“We’re a lot more dangerous in transition with him,” Kevon Looney said. “Early in the year, that was one thing we wanted to be better at. Since he’s been out, I don’t think we’ve been as good and our identity changed a little bit. But you see it when he’s out there: We’re a totally different team in transition. He’s putting a lot of pressure on the rim, and when he does that (Stephen Curry) gets open shots, Buddy (Hield) gets open shots, Moses (Moody) gets open shots.”
Kuminga described his ankle injury as “pretty bad,” and coach Steve Kerr told reporters that it turned out to be more significant than the team originally believed. Kerr experimented Thursday by playing Kuminga alongside Butler and Draymond Green in a small-ball lineup and was encouraged by how they looked together.
“What you notice is the different dimension (Kuminga) gives us, with his explosion to the rim,” Kerr said. “The way teams are playing Steph now, everybody is top-locking him. It completely distorts the defense, and it makes sense, but then you don’t have help in certain areas. So if you have a guy like JK who can attack and score at the rim, it’s a huge help.”
There’s more on the Warriors:
- Curry became the first player with 4,000 career three-pointers, reaching that mark off a broken play in the third quarter, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. As Youngmisuk points out, he has made more than 1,000 long-distance shots since passing Ray Allen in 2021 for the all-time lead in that category. “It’s a clear milestone threshold,” Curry said. “A number that I didn’t think about, that it was realistic even from 2,974, which is a number that means the most because that was the record at the time. It’s beyond my wildest dreams to push a record that far.”
- After Butler was dealt to the Warriors, he was determined to move past the drama that marked his contentious exit from Miami, according to Marc J. Spears of Andscape. He started by telling his new teammates that winning is more important to him than anything. “When I walked in, I was like, ‘Yo, look man, I’m only here to win,’” Butler said. “’I don’t care about nothing else. I don’t care about points. I don’t care about shots. I don’t care about none of that. I’m only here to win and I’ve always only been places to win. So, whatever y’all need me to do, y’all let me know.’”
- Tim Kawakami of The San Francisco Standard examines general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr.‘s strategy for remaking the roster after a pair of major offseason trades fell through, making sure he had the right pieces in place when the opportunity arose to acquire Butler.
Having kuminga back is like getting a offensive weapon for free at the trade deadline. Curry was ailing last night with a sore back and they didn’t need him with the other players stepping up. The big test will be Denver with their height advantage.
Post was 3 for 7 last night. He keeps getting better. So, it was kinda like adding Vucevic with the the 52nd pick in last year’s draft.
Post defense is better than expected. Yes he makes some rookie mistakes but the rebounding and offense makes the warriors so much better. His passing has improved.
Agree on all points! Also … I love his attitude, he seems like he isn’t willing to shy away from any moment and the team seems to love his personality.
> So, it was kinda like adding Vucevic with the the 52nd pick in last year’s
> draft.
Well put.
Count me among those that thought acquiring Vucivic for a 2nd rounder and matching expiring contracts was a good idea. I didn’t think Post would be serviceable on defense. I was wrong.
Nuggets come to town Monday ESPN game. Must see TV, but I would bet that one or both teams sit out a key guy.
I think they do this so they don’t show all their cards in case they meet in the playoffs, but most disagree with me on that strategy. I still think coaches do it though.
I grew up in the Don Nelson era where one example the Warriors held out Chris Mullin in game one of a playoff series versus the Lakers just so he could smoke and mirror wizardry his way to a game 2 win and split in LA. Didn’t work of course. Warriors lost both games lol.
With how well the T-wolves are playing right now the warriors do not have the luxury to hold out players. T-wolves have a easy schedule so every game is a must for the warriors.
@aristotle
GSW is getting the #2 seed. They are unstoppable now.
There you go again Davey. Golden State is playing well, they are certainly not unstoppable. Good grief.
@Booga What can you expect? San Francisco is full of copium right now.
