Warriors Pre-Draft Presser with Mike Dunleavy | June 24, 2024

Warriors Pre-Draft Presser with Mike Dunleavy | June 24, 2024

um all right first I guess I want to start with uh you know the last few weeks I think the Sports World between Willie May a local hero um Bill Walton and Jerry West we’ve lost those guys and um specifically with Jerry um you know member of this franchise one of the iconic players in the NBA um Johnny his son works with us so I think it’s a tough loss for the NBA family for our organization um for their family I’ve known the West since I was 9 years old and so um it was just tough to hear that news our condolences go out to um the family and um you know Jerry will certainly be missed he was a giant in this world in this Sports World and uh condolences there and uh just thinking of those guys um Jerry Bill and Willie um so anyway on to um you know more more um basketball related stuff uh with draft this week coming up we’re excited about it this time of year is fun um you got free agency you got trades you got draft all the ways to to improve your team uh Beyond uh what I think is the most important which is internally with Player Development and that stuff so uh we’re looking at things um I think um it’s a little bit different this year not having a first round pick we’ve got 52 in the second round which uh I think hopefully we’ll be able to find a quality player a quality addition to the franchise but um you know I think in in that regard all things will be on the table we’ll explore options and just like we do every year kind of make the right decision and uh en roll with it so I’ll open up to questions I’m sure there’s um quite a few things to cover but let’s let’s get through it considering I guess you know your guys situation what free agency has become in the league no first round trffic as you said like is trade your best Avenue to really change this you know again I’m of the belief internal development is I’m always I’m a big Player Development guy I think our younger players have a a really big chance to grow and get better pods Trace Moses and then even our our guys we’ve had here for a while can get better I think that’s got to be the main thing and then from there you you look to see what else is out there and can you make a move or a couple moves or do some stuff that enhances your team but um if that’s what’s like the one thing we’re hinging everything on like I just it’s so hard to make a trade now in the NBA I think we got a lot of teams that are really smart they know what they’re doing uh to make a good quality trade that benefits both sides which is every what everybody’s looking for is tough and so we we’ll explore that stuff a lot of conversations going on but I don’t want to like get ahead of it and just say like there’s just going to be some big move that we’re going to do and and all that could be if it was there great but it’s not like uh something that must happen are you close decision on Chris Paul’s contract or maybe even have you is it close maybe even pushing that delay yeah I mean it’s close in the sense of it’s I guess a Le less than a week away now so it’s coming up um you know you know we’re looking through everything um I think all options are still on the table in terms of um keeping Chris obviously there’s a scenario where he’s get it gets waved um but you know those conversations kind of talking it through with him and his camp we we’ll keep that kind of to ourselves but um I’d say you know everything’s open Mike when you mentioned that trades are hard to make you look at the two teams that were in the finals Boston made hug trades last summer bring May stra at the deadline bring in guys so what’s going to be the key to actually making a big trade between now and and well it’s having a willing partner um and so I think to to do that you got to find the right team you got to find the right player that works for you um and just having players that are available right like I can call on everybody but if the player is not available if there’s not a price then there’s no trade that can be made so um I think we have to be realistic and uh I don’t want to like press and over overdo something um some patience needs to to take place while at the same time recognizing sort of this time Horizon that we have with um Steph and Draymond and you know hopefully clay um as as those guys kind of get a little bit older uh we have to be mindful at a point maybe they’re not at a level to compete for a championship I don’t think that’s like too near but at some point it probably will be M this for the first time last year the draft um you know I think Beyond certainly learning about our team um I think in general I think I mentioned it just before it’s just hard to do deals you know I mean I can’t stress that enough like there’s a lot of good teams out there that know what they’re doing whereas in the past it just seemed like you could you could pull one fast one on somebody and there’s different reasons for doing a trade now it’s it’s hard like there’s salary related trades but how often do you see a trade that’s like straight basketball for basketball and so because of that it’s just not easy but at the same time we know here um some some some good teams have been built based on like you know getting an Andrew Wiggins in a trade something like that so um got to keep pursuing those things but recognizing you um they’re not always easy mention clay can you just describe where the state of those talks is there an offer on the table for clay right now yeah I mean all that stuff I think honestly Tim is just is private um you know we want him back I think we said that all along hopefully he’ll come back but as far as like the specifics of discussions and those types