Warriors Notes: Kerr, Dunleavy, Lottery Pick, Roster
Steve Kerr wasn’t happy with the job he did as head coach of the Warriors last season, writes Anthony Slater of ESPN.com. Kerr spoke to the media on Friday for the first time since he decided to return to the organization on a new two-year contract.
“I know I have to be better,” Kerr said. “I didn’t have a great coaching year.”
Still, Kerr made it clear he was excited to be back in role he’s held for the past 12 years, according to Josh Dubow of The Associated Press.
“I still love what I do,” Kerr said Friday. “If I were tired and burned out, then I would not be doing this. But I love my job, I love coaching the Warriors, being in this city, being in the Bay.”
Mike Dunleavy Jr. also took questions on Friday, calling Golden State’s 2025/26 season “pretty underwhelming” after the team went just 37-45 and missed the playoffs, Slater writes. Both Dunleavy and Kerr highlighted cutting down on turnovers as a key improvement area for next season.
“We got a little too loose,” Kerr said. “Literally loose with the ball. But because of our age, because of our injuries, we spent a lot of time resting. So I’ve got to tighten the ship up next year.”
Here’s more on the Warriors:
- Dunleavy said the Warriors will consider every option at their disposal with the 11th overall pick in June’s draft, but barring an unexpected blockbuster trade, Slater hears from team sources that Golden State would prefer to add a young player with that selection to bolster an aging roster. Slater’s colleague Marc J. Spears reported similarly this week on NBA Today (Twitter video link). “Totally,” Kerr said when asked if he’d be committed to playing a rookie. “I’ve talked to Mike. I don’t know the draft, but he feels really strongly we’re going to get a good player. It could be a 19-year-old and it could be someone older. … That guy has to play. He’s got to earn it. But we’re committed to the development of our young players.”
- Kerr discussed why he decided to return as coach and what led to the decision, citing a conversation with his wife Margot as playing a critical role. He also talked about his conversations with Dunleavy and owner Joe Lacob regarding the state of the roster and the desire to be competitive while acknowledging the current team isn’t capable of competing for championships. “The idea is let’s see how good we can be next year,” Kerr said, per Dubow. “We think we can still be good. We have to get some guys back from injury. We have to make some moves. I have to do some things. Let’s run it back and see how good we can be. I think we’re all excited about that.”
- Although Kerr suggested the roster needed some tweaks, particularly adding “younger legs” and players who can suit up for both ends of back-to-backs, Dunleavy didn’t sound as though he plans to make major changes this summer, according to Slater. “This isn’t about the roster frankly,” Dunleavy said. “This year, I don’t think we came up short because of the talent on the roster. It was injuries and things we can control. Do we need to get better roster-wise? I think so. But we didn’t get to a point where we played a team that the roster was better than ours.”
Steve Kerr To Remain With Warriors On Two-Year Contract
May 12: The Warriors have issued a press release formally confirming their new deal with Kerr (Twitter link).
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue coaching this team,” Kerr said in a statement. “This organization has meant so much to me for the last 12 years – from ownership to our players, our staff and our fans – and it’s an incredible privilege to be a part of something so special. I’m excited to keep competing with this group.”
May 9: Steve Kerr has agreed to a two-year deal to return as Warriors head coach, agents Dan Eveloff and Rick Smith of Priority Sports tell ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link). No details on the new contract have been released, but Charania hears that Kerr, who made $17.5MM this season, will continue to be the NBA’s highest-paid coach (Twitter link).
The agreement comes after prolonged negotiations that began shortly after Golden State was eliminated from the play-in tournament on April 17. Kerr expressed uncertainty after that loss about whether he wanted to continue coaching, and Warriors management had several conditions for him to meet before committing to another deal.
In a full story, Charania, Anthony Slater and Ramona Shelburne report that Kerr had multiple meetings with controlling owner Joe Lacob and general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. over the past two weeks. Topics of discussion included changes in offensive philosophy, the makeup of the roster, the long-term direction of the franchise and the contract terms necessary for Kerr to keep coaching.