The Warriors are doing what theyre supposed to do in the regular season. Beat the teams that your supposed to beat. On their last 15 games, the best team that theyve played is a Houston team that is without their PG and a Milwaukee team that didnt have Giannis. They also had a horrible loss to an Embiid less 76ers which is more of what the Warriors will truely look like once the playoffs start.
Enjoy beating the lower 2/3rd of the league. Once the Warriors play the upper 3rd then well see more of the true Warriors, which is a lot of L’s and losing miserably.
They weren’t beating those guys 2 months ago.
@Booga – 13-1 with Jimmy says “you don’t know ball” and “unstoppable”.
You can stop being a wet blanket anytime, I am a fan and always have been, I watched every Finals win, I love this team and hated seeing people trash it and call Curry washed when he clearly isn’t, at all. I dont understand why you think you have to “talk me down” you can always mute my posts if they trigger you so much.
Good grief, get a life.
They havent played a contender in their last 15 games says a lot. Ill give it to the Warriors that they are doing what theyre supposed to do which is beat the lesser teams. But they havent played a contender or favorite within that same span.
Gary, Great post. I don’t remember Nelly sitting Mullin in game 1, but it sounds like something Nelly would do.
I’m still worried about getting the 6th seed, though. As well as GSW is playing, Minnesota is also white hot and has a much easier strength of schedule for remaining games. GSW could go finish 11-5 and Minnesota could still pass us.
Agree, arc…..AND nobody mentions how Quentin Post has changed a dynamic also. 42% from 3?.. dubs have never had that kind of stretch big. team loves this guy. Jimmy is always hitting him for the corner 3. lots of positive changes moving forward.
@LBC Post also helped GSW get Butler by GSW trading Waters for Post, then trading back for Post again. Portland messed up massively with that trade, MDJ ran their pockets. MDJ might be the GOAT. All of his moves have worked. He built a team that started 12-3, then got decimated by injuries to pretty much everyone, then he rebuilt that 12-3 team back, MIDSEASON! Give the man his flowers, nothing but W’s from him this season…
it was OKC and the trade back for the draft pick was already part of the deal Watters deal. OKC was looking to drop payroll. So GSW took Watters contract.
Right, the trade was fine by OKC, but not Portland. That’s who I was referring to. Waters was still in the Butler deal, make sense?
@DaveyJ, it looks like you may be prescient, after all :–) Taking stock:
1) Yes, they can win it all (with a little luck). I haven’t been with you until last night. I thought Jimmy moved GSW from play-in team to top 5-8 in the NBA. But with JK looking like he’s back, they are in the top 4. The road to a ‘Chip will go through the hardest-ever 4 playoff series — say, Denver, then Memphis, then OKC, then Boston. But they have a shot.
2) We may differ on the relative merits of Moody and Podz, but you’ve been justified in your confidence in the young core of 6, which continues to steadily improve. Now, answer me this: why are Warriors fans on hoopsrumors so negative about our young players? So many smart people refusing to accept that young talent needs minutes to develop. We judge them like vets.
GSW is a very good team without Kuminga, but they absolutely are a Finals threat with him.
It will never not be hilarious to me how many times I had guys screaming at me that the window was closed, it was over, “they had their run but they should trade Curry” – but that never made sense with Kuminga, Moody, Post, Podz, TJD and Gui all being solid-to-all-star level regulars? Draymond was never ever unplayable in this league and still is very good and now add an on-fire Jimmy freaking Butler to the mix?
It was all purely a coping mechanism from people tired of the Warriors…well, you are gunna need more rest where we are going. 50s/60s Celtics domination is on the table now. The “first part” of the dynasty might get blown away by this newly forming and gelling second part!
Davey, last week you were literally clambering for GS to trade Butler for Durant in the offseason and today you’re all like the Warriors look better than the ‘96 Bulls. Settle down, it’s a long road to the finals.
I still am open to a KD-Jimmy 1-1 trade, and think Jimmy will win GSW a ring this year. Both those statements are independent of each other.
Do you realize KD also makes this unit a title-contender next season? You are misremembering the CONTEXT of that statement.
