Dunleavy pre-Draft transcript: on Kuminga, patience, 2nd rounders, “getting better in the middle”

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Here are some takeaways from the annual Warriors pre-Draft interview with general manager Mike Dunleavy, Jr. The Q&A went about 20 minutes and, per usual, didn’t reveal too much about the 41st pick in the 2025 NBA Draft second round on Thursday, so here are the more impactful topics below, plus the full video.

[Entire transcript is below the paywall which will be lifted by the next article posted]

“TRAITS” VERSUS “TRADES”

The SF Chronicle’s Sam Gordon asked about traits Dunleavy looks for in a draftee and Mike thought he was asked about “trades”, but they figured it all out after a few laughs. Ftr, I also heard “trades” my first run-through.

FALLING ON THE SWORD?

It seemed like MDJ took the blame for having too many playable guys after training camp last season (aka the De’Anthony Melton blueprint, as I like to call it): “Last year going into the season, we really leaned into depth and it was good for us in some ways. I think in some ways it can create some issues with lineups and playing time and puts a lot of stress on Steve (Kerr) and the coaching staff in terms of who to play.”

2ND-ROUNDERS BARELY MAKE NBA

Mike tried to keep things in perspective with a reminder that guys like Trayce Jackson-Davis and Quinten Post usually don’t roster: “You'd be lucky to draft a guy in the second round that can make it at all.”

Hopefully the pre-Draft workouts have been going well? Even if Jonathan Kuminga comes back, there are still four other roster slots to fill and the assumption is one of them is the 41st pick at the bare minimum rookie salary ($1.3 million). Of course, they could probably sign a two-way guy like Taran Armstrong to that slot and send the 41st pick down to Santa Cruz as a new two-way. I’m not sure the same could be said of Braxton Key, the defensive specialist, for example — particularly if Gary Payton II doesn’t come back, for whatever reason — because Key was signed as a regular NBA contract at the end of last season and so maybe that would make him a second-year veteran’s minimum at $2.0 million.

The assumption is that GSW has to be a little nitpicky at the end of the bench, at first glance of the cap sheet and Kuminga yet to be signed.

By contrast to a rookie contract at $1.3 million, the 30th pick will make $2.7 million this upcoming season. Even re-signing Kevon Looney would be a cap charge of $2.3 million.

Dunleavy said he doesn’t anticipate moving up to the first round and I’d be shocked if they did because, as described below, there’s not a ton of room under the first apron on that cap sheet to go out and get guys.

GETTING BETTER “IN THE MIDDLE”

Even though I now have a 1-A trade target in Jaren Jackson, Jr. and, of course, MDJ isn’t gonna give off any clues he’s in pursuit of a 1-A — here’s the video essay:

— Mike seemed to suggest they are targeting rotation players 7th through 9th on the depth chart as far as off-season roster-building is concerned: “I feel really good about our roster, if you look at guys 10 to 14, 10 to 15. And that's part of having depth. I think we can get better in the middle. I think we can get better and add some depth there and then we're really talking.”

Would this be through the Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception, which is only about $6 million to sign a free agent, assuming Kuminga is a Warrior?

JK’S RESTRICTED FREE AGENCY

Finally on Kuminga, “I’d like to figure out something sooner than later… restricted free agency can be a little different, so we may have to be patient.”

When pressed by Danny Emerman of the SF Standard on why the urgency, Dunleavy pointed to optionality on veteran minimum salaries and traded player exceptions.

This is rather unfortunate for the JJJ idea because that “1-A” maneuver requires Kuminga to be at around a $30 million — wouldn’t he take that deal in a heartbeat?

If there are worries things will take awhile then maybe the number isn’t close to that. Bobby Marks of ESPN recently suggested the Warriors should offer a three-year deal worth $81 million, which averages out to $27 million per year.

Note: Brooklyn is the only team with the cap space for a number like that. Detroit has cap space, but per Yossi Gozlan of Third Apron, the Pistons have only about $17 million to sign free agents, a figure that does not figure into the Kuminga negotiations, at first glance.