“It was never going to be about money,” a team source told the authors. “We had to make the best basketball decision.”
Kerr’s intentions to return have “generally known” inside the franchise since the beginning of the week, according to Charania, Slater and Shelburne. Team sources told them that the loose ends were finalized Friday night and Saturday morning.
They note that Kerr began signaling in training camp that he might be entering his final season of coaching. He announced in October that he wouldn’t seek a contract extension and planned to let his deal expire before addressing his future. The season didn’t go as planned, as the Warriors dealt with multiple injuries to rotation players and finished as the 10th seed at 37-45.
There was some speculation after the season ended that a coaching change might be best for everyone involved, and the Warriors engaged in some “light information management” to identify possible successors, according to the authors. However, they add that keeping Kerr was always the preference of Lacob, Dunleavy and Stephen Curry.
There was originally pessimism about Kerr’s prospects of remaining with the team, but the outlook seemed to brighten as the process played out. Even so, Lacob said on Wednesday that the situation remained unpredictable.
Part of Kerr’s motivation to return was his desire to continue his partnership with Curry and Draymond Green, which has produced four NBA titles. Kerr said in a recent interview that he doesn’t want to abandon his players and he still enjoys the day-to-day work of being a head coach.
Hired in 2014 as a first-time head coach, Kerr has posted a 604-353 record and captured championships in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2022. He won Coach of the Year honors in 2016 and was named one of the 15 greatest coaches in NBA history in 2o22.
With Kerr secured for the next two years, the Warriors will now have to address the roster to become serious playoff contenders again. Jimmy Butler will miss a large portion of next season while recovering from an ACL tear he suffered in mid-January, and Moses Moody will also require a lengthy recovery period after a tearing a patellar tendon in late March. Additionally, there are concerns about Curry’s ability to stay healthy after he missed a large part of this season due to runner’s knee.
Kerr’s return likely means that Golden State will be aggressive in trying to add stars so the Kerr-Curry-Green era ends on a high note. The Warriors are among the teams expected to pursue Giannis Antetokounmpo this summer, and Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James have also been mentioned as possible targets.
And-Ones: G. Davis, Francisco, Lacob, Vegas
Former NBA big man Glen Davis, who was sentenced in 2024 to 40 months in prison for his involvement in a scheme to defraud the league’s health and welfare benefit plan, was released on Thursday after serving 17 months, per Matt Moret of The Athletic.
Davis was one of 18 former NBA players originally charged back in 2021 over the fraud scheme, which involved submitting false claims for millions of dollars in dental and medical expenses that were never incurred. The forward/center, who played for the Celtics, Magic, and Clippers from 2007-15, was found guilty of multiple fraud charges, as well as conspiring to make false statements, and was ordered to pay $80K in restitution.
According to Moret, Davis will now enter a halfway house as he transitions from his imprisonment. As mandated by his sentence, the 40-year-old will take financial management classes and receive drug treatment. His stay at the halfway house is expected to end on July 9, at which point he’ll be subject to three years of supervised release.
“He used his time productively while serving his sentence and took many programs during that time,” Davis’ attorney, Brendan White, told The Athletic. “He’s ready to become a productive member of society again.”
We have more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- French guard Sylvain Francisco, who is in the midst of the best season of his career for Zalgiris Kaunas in the EuroLeague, intends to explore the possibility of securing an NBA contract this summer, reports Aris Barkas of Eurohoops. Francisco, 28, has a “manageable” buyout clause in his deal with the Lithuanian team, Barkas tweets. He has averaged 17.0 points, 6.4 assists, and 3.1 rebounds in 26.8 minutes per game across 31 EuroLeague outings in 2025/26, with a .460/.410/.791 shooting line.
- The groups bidding for control of MLB’s San Diego Padres have been narrowed from five to four, per Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune (subscription required), with the second and final round of bids expected to happen in early- to mid-April, according to Dennis Lin and Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. Warriors owner Joe Lacob was reported to be among the original group of prospective owners in the mix for the Padres, though it’s unclear whether his group is one of the four advancing to the final round of bidding.
