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00:00Ladies and gentlemen, let's get out to the River Islands guest line on the line.
00:03Odyssey Sports NBA insider Nick Friedle.
00:05Check out all of Odyssey's newest sports podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
00:10You can read them on The Athletic.
00:11And by the way, you can hear them right here twice a week on 95.7 The Game,
00:16including Tuesdays on Willie and Dibby.
00:19Hello, Mr. Friedle.
00:21How are you?
00:22Hello from Salt Lake, my friends.
00:24How are we doing?
00:25Oh, Salt Lake.
00:26You go get after it tonight.
00:30I've been coming out here for 15 years,
00:32and I still haven't found a great plethora of restaurants or places to get after it.
00:39So, hey, anybody's got an option for me, I'm here for it.
00:44I haven't been to Salt Lake.
00:45My parents took me through Salt Lake when I was a kid.
00:47We were driving up to my uncle.
00:49I had a pad up in Montana, and my parents wouldn't fly anywhere.
00:53I was an adult when I found out that's because plane tickets are super expensive.
00:56So we, like, would drive everywhere.
00:58And I went through Salt Lake, but I haven't been there since then.
01:02Like, on the real, is that an antiquated thought, or is it actually, like, hard to go out and get a drink there?
01:08It used to be, when I first started to come out of here, you had to go to specific places that would serve after 9 o'clock.
01:16It's not the same anymore, Mark.
01:18It's beautiful out here.
01:19I mean, if you like the mountains and you like going on hikes and stuff, this is the place.
01:24That is not, for me, a city boy most of my life.
01:28But there is some good stuff around.
01:31I just haven't found it yet.
01:33Yeah, you'll find it.
01:34Make sure you get that chips and salsa, because, as you know, you can't have a pop without ordering food.
01:41Steini and I were out there a lifetime ago, and I think we got chips and salsa at 11 different places, Nick.
01:48There is, like, a key to making sure that an alcoholic beverage will be served.
01:54I think they're more lenient than they used to be back in time, but you never know.
01:58All right, so it's a good place to go if you like mountains.
02:00What if you like trades, Nick?
02:02What about that?
02:03Hey, what are the chances the Warriors do nothing next week?
02:08I think as the days go on, Mark, those chances get a little higher.
02:14As far as exactly what happens, I mean, the Warriors fan base is knowledgeable, and they are passionate.
02:21They know what's going on.
02:22And if it's not Kaminga, and we've hit that one over the head 19,000 different times, I'm not sure who the piece is out there that puts them in that much of a different place.
02:35But you never know what can happen, and that's why the deadline itself is always fascinating, because it always feels like things get more active as the hours go by.
02:46But I can just tell you, in the week since we last talked, it just does not feel like this team could make a move that would make that much of a difference right now for this season.
03:01And that's why there is such a balance between what's best for right now and what's best for down the line.
03:08And a lot of fans don't want to have that conversation, and they don't want to think about it.
03:12But that ties into everything about whether or not they make a deal here at some point before the deadline.
03:19Is it possible that they might just find their way into a smaller deal or a micro deal, one that would maybe involve not Jonathan Kaminga, but somebody further down the roster and just try to get a player who maybe you can control at a good price next year?
03:33I think that is very possible, Div, because this is a proud team.
03:39They still have Steph.
03:40They want to do better.
03:42But I want to scream this one from the mountaintops, literally out here in Salt Lake.
03:47We're going to turn the volume up here.
03:48We're going to turn it up here.
03:49Go ahead.
03:50Yeah, all the way.
03:51I mean, if I'm the Warriors, and I'm looking at what's happened with Jimmy, and I'm trying to put myself in the best situation for next year, I'm not adding a player right now.
04:02I am trading De'Anthony Melton.
04:04I am getting back an asset that I can use for next season, figuring out what's going to happen this summer.
04:12And I am trading a player who's got a player option next year that I don't think he's picking up.
04:18He wants to get paid.
04:19More power to him.
04:20He's been very good for the Warriors over the last month, month and a half or so.
04:24I'm making that move.
04:26But I'm not Mike Dunleavy, and I'm not Joe Lacob, and I'm not listening to Steph.
04:31And Draymond, and seeing what they think.
