💥 On GET UP, Brian Windhorst reacts to one of the most stunning developments of the NBA offseason: the Golden State Warriors have reportedly agreed to trade Jonathan Kuminga in exchange for veteran big man Al Horford, and now all eyes are on the Los Angeles Lakers, who are making a serious push to acquire Nikola Jokic in what could become the biggest trade in NBA history.
Windy breaks down the motivation behind the Warriors’ move, why they want Horford's leadership and playoff experience, and how the Lakers' interest in Jokic signals an all-in push to surround LeBron James and Deandre Ayton with the league’s best center.
Could the NBA’s balance of power shift overnight? This segment has all the insider analysis, trade implications, and playoff predictions.
00:00In Denver, David Dennis Jr., Jokic and the Nuggets are going to be in the Western Conference Finals next year.
00:06Are you buying that or selling it?
00:07I'm going to give it a soft sell because I still think that the Rockets are right there.
00:11I think they're neck and neck with the Rockets, so I would not put them definitively in the Western Conference Finals just quite yet.
00:17There's an interesting – I want to pause here for a second.
00:19There's an interesting news item going on with the Nuggets right now.
00:24Fill us in, Bontemps.
00:27I got you.
00:28Who's got it?
00:28One of the 10.
00:29Jonas, help me out.
00:30So Jonas Valanciunas, one of the key additions for the Denver Nuggets this offseason, could potentially be going back to Europe to play for Greek powerhouse Panathinaikos.
00:38Now, this is an interesting development because Denver just traded for Valanciunas a few days ago to fulfill their hole as a backup center behind Nikola Jokic, something that's been a long-term problem.
00:48Now, for this to happen, Denver has to agree to it.
00:50The NBS let him out of his deal, something that has happened in the past for different players, but not for players like Valanciunas who are supposed to be key contributors on a team trying to win a championship next season.
00:59So this will be a very interesting story to follow.
01:01And if Valanciunas does leave, one of the big additions of this Denver bench this offseason suddenly will go away.
01:07Yeah, McMahon, what do you make of that situation in Denver?
01:09That's kind of a bigger deal, I think, than maybe got noticed the last couple days.
01:14I mean, a complete stunner for the Nuggets.
01:18They felt like they finally, after years of searching and scrambling and frankly failing to find a legitimate backup for Nikola Jokic, found that guy.
01:28And he's like, sorry, I'd rather go to Greece than Denver.
01:32So we'll see how that plays out.
01:35But reports out of Europe right now are that Valanciunas is on his way to Greece to get his physical.
01:40Certainly seems determined to play in Europe and not in Denver.
01:44And so the search for the backup center for the Nuggets continues.
01:49Fascinating situation out there in Denver.
01:51All right, back to our buy or sell segment.
01:53Bond temps, you buying or selling that the Dallas Mavericks are a legit contender?
01:58I'm selling because of the guy you just saw dribbling right there, Kyrie Irving.
02:00We do not know what status Kyrie Irving is going to have this season.
02:04He's obviously coming off the torn ACL.
02:06He suffered back in the spring.
02:07If you could tell me Kyrie Irving was definitely going to be 100% healthy for the playoffs,
02:11I could see an argument that they could be right up there with Houston and Denver behind OKC in the West.
02:15But that's too big of an if for me to put them up with those kind of teams.
02:18All right, one more for McMahon.
02:19Buy or sell, Tim?
02:21The Warriors have blown this offseason.
02:24Yeah, I sell that because when you look at the Warriors offseason,
02:28you've got to consider what they did before the trade deadline.
02:30They pulled off a blockbuster to go get Jimmy Butler.
02:33They went 22-5 with Jimmy Butler and Steph Curry in the starting lineup together.
02:39That's their big swing.
02:40They've got things to figure out.
02:42You know, primarily, they've got to figure out this Kaminga situation.
02:45They're hoping to get Al Horford on board.
02:47But it was a great trade deadline.
02:49You've got to package that into the considerations of their summer grade.
02:53That's fair enough.
02:53Steph and Warriors star Draymond Green had some similar thoughts on his podcast recently,
02:59talking about the Warriors offseason.
03:01Take a listen to what Draymond said.
03:04The heavy lifting's been done.
03:05Like, we added Jimmy.
03:07I think that was the biggest thing that needed to happen.
03:09Now we got that.
03:10Now you can tool around that.
03:11Just going into it, it's just all about looking to see, like, all right, now we know how it looks.
03:16Now we got that part figured out.
03:19Now what does it look like around that?
03:21So I think we're in a much better position heading into this one than we were last year.
03:27What do they need to be focused on right now?
03:29Well, they need to be focused on Jonathan Kaminga,
03:30who's probably the most interesting free agent left on the board.
03:33A very talented wing.
03:34A guy who, in the second round when Steph Curry was hurt against the Minnesota Timberwolves,
03:38had some huge games and showed what people around the league, some of the least, have thought for a while,
03:43which is he's a guy who could be an impact player on the wing.
