Warriors Rumors

Stein’s Latest: Curry, James, Embiid, Yurtseven, Micic

August 18th, 2024 at 3:51pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Warriors All-NBA point guard Stephen Curry is eligible for a one-season, $62.6MM contract extension prior to October 21. He could also wait until the 2025 offseason to seek a two-year deal worth a projected $130MM, Marc Stein writes in his latest Substack story.

Stein notes that, having missed out on Jazz All-Star Lauri Markkanen and Sixers All-Star Paul George, Golden State continues looking for opportunities to upgrade the roster via trade. The Warriors believe they have the current and future assets necessary to do just that.

Last year’s Warriors went 46-36, finishing with just the No. 10 seed in the Western Conference. Golden State failed to make the playoffs after falling to the Kings in the play-in tournament.

Curry, 36, had yet another excellent individual year. The 10-time All-Star averaged 26.4 points on .450/.408/.923 shooting splits, 5.1 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and 0.7 steals in 74 games.

Here are some other key notes from Stein’s newest Substack article:

According to Stein, there’s a belief that the Lakers would have “reluctantly” engaged in trade discussions to send All-NBA combo forward LeBron James to the Warriors, so he could join then-future Team USA colleague Curry and friend Draymond Green, if that’s what James had wanted. However, Stein’s sources say that Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, James’ longtime agent, urged both L.A. and Golden State to scrap the idea — in part because Paul didn’t want James to be faced with criticism for jumping teams for a fourth time.
Sixers All-Star center Joel Embiid, fresh off winning his first Olympic gold medal for Team USA this summer, hinted that he might be interested in playing for his native Cameroon during the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. However, as Stein writes, a player over the age of 17 can only change his country affiliation if he receives clearance from FIBA and his previous country (in this case, USA Basketball). Stein is skeptical that Embiid will be permitted to do so.
According to Stein, free agent center Omer Yurtseven was one of several players to recently work out for the Knicks, who opted not to sign him at that time. Greek club Panathinaikos reportedly remains intrigued by the 7-footer. New York lost its 2023/24 starting center, Isaiah Hartenstein, to the Thunder in free agency, and no doubt needs to get creative filling out its frontcourt depth, so Yurtseven would have made sense as a fringe rotation option. Across three NBA seasons with the Heat and Jazz, the big man has appeared in 113 contests (24 starts), averaging 5.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 0.7 steals per night.
Hornets point guard Vasilije Micic is considered a potential down-the-road trade target for the Nuggets, given his close relationship with Nikola Jokic, Stein writes. Micic may not be a practical option for Denver at this point though, given his $7.7MM salary and the team’s proximity to the tax aprons. Acquired midway through his 2023/24 rookie season, the 6’5″ guard averaged 10.8 points and 6.2 assists across 30 games for Charlotte down the stretch.

Pacific Notes: Curry, James, Davis, Clippers

August 17th, 2024 at 8:31am CST by Tristan Tucker

The Warriors‘ biggest offseason priority was to bring in a high-level, established scorer next to Stephen Curry, according to The Athletic’s Anthony Slater. That’s why Golden State targeted both Paul George and Lauri Markkanen, though the team came away with neither. While the general sentiment is that the Warriors did well for itself to bring in players like Buddy Hield, De’Anthony Melton and Kyle Anderson, Slater ponders whether the team is failing Curry.

Slater acknowledges that striking out on Markkanen may not have been management’s fault. According to Slater, Markkanen’s availability felt more like a mirage and him extending with Utah always seemed like the intended outcome.

Curry hasn’t shown any signs of unease or unrest with the roster, Slater adds. The two-time MVP is extension-eligible, and there has been no indication that either side feels less than optimistic about getting a deal done, though it won’t happen in the near future as Curry unwinds after the Paris Olympics.

While Curry could choose to sign a one-year extension by the October 21 deadline for the sake of security, it’s possible he’ll prefer to play out the season to see if the young players develop and if the new veterans fit in well. It would also be helpful to see if Draymond Green stays out of the league’s spotlight this season and if Andrew Wiggins bounces back, Slater writes. If Curry doesn’t sign an extension by Oct. 21, he’ll be eligible again next summer.

