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00:00Joining us right now on the River Islands guest line on Willard and Dibs is the GM of the Warriors,
00:05Mike Dunleavy.
00:06Hey, Mike, what's going on today?
00:08Hey, guys. Thanks for having me. Doing well.
00:11Back here in San Francisco after an exciting game last night in Houston.
00:15And, yeah, the beat goes on.
00:17Well, can you tell us, and I guess this is just one moment in time, right?
00:22But that felt like something more than one victory.
00:25Can you give us a little bit of a window into what last night feels like it did for everybody
00:30in the building?
00:32Yeah, I mean, I think it was just a great display of the resolve our group has, right?
00:36I think it's been showcased over the last decade plus.
00:39And, you know, we know this group, Steve, Graymon, Steph.
00:43Those guys just have unbelievable resiliency.
00:46They set the tone on our culture, the whole thing.
00:48And so I think to be rewarded last night with a win, because frankly, the last few weeks, I mean,
00:53obviously we had a great win against Denver.
00:55We were very, very undermanned.
00:57But, you know, we had some tough – like the Clippers, I thought we played pretty well.
01:00I just couldn't, you know, couldn't finish at the end.
01:03San Antonio before the All-Star break, a little bit of the same way.
01:06Like, we played some really good games being undermanned, and you just can't figure out a way to find a
01:10positive result.
01:11And last night was the one we finally got through on, and I think guys felt great about it.
01:15We got some great wins there in Houston last year in Game 7, Game 6 back in – I think
01:21it was 2019.
01:21Like, there's been some pretty big Warrior wins there, so it felt like the good old days last night.
01:27Yeah, and you mentioned resolve, and I'm also looking at, you know, the roster, and it's Leons and Cryer and
01:32Williams and Santos and Post and Spencer.
01:35No disrespect, but when you have a roster of guys who are either second-round picks or undrafted, the expectations
01:42must go down, right?
01:44Well, I don't know.
01:45Not when you have a locker room and you got Steph and Draymond in there.
01:48I mean, I mentioned Al Horford, too.
01:49Al's one of the greatest players in this league, true veteran.
01:53He's been around forever.
01:54He's won at the highest level.
01:56He kind of fits right into our fabric, right into our culture.
01:58He's another guy that just has pushed this group all year long just to hang in there.
02:03You know, we've had some tough breaks.
02:04Jimmy's injury, Steph going down, you know, acquiring KP, and he hasn't been able to play that much yet.
02:09So, these guys have come in there at a level that's unbelievable, and the younger guys have sort of latched
02:14on.
02:14And, you know, the guys you mentioned, I think we had six guys last night that have been on two
02:18-way contracts for us.
02:20And so, those guys all contributed, and guys like Moses Moody and Guy Santos and Brandon Pazemski,
02:26guys that just have kind of picked up the ways of this organization, and they're trying to push it through.
02:31Mike, I think we definitely want to continue to sit in the moment a little bit,
02:35but also do some big-picture stuff with the opportunity to talk to you.
02:40And let's talk about Kristaps Porzingis for a minute.
02:43Can you kind of, and I know you've done this already,
02:46but I'd love it if you would take our listeners through the thought process of that trade,
02:52and then also, like, has it kind of gone the way you thought it would?
02:59Like, what was the evaluation of the health situation, and maybe how has that evolved since then?
03:05Yeah, I mean, I think the thought process for us on the trade was the opportunity to get a player
03:10of his quality,
03:12who, when healthy, is pretty good, pretty unique, right?
03:14Like, what he can do on the defensive end, what he can do on the offensive end.
03:18And then we had to calculate what we thought the ability and the chances of him, you know,
03:23being healthy and playing a bunch for us.
03:24We felt pretty good about that.
03:26We still do.
03:26We still do.
03:27There's been a little bit of a hiccup.
03:29He played one game, and he's been out, but I think his return is imminent.
03:32And so I think from a trade standpoint, to acquire that talent, you know,
03:37obviously we're given, you know, what we gave up is what we gave up.
03:39And, you know, it's a young player that had, you know, frankly asked to be moved.
03:44And so when you factor all that in, it's like we get a guy that, you know,
03:48we think can help us now, possibly to bring him back in the future,
03:52complements our current group, and we're trading out a player that, you know,
03:55didn't want to be here.
03:57That was kind of the thought process behind the trading.
03:59And so does it come with risk like all these things do?
04:02Absolutely.
