Mike Dunleavy Previews Warriors 2025 NBA Draft, Free Agency

Mike Dunleavy Previews Warriors 2025 NBA Draft, Free Agency

all right what’s up guys um I actually want to start by uh congratulating the Valkyries on the win last night and their start of the season it’s been fun to watch um oh Natalie have done a great job players so I think they’re kind of like our sibling in this organization it’s fun to support them and it’s been fun going out check out games and uh really excited for the Bay Area and uh anyway we turn to the draft our stuff right now we’re getting ready for that and uh 41 I will say on that pick there has been a multi-time MVP pick there so anything can happen uh but we’re going through the stuff right now looking at things and uh come Thursday night we’ll be ready to select if that’s that’s where we’re at um we’ll obviously look at other options trade trade up trade back trade out anything’s possible but uh feel pretty good with where we’re at getting to know the draft pretty well and uh hopefully we can grab ourselves another good player and move forward and grow them develop them and um you know add them to the program but open up to questions for anybody that that has them and happy to happy to discuss anything at 41 or otherwise if you trade up or down how how valuable would it be to add a player in the draft that that can like impact the team right away given where you’re at as a as a roster well that’d be great um but I always say I mean it’s really hard to do we’ve been fortunate the last couple years between QP and Trace guys that have been able to come in and play right away a little bit has been great i just never bank on that um I just think it’s hard you’d be lucky to draft a guy in the second round that can make it at all so I think we have to be realistic about what it is but sure i mean we’re gonna analyze this thing look at it and and try and find the best player we can find that’ll uh be able to contribute to this franchise and that’s that’s the goal how much does seeing what Oklahoma City and Indiana did in the finals how young they were fast pace does that impact at all how you’re going to build the team going forward this summer well I think you got to run your own race and in our case we’ve got three players in their 30s that are really good and that’s that’s the hand we’re playing um and certainly admirable to what the the Pacers and the Thunder and some of these other teams have done in the league but we’ve got our group uh we’re committed to that and we got to build with it and around it and that’s kind of what we’ll do and then as time goes on maybe that changes but um multiple different ways to build a team and I think you know the way we’re going about doing ours is is what’s right for us mike you’ve heard I’ve had a few scouts over the years recent years say that 21-year-old draft pick is old um and I’m wonder you guys have kind of gone the other way a little bit lately with guys like Trace and QP um what’s the what’s your feeling on this draft in terms of you know the 18 19 year old guys versus the guys who’ve been around in college for a while and how they would might fit with your team yeah it’s really interesting this year with the draft i mean going through all the different players and looking at their pages the amount of guys they’re 22 23 24 is startling um obviously we have not been afraid to take older players but I think with the NIL stuff you’re seeing more and more you have more underassmen have gone back to school so there’s less younger players particularly in our range where we’re picking so um it’s it’s fascinating i think it’s a it’s a little bit different feel we’re trying to um grasp how that models out with these older guys now we’ve had some success with them but there’s just so many of them this year but it does lend itself to the older guys generally can play sooner than later and if that’s the way it goes maybe that happens but again not going to bank on it these guys are all coming in starting from zero with no NBA experience so you just never know how they adjust mike obviously Tyrese Halleurn’s injury was devastating last night but you had to commend the Pacers for how much they kept fighting fighting just throughout the playoffs also when it comes to roster building how do you know that character-wise you have those guys who are never going to give up who are going to compete no matter what cuz I think that’s what everyone’s kind of taken from that Pacers group yeah I think you can take it from our group too um I mean we’ve got a we’ve got a group that battles it’s a huge priority for us anytime we sign draft or trade for a player knowing knowing that player who they are how competitive they are those things really matter they’re super important um as displayed you know here in the playoffs the finals whether it’s Indiana Oklahoma City um the relentlessness the persistence of those players um and I feel like we’ve got a lot of those guys on our roster so we’re in good shape there and we want to continue to add more of them uh is there any trade you’re prioritizing in the draft more than others i guess as far as trade um you know we’ll look at stuff um I think most likely when you’re in the second round it’s probably looking at moving up or back within that round uh is there a possibility we could move into the first round sure i wouldn’t put it at highly likely but uh you know you never know on draft night you get calls and you explore things you look at stuff and we’ll continue to do that and then trait yeah roster trait all good that works too generality that’s that’s my comment on the trade uh as far as trait I think we look for multiple traits both you know