Mike Dunleavy Jr.

Pacific Notes: Butler, Zubac, Lue, Van Gundy, LaVine, LeBron, Hachimura

March 20th, 2025 at 10:13pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. became one of the few top executives in recent history to trade for a former teammate when acquiring Jimmy Butler at this year’s deadline. Dunleavy, who played with Butler in Chicago, wasn’t deterred by the fact that some of the forward’s stints with prior teams had ended poorly, nor by Butler’s apparent willingness to hit free agency in 2025 (he wound up extending with the Warriors). Now, as NBA insider Jake Fischer writes, the move is paying dividends for surging Golden State.

“There’s nobody who could explain the intricacies of Jimmy Butler better than Mike Dunleavy,” a league source said to Fischer.

The Warriors knew they needed top-end talent, having reportedly pursued Lauri Markkanen and Paul George in the offseason and Kevin Durant at the deadline. In Butler, they acquired the impact player they sought. The Warriors are now 15-3 since the trade, and by extending Butler, they’re hoping to show him how much they value what he adds to the organization.

“This is a commitment to each other,” Dunleavy said. “I didn’t want this to be a temporary thing or a rental or anything like that. I think he feels the same way, on the backside of his career and doesn’t want to be jumping around.”

The Warriors signed Butler to a two-year, $110.9MM extension when he arrived in Golden State.

“I am wanted here,” Butler said. “I’m appreciated here. I’m grateful that [Dunleavy] saw what I could bring to this organization and this team.”

We have more from the Pacific Division:

The Clippers‘ confidence in Ivica Zubac continues to grow, Janis Carr of The Orange County Register writes. Zubac is averaging career highs of 16.4 points and 12.6 rebounds per game this season. He had a 28-point, 20-rebound game on Tuesday after having nearly recorded a triple-double (17 points, 14 boards and eight assists) on Sunday. “He’s doing a good job of taking his time, making the right pass and making the right play and so he’s only going to keep getting better,” head coach Tyronn Lue said. “Give him credit for what he’s doing.”
Lue missed Tuesday’s game due to back pain, according to the Los Angeles Times’ Broderick Turner. He previously missed four of the past six Clippers‘ games due to the injury. Assistant coach Jeff Van Gundy also missed Tuesday’s game due to personal reasons.
Kings guard Zach LaVine was unavailable on Wednesday due to personal reasons, but was active for their Thursday matchup against the Bulls, K.C. Johnson of Chicago Sports Network reports (Twitter link). He’s averaging 22.7 points per game on .527/.441/.894 splits in his first 18 outings with Sacramento.
Lakers coach JJ Redick said he’s “hopeful” both LeBron James and Rui Hachimura will be able to return this Saturday, according to Sportskeeda’s Mark Medina (Twitter link). A report on Sunday indicated that James was expected to miss at least another week, so if he does indeed return on Saturday, he’d narrowly beat that timeline. Hachimura’s Saturday return seems more likely, since that original report suggested he would be able to come back within the week.

Scotto’s Latest: Dunleavy, Butler, Looney, Post, Finney-Smith

March 14th, 2025 at 1:06pm CST by Arthur Hill

Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. delivered a strong message to his team after completing a trade for Jimmy Butler at last month’s deadline, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. The complex five-team deal finally gave Golden State the additional star that Dunleavy had been seeking since last summer.

“I told them, ‘It’s time to win,’” Dunleavy said. “Whatever happened this season thus far where we’ve had some tough losses and our record isn’t what it needs to be. This signals it’s time to win, no f—ing around. We’ll see where we can get to.”

The Warriors have responded just as Dunleavy had hoped, going 13-1 when Butler has played and rising into the top six in the West. Since February 8, the team has the NBA’s third-best defensive rating at 108.7 and the third-best offensive rating at 121.5.

Dunleavy told Scotto that being a former teammate of Butler in Chicago gave him a “level of comfort” to make the deal and sign Butler to a two-year, $111MM extension.

