs. I don't really get it. Maybe if he didn't really have to carry the offense with Curry and Wiggins out down the stretch of the season and then play big minutes every other day for most of the playoffs, his legs wouldn't have been so shot.
The core is fine and still championship worthy, Curry knows it. Just go get them a bench and a team full of people who have the same goal of winning a championship.
Klay doesn’t seem like a postseason player any more.
“play big minutes every other day for most of the playoffs” I mean... that’s the playoffs ain’t it? He doesn’t have the endurance to be a 16 game player.
Also, his defense didn’t seem all that great to me and the warriors had to do away with a lot of the motion stuff Klay is good in because of how well SAC and LAL played off ball stuff, no?
Dude is not worth the $40mil.
> Dude is not worth the $40mil.
Agreed but there's a difference between whether you are not worth 40 million and not a good player. Klay's still a good player, what we saw in those most recent games was basically his floor.
It wasn't just Klay bricking threes either, it was Curry and Wiggins too. To me it speaks to the idea that those guys had way too much responsibility this season and it wore all of them down. If it was just Klay who all of a sudden couldn't shoot I'd be more concerned that there was something up with Klay.
Steph and Wiggs still brought it in other ways. They can still contribute when shooting poorly. Klay has never really done anything all that well besides shooting and D. This postseason, the shooting was obviously god awful and the D wasn’t exactly impressive. So what exactly is he good at anymore?
Klay probably needs a reduced minutes load in the playoffs, but this is where him being the only player on the Dubs with both size & +shooting is a problem
(okay fine there's PBJ, maybe, so let's amend to only *reliable* player)
Moody is the same size as Klay, and his shooting is getting pretty reliable based on what we saw in the playoffs.
Moody could get there too, probably has the best chance of it, but his shooting percentages are held up by very low usage
he needs to be able to hit on a quicker trigger to become a real threat as a shooter
I’ve pointed to Wiggins’ absence as having a snowball and domino effect that REALLY hurt their chances of repeating.
Yeah they would have had a top 4 seed and would still be playing right now if he didn't take that absence imo. At minimum even if they stayed at 6, Game 1 against Sacramento probably would have been a W which means they close it out earlier than 7 which means Game 1 against the Lakers is a W too.
The team is built with the expectation that Wiggins will not miss games and will soak up a ton of minutes. It's been a good bet for most of his career, didn't pay off for tragic but also fairly fluky reasons this season.
GP2 being injured and them not knowing until after the trade deadline was also a brutal and fluky blow.
There’s another universe where we win G2 of the Sacramento series, end that in 5 or 6, win G1 and G4 of Lakers series and end it in 5. But the team was operating on thin margins all year and throwing up klunkers all too frequently… next year.
Wiggins was also earlier in the season, which screwed up the rotations and surely cost them games along with Curry’s absence.
Inactive games between games:
Klay: Finished with 24 games straight in which he had 10 games with 25+ pts. And before that he played every game except for B2Bs.
Dray: Didn't miss consecutive games throughout the season but for once where he missed two games
Wiggs: No need to say it
Saw that Klay is seeking a max? Dude got punked and outplayed by Austin Reaves. I love Klay but he has to be realistic.
Where you read this? I saw reporting on this 4-5 months ago, but nothing recently in my feeds.
It was some budget analysis article, but it seems like the most recent report is from a month ago
Ouch!
Some people choose the path of agony, and I can't tell others what to do. But I for one am feeling blessed that next year I likely will still have the fortune of watching at least 5 of Curry, Dray, Klay, Looney, Wiggins, Poole, and GP2 represent the Dubs, if not all 7. And that's not to even mention Moody, Kuminga, and the rising guys to track who may still be with us. Soak in the Cancun beams, recharge, ready to bring the joy back in the Fall!
So did everyone see how Poole recently spent 500k on a date 🤯 dudes mind was definitely on his money this season.
Lol, he went to a car dealership on it. I don't want to judge dating tactics too much, but who goes to a car dealership on a date 😂
hey man, after that playoff performance he needs to differentiate himself somehow
Is that confirmed? I thought it was an unconfirmed rumor? He got clowned on some podcast regarding 'should have bought her a pizza'.
You might have a point. No idea now that you mention it. But it just sounded believable maybe I fell for gossip.
lol you know you're getting old when people name drop folks you don't know from a hole in the ground.