Again, I don’t understand why Im not allowed to be excited about the prospects of my team, especially since so many of YOU (yes you) told me it was “over” when I never once thought that. Matter of fact, I think GSW should have more rings and blew the last 2 seasons due to Kerr’s horrific development of Kuminga and Moody, benching them for scrub 2way players.
Davey, come on… if the Warriors win a Chip, they’re not trading away major pieces.
I don’t see any way Jimmy is traded this summer, even if Warriors lose in 1st round
@Booga
hewhomustnotbenamed has a memory of a goldfish
We all know Kuminga is athletic but you never get bored watching him dunk and play. So frekin exciting and amazing! Go Warriors!!!!
Two months ago, I would not have thought this. But with Post developing at rate faster than most bigs, the future looks bright. I guess those extra college years were beneficial. I would not have expected them to land a young starting big for at least 3+ seasons. It makes resigning Kuminga more reasonable. No need to blow it up.
Now, can get JK on team friendly deal. Two years to establish early bird rights. They can go after Brook Lopez on a minimum deal. He can probably get more. But, he can mentor Post. Butler can mentor Kuminga. Move TJD to the 4. You would have a pretty solid team with a nice mix of young and old. No need to go after Sabonis or Durant.
Knox could develop the defense he didn’t have coming out of college. He already has the shooting skills. Armstrong is a wild card. Bogut gave him rave reviews. Podz is a Swiss army knife. He can play the point.
Kuminga will get paid one or another this offseason. He will be paid no less than what he wa offered before season started.
Curry’s initial deal post-rookie deal was team friendly. It allowed them to sign some players. So, there is precedent for it.
> Curry’s initial deal post-rookie deal was team friendly…
> So, there is precedent for it.
Not so. In fact, the opposite is true.
Steph had just missed 50 games in his 3rd season, after having a 2nd major ankle procedure the summer before. At the time of the signing of the contract, Steph had yet another ankle procedure scheduled, which cast doubt on his 4th year — indeed, on his career. Even healthy, Steph’s performance in his first 3 years did not foretell superstardom. That leap came in year 4, after Steph signed the rookie extension.
GSW guaranteed Steph 4 years at was then the 65th highest salary in the league. In retrospect, it was a great bet for the Warriors. But many criticized the deal at the time.
I think this off season will be huge for Post. If he can get a trainer (maybe he should train with Curry in the off season LOL) and work on his foot work and core to stay down low versus the bulkier bigs, he might help extend Curry’s run in the next few years (along with Podz, JK and Moody).
I have to say … it’s nice having Lacob as an owner. If they show signs that they can be highly competitive, the ownership group looks willing to splurge on the cash.
Giants74, The Warriors will want a 4-5 year deal, as any team in their position would. The CBA makes that the longer deal “team friendly”. A 2 year deal is not.
A 5 year “rookie extension” is the most team-favorable agreement possible under the current CBA schedule. A players’ value increases the most from age 24-28. A typical rookie extension deal looks like an overpay in year 1, but by year 4-5, it looks like a great deal. No team wants a young star to be a free agent at 24 years old.
Consider, for example, that Jason Tatum is still making $34M in his 8th season (4th year of his rookie extension), or that SGA will be making $39M in his 9th season. Neither will be in the 35 best-paid players, though they are both top 5 in value.
(BTW, Steph did NOT give the Warriors a team-friendly deal in 2012. At the time of his signing a 4-year deal, he had just come off ankle surgery the previous off-season and was able to play only 26 games that year. He had another significant ankle procedure scheduled in the near future, and it was unclear how the next season, or, even, Steph’s career, would go. GSW assumed significant risk, while Steph was guaranteed. It paid for GSW, but it might not have.)
The development of Post has proved one thing. Steve Kerr is great head coach. The coaching staffs of Santa Cruz and SF talking on a daily basis. SCs HC is Nick Kerr. They run the same playbook. Coaches travel back and forth.
When they drafted Wiseman, the brought in Deki. The guy who developed Jokic and Zubac. He and Kerr grew close. Most importantly, Looney and Deki got real close. Looney preaches Deki. Since then, Looney is pulling 15+ rebounds in 36 minutes. To bad he doesn’t have an offensive game. I don’t doubt Post and Looney have had a few conversations.
