Warriors split back-to-back set vs. Timberwolves in difficult trip to Minnesota | Dubs Talk
The Golden State Warriors split back-to-back games against the Minnesota Timberwolves after the first matchup was postponed due to the ongoing situation in Minneapolis. On "Dubs Talk," Bonta Hill and Monte Poole take a look at the Warriors' trip to the Twin Cities before looking ahead to the NBA trade deadline. (01:15) - The Warriors and Timberwolves postponed the first game of two in Minnesota with mass protests occurring in the city. The teams split the two games in a situation that was bigger than basketball (06:00) - After the two games were turned into a back-to-back, Golden State didn't seem to be playing Warriors basketball without its main cast (12:00) - The Warriors abandoned their principles Monday night (16:00) - Golden State had over $170 million sitting on its bench and it showed (17:30) - What do the Warriors do with the NBA trade deadline quickly approaching? (19:30) - Would you still trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo even after his recent injury? (21:15) - Should the Warriors stand pat at the trade deadline? (24:30) - Draymond Green has not been mentioned in any trade discussions (25:45) - Can Jonathan Kuminga make an impact on the Warriors if they don't move him? (29:00) - Lauri Markkanen has missed seven straight games and won't play against the Warriors on Wednesday (31:45) - Would the Warriors consider trading for LeBron James at the deadline? (35:00) - Is there any validity to the reports that the organization pushed back on Steph Curry's desire for Golden State to make a trade?
Warriors split back-to-back set vs. Timberwolves in difficult trip to Minnesota | Dubs Talk originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Video Transcript
Oh, baby!
Oh, baby!
Tough two-game stretch in Minnesota for obvious reasons.
On a serious note, these were two tough games to watch.
And we'll get into it here on the Dubs Talk Podcast with the Warriors insider and Hall of Famer here at NBC Sports Bay Area, the one and only two-time Emmy Award-winning Monte Poole.
I am Vonte Hill, of course, and as always, we're brought to you by Mancini SleepWorld.
Save up to $1,200 on select mattresses during the Mancini SleepWorld.
President's Day sale.
Hey, kick off the year where you can save up to twelve hundred dollars, Monty?
Not a bad deal.
Start at incredible prices.
You know, these mattresses start at incredible prices, like Beautyrest queen mattresses starting at just $200 and ninety-nine dollars.
Get zero percent financing.
We don't have to tell you guys: five years, zero percent financing.
Who doesn't like that?
You can find mattresses or have payments on Tempur-Pedics as low as $29 a month.
So go ahead and shop sleepworld.com.
Sleepworld.com.
Monte Poole, the Warriors get the split in Minnesota, one and two on this four-game road.
Trip.
Last time we talked was after the Dallas game.
Emotions were running high in the chat as we went live there on the Dubs Talk Podcast.
Now, you get a couple games in Minnesota.
Obviously, Saturday was postponed due to some unfortunate circumstances, to say the least.
And I'm underselling that in Minnesota and what's happening in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
So, they play a back-to-back, their tenth back-to-back of the season.
They went on Sunday, where Minnesota turns the ball over 26 times.
The Warriors pick up a season-high 20 steals in that basketball game.
But you could feel the lack of energy in that building, and it's understandable to see Minnesota kind of go out there and lay a dud, considering what was going on in their own community.
You felt a little more energy in the building.
Tonight at the Target Center.
Then again, you look on the floor, there's no Stephen Curry, there's no Draymond Green, there's no Al Horford and De'Anthony Melton.
They haven't been cleared to play back-to-backs.
Kuminga, day-to-day with a bone bruise.
Jimmy Butler, out for the season.
Then a late scratch with Anthony Edwards.
Just a weird two games of basketball.
For me, personally, It was really tough to focus on the game itself, considering what was going on in that community.
Monty.
You too.
You know, there are times when sports feel so insignificant.
Yep.
And, and Friday, Saturday, Saturday was one of those times when you see something unfold with your very own eyes.
You know, you see someone die and, and get-- someone murdered with your very own eyes.
And so you want, y- y-- The first thing I thought when they said they were gonna postpone the game, I thought, "That's an excellent idea."
Yeah.
Excellent idea.
Those teams had no business playing.
I mean, I don't know what the crowd would've looked like.
But I'm sure there are people who probably didn't want to go to a game.
You know?
If you're not out there protesting, you don't probably want to be anywhere near the arena.
And so it's one of those things where I thought the Warriors did what they were supposed to do.
In the sense that you could see the Timberwolves were not locked in.
And you understand why.
You understand why.
This is their community.
This is where they live.
Yep.
And watching that game, I mean, I, I thought Particularly, Julius Randle was awful.
