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Just to get some things on the record and set the stage for a very interesting set of questions (and semi-lively answers) in the Warriors-focused Part 2 of my November Mailbag …

• The Warriors have played 12 road games so far this season, which is two more than anybody else in the league — and seven more than the New York Knicks and a stunning eight more than the Dallas Mavericks.

• The Warriors have played only five home games so far, which is tied with the Raptors for the fewest in the league. The Spurs have played 10 home games and the Mavericks have played 11.

• Thanks to this enormously road-tilted opening sprint, starting with Friday’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers, 36 of the Warriors’ final 65 games (55%) will be at Chase Center, where they are currently 5-0.

• The Warriors have played 17 games, most in the league, and five back-to-backs, also the most in the league.

Just for comparison’s sake, the Houston Rockets have played only 13 games and won’t have their first back-to-back of the season until the two games after they play at Chase next Wednesday.

OK, enough schedule talk, which I usually avoid unless it’s a drastic factor one way or the other. And yes, for the Warriors this season, particularly given their specific NBA seniority, it was a drastic kind of opening slate. Which is over now. They’re 9-8 and they’ve survived this. So it’s a good time to assess the situation and look forward to trade possibilities.

Part 1 of the November mailbag posted earlier this week and included questions on the 49ers, Giants, Valkyries, and Sharks.

This is Part 2, which is all about the Warriors.

As always, questions have been edited for length and clarity. Here we go:

‪In an ideal world what position or skill set do you think the Warriors would acquire via trade at the deadline? — nitpickering via BlueSky.

Other than the tall guy with an unbelievable set of skills who is based in Milwaukee these days?

I don’t think it’s breaking news that the Warriors could use at least one more playmaker to keep things moving when Stephen Curry and/or Jimmy Butler aren’t scoring at will or when one or both are sitting.

But to get prime value, that player also has to be a solid and deferring complement for Curry and Butler when they’re flowing, which, frankly, is just about the only way the Warriors are at their best. (In a way that Dennis Schroder last season was definitely not complementary.)

Sometimes, Jonathan Kuminga has very ably filled that role. Sometimes, not. It’s not easy. And I’m not the only one who has wondered if this is what’s best for him or if he’s what’s best for the Warriors. We don’t have an answer for this, but Mike Dunleavy and his lieutenants probably need to come up with one by the trade deadline.

This is also why the Warriors are so intently looking forward to De’Anthony Melton’s return, probably at some point next month, after Melton played six solidly complementary games last season.

But given Melton’s recent run of injuries and the questions about Kuminga, the Warriors probably need one more guy who isn’t as stationary as their main secondary players — Moses Moody, Brandin Podziemski, Buddy Hield, Al Horford, Quinten Post, and Gary Payton II.

(I hit on this with an X post last night that caught a bit of fire among Warriors fans on Wednesday night, just because it’s pretty obvious)

And Kuminga is their most available valuable asset. Who’d be the ideal trade acquisition? The Pelicans’ Trey Murphy III is mentioned all of the time, often by me, because he’s only 25, he’s a dynamic wing scorer, he can play defense, he doesn’t need the ball in his hands all the time, and he’s a perfect salary swap for Kuminga.

But the Warriors aren’t the only team that’ll be interested in Murphy. And maybe New Orleans won’t want to trade him. Which leads us to …

Keeping in mind it’s the Pelicans we’re talking about, how many first-round picks from the Warriors do you think it would take to get a Murphy-Kuminga trade done? — The Coffeepot via BlueSky.

This is where it probably will get tricky. Even if we all conclude that Murphy is a good stylistic fit for the Warriors, I know Joe Lacob won’t want to just toss Kuminga away. And if you’re attaching first-round picks to get a non-All-Star, you’re sort of throwing Kuminga away.

Here’s another issue: If you ever want to get into the Giannis market, the starting price would be Kuminga plus as many future unprotected firsts as you could put into the pot. Would the Warriors want to burn all of that on a non-Giannis player before knowing if they could’ve used it for Giannis?

Dunleavy held out on the Butler trade until the price tag went way down. I presume he’ll do the same if the Warriors are chasing Murphy. As the reader points out, you never know what Joe Dumars might do.

So I don’t think any unprotected first-round pick will get put on the table unless the Warriors get desperate for the first time in Dunleavy’s very calm tenure so far.

Do the Warriors take a swing and trade for another star? Anthony Davis rumors are swirling. An intriguing fit despite the injury history… would you go for him? — allardici via BlueSky.

I’m not the only one who’s noticed that AD and Butler have identical $54.1 million salaries this season. But beyond the ideal money match and the presumption that the Mavericks are already exploring Davis trade talks, I just don’t see a fit between the two teams.

Would the Warriors really want to commit themselves to the AD Drama every season? Will he play 50 games this season? 40? If he can’t make it through anything close to a full season anymore in his early 30s, what will it be like when he’s in his mid-30s and asking for $60 million a year … and still doesn’t want to play center?

Frankly, even though Butler, at 36, is four years older and less dynamic, I think the Warriors wouldn’t trade him straight up for Davis.

And, by the way, if the Mavericks are trading AD to set up the Cooper Flagg era, they assuredly won’t want a 36-year-old guy making just as much money in return.

With Melton and Seth Curry joining the team soon, does this increase the probability of a Kuminga trade? Multiple Warriors for a more grizzled vet? — stagedarren via BlueSky.

I understand your general point about the numbers game with the Warriors’ rotation. It’s going to get crowded. It’s not as crazy as last season, when they could comfortably trade four-for-one to get Butler, but when and if everybody’s healthy, there definitely will be a minutes crunch, especially at guard.

