Quinten Post

Warriors Notes: Frontcourt, Kuminga, Wiggins, Green, Payton, More

Draymond Green will be part of the Warriors‘ starting lineup this fall, but his exact role has not yet been determined. As Anthony Slater of The Athletic writes, the team’s decision on whether to use Green as a power forward or center will have a ripple effect on the rest of the starting five and the rotation beyond that group.

According to Slater, head coach Steve Kerr has expressed that he doesn’t love the idea of Green playing heavy minutes at the five, especially against teams using bigger lineups. And Green still considers power forward his true position.

However, starting Green alongside a center like Trayce Jackson-Davis or Kevon Looney may push rising forward Jonathan Kuminga to the bench, since Kuminga hasn’t yet proven to be a reliable floor spacer and Kerr has spoken in the past about viewing the former lottery pick as more of a four than a three. For what it’s worth, Kuminga disagrees with that assessment but is willing to accept whatever decision the club makes.

“At the end of the day, I know I’m a small forward,” Kuminga said, per Slater. “I can do it. I can play it at the highest level. But going forward, it’s all about what the team wants me to do. It don’t matter, small forward or whatever.”

As Slater observes, Kuminga and Green would make more sense as the Warriors’ starting forwards alongside a big man who could stretch the floor, but Jackson-Davis and Looney don’t really possess that skill set. And even though Golden State drafted a player – Quinten Post – who could develop into that sort of stretch five, he likely won’t see much action with the NBA team as a rookie.

“He’s got a ways to go,” Kerr said of Post. “I’m not anticipating it this year. I think he’ll be in Santa Cruz a lot.”

Here’s more on the Warriors:

  • Andrew Wiggins is the best bet to open the season as Golden State’s starting small forward, but he has yet to participate in training camp due to an illness and has been ruled out for Saturday’s preseason opener, tweets Kendra Andrews of ESPN.
  • With Wiggins unavailable, the Warriors used a first unit of Stephen Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Buddy Hield, Kuminga, and Green in a Friday scrimmage, tweets Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. However, asked if that would be the starting group on Saturday, Kerr advised reporters not to read too much into it. No,” he replied, per Slater (Twitter link). “In fact it’s safe to assume that will not be the starters.”
  • While the Warriors aren’t generally viewed as a legitimately title contender entering this fall, Green appreciates the challenge of trying to get the team back to that level and has no desire to leave his longtime team to try to win another championship elsewhere, Thompson writes for The Athletic. “When you’ve built this s–t up from the laughingstock of the NBA, it feels a little different,” Green said. “I said to (team owner) Joe Lacob two years ago, like, ‘You should understand I think about this organization like it’s mine.’ No disrespect to them that own this, but I take a great deal of pride in what we built here. This is home for me. This is like Michigan State for me. Most people don’t have an NBA home. I care what this organization looks like in 10 years. That’s going to matter to me.”
  • The Warriors announced on Friday in a press release that Jonnie West has received a promotion to senior director of pro personnel, while Maclean Osborne and Michael Salame have been named scouts. Osborne and Salame previously worked in basketball operations for Golden State’s G League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors.
  • Warriors guard Gary Payton II spoke to Mark Medina of Sportskeeda about a wide range of topics, including his decision to exercise his 2024/25 player option to stick with Golden State and his favorite Curry and Green stories.
  • The Warriors liked Bronny James‘ skill set heading into June’s draft and weighed the possibility of selecting him at No. 52, sources tell Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. However, Golden State ultimately decided to respect LeBron James‘ desire to join forces with his son in Los Angeles and passed on Bronny.

Warriors Waive Plowden, Sign Post To Two-Way Deal

SEPTEMBER 26: Post’s two-way contract with the Warriors is now official, according to the NBA’s transaction log.


SEPTEMBER 24: The Warriors have waived two-way player Daeqwon Plowden, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link), and are signing second-round pick Quinten Post to a two-way contract, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Golden State was expected to open a two-way spot for Post. Pat Spencer and Reece Beekman hold the other two-way slots.

Plowden was signed to a two-way deal after strong Summer League performances for the Warriors. He averaged 14.6 points and shot 39.6% from three-point range in eight Summer League games combined in the Las Vegas and California Classic leagues.

