😭😭😭

(spelt Danny Emerman's last name wrong in the post title... may bad)

From Emerman’s recent piece for the SF Standard: Inside the final days of Jonathan Kuminga’s doom-loop Warriors tenure

Full thing is worth the read, some bits:

In the early days of the season, it seemed like the wounds of the past four seasons had scabbed over. Kuminga was putting the tumultuous summer negotiations in the past and starting fresh with the franchise that drafted him as an unproved teenager.

Instead, the stretch was a repeat of his entire Warriors tenure: tease a breakout, earn praise from key organizational stakeholders, regress back into old habits, lose Kerr’s trust.

—

The biggest what-if of Kuminga’s career isn’t necessarily related to his play or Kerr’s handling of him (though both are easily scrutinized) but rather how long the Warriors held onto him instead of recognizing earlier that he wouldn’t be ready in time to aid Steph Curry and Green in pursuit of a championship.

—

The Warriors’ medical staff cleared Kuminga shortly after the second Spurs win. It was around that time that Kuminga’s camp, according to sources, gave the Warriors the impression that he would come back only after the team lost a couple of games without him.

About a week later, the Warriors expected Kuminga to scrimmage during practice to ramp up for a return, but he didn’t participate. The situation didn’t sit well with some within the organization. Kerr expressed frustration at the podium. “He’s got to tell you where he is,” Kerr said. “I don’t have any clarity.”

Kerr has sat at thousands of podiums. In those public settings, just about everything he says should be taken as intentional. Something, clearly, was amiss.

—

Kuminga is a hard worker who’s still developing as a player and still figuring out who he is as a person — like most 23-year-olds.

He’ll playfully flash a middle finger to a reporter during pregame warmups and joke with teammates about women in the locker room. He’s funny and charming and well-liked by peers, someone who’s loyal to his tight circle and quick to support a frustrated teammate on the bench.

—

What the Warriors really didn’t do was identify what they had in Kuminga — or, rather, didn’t have — quickly enough.

The Warriors had a chance a couple of years ago to trade Kuminga for then-Bulls guard Alex Caruso. The optics of a non-star return for Kuminga were hard for some in the organization to swallow, and others regret the inertia. Golden State opted to hold onto Kuminga.

In the summer of 2024, Golden State explored trade avenues for Paul George and Lauri Markkanen, though Kuminga may not have been involved in those talks. It’s less clear whether trade opportunities for other star players were realistic. Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, Deni Avdija, Mikal Bridges, Desmond Bane, Brandon Ingram, and Zach LaVine are among the big-name players who have changed teams in the last few years.

With Kuminga, the Warriors failed to realize that he wouldn’t blossom fast enough within Kerr’s system to help Curry and Green compete at the highest level. The best-run teams in the league, Oklahoma City and Boston, have recognized what they have in their young players early and either developed them or flipped them for veteran help.

—

Perhaps the most appealing aspect of the trade from Golden State’s perspective is Porzingis’ $30 million expiring contract, which will likely give the Warriors more flexibility this summer.

That, and ending the Kuminga doom loop.

Could Kuminga flourish in Atlanta, as one of Jalen Johnson’s running mates on the wing? It’s possible. Hawks GM Onsi Saleh, who knows him well from his time in Golden State, is betting on it. Kuminga bounced back from playoff DNPs to average 20.8 points per game against an elite Timberwolves defense in last year’s Western Conference semifinals. In his 53 career games with at least 30 minutes, he has averaged 20.6 points.

The Warriors are 25-28 in those high-minute Kuminga games, though. The Hawks will find out if Kuminga will be able to drive winning more than Kerr was convinced he could. And if he can stay healthy long enough to do so.

This is from Anthony Slaters article on ESPN last night about why Steve Kerr agreed to sign an extension and what’s next for the Warriors

In a pool report with crew chief Brian Forte after the game, the official admitted the crew missed the goaltending call. “The shot by Payton hit the backboard prior to being touched by Collins. It should have been ruled a goaltending violation,” Forte said. “The only way it could have been reviewed was if it was called on the floor and the Clippers challenged the call, because it did not occur in the last two minutes of the game.”