“I think there’s a talent level that he brings that we needed at the top of the roster,” Dunleavy said. “There’s also a presence, a competitiveness, and an IQ. We need all those things on the court and in big moments. I think it raises the level of all of our players. Not only our role players but also (Stephen Curry) and Draymond (Green) to know they’ve got another guy with them that they can look around and feel like, ‘All right, we’ve got a chance.'”

There’s more from Scotto:

Veteran center Kevon Looney talked to Scotto about Butler’s effects on the Warriors and his own upcoming free agency. Looney has been with Golden State since he was drafted in 2015, but his playing time has declined over the last two seasons. He was mentioned in trade rumors before the deadline, and his future is uncertain as his contract gets ready to expire. “I’m focused on this season right now,” Looney said. “You never know what’s going to happen in a short period of time. I’m hoping I can stay healthy, have a great end of the season and playoffs, and then see whatever happens. You always try to be where you’re at, but things change. Free agency is always crazy, so whatever happens, happens.”
Quinten Post has been a surprise success story for the Warriors, earning a standard contract after starting the season in the G League. The rookie big man told Scotto he considers the contract to be validation for the work he did at the G League level. “I give myself credit from the moment I found out I was going to Santa Cruz. I put my head down and completely focused on that,” Post said. “I wasn’t even thinking about the Warriors. I was focused on winning our games in the G League and playing better basketball with my teammates there. I was locked in. I was going to win the G League. That was our plan. We were on a streak there. Then, all of a sudden, I got a call-up, and then I was here. The fact that I got converted, I felt was because I did the right things, and I got rewarded for it.”
Lakers forward Dorian Finney-Smith said his brief time playing for Jordi Fernandez gave him confidence that the first-year head coach will be able to turn the Nets into winners. He also talked to Scotto about the decision he faces on a $15.4MM player option for next season, which could determine his future in L.A. “You see what just happened with Luka (Doncic)? So, you’ve got to make sure you take care of yourself first,” Finney-Smith said. “We need to finish the season strong. If we win, everybody eats.”

Warriors Notes: Kuminga, Curry, Butler, Dunleavy

March 14th, 2025 at 8:58am CST by Arthur Hill

The Warriors, who’ve been tearing through the league since picking up Jimmy Butler at the trade deadline, added another explosive element to their lineup Thursday night, writes Ron Kroichick of The San Francisco Chronicle. Jonathan Kuminga, who has been recovering from a lateral right ankle sprain that kept him sidelined since January 4, returned with 18 points in 20 minutes in a blowout win over Sacramento.

Golden State fans gave Kuminga a rousing ovation when he checked into the game midway through the first quarter, and Kroichick observes that he showed few signs of being rusty after the two-month layoff. He shot 7-of-10 from the field, finishing his night with three straight dunks.

“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.

Warriors Execs, Players Address Jimmy Butler Acquisition

February 8th, 2025 at 8:13am CST by Tristan Tucker

The Warriors made a bold move at the deadline in acquiring six-time All-Star Jimmy Butler, consolidating four players to bring him in and change the makeup of the roster. In a media session ahead of Golden State’s game in Los Angeles on Thursday, members of the Warriors and Butler himself discussed the move.

“I’ve always loved him,” owner Joe Lacob told The Athletic’s Anthony Slater. “I love Draymond [Green]. So we’re dealing with something similar. Incredible competitiveness. My kind of guy.”

The Suns were considered the top suitor for Butler for weeks, with reports repeatedly citing strong mutual interest between the two sides. Phoenix was considered to be the team most willing to pay Butler the maximum-salary extension he sought, and the star forward liked the idea of a future playing alongside Devin Booker and Kevin Durant.

However, Bradley Beal‘s contract – which includes a no-trade clause – proved too difficult to move and thus, Butler wound up in Golden State and Durant stayed put in Phoenix.