04:34But as I watch this unfold again in the last few days, that's the move to me to make.
04:40You want to put yourself in the best situation now to go after something next season.
04:47And the best way to do that to me is to trade Melton, get back what you can, maybe trade Horford.
04:52But there's not going to be much of a market, given how he's played.
04:56But, Mark, if I'm the Warriors, I'm not thinking about adding a piece right now.
05:00I'm thinking about what can I get from Melton, and how does that put me in a better situation to go after the summer?
05:06Okay, work with me on this, though.
05:07Because I understand your thought process, but it sounds to me in that answer, like you said, maybe two things at once.
05:13You said the Warriors are a proud franchise.
05:15They've still got Steph, but the next thought about Melton sounds to me like a sell-off, and we're punting on the season.
05:25So which is it, and how does that idea land in the locker room?
05:29Well, the only person who can answer that question is Steph, Mark.
05:32And he doesn't want to touch that question right now.
05:35And I don't necessarily blame him, but we've got to kind of focus on reality here.
05:41You can be proud, and you can want to be good in the short term, but you tell me.
05:47Are the Warriors going to win a title this year?
05:49No, but I would have said that even before Jimmy got hurt.
05:53Well, I agree with you completely, but the problem now is Jimmy is hurt, and they're not close.
05:59Which is why, to me, the move to make is you get back what you can from Melton, you see what happens over the summer, and you go from there.
06:09But is Steph going to be okay with that?
06:12Is the rest of the group that is fighting every night going to feel good about the fact that it's an admission and an acknowledgement that, hey, we're just not good enough this year?
06:24Only they know, and that is, I've been kept very cautious in how they're answering things right now.
06:33But if you're having a realistic conversation about what's coming for this organization, even in the next few months, I'm not thinking about adding any piece.
06:44I'm thinking about what can I get back in return from Melton.
06:48I'm thinking about how can I preserve Steph so he's still playing at this high level going into next year, and I'm making sure that everything aligns for giving it one more push going into next season.
07:01Yeah, it makes perfect sense when you talk about asset management and the guy I'm only making $3 million.
07:07Is it possible that he becomes a sweetener if Jonathan Kaminga is actually moved?
07:12A team may be a little reluctant to take on JK, but you sweeten it with D'Anthony Melton.
07:18Could that be something that they aggregate to maybe get a decent player back?
07:24Dibs, I wouldn't put anything out of the conversation right now.
07:28Again, as it pertains to Kaminga, the only team you keep hearing that is realistic about any of this stuff is Sacramento.
07:37So to add a sweetener like Melton, I mean, Melton is a player who is very good, and he could really help a contender right now.
07:45So the idea that Melton and Kaminga would end up in the same deal seems at least a little bit more of a stretch because if you're trading for Kaminga, you're trading for a player that you still believe has a lot of promise in the future,
07:58and you are carving out, in theory, a role for him on a team that doesn't have much pressure at all, which is why Sacramento always felt like the best place for him.
08:08They don't care about winning.
08:09Look at the way they've pieced their team together the last, you know, few years and years and years.
08:16So Melton, I think, could really help.
08:20He could be a difference maker for a team that is much closer than the Warriors are.
08:24But this goes to, Mark, this goes straight to your point.
08:28Is the locker room going to be okay with that?
08:31And let's boil it down even more.
08:33Are Steph and Draymond going to be okay with that?
08:36And only they know that answer.
08:38But that's part of the conversation that takes place now once Jimmy suffered the season-altering injury that he did.
08:48Odyssey Sports NBA insider, our buddy Nick Friedle, is on the line.
08:53And check out all of Odyssey's newest sports podcasts on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
08:58Boy, Nick, I'm so glad you brought up Kaminga.
09:00I was worried his name wouldn't come up in this conversation.
09:03But since you brought him up, I have this question.
09:07What's really going on with the injury?
09:10Because when I see the Warriors say he will be re-evaluated in the coming days,
09:17that's very different than the press releases we usually get.
09:21They usually name a day.
09:23They're going to be re-evaluated in a week.
09:25This was, they'll be re-evaluated in the coming days.
09:29Are they keeping him on the sideline because of the trade deadline?
