Steph Curry out, Kristaps Porzingis questionable; Warriors have questions to answer | Dubs Talk
Steph Curry remains sidelined as the Golden State takes on the Boston Celtics Thursday while Kristaps Porzingis is questionable and eager to make his Warriors debut. On "Dubs Talk," Dalton Johnson and Monte Poole take a look at the final stretch of the NBA regular season for the Warriors and five questions that Golden State must answer before this campaign concludes. (00:30) - Steph Curry remains out as Golden State takes on the Boston Celtics while Kristaps Porzingis is questionable and eager to make his Warriors debut (05:30) - Five questions that Warriors must answer in the final stretch of the NBA regular season (06:30) - How do Warriors manage Steph Curry's minute for remainder of the season? (10:45) - What's more valuable next season, Kristaps Porzingis or a $30 million dollar salary slot? (15:45) - How much more does Draymond have left to give? (21:30) - Would Draymond take on an Andre Iguodala type role? (23:45) - Is Brandin Podziemski a keeper? (27:00) - How does Brandin Podziemski's future contract fit into Warriors' plans? (31:00) - How much are Warriors willing to pay to keep De'Anthony Melton on the roster next season? (35:00) - How far can Golden State go this season?
Steph Curry out, Kristaps Porzingis questionable; Warriors have questions to answer | Dubs Talk originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Video Transcript
Welcome to another episode of Dubs Talk.
I am Dalton Johnson, joined, as always, by our Warriors insider, Monty Poole.
And Warriors fans, remember to save up to $1,200 on select mattresses during the Mancini's Sleep World President's Day sale.
Best price guarantee.
If you find a better deal, they will beat it, Monty.
We are back with Warriors action after the 2026 NBA All-Star break.
The Warriors held their first practice last night.
The veterans weren't part of it, no Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Al Horford, et cetera.
Let, let them continue to get their rest.
Back at the practice court today on Wednesday, had a full scrimmage, but Monty, the news coming out of today's practice, before their first game, which will be Thursday against the Boston Celtics, is that Steph Curry will not make his return in this first game out of the All-Star break.
That runner's knee continues to bother him.
He will miss a sixth straight game, so the Warriors will have to continue to wait to see when Steph Curry will be back on the floor.
But they're In the words of Ste- Steve Kerr, "Their fingers are crossed that Kristaps Porzingis will be making his team debut against the team that he won the 2024 championship with."
So Monty, we won't be seeing Steph, but it sounds pretty promising that we will be seeing Kristaps Porzingis, who will be questionable, but even he's saying that it sure sounds like he's gonna push to make his team debut against the Celtics.
Yeah, I mean, it's For the Warrior- for the purposes of the Warriors, it's really more important, I think, to see what KP can do, see what he's a- may- able to do these last 27 games.
So the sooner he's ready, the sooner he can go, the more they can evaluate.
it's kind of important.
I think it's pretty clear he wants to be out there.
That's a part of the equation.
But the other part of the equation is, is he ready, and how much If he's out there, how many minutes will he play?
And it sounds like if he is out there and on Thursday night, he's gonna be looking at 15, 16 minutes, and they'll ramp him up from there, and hopefully within a couple of weeks, maybe get him up to about 20, 25.
With Steph, though, everything that I've read about this runner's knee says that three weeks is, like, the minimum time to rest and recover from this.
Friday will be three weeks, so it's been 20 days when he'll- when they play the Celtics, it'll be It will have been 20 days since he left the court with the, with the knee.
But also, it said three weeks is the minimum, but sometimes it can go as long as eight weeks.
So if it's eight weeks, that's basically the rest of the season.
So the Warriors are hoping that it's somewhere in between three and eight, like, maybe four.
Right.
and I know Steph wants to play.
He does- he hates not playing.
I know he wants to play, but he knows it's not time.
He knows he's not ready.
So, unfortunately for the Warriors, they can't They won't have the team they wanna put out there against the Celtics because Steph won't be there.
And as Steve Kerr said, "It's kind of critical to have Steph if you're gonna make any kind of a run."
A little bit.
Yeah.
A little critical.
Yeah.
So, unfortunately, not happening, but if you can get a look at KP o- over these last 27 games, he's not gonna play all 27, even if he plays against the Celtics, but he can play I think they hope he can play 20 or so games, get a good look at him, and go from there.
Yeah, so as another kind of refresher, with, with Steph Curry, with this runner's knee, you know, he, he missed the second game in Minnesota when, when they had that, that little series there with the injury.
He came back, played the next two games.
I think he scored 27, 23 points, but then in that game against the Pistons, his second game back from it, he had to exit early with about four minutes left in the third quarter.
Was having a good game.
