What is krack oakin ordw Knox listeners, I am Damp Valley coming at you
once again without my fan tabulous co host Adam FROMO. We are going to
keep our team look Ahead train rolling again. These aren't previous these are look
Aheads, which are just that's fancy. That's fancy, that's what they are.
We're gonna be doing the Warriors today. I've brought back on sam as
Findiari from the Famous basically at this point, definitely mainstreaming. If you're not
a Warrior's fan light Years podcast, follow him on Twitter at sam as Findiari.
That's at sam ees f A N d I A r I. Before
we get into our discussion, which covers everything Warriors, including the Ben Simmons
talk that everyone seems to be interested in, just want to remind you to
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let's get to talking all things Golden State Warriors ahead of this season with
the Light Years podcast. Sam as Findiari, Sam, thank you so much
for coming back on the Hardwoo Knox podcast to talk about the Warriors with me.
First and foremost, though, how the hell are you. I'm good,
dude. Somehow everything in the NBA sphere ends up in like a Warrior
civil war online. That's all I'm going to tell you. This is obviously
in regards to Ben Simmons. Has the Zion stuff trickled into Warriors Twitter?
Yet? Does that cause the civil war amongst you guys? Yeah? I
mean obviously planning cap space to get Zion? No, I guess no one
has it. Maybe the Ingram stuff. Every now and then when you hear
Ingram murmurings, it's like, what if they trade for him? But that's
about it. That might be a good place to start too. And I'm
probably taking a chance by recording this too early relative to when the season starts
with you, because they are one of the teams that are like tangentially linked
to Ben Simmons, even if you don't consider them the most likely destination.
You and Andy on Lightyears have seemed pretty I wouldn't say pro if you can
get Ben Simmons again. You really seem open to the idea of Ben Simmons
on the Warriors. Where do you sort of land on that stuff with his
fit to Golden State and whether they should go after him insofar as they even
can. So for me, it's a question of cost. I think everyone's
overthinking who he is as a player because of the high profile playoff meltdown.
This team won titles with lineups that involved Draymond Green and Andrea Godala together giving
you a combined twelve points. You know, they like I think people on
some level overrate the shooting and underrate the ball movement with the Warriors, Like,
the Warriors are at their absolute best when they're playing with a breakneck pace
and the ball is popping around and you have no cluere it's going and the
next thing you know, Steph Curry's wide open, next thing you know,
Klay Thompson's wide open. So yes, Ben Simmons does not shoot outside shots.
But Ben Simmons absolutely is meant to play in the Warriors system. He's
a phenomenal passer, and I just don't see it being nearly as big of
a fit issue as people think, Like, yes, if they get stuck
in a grinded out half court game, it's gonna it's gonna fall on Steph
creating some sort of one on one heroics that already happens. That's basically always
been the case for this team except for when they had Kevin Durant, and
obviously you know that was like, well, yes, if you compare Steph
with the other best like one on one score in the league, they are
unguardable, like no, no, no doubt right, So for me,
it's like his value is at a low. You know, he fits what
you want to do. Yes, you kind of have to then put a
premium on everyone else on the roster being a shooter. But like I would
say, it's a lot easier to find another Damian Lee or like maybe develop
Moses Moody or get Auto Porter off the scrap heap than it is to find
someone who can do all the things Ben Simmons does. And it just seems
to be like it seems like people are overthinking this one. Yes, and
I'm not in love with the fit, but I also I like the way
you framed about cost because if the war even if the Warriors give up their
best offer, they just to me. And I received a lot of pushback
for this, I think because you actually quote tweeted the excerpts from when I
did like a purposely trollable article on wire. Team is not gonna win the
title. I don't view the Warriors as having really any secondary shot creation right
now. There is Jordan Pool and he was excellent to close the season.
The offense was still bad when Jordan Pool played without Steph on the floor.
And so it doesn't necessarily getting Ben Simmons. No, it doesn't necessarily solve
that. But it also is not exacerbating anything because it's that's an issue now
and so I do understand why you think it should come down to cost there.