of things I think it’s important to keep kind of In-House and when that stuff’s when we figure out a solution to all that we’ll have news for you it’s the first summer the new CV rules just how is how have those you know the aprons and the luxury tax all that been for you guys just navigating yeah it’s funny I mean um I think most of you guys know we we uh Anie Salah moved on our our cap guy we hired a new guy John Phelps so he’s hit the ground running and I think for us understanding the new rules and and different things around the cap is some I’m constantly I had a good feel for it before some things have changed and then so I I hit John a lot on hey under the new stuff you know and it’s a little tricky as the league year turns here we are in in June and July it changes so like keeping all that in mind as far as a trade Now versus trade after it’s it’s a little tricky but it’s not going to be like a problem anything jump out as you watch the postseason yeah um let’s see we’re talking uh like the hockey game tonight or uh that’ll be exciting um I think just in terms of the postseason like how how competitive it is in terms of parody you know and I think you see the last five seasons you got five different Champions um I think that’s that’s exciting for the league in the sense of you know if everybody’s got a chance in a way um whether it’s a playin team making the finals or a team that’s like Dallas you know fifth seed making the finals like everybody’s got a chance if you come together at the right time and I don’t think there’s any like overwhelming teams out there so I think it gives us a chance who didn’t a team that didn’t make the playoffs like last year and ourselves you know how far away are we really uh and most times you’d say man we’re quite a bit of ways but um the way things are shaped now and there’s a push for parody like we can I think we can turn things around pretty quickly Joe uh Joe lob has said you know publicly that plan a is to dip under the luxury tax in your conversations with him recently is that still the the sense that you get from him I think it’s about like being smart about it um and so from that sense it’s it’s more like if there’s a if there’s a point to go over the tax if there’s a point to go one of the aprons like we will do it because the most important thing to him is winning um he’s shown that you just have to be careful under the new rules because they’re so punitive and so balancing what’s what’s right for our team what’s right for the rules to allow us to go forward and make the right decisions is is the big test but like Joe Joe may have an idea in mind about what he wants to spend but when when presented an opportunity to spend a lot of money and have a great team I I know what his answer is going to be just get back to Clay um at some point do you have to strip away emotion from this do you have to strip sentimentality whatever else does it have to get cold a little bit on your side maybe on both sides but I’m speaking to you so on your side yeah I mean I think look I think I’m reasonable I’m rational that’s how I’m always going to operate um but to say like a guy like Klay Thompson who’s meant so much to this franchise to completely strip the emotion away from it um I think that’s almost impossible uh but you know this is a business and we we’ll talk through things we continue to talk through things and uh you know like I said we’re hopeful but you know we’ll see we go to we got to figure things out Steve’s mentioned maybe you know the role changed the season for clay do you have to you know does the salary he signs for if it’s with the Warriors have to reflect a bench player does that change the way you look at this negotiation you know I think it’s just kind of like what what the right thing is is that works for the franchise and the player and the role he’s in factoring all those things in is is what’s most important and um that’s kind of what we’re you know what’s taking place what we’re looking at um that’s as simple as it is um you know there’s probably going to be varying degrees of what that value is but like that’s on us and that’s on me to figure out what’s the right amount for our team Mike whether it’s you guys with Draymond or Denver with joic or Milwaukee with Middleton second round picks have been crucial parts of championship teams lately what you able to sort of take from that as you dive into the second round yeah I mean hopefully if we can get a player like Trace last year at 52 I think we’d be really pleased it’s hard though the second round’s tough I mean you look at the numbers the odds of a guy making it a guy becom a rotation player a guy becoming a really good player you mentioned players that you know almost I say one in a million but low odds of getting a quality of that player um but because of that to have that chance our Scouts are pounding the pavement trying to figure out who who may be at 52 could be that player and which makes it fun it makes it fun for everybody um you know a little bit different the NFL where there’s like multiple rounds only have two rounds this year you know it’s it’s over the course of two days um which I think will bring a little bit more excitement it’ll be interesting the the interaction and the Dynamics between Wednesday and Thursday that’ll be a new thing for all of us to kind of navigate but um yeah I mean I think it’s it’s good we’d like to have a pick in the first round as always but if I’m being honest if there’s ever a year not to have one I think this might be it how quickly uh do you think you’ll move to replace Kenny uh and then how do you kind of just view where the coaching staff in general yeah I mean um I think technically not really allowed to comment on that one but I would say um