Again, justifiably.
You know?
I mean, Julius kills the Warriors.
He had nothing on Saturday.
He had nothing, on Sunday rather.
He had nothing.
And so, the Warriors being the visiting team, you know, yeah, I'm sure they felt it too, because they were locked in their hotel rooms.
Seeing it out, looking out windows and seeing it.
But I thought they handled it well.
They-- To me, the most impressive thing they, they did is they put aside what was going on.
Not only did they put it aside, but they were able to focus on the part of the hardest to focus on when your mind is scattered.
Mm-hmm.
... defense.
Yeah.
Usually, you know, guys can get going with offense.
You know, they can get a couple of buckets.
And they kind of forget about what's going on around them.
But for guys to dig in and play defense, that's different.
Yeah, the Timberwolves weren't themselves, but the Warriors, Give them credit, man.
They, they actually did work on defense.
And won that game.
So, they knew it, though.
They also knew that Timberwolves weren't themselves, and they, After the game, they all talked about that.
"Yeah, these guys, you know, clearly weren't the team that we saw last May in the, in the playoffs."
You know, with him, I mean, Ant played, And Ant played well, but he didn't have a whole lot.
He and Dante put in, you know.
They scored, what, 54 points together.
I think.
Yeah.
And so, but the rest of the team didn't do a whole lot, and, and we know why.
So the Warriors, they handled their business in really under trying conditions.
So it's impressive, but it's also something that, you know, I'm sure they're not like, there wasn't much joy after that victory.
I, you know, Monty, you mentioned it.
Anthony Edwards, DiVincenzo combined for 54.
85 points Sunday for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
It was the first time in 103 games where the Minnesota Timberwolves didn't score at least a hundred points in a basketball game.
Third longest streak in NBA history.
Anthony Edwards, although he had the 32 points and 11 rebounds, He also committed eight turnovers.
And a lot of those turnovers, the Warriors were playing defense.
They were a plus twenty-two in the paint.
They took away the bigs in that basketball game.
However, you could just see some of and the lack of cohesion Minnesota had offensively.
Now, don't get me wrong, they have lost four games in a row entering that basketball game.
So they've been in a bit of a rut.
But when Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid and Rudy Gobert and Julius Randle combine to score 18 points in a basketball game.
Yeah... You knew something wasn't right.
And they made up for it on Monday.
Tonight as we're recording this podcast.
But everything that was going on, the Warriors are in a hotel room, looking at these protests from their hotel rooms.
Taking videos of it, and it was happening in weather that would have us all in the house.
It was busy, zero degrees out there.
Yeah.
With white snow all over the place.
And yeah, the NBA made the great call.
It was.
It was the right call to postpone the game, and I thought there would be a chance they'd move Sunday's game, and they won't make this a back-to-back, because from the basketball side of things.
And it's bigger than basketball.
Now, don't get me wrong, It's bigger than basketball.
But when this turned into a back-to-back for the Golden State Warriors, well, then you knew there was gonna be a game that they were gonna play without Middleton and Horford.
And if this game was playing on Saturday, If nothing happened on Saturday, they play this game Saturday.
Monday, you have Horford and Milton available for two games, Plus, you probably have Steph and Draymond available.
But since it was turned into a back-to-back, hey, you get your split.
You get out of Minnesota with a split, you take the first game.
You handle your business in that first game with a big third quarter.
Because Minnesota got back into that basketball game.
They were clinging.
Warriors were clinging to a one-point lead at the half on Sunday.
And Minnesota had no business being in that basketball game.
Right.
Right.
But the Warriors were able to outscore them 38 to 17 in that third quarter.
So, they handled their business on Sunday.
And look, they're doing better with the turnovers.
I thought the shot selection has still gotta be better, and we can talk about that in a second.
But Monday...
It was a mass shooting, Monty.
It was a mass shooting, and Minnesota goes on that 21-4 run before halftime This game: open.
It's really just a lot of 1-on-1 basketball.
It was ugly to watch.
Monday was ugly to watch.
But I understand why maybe our heads wasn't in into the game.
It was just.
There's a lot going on in this country, especially in Minneapolis.
Yeah.
Well, I mean, I, I look at it two.
There's enough.
Two ways to look at this, so as you're right about that.
But on the other hand, the guys who were playing are mostly guys who come off the bench.
Mm-hmm... And guys who are fighting and scrapping for minutes.
And to me, when you see the big boys that are not gonna be on the, on the courts that night, it's like your opportunity to kind of show you might be worthy of more minutes.
Do your thing.
And at no point did I think, "Oh, the Warriors are gonna pull off this upset because, you know, they got this or they got that."
No.
But I was a little bit stunned by how they played.
