- 6/23/2025
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Bobby Marks, three weeks ago today, said this to us.
00:04It all depends on Kaminga.
00:06It really comes down to he basically controls free agency in Golden State
00:11because if they sign him to a contract and bring him back,
00:14then that's really it as far as what they can do in the offseason.
00:19There you have it.
00:21Yep.
00:21If they sign him back this offseason, that's it.
00:25That's it.
00:26And it's funny because I would bet, this is just me guessing,
00:31I bet there are a lot of Warrior fans that really want Jonathan Kaminga to stay
00:35but also would feel very unfulfilled if that was the offseason.
00:40That's it.
00:41Right.
00:42What did you guys do?
00:43We brought him back.
00:44The guy that you didn't play in the playoffs?
00:46Mm-hmm.
00:47Yep.
00:47That's what we did.
00:49Do you like it?
00:51It's funny you say that because...
00:53What do you think of the cake we made?
00:54Right.
00:55You made, I mean, you made a cake with whatever was in the fridge
00:59and, I mean, you found some flour and some eggs and whatever
01:03but the cake you made is the cake you've already had
01:07and you were hoping for, like, a triple-decker wedding cake
01:11with, you know, frosting and some fruit and whatever
01:14but it's funny you said that, Mark,
01:16because honestly, hearing Bobby Marks say that,
01:19if that is all you do, bring back Kaminga and that's your offseason,
01:24like, fans, even the fans who love Kaminga would be unsatisfied.
01:28I think so.
01:29Or, I mean, the other thing is, okay, you sign and trade Kaminga
01:33and you bring in whatever 15 or 20 million worth of other player
01:38and the people who love Kaminga would also be unsatisfied.
01:42Totally.
01:43So, I mean, what are we talking about here?
01:45Well, I think what you mentioned as the likelihood to me
01:48is actually sort of the fallback option.
01:51When Don Levy says, like, look, we know who Jonathan is
01:54and we feel comfortable with what he can do for the organization,
01:57to me they're setting up for the possibility that they do sign and keep,
02:02but sign and keep still keeps on the table
02:05the possibility of a trade later down the road.
02:08And so what they would have to do if they can't find something
02:11that works this offseason, you have to find a deal
02:14that both makes you comfortable right now in terms of the money,
02:18but also you think is going to be attractive on the market
02:23in trade talks down the road.
02:25And then you can sort of, like, serve both masters if you want in a way
02:31where it's like, okay, we've got him and he's a trade asset
02:35and now we go to work with him and let's see if we can get this
02:39to all fit a little bit better and we'll force that
02:42for the beginning of the season and maybe that'll also allow him
02:47to put up some numbers and numbers are numbers.
02:49And then once you put up those numbers,
02:51then maybe another team is going to be kind of wooed by him
02:54or maybe it'll work.
02:56Maybe it'll work great.
02:58And then you don't want to get rid of Jonathan Kaminga.
03:01So you do, in theory, buy a little bit of time,
03:04but that's my thought.
03:06When I hear Mike Dunleavy say we're going to be aggressive,
03:09we're going to be in the mix,
03:11and we want to figure this Jonathan thing out fast.
03:15What I hear him saying, and it's just my ear and my brain,
03:19what I hear him saying is option number,
03:22we need to find out kind of what he thinks he's worth
03:25and what we think he's worth,
03:27and then we need to dive immediately into let's find out
03:31what the league thinks.
03:33Are there any opportunities for us to get better
03:36by including Jonathan and a salary in a deal?
03:40And if there are, that's option one.
03:43Yep.
03:43If not, then we'll grit our teeth and we'll do this
03:49and then figure it out kind of down the road,
03:51but work with him.
03:52Maybe he blossoms more.
03:53Maybe he fits better.
03:55Maybe not.
03:55And maybe we'd trade him later.
03:58But I think that's option two.
04:00Option three is, ah, screw it.
04:04Like, he can score, so we're going to keep him long term.
04:08And then option four is letting him go for nothing.
04:11Right.
04:11Like, I don't really, to me, that's just a no.
04:14That's not possible.
04:15It's not possible, I think, right now,
04:18and this is where, if you're Jonathan Kaminga,
04:20you're kind of, like, shaking your head
04:22because this year you've got one team with money,
04:26really real money to spend,
04:28and next year, when he won't be a free agent,
04:31that's where, salary cap-wise,
04:33it looks like there'll be at least 10 teams
04:35with money to spend.
04:37So JK kind of got caught where, you know,
04:40this is the year where there aren't a lot of teams
04:42that can spend,
04:43and these teams are still trying to figure out
04:45the second apron,
04:46and, you know, teams that are above it
04:48are trying to get below it,
04:49and you look at what Phoenix did,
04:50getting rid of KD,
04:52and they brought in, you know, Jalen Green,
04:54a younger player with a lesser salary
04:57and all the rest of it.