03:46And the kind of player that, frankly, every team is looking to have.
03:49But he's also had long stretches of inconsistent play with the Warriors,
03:52which is why he's been in and out of the doghouse in Steve Kerr's rotation.
03:55And it's why we're sitting here a few days into free agency without any clear indication of a home for Jonathan Kaminga.
04:01And it's always difficult to be a restricted free agent in the NBA.
04:05It's, by definition, a restricted market.
04:08But this year, with no salary cap space around the league, it's even more difficult than normal.
04:13And for a guy like Kaminga, who has been a very polarizing player, trying to find a home for him that makes sense,
04:18whether it's with the Warriors or somewhere else, at a number he wants, is not going to be an easy task.
04:22I'm with Tim.
04:23The Kaminga thing is the last piece of the Warriors offseason.
04:26They've really not meshed well.
04:28Him and Steve Kerr have not meshed well.
04:30They've been going back and forth about minutes played and what the value is.
04:33He's probably at the lowest value that he's been in his career.
04:35But now they have to move on from him because you do not really want to start the season with him
04:39in the mix with all of this mess going on.
04:41The Warriors need to move on and get some stuff back.
04:43They need to get some athleticism back.
04:45They need to get some youth back.
04:46Sneaky move is they lost Kavon Looney, which has been a big part of their dynasty and all this stuff.
04:50They need to replace that.
04:52Al Horford should help.
04:53They're getting very old by adding Al Horford to that team of old guys they need
04:57to move Kaminga for some youth and a little bit of depth.
05:00But the Jimmy Butler move was huge.
05:03There may be a Steph Curry injury away from being in the Western Conference Finals.
05:07So I think they're on the right track.
05:08They just got to figure out that last piece.
05:10Yeah, you mentioned getting older.
05:12I mean, it's a team that's still probably trying to deliver at least one more for Steph
05:16and Draymond before it's all said and done.
05:18Are they in a position to do that before Steph's career is over?
05:22I think they are in large part because Steph Curry is still playing incredible basketball.
05:27What he did in that first round with that Houston Rockets, one of the best defenses in the league,
05:30where he broke their spirit by the time that series was over,
05:33he still can be the most disruptive offensive force in the league right there,
05:37along with Jokic.
05:38Jimmy Butler was banged up in that Minnesota Timberwolves series,
05:42so I think that contributed to some of the bad play there.
05:44But a full season of this team that was playing like a top team in the West
05:48since Jimmy Butler got there can only mean good things for the possibility
05:51of them getting one last ring for Wardell.
05:54McMahon, can they play like that?
05:56Like one of the top teams in the West, can they be that good this year?
06:01Listen, the West is loaded.
06:02I think the Warriors can be good.
06:04I don't think they can win the West.
06:06You know, if they get Al Horford, that's another proven championship piece,
06:10who I think would fit very well.
06:12But I'm not going to sit here and tell you I think the Warriors can go to Oklahoma City
06:18and beat the Thunder.
06:19I don't think that's realistic.
06:21And honestly, I think the Warriors are probably somewhere in that five to seven range
06:26in the Western Conference, not at the top.
06:28It's funny you say that because at ESPN Bet, they do have the seventh shortest odds
06:33to win the Western Conference, which means not a lot has changed
06:36because they finished seventh in the regular season this past year.
06:40Mucky, he's an upset Phoenix, 98-89.
06:43Isaiah James scored a career-high 28 points.
06:47Paige Beckers added 23.
06:49She is the first player in WNBA history with 250 points and 75 assists
06:54through their first 14 career games.
06:56Dallas started 1-11, but they're 5-2 in their last seven.
07:01And in Indiana, Kaitlin Clark missed her fourth straight game due to a groin injury,
07:05and it didn't matter.
07:06Indiana destroyed Las Vegas 81-54.
07:10Kelsey Mitchell had 25 points as the Fever snapped a 17-game losing streak
07:14against the Aces.
07:16And Vegas coach Becky Hammond was not happy.
07:19Listen to what she had to say.
07:20It is the worst offensive night I've ever seen, as far as I've been here in the last four years.
07:27You know, we go out to Phoenix.
07:30That was the best team in the league going into that night.
07:33And we put a solid four quarters together.
07:36Tonight, we put, you know, a third quarter together.
07:38After that, three quarters of trash.
07:40The offense was trash.
07:43The defense was trash.
07:44One team is fickle, and one team is not.
07:47One team is three steps behind, and one team is not.
07:50They got all the 50-50 ball.
07:51I mean, they busted our ass in every kind of way, Michael.
07:54There's just no two bones about it.
07:56It's one of the worst games I've ever seen.
07:59Three quarters of trash is not among the leading candidates for team slogan.
08:03To put the Aces' struggles in perspective, this was their third loss this season by at least 20 points.
08:08That matches the total number of 20-point losses in their previous three seasons combined under Becky Hammond,
08:15so you can understand why she is frustrated with the current situation.