- Hall-of-Famer Magic Johnson met with Nevada governor Joe Lombardo and other local leaders last month to explore a possible arena-resort development on the Las Vegas Strip and to discuss the possibility of becoming involved in an NBA expansion franchise, writes Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The NBA is expected to seriously consider moving forward with expansion in the near future, and Vegas and Seattle are viewed as the top candidates for teams. “Las Vegas is my favorite home away from home, and I can’t think of a better place to expand my MJE (Magic Johnson Enterprises),” Johnson said in a statement.
Warriors Notes: Curry, Green, Porzingis, Williams
Stephen Curry has been sidelined since January 30 with a lingering right knee injury, leading to some outside speculation whether the 37-year-old star should be shut down for the rest of the season. Warriors teammate Draymond Green addressed that topic on his latest podcast and determined that it’s unlikely to happen, relays Eden Collier of NBC Sports Bay Area.
“He was preparing to come back in the season where we had won 15 games (in 2019/20),” Green said. “So I say that from experience when I say, he’s not just going to shut it down just to shut it down. It’s not who he is.”
Golden State has been reeling without its top scorer, falling to 31-30 and just barely holding onto eighth place in the West. A return may still be far away, as the team announced on Sunday that Curry won’t be reevaluated for 10 more days and his absence may extend beyond that point. Green assured listeners that owner Joe Lacob would never endorse tanking, but he also acknowledged that it’s hard to run an effective offense without Curry and Jimmy Butler, who was lost for the season with a torn ACL.
“All you can do is continue to fight, make sure you’re maintaining and building good habits,” Green said. “Try to give yourself a chance to win these games.”
There’s more on the Warriors:
- Kristaps Porzingis, who has missed the past five games due to illness, is traveling with the team on its three-game road trip, according to Anthony Slater of ESPN (Twitter link). However, he’s already been ruled out of Thursday’s game at Houston. Golden State will also be without Moses Moody, who sprained his right wrist in Monday’s game, and Will Richard, who is sidelined with an ankle sprain.
- It would be a “fool’s errand” to re-sign Porzingis if he doesn’t show he can stay healthy, but his $30.7MM expiring contract will provide the Warriors with some cap flexibility for the offseason, notes Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. The organization wanted to get something in return for Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield, but it’s going to take a summer of maneuvering to make the deal pay off, Poole adds.
- The Warriors’ injuries enabled two-way player Nate Williams to log nearly 22 minutes and score a career-high 18 points on Monday, notes Sam Gordon of The San Francisco Chronicle (subscription required). Williams, who went 3-of-4 from beyond the arc and spent time guarding Kawhi Leonard, could play an important role until the rest of the roster gets healthier. “I’m just being myself and the team allows me to do that,” he said. “I give all thanks to (Steve Kerr) and the coaching staff for giving me an opportunity. They just let me be myself and they just put me on game as I go along.”
Warriors Owner Lacob Discusses Kuminga, Porzingis, Kerr, More
In an interesting interview with Tim Kawakami of The San Francisco Standard, Warriors owner Joe Lacob discussed a number of topics, including Jonathan Kuminga, Kristaps Porzingis, his expectations for the rest of the season, the future of head coach Steve Kerr, Draymond Green, tanking, and more.
As Kawakami writes, Lacob was one of Kuminga’s biggest supporters in Golden State, but he said the decision to trade the former lottery pick (and Buddy Hield) to Atlanta for Porzingis wasn’t a difficult one.
“Not hard; everyone assumes a lot about that,” Lacob said. “Look, I liked him as a player, I like him as a person. … And at times, he showed a lot of potential for us. Just never quite really worked entirely. And he got injured at inopportune times.
“I think we all knew we had to do something. But we weren’t going to give him away, either. Because he is a talent, and a lot of people think that, too. It just worked out — we got something that we thought was worth doing. Otherwise, we would’ve kept him.”