“[Butler] was trying to get where he thought he wanted to go,” Lacob said. “He just happened to be thinking incorrectly at the time. That’s now been amended.”

Given their reported desire to make a change to the roster, the Suns even engaged in talks about the idea of a trade that would have sent Durant either Golden State or Miami. However, Durant was uninterested in a reunion with Golden State, which prompted the Warriors to pivot to pursuing Butler.

Green, who played with Durant from 2016-19, downplayed Durant’s reported unwillingness to reunite forces, according to Sportskeeda’s Mark Medina. “Didn’t affect my life one bit,” Green said.

“When you walk on the court and you look on the other end and you see guys that you respect, half the battle is fought,” Green said of the Warriors trading for Butler. “And with Jimmy, that’s half the battle. So that’s going to be fun because we can compete at the highest level.”

Warriors players, including Green, seemed grateful that Golden State’s front office made a move that makes them more competitive this year after the team slid out of the playoff field over the course of the last couple months. Tied with the Kings but sitting in 11th, the Warriors have the final two months of the season to climb into the postseason.

“We’re going in a direction,” general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. said. “We have three kind-of-older generational players. But the beauty of the whole thing to me is we’ve got a lot of good complementary pieces. We’ve got assets, we’ve got young players. So in some ways in terms of our financial stuff, there’s a commitment. But on the whole, we’ll have a lot of flexibility.”

The Warriors explored other moves leading up to the deadline, according to Slater, but they value what veterans on expiring contracts like Kevon Looney and Gary Payton II bring to the locker room.

The rest of the Warriors’ season will also be about replenishing their roster after they were left with four open spots on their 15-man roster. They filled one of those by converting center Quinten Post to a standard deal and Santa Cruz Warrior Kevin Knox could be another consideration, per Slater.

Dunleavy and Lacob both applauded one another for their willingness to be aggressive. This move allowed them to add a star player without sacrificing the likes of Brandin Podziemski or Jonathan Kuminga. According to Slater, the Warriors will be able to reassess in the summer and still be in position to make another big move at that point if they see fit.

As for Butler, he expressed excitement about having the chance to play alongside the best shooter in the world in Stephen Curry, according to ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk. He’s hoping to make his Warriors debut on Saturday against the Bulls.

“I got a feeling I’m [going to] be back, in a big way, too,” he said. “So I’m smiling. I’ve been going at it, I’ve been training, I’ve been doing everything I’m supposed to be doing. I know that I have my joy back now. I’m in a different situation, different group of guys.”

Butler himself was a big winner of the deadline, finding a team willing to pay him big money in a CBA landscape that makes teams have to be more conscious with how they allocate their finances. He and his new team reportedly agreed to a two-year, maximum-salary extension projected to be worth $111MM.

“I’m not going to say that was a big part,” Butler said of his contract playing into his exit from Miami and the new one he received from Golden State. “But I’m happy about it. I am happy about it. I think the biggest part was getting me to be able to play basketball again. I just want to be able to go out there and do what I’ve been doing for a very long time. And have fun, smile, rip and run and not feel like I’m just doing cardio majority of the game. So I’m very, very, very happy that I’m not getting suspended no more.”

Dunleavy: Warriors Will Continue To Look For Upgrades

December 16th, 2024 at 3:59pm CST by Rory Maher

Discussing the trade acquisition of veteran point guard Dennis Schröder, general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. said the Warriors will continue to be aggressive in their search for roster upgrades, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.

After starting the season 12-3, the Warriors have gone just 2-8 over their past 10 games. They are currently 14-11, the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference.

“We’re always aggressive,” Dunleavy said. “You got to be mindful of what you’re giving up, what you’re getting back, all those things. But anything to do to make the team better, we’re going to do.

“We’re in a time zone here of maximizing our window with Steph [Curry], Draymond [Green] and Steve [Kerr] as our coach. So as proven here on the first day we could basically make trades with certain players, we did that. … For the most part I feel good about this team, particularly on the defensive end, and now we have a player that we think could create and generate more offense for us. I want to evaluate and see, but we’ll always be looking at stuff.”