It looked like they might've had a really strong win against a really good Detroit Pistons team, but that swelling, the pain in his right knee, has just been lingering.
It's clearly been bothering him.
You know, he, he was voted to his 12th All-Star Game, 11th as a starter.
He didn't play in the All-Star game, no three-point contest, none of that stuff.
Obviously, he did the media scrum.
He had, he had someone there with him as far as, you know, monitoring him, going through workouts, seeing how, seeing how the knee is doing, and then he came back to the Bay Area, and clearly he knows his body as good as anybody, that it just did not feel right.
He had to get a scrimmage in if he could come back against the Celtics, and there was no need to push it right now- Right ... for Steph Curry, for this team.
I thought it was interesting that Steve Kerr told us that he could go have another MRI, you know, so, so we could have another You know, have him go, go, go through another an- MRI scan.
We'll get an, an, an update hopefully tomorrow to see what the next steps are for Steph Curry, but no Steph Curry against the Celtics.
Likely, questionable, but likely, we see, we see Kristaps Porzingis.
Monty, there are 27 games left in the regular season.
The Warriors are the number eight seed.
They're 29 and 26.
I know that you're gonna be writing for nbcsportsbayarea.com your five questions that you're looking at, that, that must be answered during these final 27 games, or at least get as close to an answer as we can get.
And I wanna go through question by question and have a little conversation about this because I do think that these final 27 games, for a team whose preseason expectations are completely out the window, there are gonna be some fascinating things that we do need to get answers are for the immediacy and the future of this team.
So Monty, lead us into the first question that's on your mind right now with this Warriors team coming out of the All-Star break.
Well, the, the, the first thing to know, I, I think, is that- they're not there yet, but they're very close to the point where evaluation for the future becomes more important than playing for now.
I- if Steph misses another week or two, then this season is, you know, let's face it, this season's goal ain't gonna be met.
that top six se- seed that they've been w- shooting for, not happening.
Yeah.
They've been, they've been in eighth place for more than two months.
Yeah.
And so, and, and that- most of that time with Jimmy and Steph.
So now, without Jimmy, you're gonna try and get to six?
If KP is great and Steph can play 22 games, you got a shot, I guess, but it's a long shot.
But I think the first question that, that hits me over these last 27 games is: how do you manage Steph's minutes?
Because- Yeah ... you said that runner's knee can go on for a while.
It can be- it become a thing that lingers, and you don't wanna bring him back too soon, because then you can miss him another week or two.
And if you have to sit him out for another week, do that.
I'm not gonna say that they should sit Steph down, but there may come a point where that might be the wise thing to do.
And so for me, it's important that these 27 games, you get an idea You just, you learn how to manage his minutes- Yeah ... and, and his availability, because as much as they wanna think, you know, Steve Kerr says, "Yeah, we're still getting the top The top six spot is still our goal, being in the top six in the West," well, there's still a ways to go to get there, and the teams that are in front of them, for the most part, are playing decent basketball.
They're two and a half games ahead of Portland and the Clippers, three games behind the Suns.
So they're still even- they can have a good, strong week and still be in eighth place.
They can have a good, strong two weeks and still be in eighth place.
For Steph, I just think you've gotta be extra, extra, extra careful with him, because at some point, you've gotta be thinking about next year- Yeah ... at some point.
And, and, you know, the fact that he won't be able to play against the Celtics, that's, that's not a good sign.
But if he can't play until March, you know, at what point then do you say, "Okay, you know what?"
You don't wanna punt the season, because y- you can't really You can't tank.
It's too late to, to really tank, but you gotta ask yourself, what's the point?
It's a great question with Steph Curry, and you bring up managing minutes, and it's- you're gonna have to u- really understand how to manage his minutes for however long his career lasts, you know?
And we're, we're getting to that point with Steph Curry, where his season ends last year with, with a soft tissue issue, with an injury, with, with a hamstring that he's never dealt with before.
I mean, I mean, runner's knee, Monty.
I mean, the, the guy is gonna be 38 years old in a few weeks from now.
I mean, to me, again, I'm not a doctor by any means.
I'm not even gonna try to say what the medical term is for runner's knee, 'cause it's- Yeah ...
I can't say all those words.
Let's be real.
It's a lot.
It's a lot!
Yeah.
But again, it, th- this just feels like what we're seeing from him, what we're seeing even a little bit with, with, with, you know, Draymond's a much different story that we'll get to, but these guys, just the wear and tear.
The wear and tear is starting to catch up.
Father Time is starting to catch up.
Steph Curry is still playing at an absolutely elite level, a, a, an All-NBA level.
Unfortunately, now, any All-NBA, any awards are out the window.
Yeah.
I believe with, with missing the Celtics game now, that he, he is in either He can't miss any more games, or he's- Right ... now completely ineligible for All-NBA and all that.