Nice win for Warriors. Winning without
Curry (11 pts) or Jimmy (6 pts) scoring. Thats a good sign for them.
I like TJD and Post as bigs. Be better with Bamba there too.
Al, good analysis… but what about Looney? You think Mo Bamba plays before Looney?
Post, Looney, and TJD are a 3-headed C, each bringing different strengths and weaknesses. I can’t think of a game situation where you couldn’t get what you’d want from Bamba from 1 of those 3.
With Draymond, GSW has 4 guys to play C. It’s a strange combination looking from the outside. But the pieces fit.
Congratulations and happy birthday, Steph – likely the most complete (ALL the tangibles) superstar an NBA franchise could ever hope for in an era of rampant softies, divas and wanna-be GOAT athletes. I’d hate to imagine what the basketball landscape would have looked like over the last decade and a half without you around.
How many handles dies Marty have ……
Most complete? Lol nah
On the chat transcript from yesterday, a question was presented to Luke Adams who ran the chat room. It follows:
Mike Dunleavy Jr’s assistant
2:21
Hello again, Mr. Adams. All of us here in the Bay Area are indeed excited about Jonathan Kuminga’s highly-anticipated return tonight. But I have a confession; hopefully we can keep this between us….and maybe some of the hardcore readers on this site. I’m definitely not feeling good about this admission. So uh….Kuminga’s been ready to play for WEEKS, Mr. Adams. The higher-ups here purposely kept him inactive for as long as they did to, as you can probably guess, drive his price down this offseason – with Kuminga approaching restricted free agency, of course. The “rationale” behind this executive decision is that there’s now little to no chance JK and his agent will request above $30M per. I’m not so sure that’ll be the case though. In your opinion, from what you’ve seen from his 3.5 seasons in the league, what’s the highest you’d go per season with Kuminga’s next contract?
I only bring it up because of the foolishness of it. It’s not worthy of a response here and kudos to Mr. Adams on how he responded.
I’d offer Kuminga somewhere in the range of 120-130 million for 4 years: 25 million each of the next 2, while Steph/Dray/Buckets are around, and then boost it to around 35 million each of the final two seasons, when those 3 are doing whatever the heck they feel like at beach resorts, yacht clubs, and TV networks/NBA front offices.
Any comment on the wacky intro?
On Dunleavy Jr’s assistant writing in to HoopsRumors open forum chat? B@llsy move by the guy or gal, if that’s really the assistant. It’s be pretty cool if HoopsRumors were to allow Dunleavy Jr’s assistant a platform to host a questions session on this site. Complete transparency.
Dude, it wasn’t his assistant.Was some clown.
ClaudeRaymond, I agree. It’s good that Luke’s response didn’t dignify the question.
It would be great if gsw could finish top 4 and get home court advantage for at least one playoff series. The problem they face in moving up in the standings is that for a team ahead of you to lose they’d likely need to lose to another team ahead of you. I’m probably stating the obvious for MOST of you so apologies in advance. However, I truly don’t know the schedules for these teams and maybe they aren’t matching like I worried about. I’m gonna defer to Aristotle. He’s the guru of schedules.
@clauderaymond, here’s a great reference to see remaining strength of schedule for all teams: link to tankathon.com
. The numbers say that:
1. Minny has, by far, the easiest schedule in West.
2. Lakers, Grizz, Clippers, Suns, & Kings have much harder schedules than GSW.
3. GSW, Nuggets, & Rockets have roughly average schedules.t
I looked at betting NBA futures just now. For what it’s worth, with 16 games remaining for GSW, oddsmakers today say:
– GSW has a ~45% chance at passing exactly 1 of these 4 teams: Lakers, Grizz, Nuggets and Rockets. That puts GSW in 5th (assuming Minnesota doesn’t rise).
– GSW has ~12% chance at passing 2 or more of those same 4 teams. That would put GSW in 3rd, 4th, or 5th. Lower odds than I’d expected.
