Joe Lacob and Mike Dunleavy didn’t have a first-round pick this week, but that wasn’t going to induce any dozing in the executive offices through all previous selections until the Warriors’ time finally came in Thursday’s second round.
Of course, the Warriors had a player spotlighted somewhere in the mid-teens they figured would fit perfectly with Stephen Curry & Co. right away; of course, they tried to jump into the first round to get him; and of course, I could mainly detect this just by watching Lacob’s courtside seat during Wednesday’s Valkyries game at Chase Center, which he didn’t get to until after halftime — and the end of the draft’s first round.
“There was a player that we liked in the middle of the first round that we made some offers to try and move up to get,” Dunleavy told me on my podcast Thursday night after drafting two players in the second round. “I think the thought was a guy that probably could’ve helped us this year coming up, and that’s pretty rare coming in the draft.
“It wasn’t a wide range of players; it was one guy. We tried to get in for it, didn’t work out.”
The Warriors ended up trading their 41st pick on Thursday to Phoenix for picks No. 52 and No. 59, then traded up from No. 59 to get No. 56, and drafted forward Alex Toohey and guard Will Richard — the exact two-fer that Dunleavy said they were aiming to land when they traded out of 41. Maybe Toohey can work into a back-end rotation role as a big wing with good basketball sense and project into higher minutes in Year 2 or 3. Maybe Richard starts the season as a two-way guy and can fight onto the main roster with solid overall play. But those are maybes. What got Lacob’s attention on Wednesday was a guy the Warriors thought could step right in and perhaps help them get past the second round next postseason.
So who was it? I asked around after Dunleavy confirmed the attempt and that led me to the most-lauded Florida guard, Walter Clayton Jr., a dynamic scorer who won Final Four Most Outstanding Player earlier this year and ended up going 18th to Utah.
It doesn’t sound like the Warriors got too close to a deal, even as Clayton fell a little lower than expected. It’s tougher to move into the first round these days than it used to be and it’s likely that it would’ve either hard-capped the Warriors at the second apron or cost a future first-round pick that might be pretty important for the Warriors to keep.
But, as always, the Warriors’ operational mindset — which obviously carries through to next week’s free-agent movement period — is transparent for all to see. They will try to do big things, medium things, little things, and everything that they can imagine doing. They won’t be able to do most of them, but they will try. Even when there’s a very good Valkyries-Liberty game going on down the hall.
“I kept telling him, go down, this game looks exciting, and you should do it,” a chuckling Dunleavy said of Lacob. “And he wanted to stick it out until the end. There’s a few guys that were sort of sliding, he was, ‘You sure we don’t want to get in?'”
Practically, the Warriors now have two players that won’t take up much salary space, if they make the 15-man roster. Nothing’s guaranteed as the Warriors wade into free agency, but just knowing that Toohey and Richard aren’t complete projects gives Dunleavy some freedom when he goes shopping to add to Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, Brandin Podziemski, and the rest.
“I think the biggest thing for us is knowing the guys that are going to be here, how do we complement around them? How do we complement around Steph and Jimmy and Draymond and BP and Moses (Moody), go down the list?” Dunleavy said. “What do we need to add to that? I think there’s just some specific skill sets that we could use on both sides of the ball while also understanding what type of players work for us, what type of players can play for Steve (Kerr) within this system and with Steph and Dray and what they’ve done here for many years. It’s a tricky one. You’ve got a little bit of a needle thread with it. But there’s players out there we can get that can make us better.”
Next up: Trying to find a Kuminga resolution
Yes, it’s a little notable that Dunleavy didn’t automatically include Jonathan Kuminga in that group of settled roster pieces. But Dunleavy can’t think that way — Kuminga’s restricted free agency means he has a major say in how this goes, which also will be decided by bidding from other teams, and what the Warriors want to pay Kuminga or want to accept in a potential sign-and-trade. Kuminga also hasn’t yet fit too well within the Warriors’ system, and especially in the version that includes and often features Butler.
At this point, it doesn’t sound like any of this has been decided. Kuminga could still come back to the Warriors on a short-term deal, and in fact, salary-cap logic sort of points that direction. But the warmest way to read Kuminga’s recent comments to The Athletic’s Anthony Slater is that he’s ambivalent about a return. And, knowing the struggles he’s had to find a role with the Warriors in Kerr’s system the past four seasons and Kuminga’s clear desire to become a star ASAP, you could interpret it much starker than that.
“As a young player, I love the personal ambition,” Dunleavy said. “That’s what I see first and foremost with the comments. He’s a guy who believes in himself, wants to see what he can do. I think ultimately if we’re able to bring him back, we see a path for him to be able to do some of those things here. It’s hard for me to predict what’s gonna happen. But I don’t put too much in the comments. Totally get it. And in some ways, I like that mindset in a young player.”
I asked Dunleavy specifically: Do you have a sense that Kuminga really wants to be back with the Warriors?
“Yeah, I do,” Dunleavy said. “I think for him, experiencing free agency, kind of being on the market, for him to go through that, I think there’s an appeal to it. By not doing an extension last year, he kind of earned that right. I think he wants to see what’s out there, which is totally reasonable, totally fair.