But just knowing how to manage him, if it, if it's one more year, two more years, who knows what it's gonna be?
That's gonna be up to Steph Curry.
But no matter how well he plays, he might not be in contention for All-NBA or awards, no matter what the rest of his career goes.
Yeah.
They have to be extremely careful with his body if they want any chance of contention with whatever his window is going forward.
Yeah, the thing you don't want is to have him come back with any trace of this thing.
No.
'Cause you don't want him favoring the other leg, you know what I mean?
You know- Right ... and, and then you have another problem coming up, and these things happen more as you age.
You know, where, I mean, Klay Thompson was almost back from his torn ACL.
He had the Achilles in the other leg, which says to me that maybe he was, you know, being a little tentative with the, with what, with the, ACL leg and putting too much on the other leg, and boom, Achilles.
So you gotta be careful.
I mean, I, I'm not comparing runner's knee to an ACL, but what I'm saying is that you gotta make sure that when he's ready to play, that he is not favoring that knee at all.
And, and otherwise, you just sit him down until he's totally 100% ready, not 99%, 100%.
Yeah.
So, second thing is, is, is Porziis related.
Second question is, they gotta figure out over these next 27 games, what's more valuable, the possibility of Porziis being around next season and beyond, or that $30.7 m- $7 million salary spot?
Yeah.
I mean, right now, you know, if Q- if Porziis plays a bunch of games and looks good and likes the Warriors, and they like him, it's an evaluation period for them.
For sure.
Okay, yeah, you know, and, and they can then decide whether they wanna bring him back.
They're not gonna pay him $30 million, because again, his, his checkered history with injuries has dropped his value down.
But when he's out there, he's really good.
You know, he could get one of those contracts that has a bunch of incentives, you know, play this number of games, that kind of thing.
and then he can make the extra money if he's healthy.
But he has to understand, he's missed more than 100 games the past two and a half years.
So if, if they like him, and he plays well, and he plays, like I say, 20 or so games- they have something to think about.
If he doesn't play well, or he's not on the court, they don't have much to think about.
He, he- that salary slot becomes more important to me, to me than, than he does.
The, the evaluation process is for Kristaps Porziis, for the Warriors, and for the entire league when it comes to Kristaps Porziis.
What is this guy?
I mean, it's, it's interesting because it feels so long ago now, and, you know, the, the Warriors' most recent game before the All-Star break was against the Spurs, and it's And the All-Star weekend kind of became about Victor Wembanyama.
He's, he's the Alien.
And I'm not trying to compare the two, but, but be- but before there was the Alien, there was the Unicorn, and that was Kristaps Porziis.
You know, we, we remember the excitement of him coming to Madison Square Garden with the Knicks, as this seven-foot-two Latvian that we've never seen be- before, right?
And so when he does play, he still is productive.
He's played 17 games this season, in 14 of them he's made at least one three, in 11 of them he's blocked at least one shot.
He takes up so much space, and it's tough because I- the idea of Kristaps, Kristaps Porziis, that's gonna be a mouthful for me, for me to get used to- ... is incredibly interesting with Steph Curry, with Jimmy Butler.
If they were healthy, we would be looking at this move so much differently at the trade deadline, as far as getting off of Jonathan Kuminga and everything that surrounded that.
Buddy Hield, great, great locker room presence.
You'll never forget game seven in Houston.
It didn't work out this season.
We would be looking at that trade a lot differently if those guys were healthy, if Steph Curry was still fully healthy, and if you had Jimmy Butler.
So I really wanna see what, what Kristaps Porziis can be for this team.
And you bring up the money slot and the fit.
They kind of go hand in hand because, as you mentioned, Kristaps Porziis isn't gonna get a, a pay increase this summer.
How big is the decrease gonna be, and can the decrease be with the Warriors at a comfortable slot for bo- for both sides?
It seems like he's been a pretty natural fit so far.
Like, he, he said that he really, really liked the training staff right away.
No surprise there with Rick Celebrini.
Really likes the, the locker room, really likes the coaching staff.
I was in LA, and when he was introduced, in that ga- and, and after that game, you see the two people that are sitting next to each other in the locker room, Steph, Kristaps Porziis.
And they're not even talking basketball, they're talking about the Bay Area, and things to do, and, and food, and, and where he's gonna live.
And he just And he looked like, kind of like a kid looking up at Steph, like- ... "Wow, this guy's great!"
You know?
Yeah.
And it felt so inviting.
And so I really wanna see him and Steph together, when Steph's healthy, of course.
I wanna see Porziis and Draymond.
That, that, that's someone that Porziis, to us today, was really highlighting.
He's like, "Oh, I like him."