Plowden, who went undrafted out of Bowling Green in 2022, has spent his first two professional seasons in the G League, playing for the Birmingham Squadron in 2022/23 and the Osceola Magic in ’23/24. In 49 Showcase Cup and regular season outings for Osceola last season, he averaged 11.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 25.5 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .472/.397/.797.

According to Slater, the Warriors still intend to bring Plowden to camp to compete for a two-way spot, which suggests Spencer and Beekman aren’t entirely safe yet.

The Hawks’ G League affiliate, the College Park Skyhawks, recently acquired Plowden’s returning player rights, so if he doesn’t earn a roster spot with Golden State, he may end up with the Skyhawks.

As for Post, he spent his last three college seasons with Boston College. Post averaged 17.0 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game last season. The 24-year-old 7-footer was selected with the No. 52 overall pick.

Justin Holiday Reportedly Worked Out For Warriors

Justin Holiday is among a group of “several” veteran free agents who have worked out for the Warriors in recent weeks, league sources tell Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Slater also confirms that Nassir Little worked out for Golden State, as previously reported.

Holiday, 35, spent last season with the Nuggets. He averaged 4.0 PPG, 1.2 RPG and 1.2 APG on .454/.404/.750 shooting in 58 regular season games with Denver in 2023/24 (14.9 MPG).

Holiday is the definition of a journeyman, having played for 10 NBA teams over the course of his 11 seasons in the league. One of his first stops was with the Warriors — he played for Golden State in ’14/15. He holds career averages of 8.0 PPG, 2.7 RPG and 1.4 APG on .400/.365/.817 shooting in 680 regular season games, including 296 starts (23.1 MPG).

However, a reunion seems pretty unlikely. According to Slater, the Warriors have no plans to fill their 15th standard roster spot to open the season due to their proximity to the first tax apron, at which they’re hard-capped for the ’24/25 campaign. While it’s possible that a veteran could outplay Gui Santos or Lindy Waters — both of whom are on non-guaranteed deals — in training camp and preseason, Slater expresses skepticism that the Warriors will release either player.

Slater also provides an update on No. 52 overall pick Quinten Post, who remains unsigned. According to Slater, Post has been earmarked for a two-way contract, which means one of Golden State’s three two-way players — Pat Spencer, Reece Beekman or Daeqwon Plowden — will have to be cut soon.

It’s worth noting that Atlanta’s G League affiliate recently gave up a second-round NBAGL draft pick in a trade to acquire Plowden’s returning rights. While G League draft picks (especially second-rounders) aren’t all that valuable, it still seems unlikely that the College Park Skyhawks would’ve given one up if they expected Plowden to remain with the Warriors all season, since he’d continue to play for Santa Cruz in the NBAGL as long as he remains on his two-way deal with Golden State.

Two 2024 Draft Picks Remain Unsigned

Of the 58 players who were selected in June’s draft, 54 have signed their first NBA contracts since the start of July. As our tracker shows, the breakdown is as follows:

Two second-round picks — Juan Nunez (No. 36) and Melvin Ajinca (No. 51) — will continue their professional careers in Europe. Their draft rights are controlled by the Spurs and Mavericks, respectively.

That leaves two players from the 2024 draft class who have yet to sign with their respective NBA teams. Here are those players:

The Hawks‘ plans for Djurisic remain unclear. The 20-year-old sustained a left foot fracture during a Summer League game in July; the injury required surgery, with another update on his status slated for November. That means he is expected to miss the beginning of the 2024/25 regular season, which opens in late October.

Atlanta has 15 players signed to guaranteed standard contracts, and all three of the team’s two-way spots are currently filled. It’s possible the Hawks could waive one of their two-way players to create room for Djurisic, but there are other possibilities, both in North America and overseas.

When our Luke Adams wrote about Djurisic last month, he wondered whether the young guard might consider signing a G League contract to rehab and get back into game shape with the College Park Skyhawks (Atlanta’s NBAGL affiliate). Going that route could potentially earn Djurisic a promotion to the NBA roster later in the season, perhaps after Atlanta opens up a spot on its standard roster with a trade or two.