Finally, the Warriors themselves are presently about $25 million under the first apron without JK signed and four roster spots to fill. Btw, Golden State is only $17 million under the luxury tax line, so it doesn’t look like they’ll get the benefit of using the $14 million NTMLE to acquire a 7-through-9 rotation piece, unless they let Kuminga walk.

FULL TRANSCRIPT:

00:00 MIKE DUNLEAVY, JR., TWO DAYS BEFORE 2025 NBA DRAFT: Alright, what's up guys? I actually want to start by congratulating the Valkyries on the win last night and their starting of the season. It's been fun to watch. Ohema (Nyanin), Natalie (Nakase) have done a great job, players, so I think they're kind of like our sibling in this organization. It's fun to support them and it's been fun going out, check out games and really excited for the Bay Area and, anyway, we turn to the Draft, our stuff. Right now we're getting ready for that and 41, I will say on that pick, there has been a multi-time MVP pick there, so anything can happen, but we're going through the stuff right now, looking at things and, come Thursday night, we'll be ready to select, if that's where we're at. We'll obviously look at other options, trades, trade up, trade back, trade out, anything's possible, but feel pretty good with where we're at, getting to know the Draft pretty well. And hopefully we can grab ourselves another good player and move forward and grow him, develop him and add him to the program. But open up to questions for anybody that has them and happy to discuss anything.

01:09 At 41 or otherwise, if you trade up or down, how valuable would it be to add a player in the Draft that can impact the team right away, given where you're at, add to the roster?

01:19 Well, that'd be great, but I always say, I mean, it's really hard to do. We've been fortunate the last couple years between QP and Trayce. Guys that have been able to come in and play right away a little bit has been great. I just never bank on that. I just think it's hard. You'd be lucky to draft a guy in the second round that can make it at all. So I think we have to be realistic about what it is, but sure, I mean, we're gonna analyze this thing, look at it and try and find the best player we can find that'll be able to contribute to this franchise. And that's the goal.

01:50 How much does seeing what Oklahoma City and Indiana did in the Finals, how young they were, fast-paced, has that impacted at all how you're gonna build a team going forward this summer?

02:00 Well, I think you gotta run your own race and, in our case, we've got three players in their 30s who are really good and that's the hand we're playing. And certainly admirable to what the Pacers and the Thunder and some of these other teams have done in the league, but we've got our group, we're committed to that and we gotta build with it and around it and that's kind of what we'll do. And then as time goes on, maybe that changes, but multiple different ways to build a team and I think the way we're going about doing ours is what's right for us.

02:29 Mike, you've heard, I've had a few scouts over the years, recent years, say that 21-year-old Draft pick is old and I'm wondering, you guys have kind of gone the other way a little bit lately with guys like Trayce and QP. What's your feeling on this Draft in terms of the 18-, 19-year-old guys versus the guys who've been around in college for a while and how they might fit with your team?

02:50 Yeah, it's really interesting this year with the Draft. I mean, going through all the different players and looking at their pages. The amount of guys that are 22, 23, 24 is startling. Obviously, we have not been afraid to take older players, but I think with the NIL stuff, you're seeing more and more — you have more underclassmen have gone back to school, so there's less younger players, particularly in our range where we're picking, so it's fascinating and I think it's a little bit different feel. We're trying to grasp how that models out with these older guys. Now, we've had some success with them, but there's just so many of them this year. But it does lend itself to the older guys, generally, can play sooner than later. And if that's the way it goes, maybe that happens, but again, not gonna bank on it. These guys are all coming in, starting from zero with no NBA experience, so you just never know how they adjust.

03:41 Mike, obviously Tyrese Haliburton's injury was devastating last night, but you had to commend the Pacers for how much they kept fighting, fighting just throughout the playoffs. Also, when it comes to roster building, how do you know that character-wise, you have those guys who are never gonna give up, who are gonna compete no matter what, because I think that's what everyone's kind of taken from that Pacer group?