Schröder is playing on an expiring $13MM contract, making him an unrestricted free agent next summer. One report indicated the Warriors could look to flip him in a future deal for a star-level player, since he’s eligible to be aggregated with other salaries starting February 5, just before the Feb. 6 trade deadline.

However, Kerr suggested Schröder could start in the backcourt alongside Curry. And Dunleavy claims Golden State views the 31-year-old German as more than just a “short-term rental,” as Youngmisuk puts it.

“We still think he’s got a lot of good years left in him,” Dunleavy said of Schröder. “And we’ll have his [Early] Bird rights, the ability to re-sign him after the season. We think he’s a good fit for us on both sides of the court and hopefully there’s a relationship here longer than just a few months.”

Warriors Rumors: George, Markkanen, Towns, Expectations

October 22nd, 2024 at 3:26pm CST by Luke Adams

Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr., who spent a year as teammates with Paul George in Indiana in 2010/11, “led the charge” in the team’s efforts to acquire the star forward from the Clippers in June before George declined his player option and became a free agent this summer, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic.

As Slater outlines, Dunleavy got Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and head coach Steve Kerr involved in the recruitment of George, who was on board with the idea of picking up his player option and getting traded to Golden State. However, the Clippers decided they’d be better off not taking on significant salary in a trade with the Warriors.

“Paul George wanted to come here,” Green said. “So shout out to Mike. The Clippers just wouldn’t do (an opt-in and trade).”

There’s still some “fading frustration” within the organization about the failed pursuit of George, according to Slater, who says the Warriors may argue the Clippers underestimated their chances of losing the forward for nothing in free agency.

While Golden State’s subsequent pursuit of Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen was viewed as a Plan B after missing out on George, Slater says it was actually part of Plan A and that the Warriors initially wanted to land both players.

“The conversation was always about that possibility,” Green said. “You get both of those guys, you make a huge splash. But the Clippers weren’t really willing to play ball. Then (Jazz CEO) Danny Ainge was being Danny Ainge.”

The Warriors had hoped they’d be able to acquire George while preserving enough assets to meet Ainge’s asking price for Markkanen, Slater explains. They still talked to Utah about Markkanen after striking out on PG13, but at that point Dunleavy felt it wasn’t the right move for the team to go all-in for the Jazz forward.

“Mike is very sensible,” Kerr said. “He just said to me, ‘It doesn’t make sense to sell your entire future for a team that you think can be pretty good, but isn’t awesome, right?’ Especially at this stage with the ages of our stars.”

Here’s more out of Golden State:

The Warriors also spoke to the Timberwolves about a possible Karl-Anthony Towns trade before he was dealt from Minnesota to New York, league sources tell Slater. However, the Wolves targeted a specific Knicks package that the Warriors couldn’t replicate.
Despite striking out on top trade targets this summer, the Warriors are high on the players they added – Kyle Anderson, Buddy Hield, and De’Anthony Melton – and are more bullish than outsiders about their chances this season. According to Slater, the Warriors’ internal models have them in the top six in the West and there has been talk within the organization that 50-plus wins should be the expectation.
Still, that doesn’t mean the Warriors won’t continue to keep an eye out for a chance to acquire an impact player who could help take them to the next level. “We’re sitting about as good as we could, subject to the point that we didn’t catch the big fish that we were going after,” team owner Joe Lacob told Slater. “But that doesn’t mean we won’t. It just means we didn’t yet.”
Dunleavy told reporters on Tuesday that the Warriors aren’t concerned about not having reached an agreement on a contract extension for Jonathan Kuminga before Monday’s deadline, per Kendra Andrews of ESPN (Twitter link). “Not much has changed in regards to our hopes for his future with this team,” Dunleavy said. “Sometimes these things get done, sometimes they don’t. … Hope to get something done in the offseason.”