As for Post, Adams believes the most likely outcome is Golden State eventually waiving Pat Spencer, opening a two-way contract spot for the Dutch big man. If the Warriors make a multiplayer trade, a standard deal for the 24-year-old is another possibility, but nothing appears imminent on that front.

Offseason Observations: Yabusele, MLEs, Draftees, Trade Vetos, Swap Rights

With the Lauri Markkanen situation resolved, the Paris Olympics in the books, and NBA training camps still about a month-and-a-half away, we're entering the quietest portion of the 2024 offseason.

However, that doesn't mean there's nothing worth discussing.

Here are a few of the summer subplots I've been keeping an eye on, ranging from how Guerschon Yabusele's buyout with Real Madrid impacts a potential move to the NBA to the new ways in which teams are negotiating draft-pick swap rights in trades.


How Guerschon Yabusele's buyout works

A former NBA first-round pick who has been out of the league since 2019, Yabusele had an impressive showing for the French national team during the Olympics and suggested on social media after the Games that he'd welcome another opportunity stateside. However, reporting from Marc Stein indicated that Yabusele's buyout with Real Madrid is worth $2.5MM.

At least one report has stated Yabusele would be responsible for paying the majority of that $2.5MM buyout, while another has suggested an NBA team that signs him would be on the hook for the full amount. The truth depends on your perspective. Here's how it works:

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Ten 2024 Draft Picks Have Yet To Sign NBA Contracts

Of the 58 players who were selected in last month’s draft, 48 have signed their first NBA contracts since the start of July. As our tracker shows, the breakdown is as follows:

That leaves 10 players from the 2024 draft class who have yet to sign with their respective NBA teams. Here are those players:

  1. Utah Jazz: Kyle Filipowski, F/C, Duke
  2. San Antonio Spurs: Juan Nunez, G, Ratiopharm Ulm
  3. Atlanta Hawks: Nikola Djurisic, G, Mega Basket
  4. San Antonio Spurs: Harrison Ingram, F, UNC
  5. Indiana Pacers: Tristen Newton, G, UConn
  6. Indiana Pacers: Enrique Freeman, F, Akron
  7. Dallas Mavericks: Melvin Ajinca, G, Saint-Quentin
  8. Golden State Warriors: Quinten Post, C, Boston College
  9. Boston Celtics: Anton Watson, F, Gonzaga
  10. New York Knicks: Kevin McCullar, G/F, Kansas

Of these 10 players, one has already signed a non-NBA contract — French team ASVEL Basket announced earlier this week that it has added Ajinca to its roster, so it appears he’ll become a draft-and-stash prospect, spending at least one season overseas before joining the Mavericks.

That’s likely the path Nunez will follow as well. While nothing is official yet, a report earlier this month stated that the Spanish point guard is expected to sign with Barcelona on a deal that will give him an NBA out during the 2025 offseason. The Spurs haven’t been operating as if they expect Nunez to be on their roster next season, having filled their 15-man roster with players on standard contracts.

Djurisic is the other international prospect in this group and his plans for 2024/25 remain unclear. He fractured his left foot during Summer League play and the injury is expected to sideline him until at least late September, putting him behind schedule in his offseason workouts.

The Hawks don’t appear to have room on their 15-man roster for Djurisic at this point (they have 15 players on guaranteed deals, plus Bruno Fernando on a non-guaranteed contract), though they do have a two-way slot open. We’ll see if the plan is to have Djurisic take that spot or if he’ll continue playing overseas for another season.

The Jazz have space on their 15-man roster for Filipowski and I expect him to sign a three- or four-year contract sooner or later. Completing that move would cut into Utah’s cap room a little, so the club will likely handle its other offseason business to make sure it doesn’t need that room for other purposes — Filipowski can be signed using the second-round exception whether team salary is over or under the cap. The Jazz also have yet to formally finalize reported deals with Drew Eubanks and Johnny Juzang, which is another sign they’re keeping all options open with their cap room.

The other six unsigned second-rounders – Ingram, Newton, Freeman, Post, Watson, and McCullar – all look to me like obvious candidates for two-way contracts. As we detailed on Tuesday, the Spurs, Pacers, and Knicks each have multiple open two-way slots, while the Celtics have one open spot, so there’s nothing standing in the way of their draftees filling those openings.