09:33Mark, I can only tell you that the first thought I had in my head when we were watching that play unfold in Dallas
09:41where Jonathan got hurt was, all right, we aren't going to see him again until after the deadline.
09:47That was it.
09:48Now, is it that serious?
09:51I don't believe so.
09:52He was limping out of the locker room the other night.
09:55And I do think everybody, Kaminga's side, the Warriors, they all want to be cautious because they know what's at stake.
10:02But the first thought I had was, all right, well, we'll see him potentially still on the Warriors in the first week of February once the deadline clears.
10:12Because the other key to all this is everybody keeps thinking, oh, they'll find a way to make it happen.
10:19I just don't feel that.
10:21As I talk to people in the organization, I don't get the sense that they are just going to make a move to make a move.
10:28And right now, that's what it feels like from what they're hearing across the league.
10:34Again, that doesn't mean there's no interest.
10:36It means that what they were to get back, they're just kind of looking at it going, no, we're not going to do this.
10:42We'll just play it out and we'll wait to see what happens in the summer in that case.
10:46But specific to the injury, I don't think anybody is going to rush him back out on the floor.
10:55The only frustration I've seen, even in the last few days, is we've continued to ask, Jonathan, would you like to speak?
11:03Would you like to discuss any of this?
11:05And he continues to say he doesn't.
11:09So only he knows what he's thinking about the trade demand, what Dunleavy said, where he wants to be.
11:17But for right now, he is keeping his cards close to the vest there.
11:22Which makes perfect sense.
11:23I mean, if he was to come out now and be too honest, I don't think that the Kaminga camp would love that.
11:30And the Warriors certainly don't want to make this more of a thing than it already is.
11:34So they got Utah and then just a couple more games heading into the deadline.
11:39In general, Nick, where do you have this team right now?
11:42Where's their head at?
11:43Are we in the dog days and it's just a struggle for them?
11:46We are very much in the dog days, Dibs.
11:50This is a team, when you watch Steph, even in the last few days when he is out there, and the Minneapolis stuff was just crazy, guys.
11:59So I don't even want to measure how everybody was feeling in those couple games there because it was tough for everybody emotionally because of what was happening in the city.
12:11But when you watch Steph and Dallas and then you listen to him, that guy is going through it right now.
12:18He knows in the back of his mind that unless they do something very drastic, the chances of pushing one more time for that title are gone.
12:29And Steph loves proving people wrong.
12:32He loves to hear people say things and then remember it and use it as fuel for later.
12:38So I wouldn't put it completely past him, but he can't do it alone.
12:43And so as I watch this team, Dibs, what I see is a play-in team.
12:47This is a team on a crash course for the play-in tournament.
12:51And maybe they could give a push to somebody in the first round, but if you're playing OKC or Denver in the first round, see ya.
12:58They just don't have enough.
13:00So it's a tough pill to swallow given the way they had been playing even a week ago.
13:07But it's the reality of the NBA when somebody gets hurt, a player like Jimmy.
13:12You take Jimmy out of any lineup, that's lights out for whatever team it is.
13:17And sadly for the Warriors, when he went down, that's it as far as this year goes.
13:22Nick Friedle with us here on Willard & Dibs, 95.7 The Game.
13:25Nick, I get the dynamic, but I'd love to hear you talk on it because I can feel from our listeners that when you said,
13:31how would such and such a move or an idea land in the locker room with Steph and Draymond,
13:37I think our listeners are going, I get worrying about how Steph feels.
13:42But how does the organization continue the dynamic it's always had with Draymond Green?
13:50He's a franchise pillar when he's playing the way he's playing.
13:54How do they do it?
13:57The hardest part for the Warriors and for Draymond is an acknowledgement, Mark,
14:02that while he can still play at a very high level on some nights,
14:06that consistency just isn't there night to night anymore.
14:11To what you're asking, though, and to fans' frustrations, I'd say this.
14:15If you're Draymond and you've poured in 14 years at this point and you've played at an incredibly high level
14:23and delivered four titles, I understand why he would still have a say.
14:28He built this thing with Steph and Klay.
14:31Those three made this happen.