Like, he just He, he's, you know, talking about his competitiveness, his defense, hi- his intelligence.
So the fit is incredibly intriguing.
Just how much are we actually gonna see the fit, Monty?
Yep.
Are we gonna see it for 10 games?
15?
If we see tw- if we see Porziis in 20 out of 27 games, to me, that, that, that's a win for both sides.
And now you're going, "Okay, we can have your bird rights."
What does a, what does a short-term, incentive-led deal look for both sides with, you know, talking about getting a healthy Jimmy back after the All-Star break next season?
So I, I'm, I'm now I'm very infatuated by what Kristaps Porziis is gonna be for this team.
Yeah.
The In the, in the best of all worlds, Porziis plays 22 or 23 games, maybe, you know, at least plays- Yeah ... and looks really good, likes the culture fit here, and the Warriors find a slot for him.
so and I, I think that's conceivable but again, with him, you gotta see him on the court.
Oh, yeah.
He's just missed too many games to say, "Well, yeah, he'll be out there for sure."
You just don't know yet.
And so, but yeah, if he can't- if he, if he misses more than half of the games, it's not telling you a whole lot- Yeah ... and that's when that salary slot might become, "You know what?
Eh, maybe we'll use it in something- somewhere, some- somewhere else," you know?
And, and I would understand that.
Now, you mentioned Draymond, and you're right, KP was very impressed with Draymond- Oh, yeah ... during today's workouts and scrimmaging.
And he talked about He said, "I can understand why he's so important to this team, and has been so important to this team."
And that's something that a lot of people don't get sometimes, is that Draymond has been really important for this team for a long time, and they've tolerated a lot of stuff because they realize how important he is to what they do.
Now, this, these last 27 games, I think it's important for the Warriors to really kind of look at Draymond.
Look at That's the third question.
Oh, yeah.
How much more does Dray have to give?
Because he's given so much over these 13 years, and we know what he's done.
He's been a six foot six, 225-pound center, guarding guys that weigh 20 and 30 and 40 and 50 pounds more than he does.
Four and five and six and seven inches taller than he is.
But how long can he do that?
Steve Kerr opened the season saying that, "You know, I want, I want to avoid playing Draymond at the five, you know, so much," and yet here we are again.
Yep.
Guess who's gonna be the five when they open- when they play the Celtics on Draymond Green's gonna be the five.
And as Steve said, "You gotta do what you gotta do."
Yeah.
And so this is obviously less than ideal, but Draymond's play has become more s- more inconsistent- Yeah ... than it once was.
The thing that made him so different from guys he was guarding before was his quickness and his speed.
Draymond could lead the fast break 15 times a game, take the rebound, and just go, and now you don't see it that much.
It doesn't happen as much, and I think he knows it's not something he can do like he used to do.... his legs aren't what they were when he was 24, 25, 26.
You know, Draymond's gonna be what, 30- 36.
Yeah, 36 next month.
Yep.
So it's like And his miles have been, they've been hard miles, is what I'm saying.
So- Sh- ... yeah, he has a player option next year.
But if you're the Warriors, you gotta want- you gotta ask yourself, "Okay, how much can we- how much more can we get from Draymond when he's 36 turning 37 next year?
Yeah.
Yeah.
They, they love him, but these last 27 games, you know, if he's on, on the court, they gotta really watch him, I think, and just see how much can they expect from him, not just now, but next season.
Is it time to lower the expectations?
I think they have a little bit because quiet as it, as it's kept, Steve Kerr has lowered his minutes over the past couple of years.
Mm-hmm.
You know, he's no longer in the mid-30s.
He's down to the high 20s now, 20s- And maybe mid-20s a lot of times, too.
Yeah.
Yeah, so he, he really goes over 30 minutes unless it's, like, an emergency situation.
Yeah.
You know, Steph, Jimmy, yeah, they were playing 32, 33, 34, 35.
Draymond's in the, in the 20s now, and, and that's, that's a recognition of the miles on his body.
And so I think these last 27 games, this last eight weeks or whatever's left, you gotta really watch that and, and ask yourself at the end, "Okay, how much..." When it- when the season's over, whether it's in the play-in tournament, whether they fall out of the playoff picture altogether, whatever happens, when the season is over, they gotta ask themselves, "How much more does Draymond Green have to give?"
And, and be honest with themselves about it, 'cause I know Draymond's gotta be honest with himself, too.
Yeah.
Let's, let's continue to be a little bit honest about, about Draymond.
Y- he's gonna turn 36 years old in a few weeks.
He turns 36 basically, like, a week before Steph Curry turns 38.
Steph Curry still feels like he's about to turn E- even while he's dealing with an injury right now, with his knee, he still feel- he feels like he's about to be a young 38, compared to Draymond being an older 36, just with what their bodies have gone through.