I expected them to lose, but the way they lost, You know, the Warriors from the first minute of training camp probably stressed.
Knowing Steve Kerr and his staff, stressed for offensive principles.
We are a ball movement team, 0.5 basketball.
Keep the ball moving.
It's quicker, it's easier to move the ball.
Than to move bodies and force the defenses to go to work on you.
And in that first half especially, it was like, "What are these guys doing?"
Dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, and four guys standing around watching.
You know, right?
And, and it's like a lot of one-on-one basketball, which is okay if you are an iso legend.
The Warriors on that, on, on that Monday night game had no iso legends on the floor.
And yet you had guys, you know.
And Pods was kind of guilty of this at least four times.
I saw it, where he, and one thing Steve, I know Steve Kerr hates, is zero-pass possessions.
Oh, yes.
And Pods, at least four times, went with a zero.
Pass possession to get a shot, and I'm like, "This is not Warriors basketball."
You're not gonna win the game, but you've abandoned your principles."
Yeah.
You've discarded the game plan.
Because I'm sure part of the game plan was, Look, make these guys move on defense.
No.
And so I just, again, it, maybe it was lack of focus, but they all know how they're supposed to play.
And Guy Santos mentioned it after the game, saying, you know, The ball movement wasn't good.
You know?
And, and it, it got better in the second half, but they they ended up with 21 turnovers.
Assists.
Yeah...
Which was just two more than the 19 turnovers.
They had 19 turnovers.
They barely had more assists than turnovers.
Yep.
And in that first quarter, I remember watching that first quarter and going, "Wait a minute, they had four assists in the first quarter."
It's like, where are the balls?
How many turnovers?
You remember how many turnovers they had?
Yeah, yeah.
So, was it eight turnovers in the first quarter?
Could have been seven.
Seven or eight, also.
Yeah, I think it was seven, but yeah, it's like they got, They got turn.
They got ball movement going a little bit better in the 2nd Q.
And then, and in the second half.
But I just thought there were too many lapses.
In, in principles.
And, and, it, it was to me, that was like, okay.
And in that late second quarter surge that the Timberwolves had pretty much closed it out.
Yeah.
You know, and so the third quarter they kept going, and then... You know, the game was over by then.
But I just thought, I mean, there was one.
And the other thing, too, the free balls were not dropping.
So, what'd they do?
Well, they did have open looks.
Oh, yeah.
Some great looks that they missed.
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, they had enough open looks to make.
Probably, probably seven or eight pretty good open looks that I saw.
I mean, Buddy Hield didn't have it going tonight from the three.
One of four, two of 10 overall.
Willie Richard, Oh, for six from three.
Gui Santos, one for six from three.
Yeah.
Moses Moody, who's been shooting great over the last 7, entering tonight shooting 56% from 3, He was two of seven.
So no shots were falling.
They had some great looks, too, early in that first half.
And look, what I want to see moving forward is a lot more balance.
Because half of their shots come from the three-point line.
They average nearly 88 field goal attempts per game.
Well, half of those cut from three, 45 from three!
So you gotta get more balance somehow.
Some way.
It was gonna be tough tonight without the big dogs in the lineup, of course, but there was a lot of isolation basketball.
And it really started to rear its ugly head midway through the second quarter.
They were up 34-32 somehow.
Mm-hmm...
Despite not moving the basketball.
Despite the turnovers.
Why?
Because Minnesota was sleepwalking.
Yep.
They were sleepwalking.
Yep.
Julius Randle, look, I'm not, I'm not.
Serious here.
I thought with the way Julius Randle was playing for most of the first half, I thought the FBI was gonna come in and investigate him.
Yeah.
I'm dead serious.
He was lost.
Yeah.
He was lost.
I mean, he had six turnovers.
Yeah.
A lot of just dribble.
Dribble, dribble.
Like, just, it was bad.
Yeah.
And there was a, there was a sequence in this game where, You know, Rudy Gobert did his thing, 15 and 17.
I thought Poole's played as hard as he could tonight.
There was, like, a two-minute sequence in that second quarter where I said, Boy, the NBA's gotta be ticked off that this is on Peacock.
It was some of the Bad.
It was turnover, turnover, turnover.
Moses Moody slipped.
I thought, the way it looked, I was like, "Man, he's lucky he didn't come away with an injury."
You know what I'm talking about?
Yeah.
Roy injury, yeah.
Dude, he looked like he did the splits out there.
Almost.
So it got, it got sloppy.
It got ugly.
I mean, they went up 34-32 after 2 GP2 pts.
And the thing about GP2, he played less than 12 minutes and then fouled out.
Yeah.
So, yeah.