– Minnesota has ~29% chance of passing GSW. (They’re hot & healthy).
– GSW has a ~39% chance of finishing 7th or worse.
In all, oddsmakers today are giving GSW ~40% chance of finishing better than 6th, a ~30% chance of finishing 6th, and a 30% of finishing worse than 6th. Seems low to me, but I’m always too optimistic
I’ll include Minn Houst Lal Den and Mem as the teams to catch/pass/stay ahead of. Rough count of remaining schedule. And I’m not including when these 5 play GSW because GSW would have to win all of their games vs these 5. Minn has only 2 left vs the other 4. Memphis has 3. Houston has 4 and Lal 5. Denver, wow, has 7. Not sure what this means. Ari?
I’ll take a shot and then I’ll shut up. Since Denver has the most, 7 against these 4 (Minn Hous Lal and Mem), I’m gonna say I’d prefer them to win all 7. And GSW could maybe slide into 3 with that help. I’d say that it’s not possible for gsw to finish 2nd anyway. Of course if Den were to do poorly in those 7 then gsw could pass them BUT then the other 4 would be harder to catch. Anyway, top 4 is the hope, for me anyway. I’ve said enough. Go Warriors!
“Tearing through the league”
Lol nah they just haven’t been scouted whilst most of the good teams are coasting now they have their seeding…
The Lakers have lost Lebron… They are the scary team to face in the playoffs because they’ll be a low seed…
They havent played a contender in their last 15 games.
Prior to Butler coming on board, they would have lost 10 of those games. The are now 11-1 since he joined the team.
11-1 sounds nice and great for team morale. When you look at who those 11 teams, then you realise they were just doing what they were supposed to do. The Denver games and maybe to a certain degree, the Knick and Bucks games are the only teams wherein the Warriors could be tested.
Oh Aristotle, Steph Curry’s 2012 contract was team friendly. Yes, it was risky. He got 4 years/$44 million. He could have gotten 5 years at $79 million.
The point of the team friendly contract is to get the team closer to title contention. He would be a star on that team. Much bigger endorsement contracts than signing with a rebuilding Brooklyn or Utah.
Giants74 said:
> Steph Curry’s 2012 contract was team friendly… He got 4 years/$44 million.
> He could have gotten 5 years at $79 million.
That’s provably false. Now you’re just making stuff up. A deal of 4 years at $79M translates to $20M/yr, which would have made Steph one of the highest players in the NBA in 2012 (after only 3 years of play).
At the $11M/yr Steph’s contract fit with the rest of the league in 2012:
– Lebron James, in his 9th year, with 3 MVP awards at the time, made $16M.
– Duane Wade in his 9th year, made $15M.
– Chris Paul, in his 8th year, made $15M
SOURCE: link to hoopshype.com
Nobody ever proposed that Steph should be paid $5M/yr more in 2012 than LeBron, Wade, and Chris Paul. Steph signing an $11M/yr deal did NOT represent a gift to the team.
@aristotle I think the over criticism of the GSW youth movement is directly due to Curry’s prime being wasted the last 2 seasons. I was critical of Podz, because he stunk and wasn’t playing well, and despite Kerr giving him all the minutes in the world, we were a bad team then, because of him. If Moody and Kuminga got that development time instead, they might have broken out earlier. But like I always say, Podz is young and still needs development time, any player can be useless til they are like 24-26, then turn a corner and become a solid player. Well, Podz finally got that development, Jimmy bringing his game to him directly has absolutely caused him and literally all of GSW’s youth players to turn a corner.
Things are different now. Odd to see posters on here not clocking it at all and calling me out for being confident in my fave team, who is literally 13-1 with Jimmy and 13-2 since the trade and now have added KuminGOAT! Why wouldn’t I be cocky about them? Show me the weaknesses of this roster!