It’s worth noting that Indiana has two-way qualifying offers on the table for two players (Quenton Jackson and Oscar Tshiebwe), so there won’t be room for those two guys and Newton and Freeman on two-way deals. With 14 players on standard contracts, the Pacers could give one of those four players a 15-man spot if they want to retain all of them.

The Warriors, meanwhile, don’t currently have an open two-way slot for Post. One of their two-way players – Pat Spencer – is a carry-over from last season, so his grip on a two-way spot might be weaker than more recent signees like Reece Beekman and Daeqwon Plowden, but Spencer had a strong Summer League showing, so I’m not necessarily assuming Post will take his spot.

For what it’s worth, Post was born and raised in the Netherlands before playing college basketball in the U.S., so spending a season in Europe wouldn’t be a total curveball for him. Still, at age 24, he’s probably NBA-ready. A standard contract isn’t an option for Post for now, since the Warriors are right up against their first-apron hard cap and can’t afford to sign a 15th man. That could change if they make a trade, but for now, his best hope of opening the season with Golden State would be for the team to waive one of its two-way players.

While it’s rare for U.S.-born players to be stashed overseas, it’s not unheard of, so that’s also a possibility for some of the other unsigned players from the back half of the second round.

Another potential option would be signing a G League contract that allows the player’s NBA team to retain his rights while not dedicating an 18-man regular season roster spot to him. There’s often at least one player per draft class who takes that route. Mojave King did it in 2023, Gui Santos did it in 2022, and two Nets draftees (RaiQuan Gray and Marcus Zegarowski) did it in 2021. McCullar, a late pick who is still recovering from a knee injury he sustained at Kansas, might be a candidate for this path.

California Notes: Bronny, Post, Podziemski, Clippers

Following a pair of promising Summer League outings, Lakers rookie point guard Bronny James sat out the team’s Las Vegas finale, a 107-81 blowout of the Bulls, writes Mark Anderson of The Associated Press.

Across his last two available games, the 6’2″ USC alum scored 25 points while shooting 10-of-21 from the floor, including going a respectable 3-of-8 on three-pointers after missing all 15 of his outside attempts prior to that.

“He had two pretty good games last two,” Summer League head coach Dane Johnson said. “I think it’s just going to help him going into the summer so we can work on different things with him. Just that confidence and knowing he can play at this level. It’s still going to take a lot of time and a lot of reps.”

There’s more out of California:

  • After dealing with a leg injury, rookie Warriors big man Quinten Post had a stellar Summer League debut on Friday, writes Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. “We wanted to make sure he was healthy before he got on the floor, so he was on a minutes restriction, from 12 to 15,” assistant general manager Larry Harris told Poole. “The biggest thing we saw right away is that offensively he was what we’re hoping he can be… Moves well, can run up and down the floor and he can pass. He handles the ball for a big guy and, obviously, shoots the three well. The offensive side, we feel pretty good about.” The seven-footer was selected with the No. 52 pick out of Boston College. In a 90-83 win, Post notched 10 points while shooting 4-of-7 from the floor (2-of-4 from long range), three rebounds, one dime and one steal in just 14 minutes of action.
  • Speaking to Chris Haynes on ESPN’s Summer League broadcast on Saturday (YouTube video link), rising second-year Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski discussed Klay Thompson‘s decision to depart the team for the Mavericks in free agency. “So for me, just appreciating his presence, appreciating everything he shared with me from an on-court and off-court perspective, and getting a call from him a couple days ago and just, him telling me I’ll always have a brother in him for life is pretty cool,” the All-Rookie First Teamer said.
  • The Clippers will debut on owner Steve Ballmer‘s brand-new home court, the Intuit Dome, at the start of the 2024/25 season. Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN revealed details of the new $2 billion arena, which includes a state-of-the-art video halo called the “Halo Board.” Ballmer is looking forward to having far more scheduling flexibility than he had previously experienced while sharing space with the Lakers and the NHL’s L.A. Kings at Crypto.com Arena. “We got to build a place that is our house,” Ballmer said. “We got to put the energy in our house. We didn’t want to play too many Monday nights against Monday Night Football. We don’t want to play as many Saturday games.”

Warriors Showing Patience In Pursuit Of Lauri Markkanen

The Warriors haven’t given up in their pursuit to acquire Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen but they’re willing to wait and see how the process plays out, Anthony Slater of The Athletic reports.