Oh yeah, you wanna say this wasn't Warriors basketball?
Yeah, this was a rough watch, Monty.
I don't know what it was.
It wasn't Warriors basketball.
It wasn't NBA basketball.
But it was something.
I, I, so Minnesota goes on that 21-4 run before halftime, it really blew this game open, but I don't think they played great.
They committed 23 turnovers.
Yeah.
Just a sloppy basketball game overall.
So that's why it's hard for me to take away anything from these two games with the Warriors because of the circumstances in Minneapolis.
Yeah... And nobody played in a Monday night game.
Yeah.
Nobody played.
No, they got a split, and to me, that's acceptable under the conditions, for sure.
You know, you know, Dallas, they could have been better, but...
But they got the split in Minneapolis, and they got Utah coming up.
So if they go two and two on this road trip, and again, they should beat Utah.
I know Steve Kerr said that Melton and Horford definitely should.
Will play, and he and Draymond and, and Steph, he s- he sound like they probably would play.
But, yeah...
But they will be a more whole team when they play the Jazz on Wednesday.
So, but yeah, I just thought the disappointing part watching them.
For this game Monday night was that they abandoned their principles.
And, and Steve saw it, too.
You know, I mean, there was a point in the fourth quarter, in the third quarter there.
When the Warriors did something they rarely do: They got three.
They took three consecutive one-possession, three-point shots because they got two.
Offensive rebounds.
Yeah.
Rebound, throw it out, three.
And all three were bricks.
Yeah.
All three were bricks.
And then Minnesota goes down, does not score.
The Warriors come back down on them, and Moses jacks up a brick.
And then this time the Timberwolves go down, and I think it was Daniels hit a corner 3.
Yep.
And Steve came off the bench, timeout.
He was like, "I can't watch this!"
And, and Monty... Monty, this was.
We had to get through the hour post-game show tonight.
And we made it happen, and the show actually flew by.
We probably talked about the Warriors and the actual basketball game for, like, three minutes.
Yeah.
Then it was around the NBA.
It was stories about Mac McClung.
I mean, this was.
They lost every single quarter tonight.
They lost every single quarter.
Yeah.
And look, there's a couple silver linings, I guess, for the people who want positivity, 'cause some people in the comments say, Ponch, hey, you don't say anything positive about the team," which is not true.
But, hey, they won a points in the paint battle, Monty, for the second straight night.
How about that?
They won the points in the paint battle.
The other, Sunday, they were at +22.
Tonight, they're at +2.
All five starters scored in double figures.
Hey, let's pop the champagne!
No, serious.
And four of them shot under 40%.
Under 40%.
Dude, this was.
They shot 34.5%.
It was the lowest point total they've had this season in a basketball game.
And we were doing it.
We showed a graphic on the pregame show, Monty.
The Big Six is what we call it, and we're not talking Domino's.
Jimmy's out for the year.
Kuminga's day-to-day.
Steph, Dray, Horford, Melton, they don't play.
That's over 60 points per game.
That's over 60 points.
That was in street clothes.
$170 million worth of salaries not playing tonight for the Golden State Warriors.
There's probably basketball teams out there that don't have that same payroll.
That don't have a $170 million payroll, right?
I mean, It, it was a lot to ask from these guys, and I get it.
I understand what you're saying with the principles, but-- Yeah.
I expect...
I wasn't expecting much, to be honest.
I wasn't expecting much, to be honest, cause that's the way it goes.
When you have a lot of guys who haven't played together like this in this capacity, in this role, you're gonna see a lot of clunkiness.
Yeah.
They've played together a lot in the sense that the vets don't practice every practice.
Yeah.
Those guys who played in this game Monday night, most of those guys are out there every practice, and so they, There is some playing together.
But I think, Yeah, I think we can move on from these two games and get into some more stuff.
Because you look at the Warriors where they are now, and now as we, As we speak now, we've got 10 days before the trade deadline.
And what do you do?
You know, you, you lose Jimmy, which kind of crashes your party.
Yeah.
Then you lose Kuminga for an indefinite period of time.
You don't know whether it's gonna be two day- Two a week?
Two weeks?
You don't know.
And, yeah, can you trade a guy while he's injured?
Yes, you can.
I mean, the Warriors traded Melton last year when he had surgery.
You know, so yes, you can.
But this certainly ruffles the feathers a little bit of, of a- well, I just said, creates more turbulence toward getting it done.
And I, I don't envy the job that Mike Dunleavy and Joe Lacob have.
Because I know they don't, they don't like what they see.
And they know they don't have enough to compete at the higher levels of the league.
They know that.
So, what do you do?
Yeah.
What do you do?
Well, I, I think it's what Mike said, and it stuck with me.