Of course, Kuminga demanded a trade on January 15 following a prolonged contract standoff with the team in the offseason, so the two sides weren’t exactly on great terms prior to parting ways. Lacob expressed skepticism that the Warriors could have received more value in return for the 23-year-old forward if they had moved him a year or two ago.
“I don’t think so,” Lacob said. “People say I loved him as a player, I was protecting him, I was whatever. That’s just not true. I did like him. I like all our players. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be acquiring them if we didn’t all like them. But you know, it just didn’t work. It looked like it was going to work. It was off and on a lot.”
Here are a few more highlights from Kawakami’s conversation with Lacob, which is worth checking out in full for Warriors fans.
On being encouraged by Porzingis’ Warriors debut on Thursday:
“He showed you a little bit about what he can do and why we got him. He’s always been one of my favorite players, to be honest, just in terms of his skill set, his size. You know, [general manger] Mike Dunleavy [Jr.] and the guys always laugh because I’m always yelling for more size. And we finally got it. He’s 7-foot-3, so I’m happy with that. We’ve got two real seven-footers on the team now [along with Quinten Post]. I like what I saw. Let’s get him ready, get him back to playing, get his timing back, and get used to our players. I think it’s encouraging.”
On whether there’s any clarity about Kerr’s future (his contract expires this offseason):
“I think Steve has answered that question; there’s nothing more I can say. He has said we’re going to wait until after the season. That’s 100% accurate. We’ve discussed it. No point in talking about it now. He’s got a job to do. Let’s just let people focus — I mean, why would you do that now? Let’s just focus on the season. Really, it’s up to him. What does he want to do? And he doesn’t know, I don’t think. So we’ll have that discussion later.”
On what Lacob thinks of Kerr’s job performance in 2025/26:
“I don’t look at it in one season. I look at it — he’s been our coach for 12 years. I think you can make the assumption that I think a lot of Steve Kerr. He’s a great coach. He’s been very successful. He’s won us four championships. Been to six Finals. He is a great human being, I really really, really respect him, admire him. But it depends what he wants to do and how he feels at the end of the season, and where we’re at. We’ll take all of it, put it into a bowl and figure it out. And I’m not really very worried about it, and I don’t think he’s very worried about it, either.“
More Details On Warriors’ Split With Jonathan Kuminga
In a thoroughly reported, in-depth story for ESPN.com, Anthony Slater takes a last look at the four-and-a-half year relationship between Jonathan Kuminga and the Warriors, examining how the relationship between the two sides deteriorated and devolved into a series of “petty” gripes and grievances in its final months.
While it would be an oversimplification to say that Kuminga’s time in Golden State was doomed from the start, the decision to draft him with the seventh overall pick in 2021 instead of Franz Wagner became a “central tension point” throughout the organization, Slater writes.
With Steve Kerr preparing Team USA for the Olympics during the summer of 2021 and not overly involved in the pre-draft process, team sources tell ESPN that several members of Golden State’s coaching staff attended Wagner’s workout with the Warriors and came away feeling as if the eventual Magic forward would fit better into Kerr’s system than Kuminga would.
However, that wasn’t the consensus among the team’s decision-makers. Team owner Joe Lacob known to be among those who preferred Kuminga, according to Slater, who says the Kuminga pick became a “signature example” of Lacob’s involvement in personnel moves during the post-Kevin Durant years.
Some team sources who spoke to ESPN suggested that Lacob’s attachment to Kuminga in subsequent years – and his reluctance to include him in trade packages – was connected to his desire to be proven right about his initial belief in the forward. Others insist the Warriors’ decision not to trade Kuminga until last week was about much more than just Lacob’s preferences.
“Joe gets outsized blame,” one source told Slater. “Complex situation. There was a ton of indecision (from several people).”