And-Ones: Harrell, Parity, Projections, Season Previews

October 14th, 2024 at 1:10pm CST by Luke Adams

After reaching a deal in September with the Adelaide 36ers to join the team as a short-term replacement for injured forward Jarell Martin, veteran big man Montrezl Harrell is now in advanced talks with the Australian club to sign a rest-of-season contract that would allow him to stick around after Martin returns, reports Olgun Uluc of ESPN.

According to Uluc, the 36ers and Harrell’s agent have been talking for the past few weeks about a possible full-season deal, and the expectation is that the two sides will get something done. If they do, the 36ers will have to deactivate a local player in order to keep Harrell active.

The NBA’s former Sixth Man of the Year is off to a strong start in Adelaide, averaging a double-double (15.7 points, 10.3 rebounds) during his first five games in Australia’s National Basketball League. While Harrell is interested in returning to the NBA, there’s a sense that’s more likely to happen in February or March after the NBL season ends, Uluc explains.

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

When the Celtics won the NBA title in the spring, they became the sixth different team in the last six years to claim a championship. That’s just the second time in league history that has happened, according to Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic, who takes a closer look at the current era of NBA parity, exploring why it happened and what it means going forward.
John Hollinger of The Athletic previews the season for the seven teams he projects to finish at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, from the Wizards at No. 15 to the Hawks at No. 9. Using his BORD$ formula, Hollinger forecasts just 14 wins for Washington, seven fewer than any other team in the conference. He also has the Pistons moving up to 11th place, with the Raptors claiming the second play-in spot at No. 10.
Zach Kram of The Ringer previews the coming season by sharing one defining statistic for all 30 teams, such as 23.4 for the Thunder (the average age of their roster) and 31.2 for the Nuggets (their three-point attempts per game last season, last in the NBA).
Tim Bontemps of ESPN identifies 10 individuals who will help define the 2024/25 season, ranging from players like Joel Embiid and Karl-Anthony Towns to front office executives such as Calvin Booth of the Nuggets and Mike Dunleavy Jr. of the Warriors. Bontemps’ list also includes a top prospect (Cooper Flagg), an analyst (Charles Barkley), and a head coach (J.J. Redick), among others.

Warriors Notes: Roster, Rotation, Looney, Kuminga, Moody, Staff

September 27th, 2024 at 4:07pm CST by Luke Adams

Speaking on Thursday to reporters, including Anthony Slater of The Athletic and Kendra Andrews of ESPN, Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. said the front office believes it “improved the team” this offseason, though he suggested the club will remain on the lookout for further upgrades.

“We’re probably as impatient a franchise as you can be right now given our time horizon and all that,” Dunleavy said, per Slater. “But there’s a fine line between impatience and undisciplined. I feel good about the discipline that we held this summer and the roster we built and the growth from within that we’re going to have. I know everybody is always looking for big headline breaking news and all that, but I really like this team.”

As Slater writes, Dunleavy stressed that there’s “no point in going all in to be slightly above average,” but he and Warriors owner Joe Lacob have both expressed that they’re willing to surrender some future assets in order to upgrade the current roster.

“Does that mean we’re definitely going to do something? No,” the Warriors’ GM said. “We were super aggressive last year around the deadline. Didn’t do a whole lot. You’ve got to have a partner. Making deals in this league can be tough. But the effort and the urgency will always be there.”