Is that he said if there's a trade where he can get an impact player that can make an impact now and be with them when Steph is done, that he was okay to move the draft pick, move some draft cap- capital.
I totally believe that should happen if there is such a deal.
Now, will there be such a deal?
That's the hard part.
Yeah.
And, and, it- but if I'm them, I'm trying, I'm looking for it.
I'm looking for it, trying to figure out a way to get it done.
Now the question becomes, and some- and, you know, now you get Giannis, who of course has been the fantasy guy all along.
He's out for a month.
So, would you still make that move for him?
Would I?
Yeah.
Knowing that he's not coming back for a month, You have all the picks.
We, we discussed this last week.
I-I-I- Five of your next first-round picks.
Five of your next six are unprotected.
Would you still send the picks for Giannis, knowing that he's under contract for next year?
Yes.
If he wanted, if he was, if he wanted to do a, an extension, yes, but you gotta trade a lot of salary to do that.
Yes, you do.
And, and, and Dunleavy has basically said that, Hey, he has no plans to trade Jimmy, who has a big salary.
Right.
Now, keep in mind, plans can change.
He, he had no plans to trade Jordan Poole.
Yeah.
And two days later, Jordan Poole was out of there.
Yeah.
You know, and, and a week before we- they traded Wiggins, right?
They weren't gonna trade Wiggins.
Right.
We love Andrew Wiggins.
Yeah.
So things can change.
Yep.
But, but the reason why I would do it is Because Giannis, yeah, he might miss a month, but I'm not doing it just for this year.
Doing it for next.
I'm doing it for, because now you got a 31-year-old guy who should have at least five more good years.
And I know Steph is gonna be 38 in a couple of months.
In March.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So, I mean, I, I think Steph can play till he's 40, but I don't know if he can play till he's 43.
And then, can he play at this level?
Yeah.
He's playing at a very high level.
Yes, yes.
There's a lot of miles on those legs.
Yes.
But he is playing at a very high level.
Well, so he's gonna make $62 million next year, or 62.5.
Looking at the contracts right here on the on my iPad.
And he's overpaid.
To your point, do you, I guess The Kuminga thing throws a monkey wrench in everything.
He's day-to-day with the bone bruise.
But if Giannis doesn't get moved, And it does feel like the Brooklyn Nets, they have a, they're gonna be big players selling, 'cause they don't really wanna buy.
They want picks, and they wanna lose games, so they're willing to trade Mikal Bridges, Porter Jr.
But again, Brooklyn's not interested in Jonathan Kuminga.
I know that for a fact.
So far, yep.
They're not interested so far.
Things could change.
We get that.
They could change.
But would it behoove the Warriors just to stand pat?
I know the blowback from the fan base would be loud.
It may be a PR disaster, but waiting until the summer, where more players could be available, and then all of a sudden, the Jimmy expiry contract looks a lot more attractive.
Draymond Green has a player option.
What happens there?
You know, Steph has one more year.
Would it behoove the Warriors to stand pat?
The deadline as of now, or should they be aggressive, knowing how well Stephen Curry is playing?
So, I'm kind of, well, I'm kind of with Dalton.
What he said last week, and I think maybe you subscribed to this as well.
Monty.
You're not drafting another Stephen Curry.
Stephen Curry is one of one.
Chicago Bulls are still looking for the next Michael Jordan.
Right?
They're, they're still looking.
The Lakers, they, they want stars, so they trade for stars.
I don't know if that's gonna happen with the Golden State Warriors.
So, do you go all in for Steph now?
I guess is the question for Mike and Joe.
Or do you wait till the summer and try to reassess the situation?
Well, I go all in if there is a player I think can be a foundational player.
For a number of years beyond this one, like Giannis.
Now, if, you know, if there were a way to do that.
And again, it's, you know, we know it's a very, very slim chance, but if there is a door that opens for that trade, I would have to entertain it, you know.
And, and, and if, if, again, you'd have to trade a big salary or two.
Yeah.
In other words, if Mike is saying he ain't gonna trade Jimmy.
Again, that can change, then he'd have to trade Draymond and JK.
Okay?
And Draymond and JK are both those, Those are both fours.
Yeah.
So is Giannis.
You know, so salary-wise, that gets him close to Giannis with those two salaries.
Those two guys are making 50, a little over 50 million.
So that gets you in the, in the ballpark to do it.
Now, again, trading Draymond is something that they probably have thought about before.
And every time they've thought about it, they've said, No.
I mean, I feel like I know they thought about it before.
But they've said, "No, no, no."
And I don't know.
Real quick, Steph...
I heard, I heard Draymond wasn't even discussed in the offers so far this season.