04:03Last year we traded for Jimmy Butler, and I think a lot of people thought,
04:06what are you doing?
04:07You know, this is a guy that hasn't played for Miami.
04:08He's holding everything up there.
04:10And so we took some risk there, but we believed in it, and it's worked out,
04:14and we kind of feel the same way about KP.
04:16So we'll see how it goes.
04:18These things can take some time, but, you know,
04:21we feel good about the contributions he can make now and moving forward.
04:24And was part of the deal the flexibility and also the optionality?
04:28These are great GM buzzwords that you could create if, you know,
04:32if KP is not actually going to be able to play a bunch,
04:35was that part of the calculus for you guys?
04:39I mean, a very little bit.
04:40We're always looking at that type of stuff.
04:42But frankly, you know, with the Kaminga contract, it's very similar.
04:45So I wouldn't say that's a huge component of it.
04:48A huge component of it is just we're getting a player, like, you know,
04:52we're getting a really good basketball player.
04:53And for us to help us win now and continue pushing through this season,
04:57that was really important.
04:58Hey, Mike, I'd love to do, like, sort of salary cap
05:02and aprons for dummies for a second.
05:04Nice.
05:05Because this is like –
05:06It's not very fun.
05:07It is not very fun.
05:08I know.
05:08And we don't, like –
05:09We don't get it.
05:11We're all on a trade machine,
05:12and I know that there's all kinds of things that we don't understand.
05:16So this might – this is a hypothetical, obviously,
05:19but you get to the offseason,
05:21you'll decide whether or not you want to keep Kristaps Porzingis,
05:26what it would cost, et cetera, et cetera.
05:28But the bird rights and everything like that,
05:30if he were to just move on,
05:34that salary that you sent out in Jonathan and Buddy, the $30 million,
05:38is it as simple that, like, you get to go shopping now with that $30 million,
05:43or does it not work that way?
05:46Yeah, it doesn't really work exactly that way
05:48given where the rest of our contract and spending are.
05:51You know, if it was –
05:52If we had a ton of money, quote, unquote, coming off the books,
05:55you could acquire cap space, and then you could go spend elsewhere.
05:59That wouldn't be the case on this one particular salary slot.
06:02Does it provide for some other flexibility
06:04and some other things we can do that we'll plan and prepare for?
06:07Yeah, but it's not as simple as, like, $30 million out
06:11and then go find $30 million in.
06:14It's a little bit trickier than that,
06:16but the – you know, in layman's terms,
06:18that's sort of the best explanation I can give.
06:20So then, Mike, let me ask you this,
06:22and I know that you guys have repeatedly talked about,
06:25hey, we made our big move.
06:26We got Jimmy Butler.
06:29But with all things that you know now,
06:31Chris Stops may or may not be a part of this,
06:34but what would you tell fans in terms of how aggressively
06:37you can chase upgrades this offseason?
06:42Yeah, I mean, we can be as aggressive as we want to be.
06:45I think we're going to be able to be in the mix
06:46and, you know, all the deals and the players you may want to acquire.
06:50That's been the case the last few years.
06:52I mean, we've got all of our draft picks.
06:54We've got good assets.
06:55Our books are clean.
06:56So we have – we have the means to do all that.
06:58We've just got to be – we've got to be disciplined about it.
07:00It's something I kind of mentioned the last few years,
07:03that you've got to be very careful about these things.
07:05Everybody wants you to go out and make a big splash move.
07:08And you go back and look and analyze what teams have done
07:11over the last decade or so.
07:12You've got to be very careful.
07:13You know, there's some teams that have got to put themselves
07:15in a tough situation by kind of mortgaging the future.
07:18And what we've been able to do is improve the team
07:21by using very little draft capital,
07:23whether it's the deal to get Andre Iguodala's contract move
07:26to eventually acquire Andrew Wiggins and get a championship in 22,
07:30or last year using one first-round pick to get a player like Jimmy Butler.
07:33Those are kind of the moneymaker deals that you want to be in the business
07:37for right now, especially with where we're at, you know,
07:39in our time zone, time frame.
07:41So, look, we'll look at everything.
07:43We do look at everything.
07:44And we've been really close on some stuff.
07:46But ultimately, you've got to be disciplined and do the right thing.
07:49And I think we'll continue to go down that path.
07:51And part of the discipline will be this offseason
07:53where you can extend Steph into the future.
07:56Have you guys talked about what he might want to do
07:58and how long he might want to be here and what that number might be?