The Warriors themselves believe they improved this season, with internal team models providing a positive outlook for their veteran additions. One rival’s metric model projects the club to finish fourth in the West, Slater notes. Still, Curry’s decision on an extension before the deadline of Oct. 21 may provide a hint of his confidence level in the roster.

We have more from the Pacific Division:

The Paris Olympics are another major reason the Lakers should continue to be aggressive in looking for roster upgrades, Jovan Buha of The Athletic reports. LeBron James and Anthony Davis played major roles in the gold medal run, with James earning Olympics MVP honors. In Buha’s view, Davis has established himself as a top-10 NBA player and James remains firmly in that conversation too, so the tandem remains more than capable of contending for championships. Two-way wings are still a need for the team, Buha writes, but they could look to get creative in optimizing their stars with the talent on board, perhaps by playing Davis alongside another big more often or using their young shooters like Dalton Knecht and Max Christie.
In a similar piece, Michael Pina of The Ringer opines that the Lakers needed to bring in more veteran talent around James this offseason. The only players currently on Los Angeles’s standard roster who weren’t on last year’s team are Knecht and Bronny James. For my money though, I’ll be curious to see how they deploy their young talent this season. While the team didn’t make major veteran moves, Knecht was widely regarded as one of the biggest draft steals and players like Christie, Maxwell Lewis or Jalen Hood-Schifino could play themselves into the rotation or show enough promise to be used to trade for vets.
The new Clippers arena, Intuit Dome, had its grand opening on Thursday, Law Murray of The Athletic relays. The arena’s features, like the halo board, have gone viral through the last year and it marks the first time since 1998 that the Clippers won’t shares Staples Center/Crypto.com Arena with their rival Lakers. The 2024/25 regular season home opener for L.A. is against Phoenix on Oct. 23.

And-Ones: Marquee Matchups, Cap Room, Spending, Most Improved Teams

August 16th, 2024 at 7:55am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA revealed its full schedule for the 2024/25 regular season on Thursday, and while there generally aren’t any surprises on that schedule (it’s not like the NFL, where a team plays fewer than half of the league’s other clubs), it’s still worth circling specific dates and marquee matchups.

Zach Harper of The Athletic, Chris Mannix of SI.com, and ESPN did just that, with Harper highlighting 35 games he’s looking forward to, Mannix naming 10 games to watch, and ESPN identifying 23 games not to miss.

Unsurprisingly, the Knicks/Celtics regular season opener (October 22), Paul George‘s return to Los Angeles with the Sixers (November 6), and Klay Thompson‘s return to Golden State with the Mavericks (Nov. 12) made all three lists.

The other two matchups that showed up on all three lists? Wizards at Hawks on Oct. 28 in the first regular season matchup between this year’s top two draft picks (Zaccharie Risacher and Alex Sarr) and Spurs at Thunder on Oct. 30 in this season’s first Victor Wembanyama/Chet Holmgren showdown.

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

A total of seven NBA teams operated under the cap and used room to make moves this offseason. As Keith Smith of Spotrac writes, those clubs used their cap space in very different ways, with some – like the Sixers and Thunder – making splashes in free agency, some (such as the Hornets) focusing on taking in salary in trades, and one (the Jazz) using most of its room to renegotiate a star player’s contract.
Which NBA teams have been the “cheapest” in recent years and which have been most willing to spend? Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report explores that questions, ranking each team by its spending from 2017-24 and considering whether clubs should have been willing to invest more on those rosters. The Warriors, Clippers, and Bucks have been the biggest spenders over the last seven years, while the Bulls, Pistons, and Hornets are at the other end of the list.
In a three-part series for The Athletic, David Aldridge ranks all 30 NBA clubs based on how much they improved their rosters with their offseason moves. Aldridge’s list, which is sorted by which teams improved most in the short term rather than which clubs made the “best” moves, features the Thunder, Sixers, and Magic at the top. Not coincidentally, those clubs made three of the summer’s biggest free agent signings, adding Isaiah Hartenstein, Paul George, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, respectively.