Slater’s report putting a bow on the Kuminga era in Golden State is worth reading in full if you’re a Warriors fan. Here are a few more highlights:
- Kuminga and his agent Aaron Turner believed Kerr and the Warriors were constantly taking subtle “pokes” at the forward in media sessions, according to Slater. For example, after the 23-year-old received his first DNP-CD of the season in December, Kerr explained the move by saying, “Happens to everyone in the league, other than the stars.” Kuminga, who has long believed he can be a star if given the opportunity, viewed the remark as an unnecessary reminder that Kerr didn’t necessarily share that belief. “That’s the s–t I’m talking about,” Kuminga said. “Why’s he gotta say that?”
- Kerr frequently cited high-level role players like Shawn Marion and Aaron Gordon as comparables for Kuminga, while the forward believed he was better suited for more a featured offensive role and was frustrated that the team didn’t trust him and give him more on-ball opportunities. According to Slater, Kerr and general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. pointed to Kuminga’s lower efficiency numbers in isolation and mid-range situations and accused Kuminga’s camp of having him work on “the wrong things” away from the team facility.
- During Kuminga’s long stretch of DNP-CDs in December and January of this season, he began packing up his belongings at his Bay Area home in preparation for a trade and also declined four opportunities to take the court, sources tell ESPN. As Slater explains, the Warriors asked Kuminga to check in during three garbage-time situations and wanted him to play in a January 2 game vs. Oklahoma City when Golden State was missing several regulars.
- Members of the Warriors’ coaching staff and front office viewed Kuminga’s refusal to play in those situations as a sign that he’d quit on the team, per Slater. Kuminga, in turn, believed the team had already quit on him and regarded the request for him to play in a nationally televised game against the defending champs after a month of inactivity as “a recipe to shame him.”
- While some Warriors players “expressed their annoyances” about the Kuminga saga, the 23-year-old considered Jimmy Butler a true mentor. Sources tell ESPN that Butler expressed a belief that there was a double standard within the organization in the way Kuminga was treated relative to other players.
And-Ones: Hayes-Davis, Mills, Cap Room, Lacob, Seattle
After being traded from Phoenix to Milwaukee on Thursday and then being waived by the Bucks, veteran forward Nigel Hayes-Davis is on track to reach free agency later today, assuming he goes unclaimed.
A return overseas is a possibility for Hayes-Davis, who was the EuroLeague Final Four MVP for Fenerbahce in 2025. However, if he does head back to Europe, his goal is to become the league’s highest-paid player, according to Aris Barkas of Eurohoops. That honor currently belongs to Vasilije Micic, who is making $5.6MM, followed by Kendrick Nunn at $5.3MM (EuroLeague salary figures are post-tax).
Fenerbahce, Panathinaikos and Hapoel Tel Aviv have been in touch with Hayes-Davis’ camp, per Barkas, but Panathinaikos owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos announced on Instagram that the forward passed on the Greek team’s offer, as Eurohoops relays.
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Veteran guard Patty Mills hasn’t played in the NBA at all this season, but he’s not ready to retire as a player quite yet. Sources tell Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com that Mills, who spent last season with the Jazz and Clippers, is exploring potential options in the EuroLeague.
- Following this week’s trade deadline activity, Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link) and Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (Twitter link) provide an early look at the cap space landscape for the summer of 2026. They both view the Lakers, Bulls, and Nets – in some order – as the teams likely to have the most room, though the numbers remain in flux due to draft picks, cap holds, and option decisions.
- Warriors owner Joe Lacob has interest in buying the San Diego Padres and is considering making a bid when initial offers are due later this month, per Dennis Lin and Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. We have more details at MLB Trade Rumors about the Padres’ ownership situation and the bidders Lacob could be going up against.
- Washington governor Bob Ferguson had an introductory Zoom meeting with NBA commissioner Adam Silver on Thursday to discuss the possibility of bringing back the SuperSonic to Seattle, according to Jack Bilyeu of KIRO 7 News. The governor’s office said it was a “good conversation” and that Ferguson offered to “be helpful” as the NBA explores the possibility of expansion, with Seattle believed to be high on its list.