04:57So for Kaminga, he's kind of caught
05:00in the wrong place, wrong time thing,
05:04and if you're the Warriors,
05:05you're like, okay, sit back and wait.
05:07Sit back and wait and see if anybody's going to
05:09throw more money at Kaminga
05:11than you want to spend.
05:13And I do think that the Warriors have a number
05:15in mind where they're probably thinking,
05:17I don't even know what the number would be for them,
05:20but if I'm the Warriors,
05:21I'm thinking,
05:22if it's, you know,
05:23four years and $100 million,
05:25then, you know, $25 million a year,
05:28I've got to think about that.
05:29But if it's less than that,
05:31we can match that,
05:32and then we can trade him when we want.
05:34Yeah, it's a fascinating play
05:35based on also understanding
05:37what the rest of the league is offering for him
05:39because I think there's a strong possibility
05:42that if he's not involved in a trade,
05:44and you're just negotiating with Jonathan,
05:47you're negotiating against yourself,
05:49which leaves the Warriors almost like
05:51you can pay them whatever they want.
05:53But then Jonathan doesn't need to say yes to that.
05:56And so I could see it getting real, real tricky,
05:59but, you know,
06:00that's why people are over there doing what they're doing.
06:03They're good at it,
06:04and that's their job.
06:05You're listening to 95.7 The Game,
06:07KGMZ FM and HD1 San Francisco
06:09and Odyssey Sports Station
06:11and the home of the Golden State Warriors and Valkyries,
06:14always live on the free Odyssey app,
06:16coming to you live from the Laughing Monk Studios.
06:19Laughing Monk, by the way,
06:21we got in another little trip to Laughing Monk
06:24over the weekend.
06:25You did?
06:26Nailed it again.
06:27Nailed it again.
06:28We went steak this time.
06:30Okay.
06:30And the peach salad.
06:31You went to the Monk?
06:32And an old-fashioned.
06:33Look at you.
06:34And it was strong.
06:36It was a very, very strong performance,
06:38again, by Laughing Monk in Sunnyvale.
06:42Man.
06:42Really, really good.
06:43I got some Laughing Monk FOMO,
06:45fear of missing out,
06:46because you went without me.
06:48Well, we were going to a show in San Jose.
06:50Ah, gotcha.
06:50And so Laughing Monk was in the neighborhood,
06:53and so we decided to do it again
06:56and order something else,
06:58and all of that was good, too.
07:00So you chose your life partner
07:01over your radio partner?
07:03I did.
07:04And I'm not mad at that.
07:05I did.
07:05And I love your life partner.
07:06And then we went.
07:07She's wonderful.
07:08She's awesome.
07:09And then so was the show.
07:10We went and saw,
07:11are you familiar with a comedian named Pete Holmes?
07:13No, but you talked about it on Friday.
07:15Yeah, Pete Holmes.
07:16Okay.
07:16San Jose Improv on Saturday night.
07:20Funny guy?
07:21He was a very funny guy.
07:22Yes.
07:23And then the guy that came before him was,
07:24you know, funny-ish.
07:26Right.
07:27An opener.
07:28Sure.
07:28You know.
07:29Yeah.
07:29He was like Shohei Ohtani.
07:31He was an opener.
07:32Or like Zach Littell, right?
07:33Yeah, yeah.
07:34Just throw a couple fastballs and get out of the way.
07:38Just do the one inning and get off the stage.
07:40Right, right, right, right.
07:41All right.
07:42We're going to go to the phones.
07:43If you're just joining us,
07:45this is what Mike Dunleavy said.
07:47It kind of has us talking.
07:48He met the media.
07:49The draft is 48 hours away.
07:51And this is essentially what he said about
07:53Jonathan Kaminga's restricted free agency.
07:55Yeah, so we can start with the finals.
07:57And last night,
07:57we can start pursuing that right now,
08:00leading up into free agency.
08:01And I think we're in a good spot with it, honestly.
08:04We have the ability to bring him back.
08:05He's restricted.
08:07You know, I think there'll be good dialogue.
08:08And I'd like to figure something out sooner than later.
08:11That'd be great.
08:11But I also acknowledge with restricted free agency,
08:14these things can drag out a little bit
08:15and take some time.
08:16But, you know, I think we feel pretty comfortable
08:18with who JK is as a player
08:21and what he can do for our organization.
08:23And, you know, we'll continue.
08:24It's a main priority going into free agency.
08:26I mean, there's so much there.
08:27He wants to get it done quickly,
08:29but he acknowledges it could drag on.
08:31He says this is the main priority
08:33going into free agency.
08:34And then there's actually,
08:35the second time I heard that,
08:36there's a sentence where I almost went,
08:38ooh, what does he mean by that?
08:40And maybe nothing, probably nothing.