intangibles in terms of character and approach and all that and then there’s some I think skill traits we’re looking for um and I think that’s pretty consistent with the things I’ve identified between shooting defense you know passing those those types of things that generally fit well within our system of how Coach Kerr wants to play and the players we have on our team with Steph Draymond Jimmy those guys um those kind of traits are something that that we look for i think you also have to be mindful just in general when you’re picking uh in the second round the later you go you you’re almost just trying to pick somebody that’s going to make it so you have to be a little careful about being too particular but in general those are the traits we like and then just to follow do you go best player available or if there’s an upside pick maybe at 41 that you might not expect to be there does that I mean how do you weigh those two things yeah I mean I think generally the later you go just the higher probability of the guy making it that’s that’s what we lean towards and um usually those guys have a nice rounded skill set um they have some maybe a glaring deficiency with size or athleticism or one um blatant thing they’re missing but they do a lot of other things really well and maybe that’s how you can kind of beat the system a little bit and get a guy in here that can survive speaking of trades uh I know once the draft is over obviously we’ve seen action before we’ve seen some action happening last few days uh has you getting a measure of what the trade market is do you feel like there’s going to be a lot of action around the league and that you can maybe jump into or are you kind of approaching as we’re going to be aggressive in this trade market yeah I mean I think there’s a lot of different ways we can go um we’ve got some free agents that you know are priorities we got to handle that and but some of that stuff may lean into trades and um other things i mean obviously we got wound up into a big deal last summer um multi-team trade and so anytime you get into the free agent stuff and you start looking at exceptions and cap space and all these things it lends itself to it we’ll be opportunistic um you know I think with our cap and strategy group those guys are really good so we’ll look at everything and it’s hard to say right now though honestly um as far as like what’s out there what could happen but we’ll we’ll definitely be in the mix i mean I think we’ve shown a history of doing that and Mikey you guys have gone from participant to observer in the last four or five weeks of the playoffs as you as you’ve watched these games play out what have you taken about um just watching the way the teams operate the way the rosters are built that might influence you going forward if anything yeah I mean I think it just is out that like you know defense is still really important um and then the offensive end uh to be able to have space in the floor to combat these defenses um you know certainly Indiana had that with some of the floor spacing bigs they had um and then I think you know obviously you go back to further rounds with with the Knicks uh Minnesota like yeah you gota but honestly to go deep in the playoffs you kind of have got to have a little bit of everything you got to play offense you got to play defense you got to have size you got to be able to defend on the perimeter i mean man you got you got to put together a really good team and that’s what Oklahoma City’s done sam did a great job and credit to Indiana as well i mean those guys um heck of a year uh Kevin Pritchard did an amazing job rick Carla what a coach so um just need just need really good players how much in addition to follow up quality depth i mean you saw that especially in the finals here with guys coming up the bench and putting in production how much does that affect versus just a ride like the Knicks did ride your main four five six guys yeah I think there’s multiple ways to do it uh you know last year going into the season we really leaned into depth and uh it was good for us in some ways i think in some ways it creates some issues with you know lineups and playing time and and puts a lot of stress on Steve and the coaching staff in terms of who to play i do think there’s a a level of depth that you have to have um if you can have seven eight nine guys that are NBA rotation players um you’re you’re going to be in business obviously that helps prevent you know issues with injuries where a guy or two goes down but just to make it through it’s a long haul two months of of postseason basketball where it’s at your you know highest limit um you got to have that depth and that’s something that will you know it matters to us like I feel really good about our roster if you look at like guys 10 to 14 10 to 15 like and that’s part of having depth i think we can get better in the middle you know I think we can get better and add some depth there and um then then then we’re really talking seems like uh I mean Desmond Bane gets traded for four first round picks seems like every offseason someone’s getting traded for three four five first round picks in your mind is the draft been has draft been devalued or draft picks been devalued in recent years and kind of where do you see the draft when it comes to building a team terms of importance yeah I mean I think it’s a little bit eye of the beholder uh with the draft picks certain teams value picks differently they value draft pick swaps differently and I think for your own team when you’re sending them out um it’s important to evaluate where you’re at if you’re a younger team you know that has a longer runway then you’re probably going to be more