NBA 2024 Offseason Check-In: Golden State Warriors

August 15th, 2024 at 5:11pm CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2024 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the Golden State Warriors.

Free agent signings

Buddy Hield: Four years, $37,756,096. Third year partially guaranteed ($3MM). Fourth-year player option (partially guaranteed for $3,136,364 if exercised). Signed using Bird rights and acquired via sign-and-trade from Sixers.
Kyle Anderson: Three years, $27,658,536. Third year non-guaranteed. Signed using Bird rights and acquired via sign-and-trade from Timberwolves.
De’Anthony Melton: One year, $12,822,000. Signed using non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
Jackson Rowe: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.

Trades

Acquired Lindy Waters from the Thunder in exchange for the draft rights to Quinten Post (No. 52 pick).
Reacquired the draft rights to Quinten Post (No. 52 pick) from the Trail Blazers in exchange for cash.
Acquired Kyle Anderson (sign-and-trade) and Buddy Hield (sign-and-trade) in a six-team trade in exchange for Klay Thompson (sign-and-trade; to Mavericks), swap rights for the Warriors’ 2031 second-round pick (to Timberwolves), and cash (to Timberwolves)

Draft picks

2-52: Quinten Post
- Unsigned.

Two-way signings

Reece Beekman
Daeqwon Plowden

Departed/unsigned free agents

Usman Garuba (unsigned)
Jerome Robinson (Saint-Quentin)
Lester Quinones (unsigned)
Dario Saric (Nuggets)
Klay Thompson (Mavericks)

Other moves

Waived Chris Paul.

Salary cap situation

Operating over the cap ($140.6MM), over the luxury tax line ($170.8MM), and below the first tax apron ($178.1MM).
Carrying approximately $176.6MM in salary.
Hard-capped at $178,132,000.
Bi-annual exception available.
One traded player exception available (worth $2,019,706).

The offseason so far

It was the end of an era this summer in the Bay Area, as four-time champion Klay Thompson, decided to move on to a new team after spending his first 13 NBA seasons with the Warriors.

Seeing Thompson in a Mavericks uniform next season will be an adjustment — if there was one group of active core players who seemed destined to spend their entire careers with a single franchise, it was Thompson, Stephen Curry, and Draymond Green with the Warriors.

Still, it’s hard to say the move was particularly surprising, given how disgruntled Thompson seemed to be during his final season in Golden State as his role diminished, his production declined, and the Warriors’ extension offer(s) came in below what he believed his history with the organization warranted.

Thompson is still an effective offensive weapon (he averaged 17.9 PPG with a .387 3PT% last season), but his defense has fallen off since he tore his ACL and Achilles, and moving on from him and Chris Paul (whose $30MM non-guaranteed salary was waived) makes the Warriors’ roster younger, more flexible, and more affordable heading into the 2024/25 season.

After operating above the luxury tax line for years, the Warriors made a concerted effort to cut costs — ownership would likely still be willing to spend big bucks for a championship contender, but the club didn’t make it out of the first round of the play-in tournament this spring. It didn’t make sense to continue carrying such a significant payroll.

The move below the first tax apron allowed the Dubs to make the kinds of moves that had been off-limits for years, including using their full mid-level exception (on versatile guard De’Anthony Melton) and acquiring players via sign-and-trade (sharpshooter Buddy Hield and savvy veteran Kyle Anderson).

The newcomers won’t instantly return Golden State to title contention, but there’s optimism that their mix of skill sets and the ongoing development of young players like Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, Brandin Podziemski, and Trayce Jackson-Davis can make the Warriors a deeper, more dangerous team than they were in 2023/24.

Up next

With 14 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals, the Warriors’ roster looks just about regular-season-ready. Adding a 15th man is unlikely due to the team’s proximity to its hard cap, and while Gui Santos and Lindy Waters aren’t necessarily locked in for the regular season due to their non-guaranteed salaries, there has been no indication Golden State will look to replace either player.