Warriors Notes: Giannis, Front Office, Kerr, More
The Warriors are reportedly among the most serious suitors for Giannis Antetokounmpo. Team owner Joe Lacob is a huge fan of the 10-time All-Star, according to Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area, who hears from sources that Golden State is “ready to give up a whole lot” to acquire Antetokounmpo.
The Warriors are “aligned” in their belief that Giannis is the type of player worth going all-in for, Poole adds.
“If we’re talking about trading draft picks that will be going out when Steph (Curry) isn’t here,” Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. said last week, “it’s going to have to be a player that we think we’ll be getting back that is going to be here when those picks are going out. And that player’s going to have to be pretty impactful.
“It would take a good amount, positionally, play style, archetype, all that. I would leave it pretty broad and open. But if there’s a great player to be had, we’ve got everything in the war chest that we would be willing to use.”
Appearing on NBA Countdown on Friday (YouTube link), ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said he thinks the Warriors might have the best current trade package among the group of teams pursuing Antetokounmpo. However, that may not be the case in the offseason, when other suitors will have additional draft assets to include in offers.
“I think (the Warriors) have to be very aggressive,” Windhorst said. “They understand it — they are in the eye of this storm. Because if they are going to make this move, they’re going to have to close, I really believe, by next Thursday. Their offer cannot really improve by the summer.”
Here are a few more notes on the Warriors:
- If Golden State does trade for Antetokounmpo, the decision will have lasting implications for years to come, writes Nick Friedell of The Athletic. Organizational mainstays Curry and Draymond Green say they aren’t the type of players to push for deals, but they’re generally kept in the loop when moves are being considered. “We’ve got a great team in this locker room,” Green said. “If a move is made, a move is made. But that’s not our job, that’s not our place to sit and wait or worry about if a move is gonna be made. … We’re not chasing anything but greatness. And you don’t chase greatness by whining about a roster. You chase greatness by embracing the roster that you have, getting the best out of every single guy, and that’s what we’ve done for years and that’s what we’re gonna continue to do.”
- Head coach Steve Kerr doesn’t expect any deals to be completed until closer to the February 5 deadline, as Eden Collier of NBC Sports Bay Area relays. “I talk to Mike (Dunleavy) pretty much every day, and he keeps me up to speed,” Kerr said on 95.7 The Game’s Steiny and Guru show. “But honestly, what he told me the other day was that everything’s going to go ’til the last second. There literally hasn’t been a single thing where he’s called me and said, ‘So-and-so offered this or that.’ Not one thing. … It’s all speculation at this point. It’s going to go down to the wire.”
- Multiple Warriors executives, including Dunleavy and assistant GM Larry Harris, were in New Zealand on Friday scouting NBL prospects Karim Lopez and Dash Daniels, tweets Olgun Uluc of ESPN. Both players are considered potential first-round picks.
- Kerr is on an expiring contact and he’s undecided on whether he’ll return to coach Golden State for a 13th season, he tells Anthony Slater of ESPN. “Let’s wait until the end of the year and see if everybody’s aligned,” Kerr said. “If we are, then we’ll keep going. If not, then we won’t. (It’ll depend) how the season ends, what the future looks like, all of that factors in. And they, meaning Joe and management, they’ve got a lot to think about. It’s a really interesting time for the organization.”
Warriors’ Jonathan Kuminga Demands Trade
Newly eligible to be dealt as of today, Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga has demanded a trade out of Golden State, according to Anthony Slater and Shams Charania of ESPN.
Kuminga’s trade demand is something of a formality, since his desire for a change of scenery has been a poorly-kept secret for months.
The former No. 7 overall pick discussed potential deals with teams like Sacramento and Phoenix as a restricted free agent during the offseason, but those suitors didn’t have the ability to sign him outright to an offer sheet out of the Warriors’ price range and didn’t make a sign-and-trade offer compelling enough for Golden State to move him.