It's also it gives it just lets you lean into your strength. The
Warriors were good defensively last year, top five, they were not a great
defense at every crunch time metrics showed when good teams wanted to get a bucket,
they could. Draymond was phenomenal at kind of getting this team to have
a defensive identity, but he can't make Kelly Ubre, James Wiseman, those
guys like get a quote unquote stop when you need one, right and adding
someone like Ben Simmons, like that's a guy you don't have to worry about
making the wrong rotation in the final two minutes of a game. In theory,
like anyone can do it, but like he's less likely to than Wiggins
or Ubre or those type of guys. He would also address the fact that
like literally only two guys on this team can dribble, So it's just kind
of yeah, he doesn't. He doesn't address the fact that you'd really like
someone else who you could count on to kind of get their own shot when
things bogged down. But he makes you better at basically every other aspect of
basketball. Why not do you think that the Warriors had anyone? And I
think that Jordan is probably the best candidate who can consistently create their own shot
when Steph is off the floor to the point where those lineups are act actually
solvent offensively. I do think Jordan Pool has a legitimate shot at like a
six Man of the Year or kind of you know, he might not qualify
for because I wouldn't be surprised if he started a ton of games in Clay's
absence, but I would not be surprised if he ended up like the second
leading scorer on this team this season. Take that for what you want,
but I think he can definitely get his own shot. The real question I
have is, like, how are we talking? Can he get his own
shot at like the same level that Lou Williams does, that CJ. McCollum
do, because that's a pretty big leap from what we saw last year.
What we saw last year is like, this is a good player. There's
definitely an NBA guy. There's a role for him in this league. Now,
the question is is there a role for him being that secondary shot creator
on a team with like aspirations beyond the first round of the playoffs. And
that's a question you need a full season to see. I will say this
about Jordan Pool. He's younger than people think. I mean, I think
he's barely twenty, right, He was like a young sophomore and he came
out and he is in the Warriors facility more than anyone like he's basically he's
one of those guys who tends to live in the gym. So if you're
betting on improvement that naturally comes from players, he's a player I would bet
on getting better by virtue of just getting older. In the amount of work
he puts in. I was actually surprised at how well he did sort of
finishing around the rim as the season went on, and I was I'm more
concerned moving forward about are those unassisted jumpers that he needs to take at some
point, Are those going to fall at a higher clip because those still sort
of hovered around a lower efficiency than you would want from someone who might be
playing a lot without Steph Curry and be the first or second option within those
lineups. Yeah. I mean he can make those shots, he just hasn't
made those shots at the clip you want. Yeah, right, And so
that's kind of Is it a young player who the more the game slows down,
the more it goes in you know, five percent higher and that sort
of thing. Or is he just kind of this guy who, you know,
kind of a heat check guy, Like on a random night he'll go
ten for fifteen and win you a game, and the next game it'll be,
you know, two for twelve. So I don't know, it's to
be seen. I do think he's the most interesting of their young players in
terms in terms of the guy thinks most likely to quote unquote take a step
this year Klay Thompson. I heard it framed this way that by the time
he returns, it could be a thousand days since he's played in an NBA
game, depending on when he returns. Is there do you have any sense
for when you think he'll actually come back this season, because we know it's
not going to be Opening night. Is Christmas a realistic hard date, a
tard date? And what just as the season goes on when he first comes
back, what are realistic expectations for him this year? So on the plus
side, Clay is not an explosive athlete, so that bears bears out positively
in terms of like you always worry about a guy whose game is like based
on clticism, like if they lose a little bit, are they're still good?
Clay is not that guy. In terms of turn date, excuse me,
we've heard Christmas floated. I think it'll be before Christmas. I think
sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas as my guests, And that's with the caveat of
heavy minutes limit. I would not be surprised if he was at a twenty
minute limit in December and a gradual increase I would expect. I would not
expect to see him play a single back to back this season. I think
if you're the Warriors, if you can get fifty games out of him in
an average of twenty five minutes, which means maybe in the beginning of the
season, it's eighteen to twenty. Middle of the season it's you know,
twenty three to twenty six, and come playoff time, it's like thirty.
I would consider that a big time win for them, honestly, like,
because he's gonna miss probably the first fifteen to twenty games just period, and
then you got to assume another ten games and they're just back to back maintenance.
You know, we're playing four games this week and probably don't want to
put that on Clay, So let's let have him sit, you know,
Wednesday's game against the Thunder or whatever it may be, right, that type
of thing. So I think we will see him. Like I said,
I think it's going to be a gradual thing, and I think they are
on the cautious side just due to the nature of the two injuries he suffered.