Still, there are issues to address before the season begins, starting with potential contract extensions. Kuminga and Moody are eligible for rookie scale extensions, while Curry could sign a one-year veteran extension worth approximately $62.6MM for 2026/27.

I wouldn’t necessarily expect Moody to get a new deal this summer or fall. His playing time has been inconsistent in his first three seasons, so the Warriors will be reluctant to pay him big money based on his career achievements so far, while Moody will be reluctant to lock in a long-term deal before he gets a chance to show what he can do with a more regular role.

Curry, on the other hand, seems more likely to get something done. The Over-38 rule prevents the Warriors from tacking on more than one year to the two left on his current deal, but I have to think they’d be willing to give him that one year if he wants it. Curry showed in the gold medal game at the Paris Olympics that we shouldn’t count on his performance falling off anytime soon.

Kuminga’s case is a trickier one. Based on his breakout performance during the second half of the 2023/24 season (he averaged 20.0 PPG and 5.4 RPG on .547/.377/.778 shooting during a 34-game stretch from January 12 to March 26 before injuring his knee), he’d be justified in seeking a massive payday.

I don’t expect the Warriors to give him the maximum-salary deal that his fellow 2021 draftees Scottie Barnes, Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley, and Franz Wagner received. The question is whether there’s an amount below the max that makes sense for both sides.

Given his limited track record, you may balk at the idea of a deal in the range of $150-175MM for Kuminga, but if he follows up last year’s breakout by taking another step forward, he could be worth even more than that in free agency next summer. As a point of comparison, Immanuel Quickley got $162.5MM in guaranteed money from Toronto last month as a restricted free agent. This will be a tricky negotiation, so it wouldn’t be a shock if Golden State takes its chances and postpones it until 2025.

In addition to sorting through possible extensions, the Warriors will have to resolve Quinten Post‘s situation. The No. 52 overall pick is one of the only unsigned players from this year’s draft class — a two-way deal would make sense, given his draft slot, but Golden State would have to waive someone (possibly Pat Spencer?) to create a two-way opening for Post.

The Warriors’ pursuit of Lauri Markkanen showed that the front office isn’t opposed to shaking up its roster before training camp, but with the Jazz forward no longer trade-eligible, I don’t see any trade candidates out there right now that make a ton of sense for Golden State. While general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. will probably keep an eye out for possible deals, I’d be a little surprised if he does anything significant by October.

Team USA Notes: Curry, LeBron, Durant, Haliburton, Banchero

August 13th, 2024 at 7:27pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Could some of the gold-medal winners from Team USA pair up in the future on an NBA team? Sam Amick of The Athletic explores that topic, noting that superstar-laden teams are sometimes born out of their bonding experiences with USA Basketball.

A LeBron James–Stephen Curry pairing seems unlikely now that LeBron’s son is on the Lakers roster and Curry would like to finish his career with the Warriors. Could Golden State eventually wind up with Durant-Curry reunion or a Devin Booker–Curry backcourt? Suns owner Mat Ishbia has squashed talk of trading his stars but Amick speculates that could change if Phoenix flops in the postseason again.

We have more USA Basketball-related news:

If Kevin Durant wants to play for Team USA in Los Angeles, team officials would like to have him back, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst (hat tip to Zach Bachar of Bleacher Report). “I would not rule out KD playing, and I talked with Team USA officials, and they would give him a provisional yes right now,” Windhorst said on The Hoop Collective. Durant has already set the Olympic record with four gold medals in men’s basketball. Durant, who averaged 13.8 points and 3.2 rebounds in Paris off the bench, will be 39 in 2028.
Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton hopes to retain his spot on Team USA in future Olympics, according to Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files. He informed managing director Grant Hill that he’d welcome an invite to the Los Angeles Games. “I’ve told Grant — I’ve said it many times — I want to represent USA Basketball for as long as I can,” Haliburton said. He was essentially the 12th man on this year’s squad, averaging 8.8 minutes in three appearances. He was dealing with a minor leg injury during the tournament.
Magic forward Paolo Banchero, a member of USA’s last World Cup team, was under serious consideration for the Paris Olympics, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic. He’s a player Hill wants to feature in future Olympics. In the same piece, Vardon speculates which players from this year’s gold medal squad might be back for 2028.