inclined to to send draft picks out if you’re an older team that has a shorter runway you got to be a little bit more protective of those picks and no no doubt you should use them uh when the time comes uh if you’re really trying to win but you got to be selective about it you got to think it through of of the value of your own picks because once you lose them the the path to not being good and sort of doing a little rebuild or anything like that goes out the window because you don’t control your picks where are you at with with Kaminga and his restricted free agency and and how do you hope that situation plays out yeah so we can start with the finals ending last night we can start you know pursuing that uh right now leading up into free agency and uh I think we’re in a good spot with it honestly um we have the ability to bring him back he’s restricted and um you know I think there’ll be good dialogue and I’d like to figure something out sooner than later that’d be great but I also acknowledge with restricted free agency these things can drag out a little bit and take some time but um you I think we feel pretty comfortable with who JK is a player is as a player and what he can do for our organization and you know we’ll we’ll continue you know it’s a main priority going into free agency what what would be the benefits of getting something done sooner than later like why do you want that to happen yeah I mean I think just clarity right roster clarity in terms of what else we need to add in free agency also what you know what we have to spend um in terms of minimums exceptions those different types of things so I think that’s the sooner the better uh for everyone his sake too I would say i I would believe but um you know like I said restricted free a restricted free agency can be a little different so uh we may have to be patient how much do you have to even declare like what his role is going to be in your minds or even in discussions with him uh before you can get to a number before you can decide whether you know it’s better for him to move like do you have to fix in your mind i I know things can change but obviously with Steve and everyone else what his role is going to be and what do you imagine it is right now yeah I think it’s important to have those discussions i mean anytime whether it’s your own guy you’re bringing back or signing a new player you always talk with I talk with the players steve does sometimes he connects with um you know our players on our roster too i mean you have all these conversations in JK’s place in JK’s position being an incumbent player it’s a little bit more known but yeah I think some of those conversations will need to happen especially you know the way this season kind of unfolded last year where there’s some moments where he wasn’t playing as much and then the role’s bigger and it’s kind of then he was in like all this up and down sure that’s something that it’ll probably be necessary to clarify hi Mike uh how has free a how does free agency look different now when you have just the sheer number of trades um do you do you see it any differently i mean I know it’s draft week but that that’s right on the horizon too and maybe that affects the draft too yeah a couple things i mean I think first off teams are less relying on cap space and saving up for big free agents you just see a lot more extensions of players already on the roster so there’s probably less players out there i think the only the other caveat to it is um there’s there’s a few mechanisms that will hardcap you to these different aprons that we have to be aware of and that can restrict um some some moves and some trades and things like that and when those trades do happen it creates those hard caps at times so being lerary of those things um because for us a team that’s willing to spend a lot of money you have to be careful about limiting yourself we did that a little bit last summer with the first apron uh fortunately we were able to move some things around and acquire a player like Jimmy Butler halfway through the season but it can make it hard and so to be mindful of that stuff I think is important does it does more scouting come into play when when you’re looking at potential trade options and things or maybe that maybe that sounds silly i mean I I think we’re on it regardless you know um whether it’s guys that are going to be free agents guys that potentially could be eligible for trade or players that we want to trade for we’ve got a pro scouting staff that’s out there all year long looking at players so I don’t think much has changed in that regard um maybe just some different mechanisms to make it happen mike obviously obviously Oklahoma City winning just championship are very still a very young team is it as simple as saying okay to get out of the West you got to find a way to get past those guys and if so how do you compete with their youth their size their athleticism and all of that yeah well they’ll be the defending champs next year going into the season and they’ll be the team that we got to knock off for sure and um the good news is though I mean there’s there’s been an incredible amount of parody the last six seven years multiple different champions multiple different finalists so um I don’t want to say it’s wide open but uh I don’t think it’s to the point where it was in you know 201617 but this this organization uh where it was really really hard to um you know oust a team so Oklahoma City is really good they’re gonna you know they play their cards right they’re gonna they’re going to be really good for a long time and you know health is a part of that and certain other things but no doubt they’re I mean the regular season