08:42But he says, I think we're comfortable.
08:44We know exactly who JK is
08:47and what he can do for our organization.
08:49Do you?
08:52Do you?
08:53Yes.
08:53And if you do, if you know who JK is,
08:57I'd argue that's not a good thing for JK.
09:00I would argue that everybody who loves JK
09:02is actually basing that on who he may become.
09:06Not who he is.
09:08Like, who he is right now,
09:10you decided not even to play.
09:12Well, that's not him.
09:13I mean, that was the coach who decided not to play him.
09:16And you know, these decisions are not made by themselves.
09:19Right.
09:19And I do think that they know who he is.
09:22And right now, who he is does not jibe with who they are.
09:27Now, in three years, when Steph is gone
09:30and Jimmy's gone and Draymond's gone,
09:32sure, if that's the way that goes,
09:34who he is, who he will be then,
09:37that becomes a more important piece, I think,
09:40for the then.
09:42Because the then, after Steph and Jimmy and Draymond are gone,
09:46you're likely going to be a team that's going to be rebuilding
09:50no matter what.
09:52That's fair.
09:53But at the same time,
09:55see, that's why I think he may be gone this offseason.
09:59Because what you keep saying
10:01and what I keep hearing from people
10:03is the real value of Jonathan,
10:06the real importance of Jonathan,
10:08comes three years from now.
10:10And I just don't think that that's where the Warriors' heads are.
10:14I don't think they go into this offseason thinking,
10:16we're going to use all of our open space
10:19on someone who will help us when Steph retires.
10:22It's literally the antithesis of everything
10:25that they're saying they want to do.
10:27It's the opposite.
10:29To say, let's use all of the open space
10:32we've got this offseason
10:34to spend it on someone who won't help us right now.
10:38But boy, we'd love to have him in 2028.
10:42I just can't see them doing that.
10:45It's not who they are fundamentally.
10:48I agree.
10:49But the other piece of it is,
10:51then what are you going to do about it, tough guy?
10:53Yeah, well, that's the question.
10:54Right.
10:55So what you're going to do about it
10:57is either sign and trade
10:59and you take 50 cents on the dollar,
11:01or you sign and wait and trade
11:04and then you get 100% on the dollar in February
11:08when you trade him at the deadline
11:09or you sign and continue to hope
11:13that he can be the player that he has been at times.
11:17And Steve Kerr said to us,
11:19we will spend the whole offseason and training camp
11:23figuring out how to make it work.
11:24And I take him at his word,
11:26even though he's a Dodger fan at Oracle Park yesterday,
11:29which I'd love to see him out at the Giants game,
11:31which was kind of fun.
11:32But I do think that they would try to make it work
11:37and integrate him and all that.
11:39Yes.
11:39And I think that you could do that up to a certain point.
11:42I don't know if he actually,
11:44in the next two years,
11:45could integrate and work.
11:47But for me, if I'm the Warriors,
11:49I'm looking at a way to sign and trade
11:53not until February, though,
11:54when you can actually get something.
11:57I mean, I hear you.
11:59At the same time, I'm like,
12:00who knows what the world's going to look like in February.
12:03You know what I mean?
12:04Yeah.
12:04That's kind of the scary part for me there
12:06is if you start planning now for February,
12:09I have no idea where we sit in the standings.
12:12I have no idea what Jonathan's stats are.
12:15I have no idea if Jonathan's healthy.
12:18I have no idea about anything.
12:21I don't know if that's what I'm going to want to do in February.
12:24Who wants to commit right now to something in February?
12:28Like, wow, I got no idea what the hell we're doing in February.
12:32Right.
12:32And I think there's power in that.
12:34Like, if you've decided that Jonathan Kaminga
12:37does not represent maximizing Steph Curry's remaining career,
12:42if that's what you've decided,
12:43then I would argue you do it now.
12:46Do it right now.
12:47Because a thousand things could happen between now and then
12:51that lower his value, change your situation.
12:54Like, wow.
12:56And then you're just handing power out to someone else.
13:00But right now, he's healthy.
13:02He's coming off these playoff games,
13:04which were intriguing to people.
13:06Again, if that's what the Warriors have decided,
13:09then I think there's a whole lot of strength in doing it now.
13:11There's also strength in doing it then where his value could go up.
13:17It could go up.
13:18Right?
13:18Yeah.
13:18I mean, you could play him and he can fit
13:21and he can be a force and all the rest of it.
13:24And you probably wouldn't want to deal him at all.
13:26Well, depends.
13:27You know what I mean?
13:27I mean, it depends on what you could get for him then.
13:30And again, if you sign him to a deal worth,
13:34let's just say $23 million a year,
13:36right now you only get $11.5 million back in exchange in the offseason
13:41or you sign him to $23 million for, you know,
13:44three years and whatever that would be, 72.
13:46And, you know, you get to the deadline and it's like,
13:48yeah, he's playing great
13:50and he isn't really the perfect player for you
13:52and you could trade him then and get something more at that point.
13:56Let's go to Rich in Fremont.
13:58Hi, Rich.
13:58Thank you for calling.
13:59What's up?
14:01Hey, what's up, guys?
14:03Thanks for taking my call.
14:04You know, it's funny
14:06because I've been listening to the talk around the Golden State Warriors
14:08in the offseason and what they can and can't do
14:11or what they should do.
14:13And I honestly believe they really should resign Kamingo
14:15because you got to think about the talk that was going on about this kid,
14:20about development and how, you know, he wasn't being played.
14:23He was being played, you know, when he was on the floor,
14:26he was producing.
14:27When they sat him out and they tried to throw him in there
14:30on an emergency situation, that didn't work.
14:33You know, the kid has been there now four seasons.
14:35He's going into his fifth.
14:37You know, they've already invested time with this kid.
14:40I just don't think it's a good move for them to move off of him.
14:43I think they should resign him.
14:44And I'll tell you something else.
14:45I think the other thing, if I'm Mike Dunn, maybe I would do,
14:47I would definitely go after Brooke Lopez.
14:50I mean, come on.
14:50He's up big, which is what they've been talking about getting
14:53and what they need.
14:54He's seven foot.
14:55He can shoot the three.
14:57You know, he can grab your rebounds, and he can protect the rim.
15:00And you're going to get him for the veteran minimum.
15:02To me, it's a no-brainer.
15:03You bring him in, you re-sign Kaminga,
15:06and you have the support of the other guys as well, Butler and Draymond.
15:10So that's the way I would approach the offseason.
15:14What do you guys think?
15:15Well, Rich, before you go, I'd love to ask you a question.
15:18If they did that, if they came back next year
15:22and their two moves were to re-sign Jonathan Kaminga
15:25and bring in Brooke Lopez, does that represent a great offseason to you?
15:29Um, to me, I'm sorry.
15:35Repeat the question once more.
15:36I only hope part of it.
15:37If basically, if what they do is exactly what you suggest,
15:41they re-sign Kaminga and their big addition is Brooke Lopez,
15:45does that feel like a good offseason to you that positions the Warriors well?
15:50I believe it does because you have to consider what they have already.
15:56It's not just those two moves.
15:58It's the fact that they have a competitive team right now.
16:02The fact that they were able to get to the second round means they're competitive.
16:06When you add, you know, Brooke Lopez and you already have Butler
16:09and you re-sign Kaminga, in my opinion, it gives you a very large missing piece.
16:15Why? Because you didn't have a big who could help you defend
16:19and can shoot the three and can grab rebounds, and now you do,
16:22and it didn't cost you much to get him.
16:24So, to me, yeah, that is the right move to make.
16:27Yeah. Rich, thanks. Appreciate it.
16:29I also, the premise was that Brooke Lopez would take the veteran minimum.
16:34I don't know that.
16:35Yeah.
16:36I don't know that.
16:37Brooke Lopez is coming off of a year where he just made $23 million.
16:41He's not taking the vet min.
16:42I don't know if he's taking the vet min.
16:44Right. And what did the big Kiwi just sign for?
16:48Steven Adams.
16:48He signed for $3 and $39, I think, something like that.
16:51Yeah.
16:52So, I don't think that Brooke Lopez is taking the vet min.
16:55So, I mean, if you're looking for a big to, you know, take a contract like that,
17:01you're probably not going to get Brooke Lopez.
17:04Yes. Three years, $39 million for Steven Adams.
17:07Right.
17:07Those of you who went into the weekend, yes, good job.
17:10Yeah, thank you.
17:10Yeah. A lot of people wanted the Warriors to explore Steven Adams.
17:13I don't know if y'all heard off the table.
17:16Right. And if you are looking at, you know, the Warriors and making some signings,
17:22it is more sensible to me that they sign their own guys.
17:27They have bird rights on GP2 and Kevon Looney.
17:30And you may not love them as upgrades because they're not upgrades.
17:35They're literally the same people that they've had.
17:36But for me, it's more likely that that happens as opposed to, oh, Brooke Lopez, vet min.
17:43No, I hear you.
17:44And even though I was right out in the front of, dude, the Warriors after Jimmy Butler
17:50were one of the best teams in the NBA.
17:52I can also say, if you just bring the band back, that doesn't feel good right now
17:58in terms of the Warriors' chances of winning next year.
18:01Doesn't feel good.
18:02Right.
18:02That's all.
Recommended
10:52
|
Up next
20:00
12:32
20:38
11:34
23:34
10:30
11:42
23:06
8:35
16:29
21:51
7:38
21:22
12:48
8:40
8:55