Markkanen, who has an expiring $18MM contract, becomes extension-eligible on Aug. 6. From what Slater is hearing, the Jazz plan to renegotiate-and-extend Markkanen by using their remaining cap space.

If Markkanen signs that type of contract on that date, he would still be eligible to be traded at the February deadline. However, if he signs any time after that (beginning on Aug. 7), he’d be ineligible to be dealt during the season due to the league’s six-month trade restriction on renegotiated contracts. That provides some extra leverage for Markkanen, which could dictate whether he gets moved this offseason to the Warriors or another suitor.

The Kings made a strong push to acquire Markkanen last week but they were unwilling to give up Keegan Murray in a proposed deal. Instead, they made a substantial picks-based offer. They put a deadline on pursuing a trade with Utah and the Jazz didn’t meet it, so Sacramento pivoted to a sign-and-trade for DeMar DeRozan.

The Warriors don’t feel that type of urgency, Slater continues. They’re comfortable with the 14-man roster they current have with the free agent additions of De’Anthony Melton, Kyle Anderson and Buddy Hield. There’s no room financially under the hard cap to fill the 15th spot.

Golden State appears, on paper, to need one more impact player to be a legitimate contender again. But Slater’s sources tell him that the front office and ownership don’t feel compelled to make that type of move right away unless the right opportunity comes along. It’s also noted that the front office is increasingly willing to add future first-round picks and make pick swaps in trade offers.

The Warriors are currently below the tax aprons but above the tax line. Owner Joe Lacob is still willing to spend to remain competitive.

Lindy Waters III and Gui Santos have non-guaranteed deals but the Warriors currently plan to keep both of those reserves. Second-round pick Quinten Post is expected to sign a two-way contract, Slater adds.

Warriors Acquire No. 52 Pick Quinten Post From Blazers

JULY 6: The trade sending Post’s rights from Portland to Golden State in exchange for cash is now official, according to announcements from both the Trail Blazers and Warriors.


JUNE 27: The Warriors have agreed to reacquire the No. 52 pick from the Trail Blazers in exchange for cash considerations, per Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports and Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report (Twitter links).

The Warriors used the pick to select center Quinten Post out of Boston College.

As Highkin notes, Portland shipped out its No. 34 selection the Knicks for three future second-rounders, received cash from the Thunder to move down from No. 40 to 52, and have now moved off the No. 52 pick as well.

After starting the draft Wednesday with four draft selections, a rebuilding Portland club finishes with just one pick, No. 7, which it used on center Donovan Clingan. The Trail Blazers have $46.4MM in salaries committed to veteran centers Deandre Ayton and Robert Williams III.

Sending out cash to obtain the No. 52 selection will hard-cap Golden State at the NBA’s second apron for the 2024/25 season. The No. 52 pick was dealt by the Warriors to the Thunder in a trade for Lindy Waters earlier today, was sent from Oklahoma City to Portland, and has now has landed back in Golden State.

Thunder Officially Confirm Three Trades

The Thunder have issued a press release confirming that three separate minor trades reported earlier in the day have been officially completed. The following trades were finalized, per the team:

  • The Thunder sent Lindy Waters to the Warriors in exchange for the draft rights to No. 52 pick Quinten Post (story).
  • The Thunder then sent Post’s rights and cash to the Trail Blazers in exchange for the draft rights to No. 40 pick Oso Ighodaro (story).
  • Finally, the Thunder sent the rights to Ighodaro and cash to the Knicks in exchange for the draft rights to No. 38 pick Ajay Mitchell (story). The Knicks received $500K in cash, per Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link).

While the deals were completed as three separate transactions, the upshot is that the Thunder sent out Waters (to the Warriors) and cash (to both the Blazers and Knicks) in exchange for Mitchell, the No. 38 pick in today’s second round.

Post eventually landed with Golden State, while Ighodaro was sent to Phoenix.

[RELATED: 2024 NBA Offseason Trades]

A native of Belgium, Mitchell had an impressive junior season for UC Santa Barbara in 2023/24, averaging 20.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.2 steals on .504/.393/.858 shooting in 29 games (31.5 minutes per contest).