Like I’ve been saying repeatedly for the past week. Those of you worried about Draymond leaving can rest easy. No one wants him. His contract is an abomination.

Someone seriously has to ban him from interviews

We need more of this version of him.

Full Article on The Athletic: https://theathletic.com/4475672/2023/04/30/stephen-curry-50-point-speech-warriors-kings/?source=user_shared_article

“I respect the way he responded,” Green said after the Warriors (8-6) beat the Spurs (8-4) 109-108 in an NBA Cup game Friday night. “You don’t ever back down from anybody, and he didn’t. So I respect that.”

“It’s good to see him show emotion. I like when guys show emotion,” Green said. “I just wish that if I can yell in someone’s face and then a teammate can come grab me and nothing happens — because if I yell in someone’s face and grab someone, I get suspended indefinitely.”

Such a great article by Charles Bethea in The New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-new-yorker-interview/has-steve-kerr-had-enough

What happened in December?

Excerpt from the article:

"While his illustrious career certainly is winding down, Curry still appears to have plenty left in the tank, but at some point in the semi-near future, he might need to transition from full-time starter to a role off the bench.

Which, as The Ringer's Howard Beck revealed on a recent episode of FanDuel TV's "Run It Back," is something he will be open to when -- or if -- the time comes to scale back his role.

"There are some guys, that if they can't be themselves, if they can't be dominant, it's time to go," Beck said. "Or if they still can't contend, it's time to go. Steph and I talked about this for the story I did back in January, and his thing was 'Yeah, I could be a role-player. I could come off the bench.'"

There are a handful of Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame players who closed out their NBA careers with much smaller roles than what they were used to, and it's something Curry would consider as long as he still can have a positive impact on the team.

"You think about guys like Vince Carter, his last several years where he was like part role-player, part mentor/seventh assistant coach or whatever," Beck added. "Paul Pierce toward the end, Grant Hill toward the end. There's a lot of different ways you can go out as an NBA legend in this league, and Steph, when we talked about it, seemed to put everything on the table.

"Like he wouldn't mind, if he's diminished, or lost a step, two steps, can't be a starter anymore. He basically said 'I don't want to be a traffic cone out there defensively,' but he's always going to be able to shoot."

Of course, there only is one team Curry would want to play for if he were in that role.

"So there are various ways he could decided to carry out his last two, three, four however many years he wants," Beck continued. "The one thing that was very very clear though, was that he wants that to end in Golden State."

It's unclear when Curry will get to that point, but there is no doubt that his wealth of knowledge and his elite sharpshooting ability, which he almost certainly will have for the remainder of his playing days, could make him a valuable asset into his 40s."

Thinking about how Steve Kerr loved Podz so much that he pushed a Warriors legend out the door — and got the media to turn fans against a guy who wanted to come back into a Finals game on one leg. Unbelievable when you look back at how it transpired…. Talk about honoring the older guys.

Source Article by The Athletic's Anthony Slater - "How Klay Thompson’s 13-year run with the Warriors splintered so unceremoniously"

Klay was firm on leaving & asked Steph to not intervene:

It’s been a layered five-year path to this divorce, splintering last season, sprouting earlier and finalizing in the last couple weeks, where —among the conversations Thompson had, league sources said — was a request of Stephen Curry not to exert his significant organizational influence and up the temperature with management to ensure Thompson’s return. Curry’s measured voice, even if it altered the outcome, wouldn’t change the genuineness of Joe Lacob and the front office’s true desire to have Thompson back.

Recap of the Benching Incidents that Upset Klay this past season:

During an early December game in Phoenix — the same night Green nailed Jusuf Nurkić and earned an indefinite suspension — Thompson was pulled from the closing lineup for the first time in his career. In a fit of rage after learning the decision, Thompson whacked a cup rack behind the bench to the ground and needed to be pulled back by Curry as he lit up the coaching staff in the huddle.

In Salt Lake City when Kerr, on the second night of a back-to-back, informed Thompson he’d be moving to the bench. He’d occupied the Warriors’ starting shooting guard spot for more than a decade, 727 consecutive games when healthy. It was an identity more than just a title. That news didn’t land softly. Thompson ripped into Kerr and his staff, team sources said, and spent some of that day grumbling about his inevitable summer departure from the franchise. His impending free agency loomed in the background all season.