In terms of his game, I think once he shakes the rust off,
I don't think we're going to see a huge difference. Offensively. He's
gonna run off of screens, he's going to shoot the ball. He's gonna
have moments where you're like, how did he just score twenty points in three
minutes? You know, like that type of thing. And he's also going
to have the games where you know, shots aren't falling and just kind of
be the same old Clay on that end. Defensively, it'll be a little
more interesting. He is strong, he is big, so that always helps.
But I would I would be shocked if he's a chasing around the Russell
Westbrooks the world anymore. You know, I feel like that's gonna be Andrew
Wiggins assignment on this team. Or you see that they're bringing guys like Avery
Bradley seeing if they have anything left in the tank. I could see,
like, you know, the utility of someone who's like a seasoned point of
attack defender or let Clay kind of guard one of the weaker wings that doesn't
involve him chasing around a guy with hyper athleticism. That would be another argument
for drading for Ben Simmons, I guess is get that point of attack to
bed. Yeah. I mean the thing is Wiggins actually was a damn good
point of attack defender for him, I think or Ben Simmons is significantly better.
Is he can guard more positions. He's significantly better off ball and then
just rip and go on the break like Wiggins isn't taking the ball off the
glass and he's a really rebounding period, but he's taking the ball off the
glass. I'm like pushing it in transition and doing all the things that someone
who's like as freakish as Ben Simmons does. I know a lot of what
happened with James Wiseman, I think is on the Warrior's code staff for not
viewing him as just like a play finisher right out of the bat. But
given the injury doesn't have summer league, we don't I don't even know that
he has a target return date for this season. And given how well like
the Draymond and staff minutes without James Wiseman last year, they obliterated everybody during
those stretches, Like, what are the expectations for James Wiseman that heading into
year two? So for me, it's I think one of the underrated disappointing
aspects of last year was the right as the Warriors were changing their offense and
kind of just you know, kind of admitting that, like, you know,
we can't play that same read and react style in totality the way we
used to because James Wiseman's not Andrew Boguet, Kelly Brad's not you know,
Kevin Duranna andredall that sort of stuff, right, Like, maybe we need
to put the ball and kind of our best players' hands more and just like
guys who finished place finished place, right, I mean the early part of
the season, you would see dribble handoffs for Wiseman and just be like,
why, Like, what is he displayed to you that he's ready to make
The game's already moving way too fast for him. You want to like make
this more complicated and have him make three reads at once, like playboards at
three games in college too. Yeah, exactly, exactly. I mean I
don't think any rookie big man set up for that much less one who's quote,
you know, a little behind the curve in terms of experience. Right.
So one of the disappointing things was right as they were changing it up,
he was starting to, I don't want to say break out, but
just kind of showing some of that potential on a more consistent basis as a
rim runner, as a catch and shoot guy, some of the stuff he
can do, and then boom, you know, he kind of tears his
meniscus. So what I would consider successful for him is he's gonna come back.
He's going to play with the second unit. Maybe run more pick and
roll with Jordan Poole. Maybe that could be a nice kind of staple to
run second unit. Jordan Poole obviously can score the ball and his pretty good
ball handler, and James Wiseman is just it's just a freak physically, there's
no way around that. Like he can he for all the negative things we
say about him and all the things he can't do. I mean, he
averaged eleven points in like twenty minutes a game, Like he just walks into
ten points just by virtue of being bigger, faster than everyone on the court,
right, like he is. I think there's only one player I saw
who's like I felt like was bigger than him all season, as Rudy Gobert.
Like he's he's bigger than DeAndre eight. He's bigger than and he moves
like a guard. So just by virtue of that, he doesn't even need
to be you know that good to be good, right that type of thing.
The thing I really want to see with him is I want to see
if that three point chat gets a little more consistent, because he showed he
could make it. He also showed that. You know, he's a young
big man, so it's anything but consistent. I think if that three point
shop becomes consistent, then you really have something with him, because he's going
to be able to get his points rim running the way guys like Capella and
who am I thinking of, you know, like DeAndre Jordan, Like those
guys are rim roers, Like he's gonna get those. But if you can
get that with the ability to kind of pick and pop and do some other
stuff, now you've got something interesting. Do you have hope for him to
have better than Nerland's Noel level hands, Yes, but that's only because he's
played like a half a season in the NBA. I'm not ready to call
it what it is at this point. You know, if this is new
Land's Noel's what you're six, you're seven, something like that. Yeah,
he's definitely closer to a decade than not. At that point, It's like,
it is what it is. Right at this point, I'm gonna be
like, let the games slow down for him. End up. Let's see
what happens if the game slows down for Wise and he becomes like a defensive
force and doing other things really well. And he's still bobbling every pass.
Then I'm ready to be like, all right, those are just his hands.
You know, that's just the way it is. But at this point,
like every criticism or every negative thing I see on him on the court
is it looks like the guy who is playing with guys who are just way
more experienced than when everything's moving too fast? Is there a path toward And
if he's gonna come off the bench when he tells he it does seem like
there will be some organic staggering of him and Draymond, Then what's the path
Should we one expect that to be the staple as they're going to try and
stagger them, and two what's the path to those two functioning at a high
level together on the court. The easy answer is Wiseman or Draymond, But
realistically Wiseman becoming an outside threat right. But the more but the more honest
answer is on the defensive event. Wiseman look like a rookie on defense last
year. I mean, there's when you compare him to Looney, there's no
reason Looney should be a better defender than him. Slower, smaller has had
as many hip surgeries as all of our grandparents combined. You know, there's
no reason for like Looney to be a guy. But Looney knows what to
do. He's smart, he makes the right rotation. He just doesn't make
mistakes. I think if Wiseman just if the game slows down for him defensively,
and the Warriors would be willing to live with the fact that you're going
to get at least one of those awkward Draymond trying to throw a lob when
everyone knows he's trying to throw a lob and it ends up in a turnover
play, you know, like those are those are incredibly frustrating because it's like
Draymond's driving. Everyone knows he has zero interests in a layup. You see
Wiseman standing, it becomes the easiest decision for a defense. Right. So,
but anyway, back to your point, I really do think if Wiseman
gets up to speed defensively, they'll have him on the court because he is
huge. You know, having a shop walker would be nice. Do you
have any looking at the other youngsters, any early impressions of the way Jonathan
k Comeinga and Moses Moody will fit. And I think I fall on Kominga's
clearly more important long term, but Moody seems like he's the best chance of
helping what this team wants to do. Now, do you think either both
one of them will get a real crack at playing time with the with the
big league club? Agree with that? So I was down at Summer League
and like, Kuminga's potential is just it's like eye popping, like at least
once a game, if not like three times a game, you're like,
he does something that's in like the Kauwai you know, Lebron like whatever type
of like wow. But you watch him in total, you're like, yeah,
it's gonna be quite a few years before we're talking about him in that
sphere of player, right. So if ever, but so, I would
be surprised if Kuminga got consistent run with the big club, Like I I
think he's going to be up and down with Santa Cruz. If there's a
blowout, he might get fifteen twenty minutes. Maybe, you know, maybe
if they're they're playing the Houston Rockets in Houston is in a tailspin, they'll
make a point to get Kuminga twenty minutes in that game. We'll see him
get kind of like those type of minutes. But like when they're playing the
Dallas Mavericks, a team who's probably on the same level as them, and
a game they have to have, Kumingo will probably be like, you know,
staple to the bench, right, because he's a long term project,
very talented, but long term project Moody. It just feels like, by
virtue of knowing who he is, there's a pathway to him getting on the
on the court, especially before Clay gets back, right, Yeah, exactly.
I mean there's not a team in the NBA who can't use an extra
three and D guy, right, and who knows, you know, if
NBA game speed will you know, mess up Moody shot and it takes him,
like, you know, a year for him to get used to it
and everything. But if he can hint shots, he's displayed in my opinion,
enough IQ to at least be a team defender. And if you can
count on him to shoot thirty eight to forty percent from three and at least
make the right rotation, he's gonna five minutes, Like there's always gonna be
minutes to throw a guy like that, you know, in the rotation.
Even if it's only for eight to ten minutes, or it's twenty minutes on
a given night, because it's like you said, without Clay, I think
Jordan Pool is going to get the most minutes at shooting guard. There's obviously
Damian Lee, who knows how to play in the Warrior system and everything,
and there's not There's not a lot else after that, so someone's got to
play as minutes. I initially thought the Warriors got really good mileage out of
their their vetminimums night. I still think they do, but then it sort
of felt like there was at least a section of people that were just ignoring
how bad the Elita was last year. Maybe that's because he was out of
shape, didn't get jazz playing Sacramento. How lot of Porter has been banged
up, hasn't played the same and basically two years I was like sixty three
years old or whatever he is right now. Do you think either of those
guys ends up being really impactful? And who do you bill is sort of
the most important offseason signing among those three. Auto needs to be the most
important because he has the highest relative upside. Andre Goodala, you know,
can do no wrong to Warrior fans but like he's going to turn thirty eight
in January. So while I'm sure he'll have a random like throwback performance here
or there, like, I'm not counting on it. Auto porters only twenty
eight years old. Obviously the health stuff is super scary, But he wouldn't
be the first guy who you know, went through a little bit of a
rough patch with health and then found himself as like a useful player in a
smaller role on another team. I don't want to compare him to Batum and
like previously Boris Dia because their situations were different, but in some ways it
does feel like that where you're like, they go to Charlotte, you know,
they take the big contract. They're clearly not guys who are meant to
be like the first player, the best player on a team. They get
out of shape, weird things happened, they end up largely disliked, they
end up on a vat minimum on a team who just wants them to play
the role that they're suited for, and all of a sudden they're back to
being like everyone's favorite, you know, hipster role player. Right. So
I think there's a pathway for Otto to be that guy. But it's a
little scary with the health, like with the back stuff, and is it
degenerate hip or something something he's had a whole ever since, Like he was
right before he got traded from Washington and then Chicago just feel like he had
a bunch of different issues that were just and I do wonder how much of
it's like big contract at that point, Chicago wanted him to be one of
their two best players. Just something he's never displayed at any level like that.
That's not who he is. He's he's the guy who like is a
perfect fit around. You're a good player. He's not the guy you build
around. Right, maybe going to the Warriors playing twenty minutes a game off
the bench where his job is more in the line of what he did in
Washington which got him the big contract, you know, just kind of spot
up, defend, rebound, that sort of stuff. If they can get
that, I think it would be huge. I do think one big towel
in getting both be Elitza and Otto is they recognize the fact that they desperately
need front court shooting. Like I don't think Auto Porter is going to play
the small forward for them. I think you're gonna see Auto Porter either as
Draymond's backup or next to Draymond and small ball lineups. And then be Elitz
is obviously just going to play the five for the Warriors, two of the
better shooters in the NBA over six eight, six, nine period. So
I think just by virtue of that, they're going to provide some value because
the Warriors just want to open up the court more like until they add more
talent off, like just space the sucker out, and you know you space
it out around Steph, you tend to get supernova Steff and supernova steff Is
generally it gives you a puncher's chance against anyone in the league. I can't
tell if this question is just clouded by my actual love of Lantis, Ghano,
Anderson, but looking at the Wiseman injury, then bring in Otto Porter
Jr. It does seem like this team, at least right now to start
the year, is more set up and maybe more willing than in year's past
to lean on Draymond at the five. Do you think that's more of a
staple during the regular season than we've seen in years past. It's hard not
to take that as the takeaway because they don't have centers on the roster.
Like we know Steve Kurrl loves Looney and he is a very productive role player
for what he does, but like his minutes cap at twenty, you know,
he just doesn't one. I just don't think it's possible to like generate
a good enough offense with Looney playing thirty five minutes. But like too,
I don't think his body would allow him to play that much anyway. The
Elitza is really the only other big man that's opening in the season. So
yeah, they're gonna go small. They know small works. I've had the
same questions. It's like I would love them to play small all the time,
but I also like, at some level have to recognize Draymond Green's a
human who is not immune to like physical you know, abause that he's gonna
have to take. Like it's one thing to go small in the playoffs,
it's another to like Tuesday, you're playing Gobert, Wednesday, you're playing Yokich.
Friday, you fly down to la and you get a bang with like
Ad and DeAndre Jordan like that that starts, you know, wearing wearing you
down. Yeah, I mean, look the minutes that drey was at the
five with Jta at the four. Last year, the Warriors were plus thirteen
point four points per one hundred possessions. And maybe I'm oversimplifying it there,
but I've also kind of thought, not that they viewed this as the last
to rob, but you're sort of getting to the point where it's like,
Okay, it's pointless to conserve Draymond because the only way you're gonna reopen your
title windows if you get Pete Draymond and probably lean on him as much as
possible. I think that sort of added to why I think like maybe you
should just maybe not go all in. You still have Wiseman, and you
still have Looney, and like you said, they have Beliza, but it
just feels like that should be there their go to. I do think that
the biggs they signed are at minimum the roster constructed is to play fast.
Like Wiseman, for all his rookieness, has no issue going up and down
the court, right be Elitza, with his shooting, definitely wants to be
kind of a transition player. Right Looney, I mean, he knows how
to play the worst style, not fast, but he knows how to play.
And then everyone else they signed fits into this system. So I do
agree with you. I like, I'm excited to see I could see them
using a wand Tisconell Anderson, Otto, Porter Draymond front court. Who's the
three, who's the four, who's the five, doesn't matter? I don't
know, but I know those are guys who are going to force it in
transition, and when they get in transition, it's kind of scary for the
other team, right, Like, this isn't gonna be a great half court
team. It's just not like they don't have they don't have Yokis to play
through in the post. You know, they don't have Kevin Durant to throw
to on the elbow, right, But if they can turn you around in
transition, I don't think anyone wants to be in an up and down game
with a Steph Curry team, Like in general, it's just never a good
thing, right, So I do agree with you they're leaning on it more
and I do think actually, to fully answer your question, I think they
think Wiseman will probably miss a couple of weeks, not a couple of months.
If they really thought Wiseman was going to be out until February they probably
would have signed another big man. But if they're talking about, all right,
Wiseman's gonna miss the first five to seven games, so we have to
play small for the first two weeks this season, They're like, so be
it, because when Wiseman comes back, they have enough big men to not
have to play small by necessity, Like they then have enough guys where it's
there goes small for a purpose as opposed to no. Literally, Draymond's the
only center I have, and it might be a way to just help stay
afloat in the beginning of the year because you kind of get into this a
little bit the wind total, but between when Clay comes back and whatever learning
curve or grace period he needs, and ditto with Wiseman, this could be
a team that really starts off the season more slowly, and so it might
make sense to just if that's the most effective lineup and it's just going to
attack Draymond a little bit more, if you want to keep pace in the
West, it probably makes sense to go to that again early on so that
you're not trying to come back from too much of a hole. Yeah,
I agree with you. I mean that part of my issues with last year,
Like, Okay, so Andy and I on Light Years developed a little
bit of reputation for being a little overly negative in the early part of last
year, and I stand by everything we said. I was like, do
you want us to like just get on there and just wax poetic about and
Wiggins and like while they lose games, like I'm not gonna lie. Part
of the reason they were frustrating being in the last years, I felt like
they left games on the table because they were coaching the team as if it
was the twenty sixteen Warriors or twenty eighteen Warriors, where you're really just more
concerned about the process because you know you got the guys to compete when you
get to the playoffs, whereas last year's team really was just kind of a
five hundred team. In my opinion, it's kind of like those are the
type of teams a coach like Rick Carlisle get you an extra five wins on,
right, Like where you're in these like close games and like those little
moves might make the difference, right, And it felt like, you know,
the way the Warriors coached the last year was like a lot of like
let's see what we have It's like, I know what you have. What
you have is a team that needs you to be a more active coach and
less like of the hands off like zen stuff. So I do agree with
your This is a really roundabout way of saying Draymond at the five early kind
of having more purpose with what they want to do could really help them generate
some early wins so that they don't enter springtime next year needing to go fifteen
of twenty just to like get the eight seed. Right, I've sort of
blocked STEP's age out of my mind. I think he's gonna go down by
the way. I think he's gonna go down as one of the ten best
basketball players of all time. And it's part of why I think I've been
more critical about what the Warriors have done over the past couple of years than
maybe I normally would have in their situation, because that type of player,
it has to me you optimize everything around him his prime. Is it fair
though his age thirty three season turns thirty four in March, to expect him
to be just as ridiculous as he was last season, because there's a case
for me that that was the single best year of his career, even though
that wasn't the single best Warriors team that he was on. One, I
think he was better last year than he wasn't too. I was sixteen,
and numbers, well, the numbers are ridiculous for both. So I just
think he had a firmer grasp of what he wanted to do back when the
Warriors kind of rose up in fifteen sixteen, Like he was just like something
no one had ever seen with explosiveness, but you could still kind of frustrate
him with like little nuanced things, some trapping, some pressure. He wasn't
as strong then either, like if you noticed this year, like he's just
he's he's stronger. Guys can't be as physical with him and affect him as
much. He's seen every defense known to man, and then like ten ones
that were created just for him. So there's just like this level of like
mental mastery that he has, like he knows how he wants to attack every
defense. At this point, I see no reason why he can't do this
for like three more years. Honestly, Like the way the guy works out
and the type of athleticism he has is more like endurance based. Aren't necessarily
things that decline as fastly as like fast tush explosion. The real concern is
obviously the wear and tear factor, and that's what kind of scares me.
It's like, as much as you know, we love STEP's game, but
we can like, you know, wax poetic about him being one of the
greatest of all times. The biggest knock you have on him is he hasn't
been the iron man that other grades are, you know, like Lebron James,
I don't think had an injury for like eighteen years. Michael Jordan never
missed games, you know, like we can keep going down the line like
those guys are, like you pencil them in for whatever. They're going to
be healthy. Step kind of good to miss fifteen games a year, you
know, and it's never that serious, but it's always like an ankle,
a knee, a little like tweak here or there. And that's where the
Warriors not being a little more active and kind of more all in scares me
because Steph can average thirty five of a game, but will his body allow
him do it for eighty two games? That's where that's where I always get
a little worried, like or is it going to be one of those things
where like by virtue of needing to take twenty five shots and the opposing team
knowing he needs to take twenty five shots, he's just constantly in and out
of the lineup with little nagging stuff because he has defensive attention that a player
at you know, age thirty three thirty four shouldn't have on them. Let's
say this team is fully healthy, what needs to be or do you expect
to be there? Go to crunch time lineup. Assuming the roster stays the
way it is, their best lineup would be Steph Curry, Clay Thompson,
Wiggins, Otto, Porter, and Draymond. So it's that small ball lineup,
but with your biggest wing who can both space the floor and will actually
rebound his position. The two biggest weaknesses the Warriors had last year were rebounding
and shots at the rim. They were bottom five and rebounding and bottom ten
and shots at the rim. I don't see anyone on this roster who's gonna
like dominate the paint the way like janis or anyone does. So, spacing
the floor outs one way to generate just easier looks at the rim. And
then secondarily, you know, playing small is their best option. But as
much as we love, like want Scott Anderson, those guys like they were
just giving up rebounds. Someone like Otto Porter has been above average for a
wing rebounding and he just has the highest upside of all those guys. I
think that's probably their best lineup. I would also throw in sprinkle Jordan Pool
in to closing lineups in place of Wiggins, maybe in place of Auto.
Maybe that's hyper small, but good luck guarding Steph Pool Clay. Yeah,
so yeah, I think the Pool stuff makes sense. I might be more
inclined to put I think it depends on what Autoporter is giving you offensively.
And I know wants Scoto Anderson only made or shot like it was very low
volume on three. But if he's shooting better on threes and you can trust
him to move the ball more than auto Porter, I'll probably be okay with
him over Otto in those situations. I mean, JT is gonna play a
lot just because of like you said, he I mean, he's he's like
a mini Draymond Igodala type of player for them, Like you know, he's
he's not running a picket roll, but he's always finding the open shooter he'll
stick an open shot. The defense is obviously there. He's just very,
very high i Q player. Like literally, Kelly Ubre is much more talented
than him. But by subbing in Jta for Ubre, Steph went from thirty
points a game to forty points a game purely because wants gonna Anderson takes a
split second to say, instead of shooting this, where's Steph Curry and then
passes him the ball. Like that's literally the difference that happened when Ubre got
injured? Is there? And I love asking people this question because I like
just thinking about these. Is there a quirky, offbeat, out of left
field lineup you would like to see the Warriors try this season? Maybe even
one that they probably wouldn't try, but you would just love to see them
roll out? I like that question, All right, give me, give
me Steph Pool, Jta, auto Porter, and Draymond God. I guess
I really like auto Porter. I want to. I like the idea of
like the three multi positional four words, two of whom are pretty good passers,
one of whom's a really good shooter, and then just Steph Pool lineups.
Not only are they fun, they were effective. They were plus seventeen
point nine per hundred possessions when those two guys were on the floor. Part
of that's just like literally just put someone who can create a shot next to
Steph and profit because no one's committing extra bodies to him, because they're putting
their extra buyas on staff. I know Steph loved playing with Jordan Pool for
that reason, because he gets tired of the fact that, like it's Steph
Curry and four offensive linemen, you know, kind of type of setup sometimes
out there that's kind of the one I would like. I don't know if
you consider a Steph lineup offbeat because he's a staple of everything, but like
those type of weird Steph Pool combos are kind of where I'm at. I
really thought about it, and I don't think they would try this, at
least not on purpose unless they're forced to. But Steph Clay Draymond with JTA
and then cominga as well, and so it's Steph surrounded by all these bigger
dudes. I don't really know what it looks like, what the rebounding is
specifically ends up looking like in that lineup. Definitely, the maybe the pressure
on the rims are concerned there too, but I'm I want weirdness, especially
when you're a team. I know they're trying to win, but you know
they like have some younger guys like put Comina out there with all these different
veterans and guys you trust with Clay Drey and Steph and kind of see what
happens. Yeah, I definitely I like it. I guess I just have
Minga on the afterburner this year. And like I say this as someone who
I'm very intrigued by him. He's a wing who can absolutely handle the ball
and make some passes and who wants to dunk on everyone. So he's fun
to watch, like he just is. I've just kind of I've mentally put
him in Santa Cruz for half the year, so I'm not even counting him
as a guy who's going to play that much. As we record this,
Golden State's current win total over unders forty seven point five. Are you taking
the over the under on that? And where do you expect to see them
sort of just fall within that Western Conference? Fray, I think it's a
good line. I think if Steph plays seventy two, if Steph misses ten
or less games and we get that fifty number out of Clay that I brought
up earlier, I think they get the over. But I think if Steph
misses more than eight to ten games and they have to be more conservative with
Clay for whatever reason, we know how reaggregation works, I think they're under
I think it's honestly that simple for them all the other people they added pieces
which fit in the context of like the traditional Warriors core three that we know,
and I think they'll be able to generate wins because they have an idea
of how they want to play again. But everything comes back to kind of
what you're getting out of the two Splash bros. Right Like it's it's it's
that simple. This isn't This is a team who can Okay, Steph is
going to miss this week with like a bruise, Let's go one and two,
so we don't like, you know, they can do that, but
like Steph's gonna miss a month, might go one and ten, you know,
like they need they can get away with Steph sitting games here and there
and getting like the cumulative strength and numbers catch a team off guard because they're
not taking you serious. Because Steph Curry is not playing effect, but like
they'll go into some serious free fall if he misses extended minutes extent. And
I guess the final thing that would go into that is just is there a
chance that they make that consolidation move? And I don't really know what to
expect. I'm more inclined to go with the under with them because I don't
expect that type of move. I know a lot of it's depending on the
star trade market, but even if it's sort of manifest like there is a
star trade market, I don't know that the Warriors will be that gung ho
about going about it. We really should open on this one. So I
have a lot of thoughts on this one. I do think the shorter Wiggins
contract gets and it expires next year, the easier it becomes for them to
make a trade. They in some ways remind me of the Boston Celtics.
Remember when you know Ames gets Tatum and Brown and has like the war chest
of picks and everyone's just assuming they're gonna build this juggernaut and they just never
pull off the trade because they always overvalue their own stuff, like they think
they think offering a pick and something is fair. The opposing teams like not
give us everything. You know, that's I don't know. That's kind of
where the Warriors are at, where I think they'd be more open to moving
one of Wiseman or Kuminga, but they're not putting them all together unless it's
for like Jannis and guys like Jannis, or even if I want to take
it down a tier, you know, to like it embed like clear superstar
caliber players like they're not available. So what we end up talking about is
the Ben Simmons Pascal Siakams of the world, who are objectively good players who
will improve you. Where the Warriors feel like it's fair for them to offer
only one of those guys and maybe a future pick. But Darryl Moorey is
being like, uh no, I want everything right. So if something changes
on that front, I could see them making a move. But based off
of everything Joe Lacob says and he apparently lost off the record or on the
record, all all the records. Based on that, I'm getting the impression
that it's less likely to Sam. Thank you so much for coming on.
This was great as usually were able just to very quickly tell our listeners where
they can find you and the light Years Podcast one of the best team podcasts
out there, if not the best. Appreciate you Dan anytime have me on
during the season. You can check me out on the light Years Podcast to
find an Apple, Spotify, anywhere to get your pots. I'll talk to
you Larma, all right, take care man. Thanks again