if if we were to lose um our lead assistant coach uh we certainly need to fill that void and we’ll we’re we’re on it um we we’ll be on it and uh I think as far as like the roster goes coaching staff front office everything we’re always evaluating how do we get better and uh that’s kind of the lens we’ll look at it through how difficult is um the fact you know I mean we talked earlier about the the Chris Paul guarantee date um because it where it is where it is prior to free agency how difficult does that make kind of putting together this offseason yeah good question um I think I think it’s fine I think it’s fine um we know what it is we planned for it um and I think it’s more Difficult about balancing the the salary versus the quality of player and taking that into account which makes it tough I mean I’m okay with the date um you know I guess we we’ll see if that changes but for now I’m good with it understand the rules and uh we’ll abide by it just talking about the uh second round of the draft what are your thoughts just on it being two days now and what that extra day might do for a team that only has the number 52 World pick right now yeah I’m intrigued by it I’m not quite sure how it’s going to unfold but I would imagine it’s going to be a lot less hectic you know normally this dra the draft with the first round and then kind of sprinting into the second and you just rip through it and you honestly there’s times where we don’t know whose pick it is who’s picking you got two minutes in between this new scenar this new situation I think it’s four minutes on the clock in the second round it’s a whole another day so I think there’ll be a lot of discussions and things going on you know the morning of Thursday morning of the second round I just think it’s going to be different in that regard and then you know we’ll try and get ahead of it but we’ll see we’ll react afterwards and see okay what how did that change and what we got to be better at in the future but um I think it’s going to be a lot less hectic Mike is there a part of you or maybe all of you that would wouldn’t mind seeing the NBA sort of adapt the NFL model where free agency comes and then the draft comes after yeah I know that’s been banned about and talked some talked through some over the years um I do think because of the NBA I would say on the in general you probably draft less for need and and more for like best long-term Fit versus the NFL not that you don’t do that it just seems to me that it’s more you’re drafting positionally fit now those types of things it’s so it’s a different Dynamic so I don’t mind it being before it’s kind of what we’re used to if they changed it we’d adjust but I do think the NFL NBA strategy in terms of drafting is different and so not as big of a deal for us I know things can always change depending on how it goes but with you talking about the future and you know the future after whenever it is with Steph and clay and and Draymond or Steph and Draymond for sure safe to say that it’ll be very very tough for you to consider trading Jonathan kaminga Moses Moody Brandon psky Trace you know that those guys are going to be very difficult for to probably loose from the Warriors for sure I mean we really value those guys we’ve drafted them we’ve grown them um they’ve played really well uh we’re excited about them so like a scenario to move them would would take a lot um it’s important for us to you know be good now and then be good be good also in the future but like the main thing is we think those guys can contribute and help our group now um if that was not the case then we’d be more open to stuff but it is and so we’re we’re excited for those guys growth this year and um I I expect them to be with us Mike you’ve obviously been in negotiations with Clay back to him is do you have a sense of what he wants out of this negotiation is it a role shift is it a a respect what what have you g glean that would want out of this to come back to the Warriors yeah I think on that one it’s just I think that’s kind of like private that those conversations that take place between um myself and his Orient his representation or um clay and whoever it is on our group like teammates all that I think that’s just like one that I prefer to keep private how do you getting calls on your young players kaminga specifically I mean are these attractive players around the league yeah I think think like you know everybody’s making calls right now um whether it’s on you know future draft picks current players everybody’s trying to get better and so everybody’s exploring asking and um you know it’s good that the phones are ringing and there’s interest in our guys I think that’s a you know a good sign um for for kind of the level and quality that they’re at um doesn’t mean we’re we’re too engaged with it though uh in regards to Clay and emotions and everything um from your position how do you approach or re back to when a player negotiates through the Press maybe or maybe through social media um probably just like everybody else you read it and um you know take it in just like any other uh you know piece of data or social media or anything like that um you know I I don’t I don’t get any sense there’s negotiating going on publicly but um you know that’s that’s kind of my perspective a year ago granted all things changed you did say that you weren’t going to you know Paul was going to be on the team uh about 4 days before you traded him Is this different than that I don’t again I it to to be clear I I said I expected Jordan to be back on the team next year and I did at that point um but this thing changes so quickly um especially when there’s a deadline in place whether it’s a trade deadline a draft free agency things change like that so I