Here’s more on the Warriors:

Head coach Steve Kerr feels good about the depth the Warriors have on their roster, suggesting that as many as 12 to 13 players have a case for rotation minutes and that multiple starting lineup spots could be up for grabs this fall, according to Andrews and Slater. “What I love about this camp is that we do have (starting) spots available,” Kerr said. “We’ve got a lot of guys who have started a lot of games. Last year Wiggs (Andrew Wiggins), (Jonathan Kuminga), Draymond (Green), Trayce (Jackson-Davis) started some games. (Brandin Podziemski), De’Anthony (Melton), Buddy (Hield) has been a starter most of his career. It’s the easiest thing for me to do is just to tell the guys we’ve got starting spots available. That doesn’t mean I’m going to say how many to you or to them.” As Slater writes, Stephen Curry and Green are locks to start, and Wiggins is a relatively safe bet to join them unless he plays himself out of the job, but there could be a competition for the other two spots in the starting five.
While it’s unclear what sort of role he’ll have for the Warriors in 2024/25, veteran big man Kevon Looney is in “phenomenal shape,” a source told Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area. Speaking to NBC Sports Bay Area, Looney agreed with that assessment. “I feel lighter on my feet, I feel like I can move better,” he said. “I can move the way I want to for longer and I feel like I got a little more stamina.”
Dunleavy said on Thursday that the team has had “positive conversations” with the representatives for Kuminga and Moses Moody about possible rookie scale extensions, tweets Andrews. “Regardless whether we get something done (by October 21), we want those guys here,” Dunleavy said. “Just because you don’t get an extension done doesn’t mean they’re not going to be here for a long time. We’ll still have their rights in free agency if we can’t come to an agreement by the 21st. I think for them, the most important thing is we’ll get through these next few weeks with a deal or not a deal, but all that matters is they have great seasons.”
The Warriors officially announced today (via Twitter) that they’ve hired Terry Stotts and Jerry Stackhouse as assistant coaches, which was first reported early in the offseason. Khalid Robinson, Jacob Rubin, and Anthony Vereen have also been promoted to assistant coaching roles, the club confirmed.
Tim Kawakami of The San Francisco Standard has passed along some of the highlights from his conversation with Kerr on a recent episode of his TK Show podcast. We relayed some of Kerr’s comments about Klay Thompson‘s departure on Wednesday.

Warriors’ Podziemski Talks Trade Rumors, 2024/25 Goals, More

August 28th, 2024 at 10:55am CST by Luke Adams

Brandin Podziemski‘s name popped up in trade rumors throughout the summer amid speculation that he could be included in a package for a star like Paul George or Lauri Markkanen. However, the Warriors guard received separate assurances from general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. and owner Joe Lacob that the team had no plans to trade him, as he tells Anthony Slater of The Athletic.

According to Podziemski, Dunleavy delivered his message ahead of draft night.

“A lot of these other teams are calling about you,” Podziemski said Dunleavy told him. “They want you, but you’re not going anywhere. You’re ours.”

Slater hears from team sources that the Warriors received several inquiries from teams willing to make “medium- to high-value” draft pick offers for Podziemski, who made the All-Rookie first team in 2023/24. As for the Markkanen negotiations between Golden State and Utah, they reportedly never got too serious, but Podziemski was considered a top target for the Jazz if they had pursued a deal.

The 21-year-old heard from Lacob while those Markkanen rumors were swirling, as Slater relays.

“He told me, ‘You don’t have anything to worry about. You’re a priority here,'” Podziemski said. “I appreciate that, being a rookie and going into my second year, hearing that from such a prestigious organization. It feels good. I’m wanted somewhere. So, I appreciate them. They could keep me in the dark until a trade is done. But Mike and Joe were transparent from the draft to the Paul George situation to the Markkanen situation.”

Here are a few more highlights from Podziemski’s conversation with The Athletic:

Podziemski knows some fans may question why the Warriors’ front office has been so reluctant to move him if he could help them acquire an established star, but he said he won’t feel increased pressure next season to perform at a high level and justify the team’s belief in him. “I won’t go into games thinking about it,” Podziemski told Slater. “I just know what I’ve done all offseason. I know how much better of a player I’m going to be. Obviously, I have expectations for myself to perform. This is my job. But I don’t think there’s any nervousness to exceed expectations. I’m just going to be me.”
According to Podziemski, the Warriors have told him they’d like to see him shoot more three-pointers next season after he launched 3.2 attempts per night as a rookie. “They want me to take anywhere (from) eight to 10 per game. That’s what they told me,” he said. “All different types: off dribble handoffs, off ball screens, catch-and-shoot.”
As Slater points out, among qualified NBA players last season, only 10 averaged more than eight three-point tries per game, and just three (including Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson) reached nine per game. However, Podziemski is confident he can significantly increase his volume from beyond the arc. “The reason they said that is because I’d be watching film last season after every game, and it’s always on there: Missed three-point opportunity that I didn’t take,” he explained. “There were a good two to four each game that I passed up. If you look at that, it’s a good five to seven per game I could’ve got up. Now with Klay being gone, Chris (Paul) being gone, someone is going to have to handle the ball a little bit more. I think I’m more than capable of doing that. Given that, I think it leads me to have more threes.”
Discussing his involvement in Team USA’s pre-Olympic workouts as a member of the Select Team, Podziemski said he appreciated the opportunity to guard players like Curry and Jrue Holiday in scrimmages, since it helped prepare him for the types of defensive assignments he wants to take on next season: “With Steph out there, you’re not going to have him guard the best guard. So, it’s on me taking that challenge of what Klay used to do. It’s something I want and have that not be the reason (head coach) Steve (Kerr) doesn’t play me, because I can’t guard their best guard.”

Warriors Notes: Dunleavy, Trade Deadline, Green, Curry, Kuminga

April 13th, 2024 at 11:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. didn’t shy away from the challenge of taking over a dynasty in decline, writes Ann Killion of The San Francisco Chronicle. When former GM Bob Myers opted to leave the organization last summer, Dunleavy inherited the job of running a team with aging veterans and a record tax bill. The results in his first year have been mixed, as Golden State — two years off its last championship — needed a late surge just to secure a play-in spot.

“It’s a different challenge, as opposed to taking a team at the bottom and building,” Dunleavy said. “This job is, ‘Hey, we want to keep it going.’ That’s a challenge, but it’s one that I’m comfortable with and that I’m up for. But, yeah, it’s a lot of work.”

Dunleavy made a big move in his first days on the job, Killion adds, getting rid of Jordan Poole‘s contract by trading him to Washington for long-time Warriors rival Chris Paul. Dunleavy also landed two rotation pieces on draft night by selecting Brandin Podziemski and Trayce Jackson-Davis.

Up next is a challenging offseason that will include a crucial decision involving Klay Thompson, who’s headed for free agency after 13 years with the team.

“It’s just evaluating and seeing where we end up,” Dunleavy said. “Then, when it’s all said and done, we’ll see what decisions we need to make. But on the whole I think we have a good idea of what this team is and what we need moving forward.”

There’s more on the Warriors:

Dunleavy explained his decision to stand pat at the trade deadline, telling Killion that Draymond Green‘s suspension factored into it. Green had recently been reinstated by the league, and Dunleavy was reluctant to pursue a major deal without seeing the full team together. “You certainly see how much we need him on the court,” Dunleavy said. “We’re not the same team without him. We’re really committed to this roster and felt like we just needed more time to jell. I don’t know of any trade that could have made us better.”
Dunleavy is determined to keep Stephen Curry with the Warriors for the rest of his career, Killion adds. The 36-year-old guard is under contract through the 2025/26 season. “I would say there’s nothing taxing about Steph — I’ll take that guy any day of the week, at any point in his career,” Dunleavy said. “We have to figure out how we build around him, because he’s going to be here — he’s going to be here forever. We have to take that all into account. But there’s a lot worse guys you could see the tail end of their career with.”
Jonathan Kuminga sat out Friday’s game and is listed as questionable for Sunday with a right pelvic contusion he suffered in Thursday’s contest, per Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area. “He fell and kind of bruised his tailbone and is in a lot of pain,” coach Steve Kerr said. Curry, Thompson, Green and Paul are also questionable, while Gary Payton II is out, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic.

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