08:02Yeah, I mean, we've certainly envisioned Steph finishing his career here.
08:07No doubt about that.
08:08I'd say on all this stuff kind of coming this summer,
08:11it's in the back of our mind, but it's not top of mind.
08:14Right now, like, we're focused on this 20-game stretch.
08:17How do we get into the playoffs?
08:19How do we get Steph back playing this season?
08:21Those are the type of conversations we're having.
08:24Really hard to, like, get too far ahead of it into summer
08:27and who's making what, we'll be prepared.
08:30But right now, those aren't really the discussions we're having.
08:32Can you give people an idea of what conversations are like
08:36between you and Steph?
08:37Because this constantly comes up around here where,
08:41I think all star players in the NBA,
08:44we assume that they are the assistant GM.
08:47Everything needs to be run by them.
08:49And at a player who's about to be 38 years old,
08:52the assumption is that he would talk to you a lot about the plan
08:56over whatever the remainder of his career is going to be.
09:00Is it actually like that?
09:02How would you describe that?
09:05I'd say it's more keeping him in the loop.
09:07I mean, Steph is just not the type to come up to my office every day
09:11and say, what's the plan?
09:12Where are we going?
09:13You know, it's just not who he is.
09:14He's so focused on our team and his own game
09:17and getting better every day and keeping this thing going
09:20that he just doesn't operate that way.
09:22We've got a great rapport, good relationship.
09:24You know, I share a lot of stuff with him.
09:26But honestly, he doesn't want to be bothered with that stuff constantly.
09:29So when the time's right, we're always talking,
09:32we're figuring things out.
09:34I've got a great sense of kind of where he's at
09:36and always have a good sense of the pulse of the team
09:38from talking to him.
09:39But it is not a constant day in, day out,
09:42hey, what are we doing here?
09:44That's just not healthy,
09:46and that's honestly not how Steph operates.
09:47Is that how Draymond operates?
09:49And I don't want to get into whether or not
09:50that he was like dangled or offered,
09:52but it seems to us out here
09:54that Draymond is much more interested in that
09:57than just about anybody.
09:59I think he's interested in it just from a,
10:01you know, from a salary cap, team building type of standpoint,
10:05like his just interest in the game.
10:08But obviously, you always want to know
10:09kind of what's going on with you and your future.
10:11But both those guys,
10:12I really keep them in the loop.
10:14I haven't had a player so far
10:16that's really like that interested
10:19and banging down the door on what's going on
10:21and can we do this
10:22and sending me, you know,
10:23I don't know what they do,
10:24maybe send you a tweet.
10:25Is this deal real?
10:26Should we do like,
10:27those guys just don't do that.
10:29They're incredibly focused on their job.
10:31They've done an amazing job
10:32and that's why they, you know,
10:33have lasted so long.
10:34They worry about the things they can control
10:36and they focus on the game
10:38and, you know, let me focus on my job.
10:40Mike Dunleavy Jr., the GM of the Warriors,
10:43is with us here on Withered and Dibs 95.7, the game.
10:46All right, Mike, I always chuckle a little bit on the inside
10:49when I hear people say,
10:51everything for Steph, cannot let Steph go.
10:54And then at the same time, they're like,
10:55man, the Warriors have let themselves get really old.
10:58And, you know, maybe they shouldn't have done that.
11:02What is your response to the idea
11:04that the Warriors are too old?
11:09Well, yeah, I mean, I think compared to being young,
11:11you'd much rather have young.
11:13But when you're aging and you're getting older,
11:16but you're still really good,
11:17like you can't, you just can't bail on that.
11:20And Steph and Draymond are two of the key stakeholders in it
11:23and they performed at a level,
11:24I mean, Draymond just turned 36.
11:26What he's doing defensively still is incredible.
11:29Obviously, Steph's performance is speak for themselves.
11:31So those guys have just extended this thing
11:35by their own play.
11:36And that's kind of what we're rolling with.
11:38And so, yeah, we'd much rather be 21 years old
11:42with this 10-year window coming up.
11:43But like, that's not,
11:44you can't just snap your fingers and have that,
11:46especially when you have two Hall of Famers
11:48like Steph and Dray who still have it.
11:50And we've gone all in with them in terms of bending,
11:54you know, building a team around them,
11:56which is a major commitment.
11:58And then using, you know,
11:59the appropriate assets to keep getting better.
12:01So I'm kind of fine with how things have gone.
12:05Like, this is the way you should do it.