Its just pop culture, absolutely meaningless. But yeah, you’d probably know who she is if you’re 15. Other than that you’d have to be following crappy pop music (i’m forced to because I have teens) 👍
She's not one of the Spice Girls? And here I was thinking Poole had good taste.
I mean the youngest of them is 46, so that might be a bit outside of his range.
Didn’t stop Malik Beasley (or Marcus Jordan!) from kicking the tires on Larsa Pippen
Baddies is baddies.
One thing kerr hasnt tried yet but I think could work is Wiggins at the 5, he rebounds good enough to play small ball n we can run defenses that'll stop him from getting posted
Steph moody lamb kuminga wiggins could have been interesting
Is there some reason why they can't get an actual 5 to play at the 5? Gimmicks are fun for a few minutes.
The good 5s are out of the Warriors price range, and their chance to get one in the draft didn't pan out.
Really though, as Draymond continues to age, he probably needs to play more Center, so what the Warriors really need is a Power Forward that can spread the floor and rebound at a high level. Basically, an Otto Porter Jr that isn't constantly on the verge of breaking.
They need a scoring PF ala JJJ or Jerami Grant. Not looking for a top C. Brooklyn's Claxton would do fine.
I think JK works better as the 5 in that lineup.
Mainly because JK already seems to have more left hand to finish on the roll than Wiggins does.
Wiggins just at the five cause hed be guarding the center, jk would be the five on offense
So...I'm not sure exactly about what you're saying--re: Wiggins at the 5--but I like the concept of small, fast, aggressive (esp at O rebounding). [Aside: I have been trying to teach my teams aggressive O rebounding from anyone who is along the baseline on O. e.g. So if you're a corner three spacer, you crash boards on your way back on D. You can do this without sacrificing getting back on D, and often gives several extra possessions per game]. Crashing the O boards is what made Wiggins help us win last year. It's one of the reasons GPII is awesome. DDV also routinely does it, but I'm not sure if it is a team concept, because some guys never do it. It's one of the reasons I love energy/effort guys like Lamb. I think too many teams miss out on extra possessions by conceding rebounds to the D.
Curry moody lamb kuminga wiggins, crash the boards, double the post on defense, pretty good poa defense there other then curry
Then on offense you got 3 shooters surrounding a curry kuminga pick n roll
I guess we didnt win 4 championships with dray at the 5, yes this not as good defensively but ad would get double teamed in this lineup n on offense hes forced to guard curry kuminga pnrs with 3 shooters
[Center] would get double teamed and then it would turn into open catch & shoot shots for his teammates against a rotating defense... and [Center] grabbing all the rebounds for put backs against that same rotating defense being out of rebounding position. No thank you.
We won those 4 championships BECAUSE Dray can defend centers 1-on-1 without needing a constant double team. And because Steph is a cheat code to destroy drop coverage on the other end.
We also had Bogut, Zaza, JaVale, and/or DWest (although DW was a PF-size 4/5) on the first three champions. And of course Loon more recently. It wasn't just Dray defending 1 on 1 at the 5. We could switch things up, throw different defenders at opposing bigs. Bogut was a fine paint defender and mentored Dray in how to run the defense.
The Milwaukee Bucks have received permission to interview Phoenix Suns associate head coach Kevin Young for the franchise’s coaching job, sources tell ESPN. Young is also a candidate with Toronto and expected to interview with the Suns for the new opening there.
https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1658245009299349504
I believe based on the new CBA, we will also no longer be able to buy second-round picks by sending out cash, and we don't have any of our own until '27 per the article. Anyone know if that restriction is immediate or whether kicks in next year? If next year, we gotta buy all we can this year, and then try to trade them for future seconds on draft night.
Let's hope the light years team have that progress.
Thanks for pulling all that together, Eric. So, after Steph, JP is our biggest liability....
Poole is KOj all over again. La Sigh. Why do we keep getting these young head cases with talent but not talent enough to put up with their antics/attitude.
Poole works hard. Not sure about KOJ.
So far, it seems difficult to make Poole understand that his defense must get better, but once he does get it (whether with the Dubs or someone else), I think he'll get quite a bit better (say below average, but not horribly so).