As a result, Kuminga ended up returning to the Warriors on a two-year, $46.8MM contract that features a team option for 2026/27. After opening the season in the starting lineup, he was moved to the second unit in November and eventually fell out of the rotation altogether. The fifth-year forward hasn’t seen any action since December 18.
The relationship between Kuminga and the Warriors has deteriorated to the point that virtually every party involved in the situation agrees a trade would be the best outcome, per Slater and Charania. Even team owner Joe Lacob, who has long been one of Kuminga’s top boosters in the organization, is “down” on the 23-year-old at this point, team sources tell Marcus Thompson II, Sam Amick, and Nick Friedell of The Athletic.
Still, Kuminga’s value has declined considerably in recent years and has fallen further during the first half of this season due to his DNP-CDs, so it will be difficult for the Warriors to get the kind of return they want. For instance, the Kings, who were offering Malik Monk and a 2030 first-round pick (top-12 protected) during the summer, remain interested in the forward but are no longer willing to include a first-rounder in their offer, according to The Athletic.
With Kuminga’s value at a low point, Warriors sources have insisted that the team would be comfortable keeping him on the roster beyond the trade deadline and revisiting the situation over the summer, according to both ESPN and The Athletic. While Golden State says it won’t make a deal unless it gets real value in return, per The Athletic, Slater and Charania say rival executives are skeptical of the Warriors’ posturing and believe Kuminga will be on the move before the February 5 trade deadline.
Phoenix is reportedly no longer interested in Kuminga, but there are other possible suitors in play. The Mavericks have also shown interest, Slater and Charania confirm, though one recent report suggested Dallas was only eyeing Kuminga as part of a potential deal involving Anthony Davis. It’s unclear if the Mavs would pursue Kuminga separately or if they just viewed him as an appealing piece within a larger return.
League and team sources confirm to The Athletic that the Lakers have some level in interest in Kuminga, though it doesn’t sound as if the two teams have engaged in any real talks about him to this point.
The Warriors have been cited as a potential suitor for Nets forward Michael Porter Jr., but a team source tells The Athletic that there haven’t been substantial discussions between those two teams. Slater and Charania, meanwhile, cite league sources who say the Warriors haven’t talked to Brooklyn in over a month and have “never shown real interest” in making a move for Porter.
Golden State has been frequently linked to Pelicans wing Trey Murphy III, but there has never been any indication New Orleans wants Kuminga, and Joe Dumars‘ front office has been rebuffing inquiries on Murphy, ESPN confirms.
Here are a few more Kuminga-related items of interest:
- League sources tell Slater and Charania that the Warriors are prioritizing expiring salaries in a Kuminga deal and aren’t looking to take on multiyear contracts unless they view those contracts as “no-brainer positive value.” That’s why Golden State was never all that interested in a deal involving Monk, though sources tell ESPN that Kings guard Keon Ellis is a player who would intrigue the Warriors as a “potential sweetener.”
- For the right star, the Warriors would be open to moving multiple first-round picks, per Slater and Charania. Team sources tell ESPN that Golden State is more willing to part with its 2026 first-rounder than with picks in 2028 and beyond.
- It looked like Kuminga would get a chance to return to the Warriors’ rotation on January 2 with several regulars sidelined for health reasons, but he was a late scratch due to lower back soreness. According to Thompson, Amick, and Friedell, that turn of events created some frustration within the organization, with multiple team sources telling The Athletic they suspect Kuminga wasn’t actually injured. “I wouldn’t have played either,” one Warriors player said. “It’s clear the coach doesn’t believe in him.”
- Speaking of that coach, Steve Kerr was among the members within the organization who was in favor of drafting Franz Wagner with the seventh pick in the 2021 draft, team sources confirm to The Athletic. Wagner ended up being picked eighth overall by Orlando after the Warriors took Kuminga due to their desire to add “athleticism and potential star power” to the roster.
