Dub Hub: Mike Dunleavy Jr. explains why the Warriors have not signed another big

Rounding up all Warriors and NBA related news for Wednesday, September 27th.

Warriors News:

GM Mike Dunleavy Jr. says the team has ‘five guys’ who can play center

Chris Paul’s fit, looming contracts among biggest storylines for Warriors’ 2023-24 season | ESPN

Team sources told ESPN that the ideal fit is a “glue guy” who will not be a distraction in a locker room already juggling multiple strong personalities. Following the splintered chemistry and the blockbuster addition of Paul, it’s clear Golden State wants to ensure stability behind the scenes this season.

Where do Klay Thompson extension talks stand? The biggest Warriors question entering camp | The Athletic

The introduction of the second apron has made everything a little trickier. Beginning the following summer, if the Warriors are still into that second level of the tax bracket (where they currently live), they’ll be hit with a handful more punitive penalties, which include the loss of the mini midlevel exception, an inability to add buyout players in-season and frozen draft picks.

That’s been viewed as a no go for the Warriors internally. They’re remodeling their roster with the intention of ducking the second apron next summer and maintaining flexibility. It was a core reason for the Poole-for-Chris Paul trade. Poole is owed $30.1 million for the 2024-25 season. Paul’s $30 million that season is fully non-guaranteed until June 28, able to be completely shed, if needed.

Kawakami: Steve Kerr on the Warriors’ lineup decision, Chris Paul’s drive, Kevon Looney’s influence and more | The Athletic

“I think early in his career, Loon, when he first started making an impact, he was kind of the guy you could just use in any capacity,” Kerr said. “Start him, give him what we call the Senior Day start, where you play him six minutes at the beginning of each half and then don’t play him the rest of the time. You could play him off the bench even though he was the best center of the group. You could do some combination. Part of the beauty of Loon is that he’s a winner and he’s an incredibly accommodating, team-first player.

“But I’m not going to penalize him for that, I know that much. He’s become one of the best offensive rebounders in the league. Great presence for us in the locker room, on the court. He’s one of our most impactful players. So there’s no way I’m just gonna say, ‘All right, we’ll just bring Loon off the bench because he’s so accommodating.’ That has nothing to do with it at this point. He’s one of our best players. He needs to be out there. And he’s going to play a ton.”

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr discusses his expiring contract situation

Happy 58th birthday to Warriors head coach Steve Kerr

NBA News:

Magic Johnson says Knicks only NBA team he’d consider owning | ESPN

Johnson named the Golden State Warriors, Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks as teams he turned down, rather than find himself in competition with the Lakers. The Knicks, though, offer something different.

“I think because of the way fans love basketball you might have to think about that one, because I love coming to New York and going to the Garden and watching the Knicks play,” Johnson said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I love being with fans who are so passionate about their team and the Knick fans are, and they’re smart. They’re smart basketball fans and so that one I would have to think about. I think that other than that, I would probably never think about ever being a part of another franchise.”

Nets expect Ben Simmons to be full participant at training camp | ESPN

That was the message from Nets coach Jacque Vaughn and general manager Sean Marks to reporters Tuesday morning in Brooklyn, where they said Simmons is fully participating in 5-on-5 workouts without any restrictions, and should be ready to go when the first practice of training camp gets underway in a week.

“Pretty simple that way which is good for me to say, and I think that fits into an exciting time for me to have this group together,” Vaughn said. “No restrictions at the beginning of the year — get to form an identity together, get to form some relationships at the beginning of the year, a style of play, so really looking forward to the challenge and getting to training camp because of that.”

In case you missed it at Golden State of Mind:

Chris Paul is already sacrificing for the Warriors

Looking at Southwest’s schedule, I think we can assume that Paul took the 6:30 AM direct flight from LAX to SFO, which got him into town at 7:50. Dunleavy unforturnately did not share whether Paul managed to check into his flight early enough to get in Boarding Group A, which would have saved him important time when disembarking. After all, Paul always has excellent efficiency numbers.

It’s a good sign that Paul is willing to make these sacrifices already, since Steve Kerr hasn’t committed to Paul joining the starting lineup. But if Paul is willing to cram his body into a narrow Southwest Airlines seat, sitting on the bench seems relatively easy.

Raptors take the lead in Damian Lillard sweepstakes

If Lillard is, indeed, traded to an Eastern Conference team, it means that we can eliminate two near-locks from the Western Conference All-Star guard rotation: Lillard, and Ja Morant, who is highly unlikely to be selected since he’s set to miss the first 20 games of the season due to a suspension.

Suddenly there’s room on the All-Star team for guards, and that’s great news for Klay Thompson and Chris Paul, two players who have All-Star pedigree and talent, but may have been snubbed due to the sheer number of quality guards out West.

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