The other thing is that he is built so slightly, there aren't a lot of players he can physically stand up to. He's probably going to need to hit the weight room, as Curry did.
KOJ?
Because most people are not mature in their early 20's, and it's why the two timeline BS was idiotic from the get go
Conversely, because of the bad dynamics, that also gives people leverage to low ball us.
Personally I’d prefer to keep JP, mainly for the fact that I hate selling low, but the math may not add up
That would be awesome and liberating if true. Unfortunately, I watched all his minutes. At his best, he played half the game.
-->Joran Poole (name spelled correctly)
Schadenfreude to soothe your weary souls:
https://www.phillyvoice.com/instant-observations-sixers-celtics-game-7-joel-embiid-james-harden-doc-rivers/
"However bad or lethargic you thought Joel Embiid was in this game, James Harden was several levels worse. Harden spent most of Sunday's game actively undermining the Sixers as the rest of the group did their best to try to make up for the putrid efforts of the stars. It was a version of the same Harden stinker we have seen in so many big playoff moments in the past, whether they came in Philadelphia, Houston, or Oklahoma City."
Embiid was non-existent. Shoulda sat them both. They were at their best, by far, in first Q when everyone was involved.
Ouch... lol
So, after some time to marinate on this season and post-season, here's where I'm at:
1. In the end, it's a make or miss league and the team missed a lot of shots in the playoffs. The good news is, we got a lot of good looks, so the process is still mostly working.
2. By the end, the Warriors looked very tired and frustrated. It was a lot like the '21 season where we had a strong finish to the regular season despite injuries, and then narrowly lost the play-in (to LAL and then Memphis).
3. Moving forward, I think the team's goals should be to get rid of frustration and make basketball fun again. Play smarter, channel frustration in a positive way, and bring back weaponized joy.
[Aside: If we'd beaten the Lakers in 7 for the first round and then lost to the Kings in 6 in round 2, I would have been a lot happier with the outcome of the postseason even though it would be substantially the same for us. But I have more respect for the Kings and what Mike Brown has done with that team, and I do think the tough series against them wore us down and contributed to the outcome of the Dubs/Lakers series.]
How do we free ourselves from being tired and frustrated? It's multi-faceted, so let's look back and see what happened and what we can do about it.
1. Expectations and distractions. Nobody likes losing, but context matters, too. I'm mad we lost to the Lakers because I hate the Lakers and what they stand for. But losing in the 2nd round of the playoffs takes some weight off the team's shoulders. We don't have the burden that comes with defending a title next season. Expectations were also tough for a lot of players individually, too: Poole to live up to his contract, Draymond to fit in with the team and atone for The Punch, Klay to immediately be his former self despite being out of shape, etc. (Tangential, but Wiggins' situation was more complex, but coming back from a tough personal situation to play in the playoffs is not exactly a recipe for success either.)
2. The two-timeline plan and the offseason in general. This was a big whiff and ultimately responsible for a lot of the team's pain this year. Early on, the team racked up losses in part because Wiseman was so hopeless on defense, DDV+JMG were quite a bit below expectations out the gate, and running the youngsters together wasn't working. Topping that off, Andre's availability was even worse than anticipated. Those losses piled up and gave the team less margin for error as the season went on. Even after switching some things up like sending guys to the G-league and giving Lamb + Jerome as many major league minutes as possible, the center position was tenuous (thank heavens for Loon being an iron man this year) and rotations were weird.
3. Officiating and the team's handling of it. There were a lot of times that it felt like the refs were against us (more than usual). Poole getting picked on early in the season for carries, Draymond getting suspended "for history", and the disparity of calls in the Lakers games 1 and 3. To some extent that's out of the team's control, but it matters how the players respond. Remember when Steph got so mad at Marat Kogut over a no-call and subsequent technical that he went on a rampage ending in an insane dagger shot and Steph "T'ing up" the ref? That's channeling it in a productive way. Poole, on the other hand, seems to have let it tilt him and compound the frustration. I hope the team spends some time thinking about this and how to address it. Some people can be mentored on mindset things like this, and some people can't (aren't willing), so that'll be one of my preferences for how the team handles the roster going forward. Draymond's role in this is especially complicated, since I think he often handles things well enough despite loudly complaining, and I think his barking at the refs is actually productive sometimes, but he sets a terrible example for his teammates and then there are the occasions where he absolutely does not handle things well.
