Two weeks after winning the NBA title, the Warriors were faced with decisions on how to replace three important members of the championship roster. With Gary Payton II, Otto Porter and Nemanja Bjelica leaving in free agency, the team targeted Donte DiVincenzo and JaMychal Green to take their place. In an interview with Anthony Slater of The Athletic, coach Steve Kerr said both players are ideal matches for Golden State’s style.
“Donte is a perfect fit for the way we play,” Kerr said of the former Bucks and Kings guard. “The ball movement, the cutting. He’s a great cutter. He’s a really good spot-up shooter. He’s a good passer on the move. He’s not just a spot-up shooter. He’s a secondary playmaker. Pretty bouncy, but with a great feel for the game. He’s gonna fit right in.”
DiVencenzo committed to Golden State shortly after free agency began, while Green was persuaded to sign with the Warriors after initially planning to join another team. Kerr sees Green as a replacement for both Porter and Bjelica as he possesses elements of both of their games.
“He’s capable of sort of playing either role, the four or the five,” Kerr said. “If he’s playing with Draymond (Green), he can stretch the floor and can guard the five, while Draymond guards the four. He gives us frontcourt flexibility. I have a lot of confidence he’ll shoot the ball well. Players generally shoot the ball better with us, I think. That’s not always true. But the space that Steph and Klay provide them along with Draymond’s passing. You saw it with Otto and Gary last year. I think JaMychal will love playing with our guys.”
Here are some other highlights of Kerr’s interview:
On the challenges the Warriors will face in defending a title, compared to last year when they were trying to prove they could still be contenders:
“I don’t know that it’s a bigger challenge because last year felt like a huge challenge going in. Last year felt more daunting because we’d had two lousy seasons in a row. This year feels different because we’re the defending champs. It feels like we’ve got our groove back. We’ll have Klay (Thompson) back for a full season. Our foundation in place. While we’re absolutely going to play a lot of young guys, we kind of have a core six, a foundational six players who are really the ones that make everything happen and will allow us to bring the young guys along.”
On larger roles, and perhaps even regular minutes, for young players Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody and James Wiseman:
“All of them have shown really good signs . JK had a stretch last year where — I think it was March, early April — he played really well and started to get more comfortable. He didn’t get as much run in the playoffs, but that’s normal for a rookie, especially once we were fully healthy.
“Moses looks the part. He’s got a more advanced, well-rounded game than JK right now in terms of how it fits with the others. That 3-and-D position. He projects to be a part of things next year. He showed it in the playoffs against Dallas.
“Then James I actually think had some really good moments his rookie year. It gets lost in the shuffle because overall it was a struggle for our team and James had ups and downs. But you remember he had some really big games for us. As he continues to build momentum and gain confidence in his body and skills, I think he’ll help us.”
On the Warriors’ approach with Andre Iguodala, who has a roster spot waiting if he decides to return:
“I leave Andre alone. He knows where we stand. If he wants to come back, we’d love to have him. The one thing we feel strongly about with Andre is we want to give him whatever space and time he needs to make a decision. I’m leaving him alone. Whenever he makes his decision is fine with us.”
And why wouldn’t he be? Their core and young talented players are returning, all they really needed to do was replace some depth. This is kind of a no brainer position for him to be in with the roster.
Love GP2, but you can’t have everything. Cenzo and Green were great finds
Would the two of you want one more big man among the mix? I still think they could benefit from some depth behind Looney and not bank so much on Wiseman.
Wiseman played quite well in the Summer League. He has solid plan for the season.
GP2 only had one good season, out of 7. He will probably regress in Portland. He isn’t worth $28 million.
Who’s replacing DiVicenzo & JaMych next offseason ?
Umm…WTF? They need to play the season first. And what makes you think they are leaving? What drugs are you on?
Uhh, the Warriors insane tax bill? And if he stays healthy, Donte is very likely to decline his player option.
Again, training camp is still a couple of months away. You don’t know what kind of season players will have. I think they will trade Poole. He can’t play defense. That will free up enough money for Divencenzo. But, they need to play the season first to see how players develop.
First as a du fan i présume you should show GP2 some credit and gratitude … You answered to the question in your previous GP2 comment: Lacob is not giving any raise to bench guys for tax reason, even if Kerr is phoning you, it’s business 1st …
Wait Dray’s max extension talks, this is how Dubs offseason starts.
You have no idea how the season will progress. So, why are you worried about next off season? At this point last off season. Payton was looking at retirement. You are right. It is a business. So, why would you give a player $28 million off of 1 season? He didn’t show that type of play before the Warriors. Draymond has 2 seasons left on his contract. Those talks will start next off season.
I know that Dray’next year is a PO so if he declines it, he will be UFA so Lacob better work on it now and cry about tax later please …
The Warriors are the only team that can give Draymond the kind of contract he wants. Even if declines his option, the Warriors can still resign him. Relax. It’s summer. Take a vacation.
Payton has always been a lock down defender and has been developing a jumper. Only reason he never got more playing time earlier is because he’s an old school PG who didn’t shoot but his jumper has progressed nicely. Payton’s game is similar to Tyus Jones who also got around $30 mil.
Tyus Jones is not comparable to Gary Payton 2. Why do you get this idea? It is really weird. All you to do is look up their stats. How is Tyus Jones comparable to Gary Payton II?
@ blunkadunk:
Tyus is a true PG, undersized at 6’0″ who is anything but a lock down defender but is a willing passer who put up 4.4 assists/gm last season. He’s making $14.5/million per year on a 2 year deal.
6’3″ leaper GPII is a premier defensive player who avgd less than 1 assist per game, so calling him an old school PG doesn’t make sense. He’s only making $8.3-$9.1 mill on a 3 year deal totaling $26.1 mil.
zzzz nothingburger
So, why did you read it?
It certainly has been a good offseason, considering how it started with the departures of 3 rotation players.
The league overall appears to be improved (with the exception of the Lakers dumpster fire in progress), so a repeat is going to be challenging, but eminently doable by this team dynasty.