This season.
That hasn't even been on the table.
No.
That Draymond's name has been omitted from any offer... Yeah, well, unless it's Giannis, of course.
To paraphrase Mike Dunleavy about JK, I don't know how much of a market there is for Dre right now.
Yeah.
You know, but I know that there have been times in the past, a couple of times in the past, when they thought, You know, the pros and the cons were starting to even out.
It used to be the pros were here, the cons were here, and then they started evening out.
And, and they, they had to think about it, and each time they thought about it, they said, "No, we're not gonna do it.
We're not gonna do it."
Now, If they don't do it this time, okay, but if they stand pat, I think we all know that this team is a play-in team.
Right.
And this season will be over probably in April.
Yep.
You know, and JK, they have a team option on JK.
Mm-hmm.
Figure out what to do with him.
But I would like to think that if they do stand pat, they better have something going in.
Summer.
No doubt.
They better have something in their back pocket saying, "Okay, We're standing pat now, but watch.
Give us a couple of months and watch what happens."
Yeah, well, if they do stand pat, then there's gonna be a close couple questions.
That loom over the next couple of months of the season.
Obviously, the J.K. elephant in the room, what do you do with him?
But also the head coach.
Yeah.
Now, all of a sudden, the discussion kind of pivots to Steve Kerr, and now all of a sudden, we're talking about it on this podcast, Monty, whether or not Steve Kerr is coaching for the final two months of his Warriors tenure.
You know, What happens?
Does he?
What, what goes into play?
Yeah.
What would Steve Kerr want right now?
Again, they have these attractive picks, and you only get one Stephen Curry.
You only get one Stephen Curry, and I get that they've been reluctant to do things.
But I think they've made moves.
They made the Jimmy move.
That was a blockbuster trade.
Well, yeah, I, I'm with you.
I do not envy Joe Lacob and Mike Dunleavy and the Warriors front office.
They, they are stuck in mud right now because the Kuminga domino.
Other teams aren't budging right now.
They don't have to.
Yeah.
The Warriors' house is on fire.
Not theirs.
They don't have to give in to the Warriors.
So no matter, and then obviously, if that does happen, if the Warriors do stay pat, another question will be, Well, can Jonathan Kuminga help out in any way, shape, or form on this current team?
Now, he'll play if he is stuck here, but then all of a sudden, You've got a disgruntled 23-year-old who doesn't want to be here.
So, there's a lot to juggle here over the next nine, ten days.
Monty.
But if you're, if you're an athlete, a prideful athlete who puts in work, and JK is prideful, and he works.
I think there's a way he looks at this and goes, "You know what?
Okay, I'm gonna play.
Yeah... And I'm gonna play my tale.
Play my tail off and watch how many teams want me."
It's true.
You know, because I don't think he would.
You know, you can say the Warriors, with they, the way they have dealt with him, has probably depressed his value a little bit.
Yep.
But I don't think Jonathan Kuminga will say, I want to just depress my value on my own.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
I think if he gets the opportunity to play, he will want to play in a way that makes him really attractive.
Now, you hope he doesn't go overboard, you know, and try to do too much.
Mm-hmm.
But I think he's been around long enough to know better than to do that.
Yep.
But if he goes out and he balls for the last two months of this season, he looks a lot more attractive to teams.
Yep.
The teams who may be on the fence now, We're not sure.
Maybe we like him, but we don't love him.
Uh... maybe somebody.
All you need is one team to flip.
Mm-hmm.
And that one team says, "You know what?
Yeah, we think.
We, we just watched him scorch cook for.
For six weeks.
We think we can do something with this dude on our roster."
Yeah.
And, and that's all you need is one.
So, I, I think JK, you know, That's part of wanting to get out.
Yeah.
Play, play your tail off.
No doubt.
Go cook.
Go cook, and then your value goes up.
And JK, I know he wants big money.
So, yeah, I mean, the better you play, generally, the more in demand you are.
The more in demand you are, the more salary you can command.
I want big money, too, Monty.
I want big money.
Can you play?
I can't play.
Yeah.
I can talk.
Can I get big money for talking, man?
Uh, not.
Not those kind of millions.
The Warriors to take on Utah.
We'll podcast after the Utah game.
And we'll see who plays.
Larry Bird-Larry Markkanen's missed seven consecutive games for the Utah Jazz.
Keyonte George will not play against the Clippers tomorrow night.
They're gonna be, or Tuesday night, I should say.
They're gonna be on the back end of a back-to-back when they play the Golden State Warriors, and the first couple of times we've seen them, they've gotten blown out the gym.
Utah does not want to win.
Correct.
They're looking to sell.