Warriors Notes: Thompson, Curry, Horford, Rotation, Richard, More
Several weeks after Klay Thompson tore his ACL in the 2019 NBA Finals, the Warriors re-signed him to a five-year, maximum-salary contract in a show of loyalty to a player who had helped them win three championships up to that point. However, that deal became a source of contention between Thompson and management, according to Anthony Slater and Tim MacMahon of ESPN.
Thompson, who tore his Achilles a year later in a pickup game away from the team’s facility and ended up missing a second consecutive full season, later admitted he should have been more careful about his ACL rehab process. However, given what he believes he’d contributed to the team Thompson was upset to overhear team owner Joe Lacob griping about his drop-off in production and telling people that the veteran sharpshooter should be grateful Golden State gave him that contract, sources tell Slater and MacMahon.
“This was a guy who felt he left it all out there for Joe and the organization, and was then viewed as damaged goods,” one league source said to ESPN.
That was one major factor that contributed to the growing tension between Thompson and the Warriors later on in that five-year deal. While the team insists it offered Thompson a two-year, $48MM contract extension during the summer of 2023, he and his camp didn’t believe that proposal was as concrete as it was portrayed, and he eventually felt as if the team “pushed (him) out in a strategic manner” during his 2024 free agency, per ESPN’s report.
Citing league sources, Slater and MacMahon report that Thompson would like to be playing for a contender, though he says he remains hopeful that can happen with the Mavericks. Asked about the possibility of eventually reuniting with the Warriors before he retires, Thompson was noncommittal, but one league source who spoke to ESPN believes Thompson would consider it if Stephen Curry pushed for it. “There’s no one that carries more weight with Klay than Steph,” that source said.
“It would be unbelievable,” Curry said when asked about the idea. “If that time comes and that conversation is had, of course I’m calling him and saying, ‘We want you back.’ And hopefully that would be a welcome message to him. But as we stand right now, that does seem like a far distant reality. But so did him leaving.”
Here’s more on the Warriors:
- Head coach Steve Kerr said earlier this week that the health issue affecting Al Horford (right sciatic nerve irritation) has healed. However, Horford told reporters today that he believes he’s still about a week away from returning to action as he progressing through his rehab process, per Nick Friedell of The Athletic (Twitter link).
- The Warriors’ up and down play this season has resembled the pre-Jimmy Butler version of last year’s team. Unlike in 2024/25 though, Kerr doesn’t believe the front office needs to make a roster move to jump-start the team. “It feels similar in that we’re inconsistent,” Kerr said on Wednesday, according to Friedell. “We’re around .500, but I know that we have the answer here. Last year I felt like we had to make a move. This year I don’t think that’s the case. I think we have what we need here, but we need to develop more consistency in our play and that starts with me, giving these guys more consistent roles.”
- Kerr added that there are “tricky” rotation decisions to make because he trusts so many of the players on the 18-man roster to play regular minutes. “I think we have 14, 15 guys who I feel very comfortable putting on the floor, but I also only feel comfortable playing 11 at the most each night, really 10,” Kerr said, per Friedell. “And so no matter how we slice it, I’m gonna come up here and you’re gonna ask me about three different guys and it’s fair because they can all play.”
- One player who has fallen out of the rotation as of late is rookie Will Richard, who has been a DNP-CD in the Warriors’ past two games despite making 12 starts earlier this fall. “It’s been tough not playing him because I’m a huge fan and a believer,” Kerr said during a radio appearance on 95.7 The Game (hat tip to NBC Sports Bay Area). “He offers us stability and decision-making, good shooting, so he’s just got to stay with it. Right now, frankly, he’s sitting because he’s a rookie and I’m honoring what the older guys have done over the years. I think that’s good for chemistry, I think this is kind of how it goes.”
- Asked whether the Warriors would consider the idea of trading Butler or Draymond Green, Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area (Twitter audio link) didn’t rule out the possibility, but noted that Curry would have to be convinced it was the right move. “I would not say it’s impossible,” Poole said. “Right now it still seems improbable.” To this point, Butler or Green have only really come up in trade speculation involving Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo.