SAN FRANCISCO — Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr, as is typical in an exit interview setting, was detailed and revealing in his Thursday afternoon news conference, discussing a variety of big-picture talking points regarding the future of his eliminated team.
His most detailed answer came in regard to Draymond Green and why, after all his past transgressions, the Warriors continue to back him. Earlier in the afternoon, general manager Mike Dunleavy said he “can’t imagine a scenario” in which Green isn’t back with the team next season. Green still has three years left on his current deal.
Kerr went for more than four minutes explaining the “complex” relationship between Green, himself and the Warriors. That answer is at the bottom of this story, in full. But here are a few other relevant talking points from Kerr on Thursday.
Dunleavy and Kerr both reiterated the franchise’s stance that they’d like Klay Thompson to return next season. That’s Thompson’s choice. He is an unrestricted free agent, expected to test the waters. But, if Thompson does return — and Kerr is expressing outward confidence that he will — Kerr mentioned the idea of Thompson coming off the bench.
“I thought Klay really showed that he was agreeable to the sixth-man role the second half of the year, even though eventually we put him back in the starting lineup,” Kerr said. “I think that’s got to be an option going forward. I would prefer not to play him 35 minutes. There were games down the stretch, I think the New Orleans game, I think I played him 38 minutes. We’ve got to be able to play him less. But in order to do that we’ve got to add more shooting to the roster, frankly. We can add more shooting and limit Klay’s minutes.”
Jonathan Kuminga’s need to sharpen his small forward skills
In an answer about Kuminga’s season, Kerr mentioned the Warriors’ inability to put Kuminga as the small forward in lineups that include Green at power forward and another center on the floor.
“When we made the shift in the starting lineup midseason and had Draymond at the five and (Andrew Wiggins) and JK at the four — or at the three and the four combined — it was very helpful for JK to get the ball with more space, get downhill,” Kerr said. “I think it unlocked some of the things he can do.
“Then he got hurt and our defense was at its best with Trayce (Jackson-Davis) and Draymond. That meant it was more difficult to play JK at the three because you don’t have the spacing and he’s not a natural three at this point. Decision-making, ballhandling. So, we, in the Sacramento game the other night, we went to both lineups. At the first sub, we went to that smaller lineup with JK, Wiggs, Draymond. We were looking at both.
“So what JK is looking at is: How can he make himself more versatile to be available in different lineups? Can he be a three? That’s a big question. And I don’t know the answer to it. I know that as we continue to help him and he continues to learn how to create spacing and get his shot off a little quicker and be more comfortable catch and shooting, but also making the right reads.
Because as a three you handle the ball more. Can he become a better passer? I think he sees the floor pretty well, but his fundamentals in terms of passing have to improve if he’s going to play the three. We need him to play the three if we want to have Trayce out there at the five and Draymond at the four. That ideally would be a great defensive lineup. But we’re not ready for that yet as a team.”
The financial crunch
The Warriors are simultaneously telling the world that they’d prefer to duck the second apron and could even dip below the luxury tax, if the situation presents itself, but also would like to improve the roster. Those seem like conflicting tasks.
“Joe (Lacob) is so committed to spending whatever it takes to be great,” Kerr said. “It didn’t make sense, in hindsight this year, to spend ($400 million) on a team that didn’t make the playoffs. Obviously, I thought we would do better. But if there’s ever a time to throttle back it would seem to be now. I think we need to make sure we’re making sound decisions financially.
“But you just don’t know what’s available. We just added two rotation players in Trayce (Jackson-Davis) and Brandin (Podziemski) on really small contracts, rookie deals. That’s a big help. Can we do that again somehow with a second-round pick? It would be tough, but we did it with Trayce. You would have to make a really savvy trade, if you’re Mike, to be able to accomplish both of those things. So it’s not easy, but it is possible to go bargain-hunting and find guys.”
Here is Dunleavy’s answer on a similar topic.
Here is Mike Dunleavy on the Warriors’ financial equation entering the summer and the desire to keep Klay Thompson. Dunleavy said there is no directive to duck the luxury tax, but it is unreasonable to pay $400 million for a non-playoff team. pic.twitter.com/MsWpAtePrI
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) April 18, 2024
Moses Moody’s lack of a consistent role
Moody struggled for a third straight season to grab hold of a consistent role, despite performing better than ever when given the opportunity. Kerr was asked what has held Moody back from more minutes.