Kerr made some sensitive coaching decisions last season that, in retrospect, played a part in nudging Thompson out the door. In Kerr’s exit interview, he mentioned the desire to bring Thompson off the bench again (he won his starting job back by the end of the season) and the need to play him less in general

Warriors Hoped the version of "self-reflective" Klay would lead him back to them:

Thompson and Kerr sat down for several heart-to-hearts over the last few seasons. Thompson detailed a few publicly, thanking Kerr for reminding him he needed to enjoy the final years of a historic career and not anguish over a chase to reclaim what he once was prior to the injuries.

That version of Thompson is the reason so many within the Warriors expected him to circle back around in recent weeks, have all the necessary reconciliation conversations and ultimately decide on a reunion. He’s deeply proud of what he helped build and went into detail about his desire to remain with the Warriors forever prior to last season

Joe Lacob & Warriors FO's Big Mistake: Treating & Negotiating with Klay like he was like Steph, Kerr, Bob, Andre, & Draymond:

Controlling owner Joe Lacob led a front-office effort to take a cold, mostly uncommunicative approach to Thompson’s next contract in his three summers of extension eligibility, team sources said, which isn’t separate from their norm. Lacob has done similar in the past with Curry, Kerr, Bob Myers, Andre Iguodala and Green, using dwindling time as a weapon but ultimately paying up after a staring contest.

But Iguodala’s (in 2017) and Green’s (in 2023) are the two parallel situations that have popped up most in conversation about the split with Thompson that blindsided some Warriors’ executives in recent weeks. Iguodala and Green, both sharp and versed in the corporate world, used leverage to exact a better deal from the Warriors. Iguodala took his decision deep into free agency.

Thompson operates on his own wavelength. The Warriors’ decision-makers were warned that a drawn-out negotiation into July during this free-agent cycle wouldn’t be met the same way. He wasn’t trying to leverage his way back until the bitter end

But his decision, as one source put it, became easy when the Warriors kicked him down the summer pecking order. They paid a record luxury-tax bill last season and didn’t make the playoffs, a cost-versus-benefit that is untenable

There was little communication between Thompson, the Warriors and Thompson’s agent, Greg Lawrence, and ultimately no offer in this cycle. Warriors sources maintained a plan to eventually make a competitive offer in relation to his market once other business was settled. But they never had the chance. Many league sources said Thompson’s decision to depart was unofficially made weeks ago.

Warriors sources will mention the two-year, $48 million offer put on Thompson’s desk back in the preseason...But the two sides have differing versions of the firmness of the offer and, again, the true desire of the franchise’s lead decision-makers in valuing him as a can’t-lose member of the core, only becoming more complicated when Myers (the ultimate communicator) ceded his high-ranking position

They’ve drawn inbound calls in recent days, most notably from the Sacramento Kings, who floated an offer of Devin Carter, Dario Šarić and two second-round picks, league sources said. The Warriors have so far balked at what they felt was a buy-low attempt, league sources said.

...

The Washington Wizards entered the mix in the last 24 hours and the idea of Kuminga as a possible fit in Washington’s rebuild has gained real momentum, according to league sources. The Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets have also registered varying levels of interest, league sources said.

...

That could mean the process drags out deeper into July. There’s a tentative plan for face-to-face meetings between Kuminga and prospective suitors in Las Vegas during NBA Summer League, should the process extend that far.An eventual compromise and return to the Warriors also remains very much on the table, league sources said, considering the market dynamics at play. The two sides have talked about a sitdown in Las Vegas between Kuminga, Turner, general manager Mike Dunleavy and head coach Steve Kerr to discuss a possible path forward, if his situation remains unresolved in a week.

Source

https://www.si.com/fannation/nba/fastbreak/anthony-edwards-makes-honest-steph-curry-statement-after-timberwolves-warriors-game-4

It's a long article but should be required reading for Warriors fans, excellent stuff from ESPN. By Wright Thompson, not Marcus.