I mean, just the giants that, that Draymond has slayed.
I've used the corny term so many times, but it's just so true, Monty.
I think he's played 169 playoff games.
That's an extra two seasons.
With the way he plays, with the uni- the unique style that he does defensively and offensively, we knew that the, that the closing years on Draymond were gonna be tough on his body, that they weren't gonna be as aesthetically pleasing as it was gonna be watching Steph Curry still be able to shoot into his 40s.
Obviously, right?
And then when I think about Draymond's season this year, the three games that stood out to me the most are the three against the Spurs, or is against Wemby, it's against Wembanyama.
Because Draymond can still get up for those challenges.
He sees the best of the best in front of him, and he goes, "I have a spotlight on me.
This is a national game.
I'm gonna show I can still do this."
But it's just the consistency.
Yeah.
He just can't do it game after game, night after night.
And, and that's what happens in this sport.
It's what happens when you play the way he's played for 13 and a half, 14 seasons.
Is that he can do it on a given night, but not game in and game out.
And the Warriors are showing us that while Draymond is still very important to this team, they don't rely on Draymond as much as they used to.
They could- they can slide in a Guy Santos, an Al Horford, to do some of those Draymond things at the end of games.
We're seeing two of the final three games when they had these comeback wins before the All-Star break, Draymond Green was not part of those closing lineups.
He was watching from the bench in the fourth quarter.
So it's gonna be ex- very Y- I, I, I do think that my eyes are gonna be, you know, fixated on Draymond these final 27 games, because what does he have in the tank for a sprint to the play-in, the playoff, whatever this is gonna be?
And then what is the, the, the next iteration of Draymond after, whether Mike wants to say it or not, he was in trade conversations that would resolve around possibly getting a, a superstar in Giannis Antetokounmpo.
But when you know that that's, that's out there, and he's acknowledged it, as Draymond did- Yeah ... as his coach did, how does that change the relationship with Draymond in the front office?
With, with how Draymond wants his career to end as well, too?
With this player option, is he, would, would he be okay with going to his Andre Iguodala chapter of his career, coming off the bench if, if, if that meant another season or two with the Warriors and chasing a championship?
There's a ton of questions with Draymond with these final 27 games, and with a such an important off-season for him and the, and the Warriors as well, too.
Yeah.
I, I, I do think that they gotta be honest with themselves, he has to be honest with himself, and- Yeah ... see where they go from here.
But, yeah, I mean, Draymond, again, he- what- with what he's given, we understand that there's gonna be That why there's a dip.
For sure.
It- I mean, you couldn't play at that level for a long time, and, and so guys who, who take on the challenges he has taken on tend to last shorter time.
They, they can- He's top three in Defensive Player of the Year last season- Yes ... at that age.
Amazing!
Yeah.
Yeah.
So, but they gotta figure that out, because you're right, the Iguodala stage may be here, you know?
In other words, yeah, he's still valuable, but he can't do all the things he once did.
Right.
You know, and so Iguodala, his last season, he was like a part- assistant coach slash- Yeah.
Yeah.
You know?
Yeah.
And, and so I don't think that's what Draymond wants, but he's been an assistant coach slash player most of his career.
For sure.
You know?
I mean, his- That's always- ... voice carries.
Yeah, Draymond Guys have been, for the last 10 years, talking about, "Draymond told us this, Draymond said this" - ... like he's a coach.
So he's been that guy.
The fourth thing is, I think they need to take a close look at Brandon Podziemski and ask themselves, "Is he a keeper?"
Yeah.
We know Steve Kerr likes him.... maybe he loves him.
but when you watch BP play, you see there are times when he's really good, and there's time when he's abysmal, and it's like, okay, you want that consistency.
We realize he's still learning, he's still evolving as an NBA player.
You know, he came into the league not super young, but sort of, s- pretty young, you know?
And he hadn't played a bunch of basketball behind him.
He didn't have eight, nine years of basketball behind him- True, yeah ...
Some of these guys did, you know?
And so he came to basketball relatively late because he was a baseball guy for a while, and, and he decided on basketball, and he's trying to make it work.
But, i- you know, yeah, can the Warriors He has another year, but he's eligible.
He'll be eligible, and what do you do with that?
You know, do you, do you make a commitment to him now, or do you wait?
Do you wait like you did with Kuminga?
Now, from what I understand, there's no Like with Kuminga, there always was this sort of underlying friction.
Yes.
And, and this, well, you know, is he or is he not?
It's pretty clear that at least this coaching staff likes Brandon.
Yeah.
But what if Steve leaves?
Yeah.
You know, and that could change the dynamic there.