4. The mysterious home/road splits. I can't explain this one, but it seems to have been more than you would expect from just the other problems. I hope someone is taking a look at this though and maybe booking the team some nicer flights or something. I'll also lay some of the blame on the league for scheduling the Warriors the most B2Bs of any team in the league and a pretty tough schedule overall.
As far as the roster goes, I hope we have someone *fun* like JTA or Damion Lee to be a spark on and off the bench, a little more size/bulk in the frontcourt positions to help Looney, and I hope we have Steph Curry. Honestly I would like to keep many of our other guys, too, but the luxury tax makes it complicated. Thankfully, that's not my job, it's Bob's (or whoever else's) so I'll let them handle that and go back to cat curling videos.
A lot of good points but, once again, someone just mushes the young guns into blame without carefully looking at the sequence of events. The team started 3-1 at home and 0-6 on the road. The young guns were playing. But Klay was shooting everytime he touched the ball, and, not only that, bricking shot after shot, messing up the offense; JP and Klay were turnstiles on defense, leaving the frontcourt constantly over-matched, which led to foul-city for the first team (and put the second team in the penalty all the time). Looking at 3-7, Kerr panicked, COMPLETELY benched the young guns, and the team went 7-3. Woo-hoo, it worked! Not so fast--they went 7-3, but it was 1-3 on the road and 6-0 at home. During that time Klay kept bricking (so much so eventually they had a team meeting about it some 20 games later), JP/Klay kept waving opponents into the lane, and the fouling continued. The only reason the second 10 games look better than the first in the record books is the second ten games have 6 home games while the first ten games had only 4. Benching the young guns did not help. A seasoned, non-panicky coach would not have abandoned the entire season plan because some youngsters lose a few road games, especially given the clear problems with the vets, most notably Klay. Please stop blaming Wiseman, JK, and Moody for errors and losses that should be at the foot of their "no accountability" elders.
100% agree that the joy was notably missing this year
As a therapist I’m thinking of submitting a new disorder for approval in the DSMVI.
For now I’m calling it Fan Delusion Disorder (FDD). Please help me identify the symptoms.
Blaming new or young players for losses caused by old players or coaches you like but, because you like them, cannot soberly assess their contribution or lack thereof.
Proposing a trade where your team dumps its unwanted marginal players for an all star (say, Giannis), even though the other team would never do it.
Associating something you (the fan) did, to the outcome of the game:
I just ate icecream and then they went on a 20-2 run! Doing my part!
Occasional use of the word 'goat' to describe something other than an ungulate.
Anything more than 20 lines....lol
Reading anything more than 20 lines :)
Crap. Note to self: 19 lines max
Belief that regular season performance (especially on the road) has no bearing on playoff performance
— Persistent ability to explain losses as wins in disguise.
— persistent ability to explain wins as losses in disguise.
— obsession with officiating
— Ability to navigate nuances of contracts with a straight face.
—- Persisten need to explain to disinterested parties why ones own interests are so fascinating
— tribalism
Don't forget
- Increased credulity towards sports conspiracy theories
... not that I am speaking from experience or something
- armchair expertise with coaching decisions
- delusions of making wide open threes at over a 30% clip
- free throw shooting ability better than looney
- better defense then “traffic cone” poole
- ability to say “ see i got that call right” after watching slomo replays
Thinking we can grab Giannis.
Hek, he didn't even make it out of the 1st round...lol
Double negative or redundant?
BINGO...you win...you got me LMAO....
Theres no reason poole cant be a dennis Schroeder level defender, I blame kerr for pooles defense season
I'm a Kerr supporter, but I do think he did a major disservice to the team by giving Poole more playing time than his defensive effort deserved.
(If that punch incident really had to do with JP disrespect of Kerr, i wonder if Kerr kinda over compensated by not being as hard on JP as he otherwise would have).
It was the contract, they had/have no leverage over Poole anymore once he signed it.
We saw in the playoffs how Poole started acting once he got his "opportunities" cut. It would have been a lot worse had it happened in the regular season.