But the two factors determining Kuminga’s future with the Warriors will be how well he’s fitting in with the stars … and whether the Warriors can trade him for somebody who likely fits better. Everything else is not too relevant.

With Seth and Melton soon joining the team, is it going to be too heavy on backcourt guys (Steph and Seth Curry, Melton, Podziemski, Will Richard, Buddy Hield, Pat Spencer) and a bit light on forwards? — scotasports via BlueSky.

I’m getting more than an inkling that Warriors fans are anticipating a bit too much from Seth Curry whenever he’s added as a two-way player. He’ll be a potential wild-card shooter in some games, especially when the stars rest. He’ll also be out of the rotation most of the time.

Otherwise, yes, if everybody’s healthy, the Warriors will have a lot of playable guards. But in Steve Kerr’s system, sometimes Richard and Hield basically are playing as forwards.

Here’s a hot take: Moody playing himself into a more tradeable asset than Kuminga? — @S49erfan via Twitter.

Those two have been tied together since they came to the Warriors as teenage lottery picks in 2021 and they’ve been fascinating opposites almost the whole time.

And I disagree with the hot take here.

Moody seems to have more value to the Warriors as a heady 3-and-D guy in their motion offense reading and reacting to Butler and Curry than he’d have on the trade market.

Kuminga, meanwhile, might be more valuable on the market — for teams that would love to see him take early-clock shots and don’t need as much off-the-ball movement — than he is to the Warriors in the Curry era.

You didn’t mention any Grizzlies in your last article about Warrior trade hypotheticals. Why not? Seems like they might be sellers at the deadline. — joeyjojoejohnson via BlueSky.

I just don’t see a player on the Memphis roster who is both likely to be available in any potential selloff and also likely to be an attractive trade fit for the Warriors.

Ja Morant? There’s probably no star who’d be a worse fit with the Warriors stylistically. Plus the money is … yikes.

Everybody else on the Memphis roster? I don’t see it.

The Grizzlies used to have a very intriguing mid-career player who likely could walk into the Warriors’ offense and score … but they traded Desmond Bane (for a ton of picks) last offseason.

Good or bad, what has surprised you about the Warriors so far this season? — Ed Helinski via Twitter.

Richard has been by far the most positive surprise so far, at least to me. The 56th pick in the draft looking this poised on Day 1 of his NBA career? Huge surprise.

He’s probably not ever going to be an offensive initiator, but Richard obviously knows how to move into the spaces opened by Curry and Butler, and he clearly can shoot the 3. He’s going to have a long NBA career.

On the non-positive side, it sure is taking Horford a while to get up to speed after I heard so much praise for how he practiced and played in training camp. (In Horford’s 126 minutes with Curry so far this season, the duo has a -15.0 net rating, by far the worst among any of the Warriors’ top 25 two-man lineups. Yowza.)

But of course, Horford is 39, so maybe he’s saving the best stuff for much later — and choosing not to burn himself out in the opening 17-game stretch probably was very wise.

Quinten Post’s contract ends this year. He’s a nice player, getting a little stronger on D and boards, though not a star. Do the Dubs lock him up longer term? If so, what amount? Three years, $27 million seems about right. — Ben Elgin‬ via BlueSky.

Let’s see this season play out before assigning Post any exact terms. He’s been OK. Unlike some other young centers, Post doesn’t get in the stars’ way too often, which means he can stay on the floor for good stretches. But he sure could help himself and the Warriors if he puts together any kind of scoring repertoire around the rim.

Also, he’s set to be a restricted free agent next summer. And we know those situations are always handled swiftly and uncontroversially!

We’ve seen Kerr try out several rotations so far this season. The lineup with Moody and Richard has been surprisingly strong. Why do you think that is, and do you see that starting lineup continuing for a while? — See Hesh‬ via BlueSky.

Kerr likes Moody and Richard in there to space things out for Curry and Butler, which has largely worked recently.

I suspect, though, that Melton could end up in the starting lineup alongside Curry in the backcourt before too long.

Another rotation thought: I’m starting to wonder if Kerr might play Curry and Butler together a little bit more instead of the pure stagger that he’s used since Butler arrived last season.

So far this season, Curry and Butler are averaging 17.9 minutes together in games they’ve both played (down from 19.6 last season) and have a +10.9 net rating in those minutes (up from +5.0 last season).

Can the Warriors survive a few minutes every game without either Curry or Butler on the floor? Maybe not. But I wonder if maximizing the Curry/Butler minutes together might more than make up for it.

In a recent Standard story, Lacob again mentioned his continued goal of meeting former Lakers owner Jerry Buss’s 16 Finals appearances in 33 years. Is this mentality holding the Warriors back from trading future draft capital to get Curry more help? — @KentPaisley via Twitter.

Well, they did trade four guys and their 2025 first-round pick for Butler and gave Butler a $112-million extension last February. That didn’t feel like they were holding back, in my opinion.

And sometimes the most adrenalized trade that makes fans the happiest is the one that actually doesn’t help you get to the Finals this year, next year, or any year. (Would you want to be a Phoenix Suns fan right now waiting until the 2030s for the next time they control their own first-round pick?)

Now, would the Warriors go all-in for Giannis? I’m not sure what you’ve seen from Lacob and Dunleavy that would make you think they wouldn’t. But he has to be available first. And they have to win the bidding. I imagine that they will try.

And oh, the Warriors actually tried to go mostly all-in for Paul George two offseasons ago, but didn’t get him. I imagine that’s not one that Warriors fans are clamoring to revisit.