14:34So to think that, oh, well, we'll listen to Steph, but we're not going to listen to Draymond,
14:39I don't think that is going to happen in any way.
14:44And Draymond can still turn it on when he needs to, but, hell,
14:48anybody who's been watching them this year knows that that has not happened enough.
14:53But to think that people are going to say, oh, well, just don't listen to Draymond at all,
14:59he built the thing.
15:00I mean, he built this with Steph and Klay Thompson.
15:04So there are a lot of different dynamics here at play.
15:07But the idea that Draymond is just going to be cast aside and it's going to be,
15:13all right, Steph, what would you like to do?
15:15I don't think that's based in reality.
15:17And it's frustrating because of what you're describing, you know,
15:20where he's just not doing it night in and night out.
15:23And I guess the follow-up for me would be,
15:26does this also preclude Draymond Green's role from changing?
15:29In other words,
15:30is there any possible scenario where he starts coming off the bench for this team?
15:35I think it's possible, Dibs.
15:38When Kerr gave his State of the Union on Christmas Eve,
15:43he talked about exactly that.
15:45And he said he and Draymond have had those conversations.
15:49I think if Draymond's play continues to slide a little bit here in the second half,
15:53I don't think that's out of the question.
15:55But we're describing two different things.
15:58And I understand why the fan base has the frustration that it does.
16:02Because on one hand, you're saying, all right, if Draymond continues to not play well,
16:07you could just bring him off the bench.
16:09And again, I think it is a possibility if he continues at this level.
16:14But on the other hand, you're saying, well,
16:17Draymond's not worthy enough of having the franchise listen to anything he has to say.
16:23And I just don't believe that.
16:26When you've invested what he has,
16:28and you've built the core of a team that has the standard that it does,
16:34I don't think you can just kind of erase that in the moment.
16:38Everybody's going to put a weight and have a say on what Steph thinks.
16:44And he is the centerpiece and always has been.
16:47But the idea that they're going to say, okay, Steph, you come and talk to Joe and Mike.
16:52But Draymond, we're not bringing you in the room.
16:55Sorry.
16:55That is not happening.
16:58And if fans don't like it, you know, they can look and say, well,
17:02it's the same thing that Kerr has said repeatedly.
17:05They don't win the four rings without Draymond.
17:08So you can be frustrated and you can be pissed off.
17:11But I think he has earned the right to be in the middle of whatever the conversation is.
17:18Nick, you think this is Steve Kerr's last year with the Warriors?
17:23I don't.
17:24And, Mark, I hold to not just what I've talked to Steve about over the years,
17:30but what I've listened to him publicly.
17:33All he has ever said is how lucky he feels to be in this moment with Steph Kerr.
17:38And it would shock me if he walked away from Steph knowing that, I mean, let's be real.
17:47Like, Steve's going to be the highest paid coach that there is.
17:50We're talking $15, $20 million a year, whatever that final number is.
17:55If you're Steve Kerr at this stage of your career, are you walking away from that much money
18:00on top of the fact that you love Steph and you love coaching him every day
18:05and you know the tone that he sets for your organization?
18:08So unless he is so mentally burned out from not just this season but the last couple
18:16and he wants to do something completely different in his life,
18:20I don't think he's going anywhere.
18:21And I don't blame the Warriors at all.
18:23I see the frustration every day, Mark.
18:27I feel it from the fan base by what they're saying.
18:30The guy has won at an incredibly high level and even more specific to this exact moment in time,
18:38the best player in franchise history loves him.
18:42So why would you run the risk of pissing off the one guy that everybody still loves
18:47and has universal support within?
18:49So the only person who knows the answer to that is Kerr.
18:52And I'd be surprised if the three of us are sitting in this conversation months from now
18:59and Kerr not only has walked away from Steph,
19:02but he's walked away from 20-some-odd million a year in the process.
19:07Yep, yep.
19:08That makes full sense to me.
19:10Okay, Nick, great stuff.
19:13And, you know, text us later and let us hear some of that pulsating music at the nightclub.
19:18Oh, baby.
19:21I mean, anything's possible, I guess, in Salt Lake.
19:24But don't be counting on that text, my man.
19:27All right, that's fine.
19:28All right, thanks, Nick.
19:29All right, see you guys.
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