That's a hypothetical cop out, his extension doesnt start til next season but we cant say "hey we need you atleast to try defensively or your minutes will be reduced"? That doesnt even make sense
If someone with that contract doesn't buy in/acts out/etc., the team gets negatively impacted way more than the player. Now you have a toxic, large asset on your books that will hinder your ability to build a good team and that you will have to attach significant assets to in order to remove. The player is getting paid either way though, as we see in the NBA these guys at most have to sit out like half a season to get what they want when they have this much leverage (Ben Simmons).
Let's say the Warriors benched Poole earlier in the season because they didn't like his effort. Let's say Poole doesn't respond well to the "tough love" approach, instead he gets mad about it, becomes a distraction in the media, and acts out on the court by not giving a shit because he wants off the team.
Who is hurt more by this, Poole or the Warriors? Where would Poole's trade value be in this scenario?
And don't get me wrong, I don't think Poole's trade is that high right now. But I think it would be significantly lower had they done all that in the regular season.
> his extension doesnt start til next season
It's not about his current salary though, it's about how many dollars/years he has guaranteed. Only some players in the NBA get those contracts and the players with those contracts need to be a significant part of the team's identity or else it really handicaps the team. That's what gives him leverage. It's what gave Wiggins leverage too which is why I was worried about this same thing when they traded for Wiggins, but luckily Wiggins turned out to be very flexible/coachable/etc.
On the other hand, he doesn't have a no-trade clause, and the team can trade him wherever they can find the right deal. So he does not have all the leverage.
But we've used the tough love on poole before by sending him to the g league instead of playing him over wanamaker and it worked? He doesnt have to be fully benched just hey if you want 30 minutes you have to give a defensive effort, the fucked up part is everything you described is what we have now lol a bad contract toxic player who through multiple fits in the playoffs and looked like he didnt even fucking try in game 6 elimination. Idk why holding a player accountable for defense game 1 would have been such a big deal
Not to mention, even Steph was benched early in his career.. lol
I place more blame on Poole for not spending his offseason on screen navigation, defensive stance, and strength.
Those things amount to about 6% of what's holding him back. The other 94% comes down to actually Wanting to and Trying to.
It's all synergistic...
If he's trying but not knowing what he should really be doing, he'll give up blow bys, and get discouraged. If his teammates get frustrated by this, he'll get more discouraged... if he gets knocked over and doesn't get an offensive foul called (because the offensive player easily kept their balance), he'll get discouraged. If all of these things start piling up, he'll start questioning even the things he thinks he should be doing... it can all easily spiral...
What you are describing is a loser mentality though. A younger Steph gave up blow bys, got knocked over and did not get the offensive foul called (heck, still doesn't sometimes), and more — serious ankle injuries too — and he absolutely refused to let it get to him that we could ever see in his performance. He was determined to triumph, whatever was thrown at him. Heart of a champion.
He wasnt trying or knowing what to do imo n that's the coaching issue
>Theres no reason poole cant be a dennis Schroeder level defender
Defense requires effort and a willingness to do the dirty work, Poole evidently has neither.
If he wears himself out defensively, he loses his burst, his only real offensive weapon, besides FT which he no longer gets. Weak handle, loose with the ball, outside shot not falling, layups getting blocked. He does have nice assists on occasion, but he'd have to develop more consistent vision and feel for his teammates.
And young players need to be held accountable for that (see the houston rockets) which he hasnt
Poole has been called an effort guy all along and supposedly was focused on defense last offseason, so either that was smoke or there's more to it than not having the willingness.
But all that effort seems to be directed for O only. And he clearly put in a lot of work on his O game, which is why I'm fine with his struggles at that end of the floor, but not at all ok with him at the D end--which is HALF the game.
Also he’s been named as a guy whose work ethic is second to none, first guy in the gym, works on his game. Interesting to recall that now
Its crazy how much coaching determines player narratives, look at wiggins in Minny
I think the loss of Mike Brown was huge this season in ways both large and small. His Kings play with the joy the Dubs used to play with too.
The problem with trading both Poole and Kuminga is not only are they are as low in value as they've ever been, but they fill positions we will need to fill. Trade Poole, and this team badly needs someone who can create offense. Trade Kuminga and we lack athleticism and youth. But there's enough smoke now that they have to be traded.