So I think there should be a spotlight on Brandon, too, just to see, okay, w- where does he fit in this NBA?
Is he a starter?
Is he a, a, a top eight rotation player, or is he on a, on a good team, or is he more of a 10, 11 rotation player on a really good team?
The Warriors right now have not been a really good team.
There's They've been hovering just above mediocrity most of the season, and he's not starting.
He's sometimes not finishing, so they need to figure out where he fits in their future.
And the sooner they can do that, I think the better off they are.
What do you- No, there's de- there's definitely a spotlight on Brandon Podziemski for a handful of reasons.
I, I think that number 19 overall pick, when he first came in, and we saw someone who it felt like fit the culture as far as he was so competitive as a rookie, willing to do anything to win, was that perfect buzzword connector, as Steve Kerr kept saying.
Yeah.
You know, he could just do a lot of, a lot of the little things, right?
And then you started to see, okay, what's the difference between Brandon Podziemski's floor and Brandon Podziemski's ceiling?
And is it just getting closer and closer and closer together?
Because his numbers right now, Monty, are basically the same exact numbers as last season.
Like, there, there hasn't really been that year two to year three leap.
There's been, you know, little increments, of, continued to develop from rookie to, to second season to third season.
But now you're going, "Okay, with how much he stood out as a rookie, is he just a little bit better than that, and he and this is who he is?"
He's a 11 to 12 points per game, maybe the quietest 39, 40% from three-point range, 'cause it doesn't have It's not a high volume, high impact, 40% from, you know, three-point range.
Good rebounder, feisty defensive player, take the charges, but I just don't know what his ceiling is right now anymore.
Yeah.
And I think that it's more I think it's more top eight on a good team, as we- Yeah ... as we talked about.
Maybe not a great team, but definitely a good team, and I don't a- and, and probably not a, a true starting shooting guard for a team.
No, no.
He, he's a combo guard, and, and you're, and you're talking about, as you brought up, he, he is rookie contract extension eligible this, this summer.
Do they really wanna get into another restricted free agency headache?
I don't think it'd be the same headache that it was with Jonathan Kuminga.
Right.
It, it wouldn't be.
It wouldn't be like it was with Jonathan Kuminga, like it was with his agent.
I don't think it would be the same kind of situation, but I think that they just don't even wanna have to deal with that, I'm sure.
And you're looking at contract, and after his first, second season, I'm going, "Oh, well, his contract's gonna be much higher than Moses Moody's was."
And now I'm going, "How much more could he really ask for than, than Moses?"
Who this season, year five, con- the difference in year three, has established himself as, in the very least, a solid role player.
And what's the really the difference between Brandon Podziemski and Moses Moody?
Is he really gonna want more than $36 million?
Want, I would say yes, but how much more can Brandon Podziemski get right now with this team?
It's gonna be interesting, Monty.
Moses is starting.
Exactly!
Brandon's not.
He's started 29 straight games now.
Yeah.
29, and he scored double figures- And not starting.
Yeah.
No- So ... Moses has asserted himself as a solid, solid three-and-D player in the NBA.
He could be a starter on your team, hands down, for what he does on both sides of the ball.
He's not perfect.
No.
He might not have a giant ceiling either, but he's a solid, solid role player in the NBA.
Yeah, and they, they, they were able to extend him at a reasonable amount of money.
For, for a starter, it's really pretty cheap for a starter.
It is.
So he's making, like, 11-plus million this year.
Yeah.
So, But yeah, I think Brandon, they can't pay Brandon- they can't throw Brandon, you know, $60 million at Brandon for three years- No ... when they give that to Moses.
So- I thought he was gonna get 60, $80 million- Yeah ... but now I'm like, "I- he can't."
No, and, and you also look at the fact that Will Richard looks like a keeper.
There you go.
You know, and, and he I mean, he's not the same player as Brandon is, but he's much better on the defensive end.
Mm-hmm.
He can make shots.
so he brings a certain value, too, and he's even cheaper right now because he's, you know, a second-round pick.
He can- they can get by, get by pretty cheaply with him for a couple years.
Now, but the other guy who could factor into Brandon is De'Anthony Melton.
Yes.
That's the fifth question, and that is, the Warriors love De'Anthony Melton.
You saw they did last year.
He went down with an injury.
They traded him, but there was almost this, like- tacit agreement that- Yeah.
"You know what?
Come on back."
And, and he was like, "Yeah, I'm coming back."
You know?
Oh, yeah.
He knew.
Sure enough, he comes back to the Warriors.
now, he's established himself as a really good player.
Now, if you're the Warriors I mean, right now he's making a minimum.
He's making a little over $3 million a year, basically.
You can't, obviously, you can't do that.
That's- has he priced himself out of the Warriors' price range?