they had this year was incredible and obviously making the playoff run to win the championship this year they’re they’re going to be the team to beat mike obviously anything can happen uh and you’re going to be open to everything as you always are but last summer we know kind of the big names that you guys were discussing and came close to or you know however that went um does adding Jimmy Butler and maybe one of the names that was coming up last summer kind of put a little bit of a a ceiling on kind of the the the kinds of names you’re talking about i I know again you never know but that $50 million player whatever is that kind of not going to be in sight this time only because just of our salary structure and the way it works with the amount of money you can use underneath the second apron um that probably restricts it more than anything for us in terms of pursuing the best roster we can so I think we’ll look at stuff we’ll look at players that we really like that may you know we just got to be it’s just almost impossible for us to add players in the salary range of guys we were looking at last summer since we’ve added Jimmy so that’s that that would be the only limiter but in terms of like finding talent improving this team um you know we’re going to look under you know every rock to try and do that this is more out of curiosity than anything but when you have like the 41st pick in a draft and you’re working on draft prep how high up do does like your board go like do you do the top 10 yeah we do yeah we do the whole thing uh just from a process standpoint to be able to look back to see how we’re evaluating players and you know since I’ve been here we’ve drafted um almost at every level we’ve drafted two we drafted seven we’ve drafted 19 we’ve drafted multiple picks in the second round la last pick of the first round that type of stuff so you got to be ready for anything and I think it’s just a good exercise to go through um for us to have a whole complete board you never know draft night something happens you trade up so we got to be ready for everything and it’s a it’s a fun week and exercise to go through all that and uh lock it in and then you can look back and and see how you did mike obviously everybody’s looking for a 16- win player playoffs right but I but I remember Draymond exit interviews was bringing up 82 game players and obviously we know Steph Jimmy Draymond’s ages and everything what is it going to take to get those 82 win players so you guys aren’t in playoff mode in in February already right i mean how do you create that kind of roster so you have a little more comfort in March April yeah I mean hopefully we can get some 96 game 96 win players um hopefully I think I did the math right there but uh yeah I I think it’s a great point um this isn’t a team that we can just say “Hey let’s you know get through the regular season and have a roster ready to go for the postseason the West is really tough the league is really tough i mentioned the parody before so in that regard we’ve got to I mean we won 48 games this year we were in the playin so we’ve got to be able to have a really good team that can sustain the regular season um through some nights of rest through some injuries all that may come about um so yeah we’ve got to have a we’re taking all that into account um guys that can you know we look at you know trades in free agency we’re going to look at guys you know how healthy they are right how many games they play that that stuff is important and uh we’ll factor it all in and hopefully we can also put together a roster that we feel once the regular season turns over to the postseason that team can be really good too obviously a lot of questions about Jonathan but just wanted to check in with two younger guys Brandon Moses i know they went through surgeries this offseason just your overall um expectations for them getting ready for training camp etc yeah on the health front there for sure those guys um had successful procedures and you know nothing major which is good and they’ll be able to get back and definitely be ready by training camp and even have a good a portion of their summer for a player development program and all that so they’re doing well and um hopefully those are things you know get knocked out put it behind you and move on mike whether it’s free agency or the draft where do you prioritize point of attack defense versus rim protection defense great question and I feel like that’s a big debate throughout the league right now and um you know generally the the rim protection’s more valuable at least that’s the way um you know guys are paid and guys are sought after in trades but uh you ask any coach point of attack is pretty important being able to control the ball handle in these pick and rolls some of these guys in this league right now that can guard on the ball um big guards have been highly effective with teams that have gone deep in the playoffs so both are really important um you know with having a guy on our team like Draymond we’re we’re elite with a guy like that um and I think we can be better on the ball so I don’t want to say that means it’s more important uh on the ball for us i would say both are extremely important and we’ll look to look to handle both those in free agency but like to me you can’t have enough it’s like shooting if you can have a bunch of guys out there uh that can that can guard that can switch then most importantly protect the backside uh you’re in business raymond I gota I gotta talk to these guys on Wednesday Thursday night too see you soon after we get by the way and this

Mike Dunleavy met with the media to preview the Golden State Warriors’ 2025 NBA Draft and free agency.