Golden State Warriors | Game Theory Offseason Preview
In this Game Theory offseason preview, Sam Vecenie is joined by Bryce Simon discuss the future of the Golden State Warriors.
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Sam Vecenie, a Senior NBA Writer at The Athletic, talks all about basketball. From the NBA, to the NBA Draft, to college hoops and even some high school, Vecenie has you covered in this show.
15 Comments
Thoughts?
Kuminga signs a 3-year, $72.45 million contract ($23 / $24.15 / $25.3 million)
Charlotte Receives: Jonathan Kuminga
Golden State Receives: Mark Williams, Josh Green
I have been loving these previews. At first I was just waiting for the one on the Blazers but once I started watching a few others I went back and have been watching them all.
Kumminga sucks, if he played for Charlotte or Washington he would be out of the league
17:54
I love Game Theory, but I don't understand how this and pretty much every other Warriors-related podcast that has had to talk about Kuminga have neglected to mention that he has been the best three-man lineup with Steph and Draymond over the last two seasons at +11.12 per 100 over 901 minutes. For reference, Steph and Draymond as a two-man lineup are +6.07 per 100 over 2707 minutes. Jimmy has been +6.31 with Steph and Dray, and Podz has been +7.25 with them. Kerr just refuses to play him.
GT was pretty even-handed, but the discourse around him is bizarrely toxic with fans and the media. It's so weird.
15:26 Bryce stop saying warrior weird hahaha
They can exceed by 7.5m now for trades under 30m.
I agree that Kuminga will be back and they will try to trade him midseason. That seems to be the simplest answer to that problem and it allows them to go after higher salary targets. Even at 30 mil, I don't think the Warriors will have trouble filling out the roster. They like to start the season with 13 spots filled and opt to use the 2-ways as their back end of the roster. I'm a huge fan of Gui and I think if he could get his fouling under control, he would shine in a larger role (which could come post Kuminga trade).
On a semi-related note, Sam, do you remember if there was any interest in Franz from the Warriors' side going into that draft? At that time, I thought he was the no-brainer day 1 fit for the team and I was disappointed that they didn't draft him. Even with his shot being a mess, he would fit infinitely better than Kuminga does right now.
Not sure how S&T with Kuminga would (hard cap ?!) work … but in general Utah is interesting to me.
Feels like a case were a player doesn‘t fit and the GM doesn‘t want to make a mistale leading to a shitstorm, but it hurts both sides
If i could get 2 protected, solid 1st‘s back from the Jazz and just dump the money, i do that or get Clarkson + 1 1st & 2 2nds.
Clarkson + 1st to the Mavs for PJ Washington makes sense to me. (Kyrie is out … Clarkson)
GS is paying Jimmy 50m+ and in 2 yrs the Steph party is over. Their FO has to get busy.
Kuminga is a 4yr pro and there s no clear role or path. Future drafted guys will have potential too.
Kuminga -> Utah for Clarkson & picks
Clarkson & pick -> Dallas for PJ Washington
Hield (+ pick) to Orlando -> Mo Wagner (or Goga)
If there s a way to sign Ty Jerome or Merrill or … that is better imo, than the Kuminga project and Buddy Hield
Trade Draymond!
Wait, I just remembered trades need another team willing to pay his salary. Damn.
Kerr is in the last year of his contract. The gm said this a 1 year experiment with jimmy
The Warriors hitched their wagon to Draymond Green and will struggle to get through the play-in once again. Their core is too old to be a Championship contender, especially in the West. Medicority will haunt them.
The fundamental problem with Kuminga is he has played 258 games and still a top 100ish player in the league. There are like 50 more young players that are better than him. So just stop pretending he is the future MVP HOFer..trade him for any value that helps them winning now. I cant think of anyone who becomes a star after playing this long in the league, especially with a winning club like warriors.
Some of Bryce's best work in any of these previews was pushing back on Sam's "Sign Him & Figure It Out Later" thoughts. He cut to the chase perfectly at 16:22 – there's no belief that JK will be on the Warriors playoff roster next year. Which Sam agrees with. Which begs the question of giving someone a $100M/4 year contract in the hopes that Some Other Team will take 3.5 years of the contract off your hands for Someone of Some Value.
Not trying to be critical, but if:
1. Kerr doesn't value him (note the games he sat in Round 1)
2. the rest of the league hasn't valued him in the summers of 2023 & 2024 as a prospect on a vastly cheaper rookie contract…
How does one have a real hope that Some Team is going to be willing to eat the last 3.5 years of $25M a year that we all agree we wouldn't pay $25M a year for?
I think one needs to give up the notion of JK having trade value on that type of contract. It needs to be a pure money decision:
How much AAV & Length should GSW be willing to pay for a Roster Spot that that Coach won't play in the playoffs baring injury disaster?
TPMLE & the Bi-Annual aren't really an amount a team with the hopes of GSW want to spend on a non-player. We saw how well that worked for Denver with Saric.
If someone is will to give him $25M, let him walk.
Side note: If you're BRK, would you rather have JK on the books for $25M each year in 2027 & 2028 & 2029… or save that money towards the 25% of the Cap for Reaves when he's an UFA that you mentioned in the LAL preview? I really don't think a smart team can piss away multi-year cap space on a player who is… well… not really helpful in build a winning team at that amount of money.
Here are The Warriors' options with Jonathan Kuminga.
1. Sign-and-Trade (Summer): This gets messy fast because of BYC rules. If Kuminga signs for around $30M/year, only $15M counts as outgoing salary, so the Warriors would need to add more players or take back less money. Plus, any sign-and-trade automatically triggers the First Apron hard cap ($195.9M), which kills their access to the full MLE (~$12.9M) and limits their trade flexibility all season.
2. Sign Him, Try to Make It Work, Else Trade in December: This seems like the cleanest approach. After December 15th, his full $30M salary counts for matching since BYC rules expire. The Warriors keep their MLE access and avoid hard-cap restrictions over the summer. The key here is they'd need to genuinely try to make it work with Kuminga – if it doesn't pan out, they can trade him midseason with full flexibility.
3. Let Him Walk: Tough decision, but it's on the table. If they can't find a good deal and his price gets too high, letting Kuminga walk keeps them flexible. They avoid the hard cap, keep the MLE, and can sign players who actually fit their system. Not ideal, but it makes sense given the new CBA restrictions.
I think it is option 2. They have to try to make it work, and if does not, they can consider trading him.