They're looking to sell a little bit, but, you know, when you sell, when you do business Danny Ainge... You're dealing with the devil.
All right?
Let's be real.
You got- This guy- You got screwed... For you religious people out there who listen to the podcast.
I apologize.
Yeah.
But he is a hoarder, and he will try to strip you of all your picks and make you overpay for any asset.
You, it's tough doing business with Danny Ainge.
So the Lauri Markkanen, he is... Ship that sailed a couple of summers ago, I don't think the Warriors are boarding that boat.
Again.
To go back to shore.
They're not sailing towards the Utah Jazz again, looking for that deal.
Yeah, I mean, Danny Ainge seems to be on this eternal rebuilding thing right now.
Yep.
I mean, how many years have they been rebuilding?
You know?
For a while.
Since they got rid of Mitchell?
Since they've got- Yeah.
For a while.
Yeah.
Mitchell left.
Mitchell, yeah.
Yeah.
Mitchell got out of there, and they've been rebuilding ever since.
And they're still rebuilding.
Yep.
So, but you're right, dealing with Danny is, you gotta watch your back.
Your side, your front.
You gotta watch all parts.
Man, because... That dude comes after you.
He will come after you, you know?
But again, he wants picks.
The Warriors have tradable picks.
They do.
So again, is Markkanen enough?
He's no Giannis.
I don't think it's enough, Monty.
Yeah, I, it- it's enough.
Not for, not for, not for two or three p- not for multiple picks and a player.
Yeah, I don't think it's enough.
I'd give up, I'll give up one.
I'd give up a first-round pick.
I might give up two.
But not- Right...
Probably not.
Probably not, because those picks could be more valuable for another deal later.
Absolutely.
Yeah, I'm, Markkanen is not enough.
Yeah.
Now, if you got another player there with Markkanen, we'll see, but also- They give up Kante.
Yeah.
No, they.
Yeah, I would love Kian.
George.
They'll give him.
Yeah.
You know, that's like, that's one of my favorite players.
You know that, Monty.
Yeah.
He is- They ain't giving him up.
That youngster, Yeah.
Hell, heck no, you're not giving him up or Hayes Bailey, who's now in the starting lineup for the Utah Jazz.
Or has been starting?
Any other players?
What are you hearing?
Before we end this podcast?
'Cause we've heard the Michael Porter Jr.'s, We've heard the Trey Murphys.
I don't think.
We've heard the Anthony Davises.
Anthony Davis's.
I don't think those players individually, Michael Porter Jr., Trey Murphy, is enough to catapult the Warriors into championship contention.
They are three games behind the sixth seed, No doubt about that.
Absolutely, they can make up that ground.
But any other names you're hearing about other than the obvious names that we heard?
Michael Porter Jr., Trey Murphy, Anthony Davis, Giannis?
I've heard nothing else in terms of star power.
Maybe a little Andrew Wiggins.
But I don't know if the Warriors really wanna revisit that situation.
I've heard that one.
Exactly.
But you know what?
Every now and then, somebody has to bring up the n- the name that the Warriors chased once before.
LeBron.
Oh, boy.
I'm just saying.
I'm not saying they should do it or anything.
I'm just saying- No, I... Every now and then.
Somebody say, "You know, you know, LeBron ain't You know," he ain't totally pleased with the Lakers, and the Warriors.
You know, there have been times when the Warriors were kind of like, What a- what about LeBron, you know, with Steph?"
And so, I don't think that's totally dead.
I, I think I'd be surprised if it ever happens.
But I know there's been enough, enough, uh- Yeah...
Enough feeling out, enough kicking of tires in the past to where you can't totally dismiss it.
Yeah.
But I think if you're the Warriors, yeah, You're probably thinking, "You know what?
Our picks."
especially post-Steph picks, could be pretty valuable."
Could be.
LeBron James and Stephen Curry.
Imagine LeBron James in a Golden State uniform.
I'm gonna hear in the comments... Thumbs up or thumbs down for LeBron James?
I'm just saying, that would be intriguing.
We know- No... We know- You're not wrong.
You know, the Warriors.
You're not wrong.
Have expressed interest in him before.
Yeah, with Klay Thompson's final season.
So he was gonna be able to play for LeBron.
And you knew it was real.
Yeah... Because that deal, that proposed deal got out to ESPN, and we know how LeBron James can pull some strings.
With that network...
In terms of getting intel out.
There was no secret.
Yeah... That LeBron James, that the Warriors had called about LeBron, and there was some mutual interest there.
So why not?
Why not?
What the hell, what the heck?
We got nine days till the deadline.
Next Thursday, 3:00 PM.
Next Thursday, 3:00 PM, the NBA trade deadline.