reserve the right to um go back on or not I wouldn’t say go back because I I I I I said I didn’t expect him to be back and I I would stick by that and I I said I I’m sorry I said I expect him to be back like I do all the guys we have under contract I really do like there’s nothing going on right now where I’m like man this this may not happen or whatever so um things can always change draft goes on picks become available something changes but on the whole I feel pretty comfortable with the group that that we got another playoff question um watching these playoffs seem to be and and watching Boston in particular and me some of other teams the the the three-point shot I mean is taking a leap every year it seems like and obviously Boston is like three-point happy I mean that’s what they do how much influenced how are you guys influenced if at all by what you see in a postseason and by what those successful teams do and what got them made them successful yeah you know I think we’re all watching we’re observing we’re seeing Trends we’re seeing what’s going on I mean last year it was you know oh man the game has changed you know big guys are in vog joic won the championship to have a dynamic guy like that and this year I think there’s a lot of talk about the three-point shooting and uh really good guard play defensively from those Boston guards so you get all these new kind of um you know trends that are that are going in a certain direction and it’s good but I think you have to also be mindful of it there’s a lot of ways to skin a cat and I think there’s a lot of ways to build a team and so you got to kind of go with with what you have and what makes sense building around your group and that’s kind of what we’ll look to do there’s I don’t think there’s one singular way to do it but there’s some good Concepts and ideas about it and at the core of it generally like good defense competitiveness you know high IQ toughness those types of things are always really really important and then like the skill stuff and the position and the archetype things can vary but I think there’s a core base of things you need to win and we’ll continue to pursue those I’m sure uh it’ll depend on who’s available at 52 but um are you going in the draft kind of assuming you’re going to roster the guy that you pick pretty wi open honestly um you know I think between rostering you can two-way could trade um you know could two-way with the option to roster so uh I’m aware you know once you get into later in the second round that generally ends up being a a two-way deal but there’s also benefits of rostering a second round pick so honestly on that one it’s pretty pretty wide open I think we talked to Steve a lot about Moody’s role what his future is since the season ended I don’t know that we’ve asked you what did you see from Moody this last season obviously the playing time came and went what what do you foresee his role will be this coming season yeah I mean I saw with Moses growth um in a lot of areas of the game um I think the biggest thing about him is you see just an unbelievable effort when he gets put in the game and for him I think it was tough his minutes kind of wavered up and down which for any young players is challenging but I know anytime he went in the game um he brought an A+ effort which is huge it’s something you could I know Steve could really rely on and appreciated I think for us the next step for Moses is more consistent minutes um finding those those minutes for him uh we believe he can be a pretty quality Wing his ability to shoot the ball like I said he plays hard he defends I think his activity has gotten better his awareness as all young players do so um I think there’s a bright future I think there’s been a smaller sample size than we want but that sample size has been good in terms of what he’s been able to do so we’re hoping for more last year you were kind of thrusted into this role I think I believe in May after uh Bob had announced his departure how are you approaching this off season as opposed to last one when it was kind of on the Fly and what what are the similarities and differences between the two yeah I mean I think last year um a lot of was up in the air with Bob so was kind of preparing for him not to be there and you know because of that it wasn’t it wasn’t that big of a transition going into the draft free agency it some stuff I had done before so we were we were pretty used to it this year another year in under your belt I mean just a little bit more experience um a little bit more um lead up to it but honestly not not that different um got a job to do um multiple ways to do it between draft trade free agency this is the best time of the year and that’s how we’ll approach it can you confirm Looney’s guarantee and and just what went into the thinking their guy was kind of out of the rotation obviously means so much to this team in this locker room but what what was the thinking on guaranteeing that 8 million yeah we I mean we had yeah we had an option to wave him I think today was a date and I just think we value him so much um as a as a player as a teammate um as a as a core piece of this organization so um to move on without him um without anything in return or to move on without him and just just not be able to fill that void um just didn’t make a ton of sense for us so you know we were good with picking up his contract we’re excited about it and uh but you know we’ll see you know as as the clock turns into July in free agency you know all things are always on the table and available but for now um we feel good about having him back and he’s a he’s a he’s a great component of this organization

Golden State Warriors General Manager Mike Dunleavy met with the media before the 2024 Draft Night.