“I think at the end of the day, what happens contractually, whether he’s with us or not, that’s gonna tell the whole story. So right now, just because he’s a free agent doesn’t mean he does or doesn’t want to be back. I would just say I think there’s reasonable interest and everything’s on the table.”
The Warriors’ deadline to extend a $7.9 million qualifying offer to retain their RFA rights on Kuminga is Sunday, which Dunleavy said they will do. (Same deadline and likelihood for the Warriors to exercise Gui Santos’ $3 million option for next season.)
Dunleavy has repeatedly said that it’s probably best for both the Warriors and Kuminga to figure this out “sooner not later,” which might mean right after 3 p.m. Monday, when other teams can negotiate with free agents, or might mean a longer process as Kuminga and the Warriors sort through everything.
“I never think it’s great when it drags on too far,” Dunleavy said. “It’s tough for the player, the team. There’s a little bit of uncertainty for the rest of the roster what you can do. We want to get this figured out. But I understand the way this works. Sometimes it does get dragged out. And we’ll deal with it if it does.”
Free-agent target traits
Dunleavy started nodding his head when I speculated that the Warriors could be focused on wing players with court vision and passing ability — connecting players, in Kerr and Dunleavy’s parlance. They can use the $5.7 million taxpayer midlevel exception, they can sign guys at the veteran minimum, or they could trade for players on existing contracts, but they’d have to send out as much or more money than they’re taking in.
One thing Dunleavy emphasized: They’re looking for two-way players who can, at the very least, hold up adequately on defense. (If you pictured me doing a mental cross-out through Duncan Robinson, Jordan Clarkson, and a few other names when I heard this, you would be correct.)
“The good thing is that there’s a myriad of players available — whether it’s the free-agent market or you can make trades and we can put offers out on guys,” Dunleavy said. “So we’ll target some players that we think would fit well. It’s like, you’ve gotta have that balance of being able to play with these guys offensively by making shots, being able to pass, and handle the ball, and read the game. And defensively, you’ve gotta be able to guard, be able to hold up.
“We can’t bring in a guy that’s a great shooter but on the other end defensively can’t do anything. That’s a problem. So we’re trying to look for net-net guys that can make this team better.”
Preparing for the end of the run?
Other teams are very interested in talking to the Warriors about their available future first-round picks, Dunleavy said, for obvious and sobering reasons. If you go out past 2030, what kind of team will the Warriors be? And the Warriors, more than anybody, can’t be oblivious to that reality. Their future first-round picks are valuable for a reason.
“We’re probably more protective of them than most teams just because not knowing after a few years what our roster is … the uncertainty of putting those picks out there, which, on the market, makes it more valuable,” Dunleavy said. “But for us, they’re a little bit more dangerous. So for us, we’ve gotta walk that line. The good news is if there’s a player you can call on or reach out or is available, we’re gonna be in the game because the rest of the league sees picks way out as pretty valuable. Because, look, the reality is Steph and Draymond, Jimmy, those guys probably aren’t going to be playing for the Warriors in 2032.”
The Warriors don’t want to sell the future just to give themselves a slightly better chance to win a few more playoff games. If they can give themselves a much better chance to compete for another championship, then there are basically no limits to what they might do.
While Curry is still near the top of his game, the Warriors will keep pushing because he makes it worth every iota of effort. As Dunleavy said, though, they’re doing this realizing that this will end and they had better always think about that, too.
“It’s just not much debate about it,” Dunleavy said. “As well as these guys continue to play, you chase it. And then, you know, if that backs off, then you pivot, you have a backup plan, you do all that stuff. But for now, the path is pretty clear.”
Kerr’s year-by-year future
Dunleavy said he totally understands Kerr’s desire to keep his contractual status with the Warriors as a year-by-year situation. Kerr is only signed through this coming season, which means he’s not synced up to Curry, Draymond, and Butler, who all are signed through 2026-27.
“On a personal level, I’d love to have Steve locked in and know the certainty of that, because he’s such a great coach for our organization, for our team,” Dunleavy said. “But also with Steve, he’s earned that right at his age, all that he’s accomplished. Not gonna push him into anything.
“If there’s a time for him to step away, he’ll know. And he’s going to do that based on he feels that’s what’s right for him but also the organization. I trust him on that stuff. Basically feel like he can coach here as long as he wants and we’ll just work out the contract details as we go.”
The Valkyries phenomenon
Dunleavy has attended several Valkyries games at Chase with his family so far this season and said the atmosphere and the energy — and the Valkyries’ surprisingly strong play as a first-year expansion team — have been exciting to witness.
“I was super curious about the expansion process,” Dunleavy said. “There’s talk about our league expanding at some point here soon. … It was fascinating to watch Ohemaa (Nyanin, the Valkyries’ GM) put it together, build the team, what the expectations are. And on the business side, the marketing and the buildup of everything, I don’t think it could’ve been done better. It’s fun to watch the success they’ve had and really, the future is so bright. …
“It just feels like the energy of the Golden State thing goes year ’round now. When the spring turns and we’re done, the WNBA team is starting and carries through summer, then when they finish we’ll be starting. It’s just this year ’round, 12-month thing of excitement in the Bay Area for basketball.”