Keeping both on the roster limits any options of improvement, it keeps the murky 2 timeline going, and finding the PT to keep guys happy becomes a full-time job for Kerr and one that may be impossible if we want to try to win a championship. We have to rip the band-aid off and have 15 guys playing for the same goal, which, frankly, I don't think we had this year.
Even combining the two, I don't think you can get sexy names for Poole/Kuminga. You're getting back a bad contract and maybe one useful player. I went through every team, and to me, the option that makes the most sense is Joe Harris and DFS. Brooklyn wants off Harris, and they don't have one of the plethora of young all offense guards that litter the league. They need to be taking swings on young guys. Maybe it's enough for them to say yes. Maybe the Poole contract is too negative for this to work.
The Dubs get better on defense with DFS and can now have three hyper-dangerous 3p threats. But they need a 7 footer to eat minutes still. They need a creator on offense who can fill in for the 20 games Steph misses. With #19, I target Kris Murray. I target Kevin Love for vet min. I pray Toronto buys out OPJ. But there's a lot of holes springing in this ship.
If Joe Harris + DFS is the best you can get, then stand pat. I'll take the chance that Poole and Kuminga both rebound and improve over the near certainty that Harris + DFS will be mediocre and not help us win another chip.
I think trading Kuminga would be foolish. He played damn well for a 20 year old in his second season, despite inconsistent minutes. He has big upside and already can contribute a lot. I don't see him bringing back something better than what he gives us. Kerr needs to commit to playing JK serious minutes next season. It's not like starting rookie Wiseman, JK is going into his third season and has learned a lot. He's ready to play.
From my seat overlooking the river........the 3 players I like in Brooklyn are Dinwiddie, Bridges, & Claxton. A trade for Poole + Kuminga can bring either Bridges or Dinwiddie + Claxton. My preference is Bridges + Clax. Maybe wishful thinking on my part but you don't trade 2 young studs like Poole/JFK for someone like Harris and DFS. Not that they are bad players but they are not our future.
lol Bridges + Claxton is as unrealistically good as Harris + DFS is bad
Probably.
I don't think we come close to getting Bridges unless the Nets are out of their ever-lovin' mind. That man can flat-out ball, and he plays every night. He's 26 and coming into his prime. He should be a building block for them. But if they're that stupid, I'd make that deal.
I think there are many factors that go into making deals depending on where teams feel they need to be headed to in acquiring players. If Poole and Kuminga wouldn't be enough to get Bridges and Claxton, who would be enough to move the needle? Green and Kuminga? Klay? Poole has a high ceiling, higher than is currently be talked about, in my view. Poole has some major talent, both scoring and passing. He needs more seasoning and if Kerr isn't willing to do it, we shouldn't keep him as the numbers are really inhibiting the Warriors' chances of building for the future. But, perhaps you are of the mind that we should keep it all together for another go at a ring? If so, what did we just witness this season and our 'fall from grace?'
My point there is if I'm the Nets, Bridges is not on the table except if it significantly improves their team. Wiggs is probably be the only guy we realistically could trade that might get it done. We obviously are not trading Steph, probably not Loon. Bridges is better than Poole, at least right now. Dray cannot be dealt except if he opts in and is willing to be traded to a rebuilding team, and then he's an expiring deal. If I'm the Nets I'd rather rebuild with 26 yr old Bridges than with Draymond. Similarly Klay is too old and expensive and he's a one-year rental, not a guy you rebuild with. We don't have anyone else that's worth it to them. So it would be Wiggs, and why would we do that?
I get it. The only reason I thought about this is because someone else was thinking about a deal with Brooklyn and I put my 2 cents in. I like Bridges more than Wiggins. More upside with Mikal, more attack. The trade I like is Wiggins/Kuminga for Bridges/Claxton. I'd even do Kuminga for Claxton. I'm not saying Brooklyn would be interested or the Warriors, but the trade works in my mind.
Kerr has said he wants Draymond back. He seems committed to Win Now. For me, the unknown element is still Lacob. His team, money, and vision of the future. He has to think about what comes next.
> I pray Toronto buys out OPJ.