@daveyj , solid post except for the “Podz stunk” part :-)
Oh Aristotle, you are being silly. Curry could have gotten 5 years @ $79 million, not 4 years @ $79 million. Like I wrote. Don’t believe me. Read the article in the Athletic were Marcus Thompson interviewed Curry and his Agent about the subject. Draymond also interviewed Curry about it. He was OK with signing for less then he could have gotten. Just Google it…It is also kinda unimportant. It wasn’t my point.
giants74, you’re just making stuff up. The numbers in the link are definitive.
Giants74, even at $16M, not $20M, he’d be making more than LeBron, DWade, and Chris Paul.
Steph had played 2 full seasons, and missed his third. $11M year was a generous deal at the time.
Ari I think he signed that 4 year deal for his own security because of his ankle issues.
It was definitely a bargain in hindsight because he turned out to be as good at least as the other players making more but understandably he took the $44 million payday as security against further and debilitating injuries.
Gary. I don’t understand Ari’s bugaboo, or why he is zeroing in on this. The story is that the Warriors offered him 4/$44 million when he became extension eligible. He could have gotten 5/$79 million if he had a good year and hit RFA. He did it partially because his father never saw that amount of money. Here is a story about how it went down:link to nbcsports.com
In the original post, I was fantasizing about how the Warriors could acquire a veteran-big-looking-for-a-ring and pay Kuminga. I was thinking about Brook Lopez, with his Stanford ties. They both get their rings, and probably endorsement money. He is probably out of their range. But, it was just having a little fun.
Giants74 I was just relying on memory of the time. I didn’t read anything on the athletic and perhaps I’m wrong about the whole thing. It was over 10 years ago.
I think that “if” Iremember it correctly, he went for the four years as security. I don’t think he was offered that much money for four years or why not take it? Four years and $79 million?
He signed 4 years 44 million right? Because of his ankles and it was a major problem at that time.
But both sides came to a compromise. Warriors were smart and so was Curry but the two motivations were different as I described above.
Does that make sense or does my memory contradict the article in the Athletic?
OK, thanks for that NBC link. That clears it up and makes total sense.
The Warriors told him to play healthy this next year and, we’ll give you the max” which is five years 79 (or four years 79 ? oops I already forgot lol.)
But Curry wasn’t as confident in his ankles so he took the four year 44 million immediately instead of gambling on being healthy the next year.
Fortunately, everything worked out for both parties. Curry is able to play past his mid 30s it looks like and so the bag was secured eventually anyway.
giants74 and Gary, I now understand exactly what has confused giants74, and will attempt to explain.
The link giants74 provides mentions that 5 years for $79M was what Steph WOULD HAVE been eligible for the NEXT season, one year AFTER signing the 4 year deal in 2012. After that next, 4th year, with a breakthrough to All-Star performance levels, Steph would have been eligible for a significantly higher deal IF HE HAD NOT SIGNED A YEAR EARLIER. (The article does NOT say what giants74 interprets.)
Steph was NOT eligible for close to 5/$79M (LeBron/Wade/CP3 salary in 2012) after his 3rd year, where he missed 50 games. The salary calibration from the CBA of that time indicates a ceiling of ~ $12.6M/yr. Steph signed for ~$11M/yr.
The main point is that it was the Warriors, not Steph, that made the generous gesture at the time.
@aristotle Steph could’ve signed for up to 5/$79MM after his third year because it was a rookie scale extension that wouldn’t go into effect until 2013/14.
It’s a situation similar to Kuminga’s right now — the max deal Kuminga could’ve signed on an extension last fall is the same max deal he’ll be able to sign as a restricted free agent this summer, since either max contract would be based on a percentage of the 2025/26 cap.
Luke, I’m looking at the NBA calibration for those numbers in 2013/14, and they don’t agree with yours. What document are you looking at?
I was just looking at the other max contracts signed around that time, but here’s a source: link to spotrac.com
The 25% max in 2013/14 was $13,701,250. Over five years, with 7.5% annual raises (the max at that time), that would’ve been amounted to $78,782,188.
Interesting. The Spotrac numbers for those years seem to be roughly 10% off from the NBA Player’s Association guide for 2012 and 2013 under the 2011 CBA. I’ll try to understand why.