What will the Warriors do?
Where will they be at by that point?
They have the Utah Jazz, we'll record another pod after that game, and then all of a sudden, They play the Pistons on Friday, the best team in the Eastern Conference.
They are rolling right now.
Then they get three days off before Monster week, when they take on the Philadelphia 76ers, that chase.
And go on the road to take on the Phoenix Suns and the LA Lakers.
Yeah, I think right now the Warriors wanna do two things.
They wanna make sure that Steph and Draymond are healthy.
And they wanna make a trade, but they're not gonna hastily make a trade.
I don't think.
And you're right, I think there's a chance they They passed the deadline without moving, JK.
And if they don't, if that happens, then they better have something in July.
Two, two minutes or less, Monty, real quick.
'Cause something just popped up in my brain, and I wanted to ask you this.
I've been meaning to ask you this.
There was a report over the weekend that Steph had proposed some idea, trade ideas, and there was pushback on that.
First time I've heard about that, 'cause Steph is not the most boisterous guy out there.
He kind of lets the front office do what they do.
He has a- He- He has a voice, though.
He has a voice.
No doubt, he has a voice.
He's a franchise.
Not to say that his voice is not loud, but you don't hear about it.
Was there any validity to that report that Steph and I?
'Cause here's the thing.
I, I, I bet you it's true, but now I'm curious to know what type of deals are that still Steph pushed for.
That's what I wonder.
Yeah.
Now, yeah.
Well, I, I do know that Steph has, in the past, proposed some, some ideas.
And I don't know that he has done that in the last few weeks.
Before or after Jimmy went down.
I don't know that he's done that, but I do know that there have been times in the past when he did go to them with ideas.
Again, he knows he can't make the trade, but he will let them know what he's thinking.
And, you know, if they're smart, they will entertain him and at least consider what he's saying, because Steph ain't gonna come out with something.
He's not gonna come at you something that's janky, you know?
Yeah.
He wants to win as bad as anybody.
So anything he comes at you with is something that he thinks can help him win.
He wants that fifth ring badly...
Badly, 'cause the more rings you get, the more exclusive the club.
Absolutely.
You know, And so that fifth ring is, is special, man.
Jordan has six, you know, but Magic has five.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Duncan has five.
Kobe has five.
Yeah.
No doubt.
So, he wants to be at that table.
So yeah, I mean, now as far as names, I haven't heard any names.
I didn't hear any names before when he.
This was, I want to say, a couple years.
Ago.
You know what?
I know for a fact that he, when in 2022, the summer of 22, before the, the season they, before they won the championship.
I know that he pushed for something.
And the Warriors kind of went, Okay, you know what?
We're gonna patch this thing together.
We're gonna bring in Otto Porter Jr. We're gonna bring in Belly.
You know, we're gonna, we, we, we're gonna be okay.
We're gonna be okay," and it worked.
And I think Steph was skeptical...
But it worked.
So when they got that championship with that squad, he was like, Okay.
18 and 2 start, yeah, no doubt.
Yeah.
Jordan Poole looked a lot better.
Klay is coming back.
Yeah, no doubt.
Yeah, he was like, "Okay, the front office, you know, they didn't really follow what I probably want them to do, but what they did worked."
Yeah.
And I think with him, the bottom line, if it works, he's cool with it.
Yeah.
But I still think that trading Draymond is something that Steph would probably push back on, unless it's really an offer.
You can't refuse.
Yeah.
Yep.
Nah, interesting.
Interesting.
Let's end it on that note, Monty.
It's gonna be very intriguing to see what Don Levy and Joe Lake can do in the next nine.
10 days.
Yeah.
And they, whether they stand pat, whether they do something, it will create a lot of buzz in Dub Nation.
Either way, ... That, either way, February 5th.
Either way.
Either way.
All right, for Monte Poole, our Warriors insider here at NBC Sports Bay Area.
I am Monte Hill, as always.
The Dub Talk podcast, brought to you by Mancini's Sleepworld, kicking off the year with their President's Day sale, where you can save up to $1,200.
That's right, mattresses starting at incredible prices.
Beautyrest queen mattresses, Starting at just $299.
Get 0% financing for up to 60 months.
That equals five years, including on Tempur-Pedic, with payments starting as low as $29 a month.
Every purchase backed by a Mancini's Rest Easy Promise, which includes 365-night comfort guarantee.
Try your mattress for a full year.
If it's not the right fit, they'll fight to make it right.
Go ahead and shop sleepworld.com today.
Sleepworld.com.
For Monte Poole, I am Monte Hill.
Enjoy the podcast, folks.
We'll see you after the Warriors take on the Utah Jazz to close out this road trip.