Knicks/Celtics, Wolves/Lakers To Play On Opening Night

August 12th, 2024 at 12:01pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s opening night schedule will feature home games for the league’s two most accomplished franchises, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that the Celtics will host the Knicks in the early game, while the Lakers will host the Timberwolves in the late game.

The Celtics, who won their record 18th NBA title in June, will receive their championship rings on opening night, which will take place on Tuesday, October 22. That game will be the first for the new-look Knicks, featuring Mikal Bridges.

The game between the Lakers and Timberwolves will feature several stars who participated in Saturday’s gold medal game in Paris, including LeBron James and Anthony Davis of the Lakers and Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert of the Wolves.

Both games will air on TNT Sports, which will be distributing NBA games for one final year in 2024/25, assuming their lawsuit against the league doesn’t result in a new broadcast rights deal that begins in ’25/26.

The full regular schedule for the 2024/25 NBA season is expected to be released later this week, according to Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. In the meantime, here are a few more notable matchups, courtesy of Charania:

The new-look Sixers, led by former MVP Joel Embiid, reigning Most Improved Player Tyrese Maxey, and free agent addition Paul George, will host the Bucks on October 23 to open their regular season (Twitter link).
The first regular season game at the new Intuit Dome in Inglewood will be played on October 23, when the Clippers host the Suns (Twitter link).
Klay Thompson and the Mavericks will visit the Warriors on November 12 in Thompson’s first trip back to the Bay Area (Twitter link). That will also be the first game of the in-season tournament (NBA Cup) for both Dallas and Golden State (Twitter link).
The NBA Finals rematches between the Celtics and Mavericks will take place on January 25 in Dallas and February 6 in Boston (Twitter link).
In case you missed it, 2024’s Christmas Day matchups were reported last week.

Christmas Day Games Include Sixers-Celtics, Lakers-Warriors

August 8th, 2024 at 9:20pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The NBA’s leaked slate of Christmas Day games will feature several heavy hitters.

Sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link) that, as usual, five games will be broadcast, highlighted by a marquee matchup between two longtime Eastern Conference foes, the revamped Sixers and the Celtics. Boston, the reigning league champion, will host.

The schedule will be rounded out by several clashes between starry clubs, from veteran-laden squads to young up-and-comers. The Spurs will travel to Madison Square Garden to play the Knicks. A Western Conference Finals rematch is also on the docket, as the Mavericks will host the Timberwolves.

The newly Klay Thompson-less Warriors will host the Lakers, and the Nuggets will travel to Phoenix to face the retooled Suns.

Philadelphia almost completely overhauled its roster around incumbent All-Stars Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. The new additions are headlined by nine-time All-Star combo forward Paul George, who departed the Clippers to sign a four-year, maximum-salary deal with the Sixers. Philadelphia also signed seasoned free agents like forward Caleb Martin, center Andre Drummond, and shooting guard Eric Gordon while bringing back wing Kelly Oubre Jr.

The Celtics retained all of their own key players after going 64-18 in the regular season and 16-3 in the playoffs. A pair of new extensions for All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum and All-Defensive Team guard Derrick White highlighted the team’s transactions, though longer-term uncertainty looms as owner Wyc Grousbeck is looking to sell the franchise.

Led by Defensive Player of the Year and impending Olympic medalist Victor Wembanyama, the Spurs figure to improve on their paltry 21-61 record in 2023/24. The team signed 12-time All-Star point guard Chris Paul to a one-year deal this summer, and traded for veteran combo forward Harrison Barnes. San Antonio also used its No. 4 pick in the lottery on NCAA championship-winning UConn guard Stephon Castle, the 2023/24 Big East Freshman of the Year.

The Knicks, meanwhile traded for former All-Defensive small forward Mikal Bridges this summer to maximize their ability to switch on the wing. The team also re-signed free agent forward OG Anunoby to a long-term contract and free agent center/power forward Precious Achiuwa to a shorter-term deal, inked All-NBA point guard Jalen Brunson to a contract extension, and brought aboard veteran point guard Cameron Payne for extra depth.