You know, uh- Player option, player option th- th- th- this summer, wh- which sure seems like he's gonna decline.
Right.
I'm gonna assume that that's what- that's gonna happen.
Yeah, he's playing above that- Yeah ... easily.
Yeah.
That's what I'm saying.
I, I, I'm, I'm gonna assume that he's gonna exercise the player option and see what the market has to offer.
And the Warriors will have 27 more games to see how far they're willing to go.
How, how much do they like him?
How much would- are they willing to pay him?
20 a year?
22 a year?
25 a year?
How high are they willing to go to keep him on this roster?
Because if he's on this roster next season, he will have gotten a pretty good bump, 'cause he's not coming back- Oh, yeah ... for any, you know, for any three and a half or $4 million.
So- No, D- De'Anthony Melton's what?
27, 28 years old.
If he didn't have the injuries the last two and a half, three seasons, whatever it's been, let's say two, two seasons, he's making 20 to $25 million a season, Monty.
Yeah.
I mean, the way that he is defensively, his length, his, his wingspan, he's not a 6'5", 6'6" guard by any means, but he's disruptive where he plays up to that level, and the shooting has really impressed me.
I mean, he came back a year to the date of his ACL surgery, and the shot wasn't there at first, which of course it's not gonna be.
You're getting your legs back, your rhythm back, you're probably feeling a little nerves, all of it.
He was throwing up- We- Go ahead and say it, he was throwing up bricks.
Oh, he Oh, he was making brick houses in the Bay.
Like- Yeah ... no doubt about it.
We And he, and he was laughing about it, too.
He was like, "Come on, man!"
Yep.
But once he found that rhythm, once he found his shot, now you're going, "Oh, this guy has something that the rest of the team does not."
Not only is he a confident three-point shooter, he has the juice to get downhill, to get in the teeth of the defense, to attack, attack, attack.
And I'm sorry, but that's just not Brandon Podziemski's profile.
It is De'Anthony Melton's.
I think, I think Melt, especially without Steph, has gotten in a little bit of trouble with over-dribbling sometimes and getting caught a little bit.
Yeah.
Being, being, Playing a little bit outside of himself the, the last few weeks.
But he can go dribble, dribble, and he can either get to the rim or kick it out, which would give you the best three-point shots, too.
Yeah.
I think Kristaps- I, I think the, the move for Kristaps Porziis, that can open up, the, the possibility of being able to bring back Melton.
You, you look at, like, the, the, the full mid-level exception for someone like, like, like Melton.
Clear, clearing the books, with the Kuminga contract, with what Porziis's contract could be if you bring him back or if you just waive him wh- on, on his expiring deal.
I, I think that you've gotta find a way to, to, to keep De'Anthony Melton in your building.
Like, the locker room loves him.
He really likes it here.
He fits with pretty much any lineup.
Like, he fits with any kind of combination.
Yeah.
So yeah, the, the, these final 27 games is another evaluation for De'Anthony Melton, for himself, for the Warriors, the rest of the league, because he's someone right now who has been making money, Monty.
They, they like what he, when he He's at his best when he's on the court with Steph.
Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
The two of those together.
And Steph understands that, and he understands that, so, I think that will play a r- part in his, in his decision.
You know, he likes it here.
I know that much.
Oh, yeah.
He likes it here.
Yeah.
And they think- California kid, yeah.
Yeah.
So, But I mean, but he owes it to himself to see what else is out there.
Of course.
And, and if somebody gives him a, you know, what Like, look at Gary Payton II a few years ago.
You know, he loves it here, too, but when the Portland Trail Blazers came at him, you know, he's like, "Hey, I gotta take this."
"I love that, too!"
Yeah.
Yeah.
And, and he ended up coming back, but- Yeah ... but he got his money.
And I think if you're, if you're De'Anthony, you're thinking the same way probably, because the money that he would get is gonna be more than what Gary got back then, you know?
And so, we'll see.
But I think those are the, those are the five things: managing Steph, evaluating Porziis, sort of putting Draymond under the microscope, along with the, the other question is, is Brandon Podziemski under the microscope?
And then sort of recognizing how far they can Trying to find out how much you're willing to pay- Mm-hmm ... to keep De'Anthony Melton on the roster.
Yeah, no, I, I, I think, like, those nail d- a- again, hammer, nail on the head right there, as far as what we should have our eyes on- Yeah ... for the, for the, for the final stretch.
And it, it, it M- my final closing thing is, 'cause, 'cause, 'cause you brought it up early, as far as all the preseason expectations for this team are out of the window, which kind of makes it interesting, too, in its own, in its own right.
It's like, okay, what, what are we gonna see from the young guys?
What are we gonna see from Kristaps Porziis?