(Regardless, the larger point from the discussion below stands. Curry did not give away salary to the team when he signed for $11M/yr in 2012.)
Ari, yes, he did give away salary.
He took the 4 years of security and 44 million which was a discount.
If he had bet on himself much like Jonathan Kuminga did this past off-season, he would’ve played out the contract and become a restricted free agent the next summer. Another team could’ve swooped in and signed the player for way more money.
This contract was a compromise. Steph got four years of security. The warriors got a discount rate for a budding superstar.
Yes, at the same time, it was a generous deal coming from the team. But perhaps they knew the player he would become because he showed flashes of it when healthy.
They also knew the man would do whatever it took to become that player on a consistent basis.
So both sides of this coin are correct.
Sidenote, remember that summer Steph went to LA for the radical surgery that inevitably fixed his ankle issues in a big way? Didn’t get an off-season to speak of, but was dedicated to becoming that guy.
> So both sides of this coin are correct.
Not quite, as I explain above. Steph was NEVER eligible for a 5 yr, $79M contract.
Ari, I think you just said he was eligible for it the following summer when Steph would’ve been a free agent? No?
He took the four year $44 million contract immediately instead of betting on himself that next season and getting the max the next summer.
I think we’re all repeating ourselves here but I believe we all understand what happened now. Good stuff guys.
Gary, that’s exactly right. If he’d bet on himself and waited until after his fourth season, he would have gotten 5/$79M. But it didn’t seem like the right choice. Steph’s Dad also advised him to take the safer path.
Your side note on the surgery Steph had AFTER the signing is relevant. He’d also had a surgery the summer BEFORE, one year earlier, and missed 50 games that third season, so there was extreme uncertainty about his future at the signing. That’s why I dug in when Giants74 insisted that Steph had done the Dubs a favor.
For all the credit Steph deserves in the success of the Warriors, IMO, we shouldn’t forget the belief that ownership had in him during the darker days. I believe that made Steph more committed to the team.
Yes, I think we have it all straightened out now and it may be handy to remember the point Luke made above.., that it’s the same scenario as Kuminga now.
In that third year of eligibility in the off season, you can also sign the max in addition to the following summer when you are a restricted free agent.
I did not realize that. But you guys are more into the intricacies of the cap than I am. You guys are all a lot smarter than I am.
Funny. I know little about the salary cap. I read somewhere that Curry’s contract was team friendly.
I was trying think of way to bring in a veteran big to mentor Post. Like Butler could mentor Kuminga. He seems to have a lot of upside. Along with Kuminga, Podz…A new dynasty?
That 4 year $44 million contract was definitely team friendly. We can thank Steph Curry’s ankles for it.
@aristotle – if he was good, we would have made the playoffs!!
Also if you think he was good then, what is he now? MVP-level? No. He went from stinky to a great piece the second Jimmy arrived, as Jimmy was the piece of the puzzle for his development.
Warriors go through more young centers than butler chews through teams.
They go through old centers too, because the Warriors can only afford so much and good players get good money elsewhere after playing well in Golden State. It’s a revolving door for sure.
aircastle, it seems like it.
Just for fun, who’s missing from this list?
Since 2017:
Damian Jones
Jordan Bell
Willy Cauley-Stein
James Wiseman
TJD
Post
Bejilica?
Boucher?
Pachulia?
McGee?
Chris Boucher for the win! Nice. If you go back as far as 2017, why not go all the way back to the beginning of the dynasty for all players that have started a game at C:
Draymond Green
Andrew Bogut
Festus Ezeli
Kevon Looney
James Michael Macadoo
Jason Thompson (!)
Anderson Verajao
Mareese Speights
David West
Demarcus Cousins
Marquese Chris
Alan Smailagic
Omari Spelman
Dario Saric
I count 24 guys that have started a game at C for the dubs since 2016.
Great list and you brought back a lot of recent memories. Nice.
The list gets longer if you open it to players on the roster. Kuzmic. Ezeli’s replacement at Vandy.
Kuzmic for the win! Nice.