“Decision-making at both ends needs to improve — quicker decisions, quicker rotations defensively, recognition of patterns,” Kerr said. “I’ve told him directly, I want him to get his shot off quicker. I think he should be an excellent 3-point shooter. There are times where he’s open and he doesn’t shoot it, he drives it and we immediately lose the advantage.
“So these are all things that we’re trying to help him with and again, he’s in his third year, he hasn’t played a ton, so you need reps to improve on this stuff. I think next year’s a big year for Moses. I would love to get him out there more. But when you look at the roster, there’s just a lot of people and we haven’t always been able to get him on the floor.”
Kerr did end his answer saying he “needs more opportunity, for sure,” but that has been the case for a couple seasons.
Tempering the panic
Kerr didn’t sound extremely alarmed by the loss in Sacramento on Tuesday night.
“If we were down 1-0 in a playoff series right now after that performance the other night, I would be 100 percent confident that we could win the series,” Kerr said. “But we put ourselves in a position to lose in an elimination game and we lost. So we have to examine, well why did we put ourselves in that situation? What did we do early in the season that cost us and where can we get better?
“We won 46 games in a loaded conference. That’s usually enough. It’s not enough. So we have to think about where we are in relation to the rest of the conference. It is way harder now than it was nine years ago to succeed in this conference.”
The continued backing of Draymond Green
During a radio interview in the aftermath of Green’s ejection in Orlando last month, Kerr referred to the incident as “unforgivable,” considering Green’s past incidents and the importance of that particular game.
“And yet I forgave him,” Kerr said.
Why? Here’s Kerr’s full answer.
“I have so much faith in Draymond because I know him so well as a human being. He’s flawed. We’re all flawed. But he would be the first to tell you he’s probably more flawed than the rest of us. He’s the one who has had these transgressions, not the other guys, it’s been him. He would be the first to tell you that.
“But he’s one of the most loyal people I’ve ever met. He’s one of the most competitive, he’s one of the smartest players I’ve ever been around. And yet he makes these decisions that hurt the team, that aren’t smart. So how do you reconcile all that? It’s really difficult. The number one thing I would say is, if we decided he wasn’t worth it, then we would have moved off of him years ago. But he’s worth it and he’s worth it not only because of the banners that are hanging out there, but because he really is a wonderful human being.
“He is somebody who I love deeply, who I care for and in some ways I love him because of his flaws, because he’s so human. What happened over the last year was it went from maybe him yelling at me and us getting into a tiff or him getting ejected or him running up his technicals or getting a flagrant foul, to, wait a second, it turned violent.
“He punched Jordan (Poole). He grabbed Rudy Gobert by the neck. He flailed at (Jusuf Nurkić). That stuff, just by basic laws of society, basic norms, you can’t do that, right? So at that point, you know, when the league suspended him, it was the best thing to happen to Draymond. His career was on the line. It is on the line every day.
“As someone who loves Draymond and values him so much, I am going to continue to help him any way that I can to live his best life, to be the best version of himself, which he really was for the last two months. I’ll be really honest, during the suspension, I was sitting there, like, ‘Can he actually get a few sessions of therapy and change? I don’t think that’s possible.’
“But whatever he did over the last three months, he was the best version of himself, not just on the court, in the locker room, leading the young guys. His teammates would all tell you how great he was.
“He had the ejection in Orlando, which became a national story. Maybe it’s just because I understand him so well, I didn’t mind the ejection. It was bad timing, but if you want to embrace the fact that Draymond is this insane competitor who is just going to play with so much emotion and passion, which makes our team so much better, then you kind of have to accept, all right, he’s going to get kicked out of a few games a year.
“That’s my approach. The other stuff can’t happen. You know, the physical acts, that will cost him his career, not only in the NBA but beyond. He knows that.
“Draymond’s complex. His relationship with our franchise is complex. But at the core of it is a deep loyalty and passion and love, and we share that with him. That’s really tricky to reconcile. You almost don’t even try to reconcile it. You help him through it and you make sure he’s the best version of himself and you keep pushing.
“Then you say something’s unforgivable and then you forgive him for it. Let’s be honest. But I think he did cross a line with the stuff that happened early in the season and he knows it. The rest of his career, he knows the league won’t allow him to cross, we won’t let him allow him to cross that line again. Because that was different.”
Steve Kerr: “Draymond is complex. His relationship with our franchise is complex.”
Four minutes of Kerr on Draymond and why the Warriors continue to back him pic.twitter.com/6QTzINAv3K
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) April 18, 2024
(Top photo of Kerr and Green: David Berding / Getty Images)