12:06And then there'll be a time
12:07where you kind of do look to get younger.
12:09But for now, we feel like we're following the path
12:12and we're keeping the music playing
12:13and that's the right thing to do.
12:15And with that in mind,
12:16are you then more willing to part with next year's
12:19or this year's rather draft pick
12:21in terms of maybe adding a player
12:23as opposed to, you know,
12:24picks that are two, four, six years down the road?
12:27Yeah, sure.
12:28I mean, I think as the way the league values it,
12:30yeah, I mean, our draft picks way further out
12:32when they see a future without Steph and Draymond,
12:35those picks are probably more valuable.
12:37So on our end,
12:39I mean, that's just kind of the sliding scale
12:41of what things will cost
12:42and what we'll have to give up.
12:43So we're willing to do whatever it takes,
12:46but if we're going to put that stuff out there,
12:48it's got to be well worth it.
12:49Mike, in looking at the way things
12:53all sort of developed here at the end
12:55at the trade deadline,
12:56and I'm mindful that you just said
12:59that, you know, the player,
13:01Jonathan Kaminga, had requested a trade.
13:03He did not want to be here.
13:04But let's look at the entire sort of five years.
13:07You weren't always the GM,
13:08but you've been a part of this.
13:10Do you think organizationally,
13:12you guys have any regrets
13:14with the way this all went down?
13:19You know, I don't really want to get too into it.
13:23I think the best thing,
13:24the thing I would say is just
13:25with young players and player development
13:27and all that stuff,
13:29you want to put your best foot forward.
13:30I think we did that.
13:32And the key in all this I've learned
13:33is you have to have buy-in from the player
13:36and you have to have buy-in from the organization.
13:38There's buy-in in both ends.
13:40And that wasn't fully met
13:41if I'm looking back on it.
13:43And that's on both sides, right?
13:46There's go down the road of who's to blame,
13:48who's not.
13:49These things don't always work out though.
13:51This isn't the first draft pick
13:53the Warriors have made
13:54or the league has made
13:56where it just hasn't worked out
13:57and guys move on
13:58and do better in different situations.
14:00And that's just the NBA.
14:02I frankly experienced it myself.
14:04So that's the way it goes.
14:07We're moving on.
14:08He's moving on.
14:09It's all good.
14:10And, you know,
14:12we feel good about the young players we have,
14:14the way they're growing and all that.
14:16And we'll continue down that path.
14:17Interesting you brought up your own career
14:19because we were talking yesterday
14:20about Brandon Pajemski
14:22and how fans seem to be more down on him
14:24than they should be.
14:26And we thought about you, Mike.
14:27And I've been around long enough
14:28and so has my partner.
14:29Like, remembering when you were the number three pick
14:31and fans were more down on you
14:33than they probably should have been.
14:35When you look at pods,
14:36does it remind you a little bit of yourself
14:38in terms of the echo chamber
14:40and the criticism?
14:43Well, I wish I was as good as pods
14:45my first few years.
14:46Let me put it like that.
14:47So I guess in that sense, it doesn't.
14:50He's been a tremendous player for us
14:52on both ends of the court.
14:53Can shoot, pass, dribble,
14:55make really good decisions.
14:56He's a hell of a rebounder.
14:58Defends really well.
14:59So, yeah, I wish I was that good.
15:01So I'm not sure what the complaints
15:04about him would be.
15:05But he's, you know,
15:07he's a tough, fiery competitor.
15:08We love having him.
15:09I mean, last night was a perfect example.
15:11That's a guy you want in Foxhole with you.
15:13He was tremendous.
15:14And we'll continue to work with him
15:16and allow him to grow.
15:18But we're really happy with him as a player
15:20and, you know, thankful to be able to draft him
15:22at 19 a few years ago.
15:23And he's grown really nicely.
15:25And, no, I guess the parallels
15:28probably aren't that great
15:29because I just, you know,
15:31I wasn't good enough
15:33at that point in my career.
15:34It took me a little bit of time
15:35to become a good player.
15:37And Brandon's been good from the get-go.
15:38Mike, Steve was on a couple of days ago
15:41talking about the entire
15:42organizational developmental process
15:45and that some adjustments
15:47maybe were made a few years ago.
15:48And to build off your answer there
15:50about pods and also let's look
15:52at Moses Moody and Guy Santos,
15:54who you guys just signed to an extension.
15:57How are you guys feeling
15:59about your young player
16:01developmental process right now?
