Rounding up all Warriors and NBA related news for Wednesday, July 17th.
The Golden State Warriors’ interest in big man Lauri Markkanen has been made very public over the past couple of weeks. However, despite a reported Warriors’ offer of Moses Moody and future draft picks for the Utah Jazz All-Star, talks between the two sides continue to stall ahead of Aug. 6th, the day Markkanen becomes extension eligible and the rumored deadline for any deal.
While the Warriors are rightfully hesitant to sacrifice all of their future assets in a potential trade, the Jazz, meanwhile, are focused on one particular Golden State player more than others: second-year guard Brandin Podziemski.
“The Jazz are more focused on Brandin Podziemski”@ShamsCharania breaks down a potential Warriors trade with the Jazz for Lauri Markkanen to @WorldWideWob, @Darthamin, and Ryan McDonough at #NBA2kSummerLeague pic.twitter.com/24qnyamEbN
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) July 16, 2024
Podziemski, alongside hyper-athletic wing Jonathan Kuminga and the team’s assortment of future draft picks, is among Golden State’s top trade assets. The second-year guard showed vast improvement in his offensive game during his two Summer League performances and is expected to play a big role for the team next season.
Having said that, Markkanen is seen as the missing piece to catapult the Warriors into championship contention. However, parting with a promising talent like Podziemski, or any of the team’s young core, presents a tough decision for the Warriors’ front office making this a storyline to watch closely as the next few weeks unfold.
For more on this and other news around the NBA, here is our latest news round-up for Wednesday, July 17th:
The Golden State Warriors have been the most engaged team for Markkanen in recent weeks, as league sources tell The Athletic they have discussed a proposal around Moses Moody, multiple first-round picks, multiple pick swaps and multiple second-round picks. The Jazz, however, have asked for the bulk of young talent and capital the Warriors possess, including Moody, Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski, along with picks, which has been a non-starter thus far for Golden State, league sources said.
“We’re not going to shift dramatically,” Kerr said. “With Steph and Draymond, we’re always going to run a lot of things through those guys. And they’re going to play the way they play. But I do think that we can be, like I said, more patterned. We have to practice more. Bottom line, we have to practice more. I’ve got to figure out a better way to streamline practice, get our actions over and over again into patterns so that we can execute better against pressure defense. … We’ve always been a team that has had to rely on execution and movement because we’re not a great one-on-one team. But with the group that we have now, I think we need more work and more repeatable patterns.”
“What I didn’t like was my turnovers, but what I did like was I was able to have the combination of scoring and getting my teammates involved,” Podziemski told reporters in Las Vegas after the game. “I think against [the Sacramento Kings in the California Classic], I was just out there trying to do stuff that I had worked on, and I wasn’t really playing within the flow of within the team.
“Yesterday I played, [and] it felt easier for me and today it felt even better, so knowing that I’m going to score naturally through the offense and I don’t necessarily have to force anything is something that I’m always reminded of. I love getting my teammates involved because it inspires them to do the same thing.”
The CEO recently addressed what Golden State is willing to do in order to take advantage of Steph Curry’s remaining NBA seasons, telling The Athletic’s David Aldridge and Marcus Thompson why he can’t just trade away all of the team’s young talent to acquire another superstar.
“Marcus, you’re assuming that by trading all of your emerging young players, potentially young stars, that you are going to be better,” Lacob told Thompson on the “Hoops Adjacent” podcast when asked why the Warriors don’t make such a trade to help out Curry. “We run analytical models on all that stuff. We will make the deal that makes us better. We look at the short term and the intermediate term and, to some extent, long term as well, but that’s a factor.
“We have an incredibly complex model these guys run about how good we will be, and it’s not everything what the press writes all the time, or what people say on the internet blogs. So, we’re very aware of that. And you can’t make a trade that makes you worse, and then expect to be better.”
Warriors sign guard Daeqwon Plowden to two-way contract pic.twitter.com/LWmmkCDaLL
— Warriors PR (@WarriorsPR) July 17, 2024
Too complicated? The commissioner was asked if the intricacies of the CBA – with its caps, luxury tax restrictions, penalties on big spenders and concepts such as “first and second aprons” – have made it difficult for fans and even media to follow along.
“We always try to find that balance that we want a system both that substantively serves its goals,” Silver said, “but we want it to be understandable.”
Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving underwent surgery to repair a broken left hand, the team announced Tuesday.
Irving suffered the injury while training earlier this month.
While the Mavericks did not provide a timetable for Irving to be cleared to return to basketball activity, sources expressed optimism that he would recover in time to participate in training camp in about 2 1/2 months.
Free agent G Gary Trent Jr. has agreed on a one-year deal with the Milwaukee Bucks, Rich Paul and Lucas Newton of @klutchsports tell ESPN. Trent reunites with Damian Lillard and joins a Bucks organization that recruited him hard to chase a title with them. pic.twitter.com/jXmQuCcRMx
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 16, 2024
Basically, the Warriors have secured a player who probably won’t hurt them if pressed into action next season. They’re not expecting big-time scoring, even though his summer has been encouraging in that respect. But the team needs an athletic player who will shoot threes when he’s open while holding his own on defense. That’s Plowden.
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