M- m- maybe it is a little bit of pressure off of their back, and maybe it's a pressure off of the backs of a Brandon Podziemski or a Moses Moody, some of these guys, too.
So there's still a lot of reasons to watch this team, but one of their main preseason expectations and goals was a top-six seed.
They, they did not want to have to deal with the play-in tournament again, and right now, it, it feels like they are just kind of in play-in purgatory, where they just keep being in this play-in mode right now.
And you look at the standings, you look at the schedule, they're in eighth They're the eighth seed right now.
Yep.
I think, Monty, that they're four and a half games back of the sixth seed.
To me, that, that, that does seem like too big of a gap, especially with Steph's injury management, is what we're gonna call it.
But the state of the NBA with my conversation here is what makes it interesting.
27 games left, I think at least 10 of those games, and maybe it's 10 teams, are basically tanking teams.
Yeah.
Are teams, are teams that are not trying to win games, which is a problem in the NBA right now.
They have, I believe, 13 home games, which they've had a pretty good home culture at Chase Center, this season.
And if 10 of them are, again, teams that are be- tanking or pseudo-tanking, sitting their best players.
"Oops, these guys are now have to have a surgery.
Oh, they're on a minutes restriction!"
I'm looking at you, Utah.
That'll be interesting, right?
So I'm, I'm just going, okay, well, if they can take advantage of those teams, and if an injury happens, if a slippage happens Because I do think that if you get to a certain point, yeah, where it's like, "Hey, there's no need to, to, to push Steph.
We're, we're the 11th seed.
Sure, we're gonna have a play-in.
N- no need to push anything."
But I still believe in hope mattering, and that if, if there's any chance that you can establish to the rest of the league that we're still here.
Yeah.
Yeah, we know that, that, that our season was derailed by Jimmy's injury, and now, and now we're not gonna win a championship.
You send that message out, though, that, "Hey, but we're not gonna go out with a, a, a puncher's chance.
We're not gonna go out wi- with fighting," if we have a healthy Steph Curry, if we have a healthy Kristaps Porziis next to us.
I wanna see what this team looks like in a, in a stretch run with health on their side because they have been competing their butts off.
Post-Jimmy injury, this team's fight, their competitiveness has not wavered, Monty.
I've been really impressed by that.
Steve Kerr has been impressed by it.
He's praised it.
I would say that the la- the last few games before the All-Star break, they were really competing, playing hard to the, like, down the stretch of games.
So I just wanna see.
If they have this window of where these teams are going, "Here's a W," and if, and if the t- if the Timberwolves or, or the Suns, someone else slips up a little bit, they get an injury, who knows- Yeah, yeah ... what the final m- month plus can look like for this Warriors team?
Yeah, I mean, I, I'm, I have The one thought came to mind was that let's try and predict how many games they'll win, but I don't wanna go there because Steph's thing is so- There you go.
Yeah.
It's impossible.
Steph's thing is so There's so much unknown, there's so much mystery there.
He might play 10 more games.
Yeah.
He might play 20 more games.
We don't have any idea right now, and even when he comes back, you still have to manage him, I think.
So, I still think that for them to, you know, be a top eight team, which they've been as literally eighth place- Yeah ... they need to be, they need to be in the mid, at least the mid-40, 45, 46, 40, you know, somewhere in there.
And they're at what?
29 wins right now.
Yeah.
I mean, so yeah, I mean, can, can they go up?
If they go 70, if, if they go 17 and 10, that's, uh- That could happen.
That could happen.
Yeah, yeah.
That's 46 and 36.
Yeah.
But again, so much of that is dependent on having number 30 on the court, so.
A- and a- at the end of the day, the number six seed, being a top six team, getting out of the play-in, playing playoff games in front of the home fans, it's a goal, it's not an expectation, and the main priority is health.
It has to be.
Eyes are already starting to look to '26, '27 for the right reasons.
Not, not, not for tanking, n- not, not for pseudo injuries, not, not for the waving the, waving the white flag, but they have to start looking towards the future because th- this team knows that once Jimmy Butler went down with that injury, the real expectations, the real hopes, the- they're gone, Monty.
Yeah.
So- Yep ... the, the priorities have changed, but I still, but we, but we still know that this DNA of this team is to compete and to give everything that they have until it's clear that, "Hey, the finish line came a lot closer than we thought it would be."
There you go.
Well, it's gonna be a, an interesting final 27 games.
I'm Dalton Johnson, he's Monty Poole.
This was Dub Talk.
And Warriors fans, remember Mancini SleepWorld.
Save up to $1,200 on select mattresses during the Mancini SleepWorld President's Day sale.
The best price guarantee.
If you find a better deal, they'll beat it.
All right, we'll be seeing you guys sometime soon.
Hey!