I was into this idea until I realized that the Warriors are not allowed to sign buy out players. Unless this gets phased in after this coming season?
think it's only buyout players making $10M+ (it's pegged to league average salary or maybe full MLE, something like that)
I'm not saying you are wrong but given how confusing all of this is, do you have a source for this?
if you've got an Athletic subscription, Hollinger references it here: https://theathletic.com/4444189/2023/04/24/clippers-warriors-biggest-foes-arent-on-court-its-the-new-cba-hollinger/
"The restriction on signing buyout players who had made more than the MLE also seemed slightly ridiculous to most insiders; these players rarely end up mattering. However, it would invalidate a couple of scenarios that happened this year, such as the Clippers’ acquisition of Russell Westbrook or the Suns’ addition of Terrence Ross."
Hollinger you stupid motherfucker, you've done it again.
Thanks.
and here's a non-paywalled source, a tweet from Keith Smith of Spotrac: https://twitter.com/KeithSmithNBA/status/1648426949805752320
Am I missing something? This talks about the first tax apron but we will be way over the second tax apron, and that's where it really gets restrictive - albeit the restrictions are being phased in over the next two seasons.
If you are right though, that's awesome. Celebrini will have him ready for the playoffs just like he fixed GP2 up. Stretch 4 problem no more.
I'm assuming a lot of these phase-outs are next year not this. And does the buy-out restriction apply to offseason buy-outs or in season ones?
I heartily disagree with this, which will probably surprise no one. First of all, there are no trades that have to be made. Maybe they are preferable, maybe they are not, but nothing *has* to be done. I also think that a really good reason to keep Kuminga is that he’s really really good. Not “might someday be good if we squint,” not “value is low,” but really really good. So why didn’t he play in the playoffs? Don’t look at me, that’s my question. But that lack of
PT hardly proves that his regular season should be ignored.
For being "really, really good", his catch-all metrics suck. He was negative by EPM. He was negative by Raptor. He was negative by BPM. Now, maybe all the metrics are wrong. It's not impossible, but I think there's absolutely many worlds where you play Kuminga 2000 minutes and he is the biggest reason the Dubs go 34-48. And you've wasted Steph Curry's age 36 season.
In fact, I hope you're right. I hope some other GM sees the same in Kuminga and we get him straight up for Anunoby or something. I'll take eating my words in 2026 for a slight upgrade today. Brandon Ingram is an amazing basketball player, but the Lakers don't regret the AD trade.
What do those metrics say in his 21 games post all star?
Using all those metrics in kumingas case ignores all context, how could he have another almost 60% ts season, pass the eye test defensively, and greatly improve on his assist ratio while being such a negative? The context is the role he played and the lineups he played in
He's pretty good defensively on ball, but he remains terrible off ball. He also messes up the spacing offensively since his shot is not respected, and isn't a good screen setter yet. That means he can't be the roller in a pick and roll, nor can he be a spacer. And he's not the ballhandler I'd want either.
What scares me the most is his lineups with Curry. He played 460 minutes with Steph. And they were -8.0. How does that happen if he's a great player? It used to be that Steph was a cheat code that could make lineups with McKinnie, Quinn Cook, and other scrubs positives. With Kuminga and Steph together, they're the Detroit Pistons or Houston Rockets. With Steph, Klay, Dray, and Kuminga all together that rating falls to -22.2, by far the worst team in the league. Even if you do believe JK's a great player, he doesn't fit in lineups with the one player whose prime I care about most.
Imo, hes a good screen setter, showed it all season, go watch his kings minutes and tell me hes terrible off the ball and if he kills spacing on offense that is because steve kerr failed to utilize his strengths as a roller/cutter wether it be his role(why is he spotting up in the corner while donte or lamb is setting screens? Why didnt he play more small ball five like he did rookie season? Theres no way a curry n kuminga lineup should fail with all the progress he showed, that's on kerr
I get what you’re saying but I think this is on the coaching staff not just on JK. I think they don’t know how to use him. They have their system and they want him to be Draymond or Looney but he’s not. He’s like a low rent giannis, a guy you get the ball to and clear some space. He’s certainly not in that league or any kind of all star but that’s how they could be using him rather than putting him on the corner.
We also have to account for a very young player's probable improvement over the summer. He'll turn 21 around the start of next season.
Agree with this sentiment, but to be fair that AD trade was a much, much bigger upgrade for LA than an Anunoby trade would be for us.
It was a big upgrade for LA, and they gave up a lot too: Ingram, Ball, Hart, Hunter, three firsts, and more.