Fresh off its first NBA Finals appearance with star guards Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, Dallas added future Hall of Famer Thompson away from the Warriors as part of a sign-and-trade, while also acquiring young guard Quentin Grimes from the Pistons. Dallas also signed free agent wing Naji Marshall to a three-year deal.

After winning their first (two) playoff series in 20 years this spring, the Timberwolves traded for the draft rights to No. 8 pick Rob Dillingham and retained several of their own free agents.

While Golden State did lose out on Thompson, the Warriors quickly pivoted on the perimeter, signing free agent guard De’Anthony Melton and signing-and-trading for free agent wings Kyle Anderson and Buddy Hield. The team is hoping to rebound from a finish as the West’s No. 10 seed and a quick play-in tournament exit.

Denver let free agent starting shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope walk in free agency and brought in reserve guard Russell Westbrook.

The Suns hired title-winning head coach Mike Budenholzer and signed Tyus Jones to a steal of a veteran’s minimum contract. Phoenix also brought back several of its own free agents, including wings Josh Okogie and Royce O’Neale and Damion Lee. The team also inked free agents Mason Plumlee and Monte Morris to minimum-salary contracts.

The most questionable omission from all this Christmas scheduling is clearly the Thunder, who claimed the West’s No. 1 overall seed last season and added ex-Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein via a lucrative three-year, $87MM deal. Oklahoma City also dealt guard Josh Giddey – who fell out of the starting lineup in the playoffs – to Chicago for All-Defensive wing Alex Caruso.

With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander having finished as the MVP runner-up last year and young pieces Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams set to develop, the Thunder look poised to contend for the West’s top seed once again.

Pacific Notes: DeRozan, Robinson, Abbott, Kuminga

August 8th, 2024 at 7:41pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

With six-time All-Star swingman DeMar DeRozan joining the Kings this offseason (and veteran forward Harrison Barnes no longer on the roster), Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee speculates as to what the club’s new starting lineup will look like.

Anderson expects 2023 All-Stars De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis to be joined by Keegan Murray at a forward slot, with DeRozan also in the first five. Anderson notes that Sacramento head coach Mike Brown has some flexibility in terms of which player he wants to be his fifth starter, depending on whether DeRozan lines up at shooting guard or small forward.

There’s more out of the Pacific Division:

Newly-signed Kings reserve big man Orlando Robinson‘s one-year, minimum-salary contract with the team features a partial guarantee of $500K, per Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link). Robinson will earn his full $2.09MM salary if he remains under contract through January 7.
First-year Lakers head coach J.J. Redick is adding more depth to his coaching staff. According to the agency CSE (Twitter link), Los Angeles has brought on Ty Abbott as its lead player development coach. Abbott previously served as the Bulls’ player development coach/coordinator from 2020-24.
Warriors wing Jonathan Kuminga is hoping to earn a maximum-salary deal in his rookie scale extension with the team, Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer reveals in a new episode of the “No Cap Room” podcast. “Jonathan Kuminga is entering the final year of his rookie deal where — according to… various sources — Kuminga and his representatives are looking for a full max extension,” Fischer said. A projected five-year max deal for Kuminga would be worth approximately $224MM.

Warriors Notes: Podziemski, Kuminga, Curry, Green, Moody, More

August 7th, 2024 at 3:11pm CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors viewed the Jazz‘s asking price in trade talks for Lauri Markkanen as one that would have made it a “bad deal” if they’d met it, sources tell Kendra Andrews of ESPN, which is why discussions between the two teams stalled. Those talks officially came to an end on Wednesday when Markkanen renegotiated and extended his contract with Utah, making him ineligible to be dealt until the 2025 offseason.

Confirming previous reporting from The Athletic, Andrews says the Warriors aren’t feeling any urgency to shift their focus to a new trade target now that Markkanen is off the board, citing team sources who say the club isn’t “hot on” any of the players currently available on the market.