16:04Yeah, we did look at some stuff
16:06and evaluate it.
16:07I think in a really good way
16:08a few years ago.
16:09Of course, when you're rolling
16:11through the finals every year,
16:12you know, six NBA finals,
16:14you're playing late into June
16:15and then a week later
16:16you have summer league.
16:17Like, they're just,
16:18player development gets put
16:19on the wayside
16:20because you've got all these
16:21good veteran players.
16:22You pick late, you know,
16:24in the drafts every year.
16:25And then all of a sudden
16:26you realize, shoot,
16:27we need these young players
16:28to grow and play and be good.
16:30Not only because of your future,
16:33but also because the other
16:34veteran players are making
16:35a lot of money.
16:36And so for the salary cap stuff
16:37to work and all,
16:38you need to have good,
16:39cheap labor.
16:39And so we revamped the process.
16:42I feel really good about it.
16:43A lot of that is day in
16:45and day out work,
16:46but a lot of it is the way
16:47we use Santa Cruz
16:48as a proving ground
16:50for our young players.
16:51I talked about before,
16:53we had six guys
16:54that are on two-way contracts
16:55playing last night
16:56at one point or another
16:57in our organization.
16:58So it's a full remodel
17:01on the development
17:02and the drafting process
17:04and all that.
17:05And for the large part,
17:06I think it's gone quite well.
17:07We feel good about it.
17:08We feel good about the trajectory
17:10these guys are on.
17:11So how do you bridge that
17:12between now
17:13and maybe the end of next year
17:14where you've got,
17:15you know,
17:15maybe a drafted player
17:16and more young guys?
17:17How do you still try
17:18to maximize the Steph Curry window
17:19while also, you know,
17:21nurturing and developing
17:22Will and Guy
17:23and Quentin and the rest?
17:25Yeah, I think you just keep
17:26making good, sound,
17:27solid decisions,
17:28whether that's in free agency,
17:29that's a draft,
17:30that's trades.
17:31Every decision you make
17:32is important,
17:33you know,
17:34whether it's the back
17:34of the roster
17:35or some big major move.
17:36We see all those
17:37as really, really important.
17:39A guy like Guy Santos
17:40who's picked in the 50s,
17:41what he's doing
17:42and contributing
17:43to our team right now,
17:44who would have guessed
17:45that last year,
17:46much less three years ago?
17:48So I think the way
17:49we look at it
17:49is just good, sound,
17:51solid decisions.
17:52Keep, you know,
17:53keep it in singles,
17:54doubles,
17:55mix in a home run or two
17:56and like,
17:56you're going to be good
17:57for a long time
17:58and that's sort of
17:58the thought process
17:59we're taking.
18:00Speaking of young players,
18:02Lil Bertie told me
18:03that maybe you're going
18:03to see one play tonight.
18:05Now, he may not play basketball,
18:07but he's a pretty good
18:09young player.
18:10Is this true or false, Mike?
18:12I mean,
18:13I'm going to see
18:13a great young player
18:14tonight down in San Jose
18:16and he plays on ice
18:18and he happens to be
18:20related to somebody
18:21I work very close with
18:22and taking my kids down there.
18:24We're really excited.
18:26Obviously, we got caught up
18:27in it a few weeks ago
18:28with the Olympics.
18:29That was so fun to watch
18:30and they've got a little bit
18:32of hockey fever right now.
18:33So we go check it out.
18:34Mike, we were just there
18:35on Tuesday night
18:35for that 7-5 win over Montreal.
18:37He scored.
18:38He had like 37,000 assists.
18:40At least.
18:42Mike, he's unbelievable.
18:43He's incredible.
18:46No, he's incredible.
18:47He's, you know,
18:48I don't want to get ahead
18:49of it too soon,
18:50but you think what we've had
18:51with Steph Curry here
18:52over the last 16 years,
18:53whatever it's been,
18:54this guy's got a chance
18:55to be in the same light
18:56for the Bay Area.
18:57So, you know,
18:59let's keep our fingers crossed
19:00and, you know,
19:01everybody stay healthy
19:01and the whole thing.
19:02But Max,
19:04he's going to be one
19:05of the greats of the game
19:06for a long time to come.
19:07Mike, have fun tonight.
19:08Thank you so much
19:09for the time, man.
19:10All right, guys.
19:11Thanks for having me.
19:12Talk soon.
19:12All right, definitely.
19:13Mike Dunleavy Jr.,
19:14the GM of the Warriors.
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