Warriors beat writer Danny Emerman shares his thoughts on the Warriors and beyond
Fall is here, which means hope springs eternal in the NBA. That includes the Warriors, who are out of the spotlight entering the regular season about as much as they have been since their dynasty began.
“I do think that we’ve been forgotten about a little bit,” head coach Steve Kerr said.
Media Day is tomorrow, and here’s how it works. All the Warriors players will take the podium in the interview room for about 10 minutes apiece. Questions will be asked, and answers will be feigned. Then the team will jet off to Hawaii for training camp. As Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic made clear at his 10th media day, it’s somewhat of a charade; the biggest questions will be answered on the court throughout the next six months, not at a mic.
But it is somewhat of an opportunity to take the temperature of a team. Here’s what everyone’s curious about heading into Media Day.
Will Jonathan Kuminga get extended before Oct 21?
The question applies to Moses Moody, too, but much more aptly to the former sixth overall pick. Kuminga made significant strides last year, but concerns about his fit on the roster and in Golden State’s system remain. His draft class counterparts already got paid, and things can get dicey when a team introduces uncertainty to a player’s situation — even if restricted free agency means the Warriors maintain near-term control without an extension. Kuminga won’t get a chance to prove he’s “earned” a maximum rookie extension before the Oct. 21 deadline, but the team believes in his development and has a history of doling out extensions earlier rather than later.
How much did Brandin Podziemski improve?
Selecting Podziemski was Mike Dunleavy Jr.’s first home run as general manager. A First-Team All-Rookie selection, Podziemski will be empowered to shoot more, handle more and create more. He’s already an excellent glue guy and help defender, but if he can maintain efficiency while upping volume on offense, Podziemski’s belief that he can be an All-Star won’t be far-fetched after all.
A related question: So, who’s going to start? My money’s on Steph Curry, Podziemski, Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga and Draymond Green.
Can Draymond Green keep himself out of trouble?
The Warriors went 32-19 in the 51 games Green played (without getting ejected) last season. That’s a 51-win pace. He’s entering his 13th season and is out of excuses; any additional serious offense could jeopardize his career. His team needs him to stay on the court.
Can Moses Moody escape rotational purgatory?
The Warriors have said for years now that they want to create more minutes for Moody in their crowded rotations. Then they went out and signed De’Anthony Melton, Kyle Anderson and Buddy Hield, each of whom presumably leap-frogged Moody in the pecking order. Moody will need to display serious strides to earn playing time, or get stuck in DNP land once again.
What’s the path to landing a big fish?
Dunleavy said the Warriors are about as impatient as a franchise can be at this stage. It’s clear they want to add the next star that becomes available, but does their package of picks and young players move the needle compared to what other similarly aggressive teams have to offer? Speaking of…
KAT-Randle Trade
Just days before training camp, the Timberwolves and Knicks turned the offseason upside down with a blockbuster trade.
Per multiple reports, Minnesota sent All-NBA big Karl-Anthony Towns for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and a first-round pick via the Pistons (a worthwhile future asset).
Both teams seemingly believed they couldn’t win it all with their power forwards, and figured it was time to swap the former Kentucky stars.
Randle’s fit with the Knicks was always going to be clunky, and they needed a center after Isaiah Hartenstein departed. Towns should work perfectly next to their athletic, two-way wings and superstar point guard Jalen Brunson. New York gave up some of their power of friendship in Villanova product DiVincenzo, but on the whole stacked more high-level talent onto a loaded roster.
Minnesota, meanwhile, shed salary a year before they had to. Scared of the second apron next year, the Timberwolves are punting on their best chance to contend after reaching the Western Conference Finals last year.
Your mileage may vary on Towns, but he’s a better player than Randle and was a significantly better fit on Minnesota than Randle will be.
The immediate upshot for the Warriors: A Western Conference contender got worse. Driving lanes for Anthony Edwards are going to be harder to come by with a Randle-Rudy Gobert front court, and Golden State has always struggled to defend stretch bigs like Towns in the past. The Warriors couldn’t get in on the action, but that doesn’t mean they won’t benefit from the blockbuster.
But in the bigger picture, this was the type of opportunity the Warriors must pounce on. Towns wasn’t a disgruntled star — he never requested a trade — but he was clearly available. Matching salaries would’ve been terribly difficult, but that’s going to be an issue with any home run swing trade effort.
As Dunleavy has said, trades are hard. He’s not wrong. Being hard-capped at the $178 million first apron complicates things for Golden State, too.
But the Warriors’ best assets are their own future picks, as well as Kuminga, Podziemski and Trayce Jackson-Davis. They probably don’t have enough in the cupboard to make a minor trade for a solid player while having enough left over to take a big swing later. So, they have to bide their time for the right player to come available and unload.
Perhaps the Warriors could’ve beaten New York’s package for Towns, although they likely would’ve had to include Wiggins — who has no trade value — to match salaries. Maybe the Warriors only view the tier above Towns (Paul George, Lauri Markkanen, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, etc.) as worthwhile.
“There’s a level of discipline that you have to have,” Dunleavy said. “And I’m not going to — there’s no point in going all in to be slightly above average. To go all in, you’ve got to feel like you’re all in. That’s how we’ll kind of judge and evaluate things, and we’ll see what’s there.”
The Warriors have optionality, as they like to remind you, but perhaps not as much as you’d hope.
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A San Quentin observation
I was lucky enough to tag along with the Warriors on their annual trip to San Quentin Rehabilitation Center last week, and more ink will be spilled on that soon.
But one preliminary thought is that assistant coaches Jerry Stackhouse and Terry Stotts are going to make an imprint on this team. They were both with the cadre of Warriors visiting the institution, and it’s clear their reputations carry respect. They’re new voices, and they’re going to be listened to.
Al Attles jersey patch
The Warriors announced they’ll be honoring the late Al Attles with a jersey band this season. A documentary about the 1975 championship team he coached is also set to release at some point in 2025 for the 50th anniversary.
The patch is a nice gesture. Attles was a titan within the organization and in the Bay.
“I think he lived a life that was respectable on and off the court,” Jim Barnett told me after Attles died. “Never cheated anyone, never cheated the fans by not giving your best at all times. And never cheating life by taking shortcuts and falling into things that aren’t ethical … I think that carried through to a lot of us and gave us a lot of lessons.”
Standings Predictions
Eastern Conference
Boston
New York
Milwaukee
Orlando
Philadelphia
Indiana
Cleveland
Miami
Atlanta
Toronto
Chicago
Charlotte
Washington
Detroit
Brooklyn
Western Conference
Oklahoma City
Memphis
Dallas
Denver
Minnesota
Phoenix
Sacramento
Golden State
New Orleans
LA Lakers
Houston
LA Clippers
San Antonio
Utah
Portland