The negotiations with Utah also showed that the Warriors intend to hang onto young players like Brandin Podziemski and Jonathan Kuminga “very tightly,” Andrews writes, and would only be willing to move one or both of them in an “overwhelming” deal that made the team better in the long run.

For now, Podziemski, Kuminga, Moses Moody, and Trayce Jackson-Davis all appear poised to take on larger roles with the Warriors in 2024/25, though nothing will be handed to them, a source tell Andrews, meaning they’ll have to show that they deserve increased minutes and possibly starting spots. While Stephen Curry and Draymond Green are, of course, penciled in as starters, the other three spots in the starting five are considered “wide open” entering training camp, Andrews reports.

Here’s more on the Warriors:

Curry and Green want to be consulted on the Warriors’ roster moves, but they’ve made it clear they don’t want to be “final decision-makers,” sources tell ESPN. “Steph has said, ‘Look, I do not want to be making those decisions. It puts me in a different spot than all of my teammates. I do not want that,'” one source said to Andrews. While the two stars are still adjusting to the fact that Klay Thompson is no longer on the roster, they’re excited about the moves Golden State has made this offseason, Andrews adds.
With Thompson and Chris Paul exiting Golden State this summer, adding scoring was the team’s top priority, which was the impetus for the addition of Buddy Hield in particular. The Warriors also expect Kyle Anderson and De’Anthony Melton to contribute in that area while helping to solidify the defense, Andrews writes.
The Warriors haven’t engaged in any serious rookie scale extension discussions with Kuminga or Moody yet, but general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. has expressed interest in exploring deals for both players. Andrews suggests Moody’s next deal could be in the range of $11-13MM per year.
One front office source told Andrews that it was “actually really fun” to be able to operate below the tax aprons this offseason for the first time in years. That allowed the Warriors to use their full mid-level exception (on Melton) and acquire two players (Hield and Anderson) via sign-and-trade.
“Diversifying” the coaching staff and bringing in fresh faces was a goal this offseason, which led to the additions of Terry Stotts and Jerry Stackhouse. A source referred to head coach Steve Kerr and Stotts as “kindred spirits” and said Kerr appreciates the offensive acumen and communication skills the former Blazers head coach will bring to the club. Stackhouse, meanwhile, is expected to team up with assistant coach Chris DeMarco in focusing on the defensive side of the ball, says Andrews.

Warriors Showing No Interest In Brandon Ingram, Zach LaVine

August 6th, 2024 at 10:43pm CST by Tristan Tucker

After not acquiring Lauri Markkanen from the Jazz, the Warriors are reportedly not currently showing interest in vying for the services of either Brandon Ingram of the Pelicans or Zach LaVine of the Bulls, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Tony Jones and Anthony Slater.

Even though the Warriors didn’t land either of their high-profile targets of the offseason after also striking out on Paul George, they aren’t panicking. They’re reportedly comfortable entering the season with their current 14-man group.

Both Ingram and LaVine have experienced limited trad markets this offseason, primarily due to their contract situations. LaVine has three years and approximately $138MM left on his deal, while Ingram – who is on an expiring $36MM contract – appears to be seeking a lucrative long-term extension.

The Warriors lost Klay Thompson this offseason but added De’Anthony Melton, Buddy Hield, Kyle Anderson and Lindy Waters. They also held firm on their refusal to include Brandin Podziemski in any potential trade for Markkanen, so they’ll be counting on him and fellow young players Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody and Trayce Jackson-Davis to continue to develop.

Golden State viewed Markkanen as a terrific fit due to his age and contract situation, but now that he’s on track to renegotiate and extend his contract with Utah, they know he’ll be unavailable until at least the 2025 offseason and will continue to evaluate their roster, per The Athletic.

Owning all but one of their future first-rounders (with the exception of a heavily protected 2030 pick) alongside their young players makes the Warriors a threat to pull off a blockbuster at any point of the season, and they’ll look to be buyers up to the February trade deadline.

Until then, the Warriors may seek smaller-scale trades through August and September more actively than what is typical from NBA teams, according to The Athletic’s report.

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