04:01 Yeah, I mean, I think you can take it from our group, too. I mean, we've got a group that battles. It's a huge priority for us. Anytime we sign, draft, or trade for a player, knowing that player, who they are, how competitive they are, those things really matter. They're super-important, as displayed here in the playoffs, the Finals, whether it's Indiana, Oklahoma City, the relentlessness, the persistence of those players. And I feel like we've got a lot of those guys on our roster, so we're in good shape there and we want to continue to add more of them.

04:30 Is there any trait you're prioritizing in the Draft more than others?

04:33 I guess as far as trade, we'll look at stuff. I think most likely when you're in the second round, it's probably looking at moving up or back within that round. Is there a possibility we could move into the first round? Sure. I wouldn't put it at highly likely, but you never know. On Draft night you get calls and you explore things, you look at stuff and we'll continue to do that.

04:54 He asked "trait." I thought he asked —

04:57 Oh, oh.

04:57 Yeah, roster trait.

04:58 Oh yeah.

04:59 All good. That works too, though.

05:00 — generality. That's my comment on the trade. As far as trait, I think we look for multiple traits, both intangibles in terms of character and approach and all that. And then there's some, I think, skill traits we're looking for and I think that's pretty consistent with the things that I've identified between shooting, defense, passing, those types of things that generally fit well within our system of how Coach Kerr wants to play. And the players we have on our team with Steph, Draymond, Jimmy, those guys, those kind of traits are something that we look for. I think you also have to be mindful just, in general. When you're picking in the second round, the later you go, you're almost just trying to pick somebody that's gonna make it, so you have to be a little careful about being too particular, but in general, those are the traits we like.

05:46 And then just to follow, do you go best player available or, if there's an upside pick, maybe a 41 that you might not expect to be there, does that — I mean, how do you weigh those two? Thanks.

05:55 Yeah, I mean, I think generally the later you go, just the higher probability of the guy making it, that's what we lean towards. And usually those guys have a nice rounded skillset. They have some maybe a glaring deficiency with size or athleticism or one blatant thing they're missing, but they do a lot of other things really well and maybe that's how you can kind of beat the system a little bit and get a guy in here that can survive.

06:19 Speaking of trades, I know once the Draft is over, obviously we've seen action before. We've seen some action happening in the last few days. Have you gotten a measure of what the trade market is or do you feel like there's gonna be a lot of action around the league and that you can maybe jump into or are you kind of approaching it that we're gonna be aggressive in this trade market?

06:41 Yeah, I mean, I think there's a lot of different ways we can go. We've got some free agents that are priorities. We gotta handle that, but some of that stuff may lean into trades and other things. I mean, obviously, we got wound up into a big deal last summer, multi-team trade, and so anytime you get into the free agent stuff and you start looking at exceptions and cap space and all these things, it lends itself to it. We'll be opportunistic. I think with our cap and strategy group, those guys are really good, so we'll look at everything and it's hard to say right now, honestly, as far as like what's out there, what could happen, but we will definitely be in the mix. I mean, I think we've shown a history of doing that.

07:21 And Mike, you guys have gone from participant to observer in the last four or five weeks of the playoffs. As you've watched these games play out, what have you taken about just watching the way the teams operate, the way the rosters are built that might influence you going forward, if anything?

07:39 Yeah, I mean, I think it just has beared out that defense is still really important and then the offensive end, to be able to have space on the floor to combat these defenses. Certainly, indiana had that with some of the floor-spacing bigs they had and then I think, obviously, you go back to further rounds with the Knicks, Minnesota, yeah, you gotta — but honestly, to go deep in the playoffs, you kinda have gotta have a little bit of everything. You gotta play offense, you gotta play defense, you gotta have size, you gotta be able to defend on the perimeter. I mean, man, you gotta put together a really good team and that's what Oklahoma City's done. Sam (Presti) did a great job and credit to Indiana as well. I mean, those guys, heck of a year. Kevin Pritchard did an amazing job. Rick Carlisle, what a coach. So, just need really good players.

08:27 How much, in addition to follow up, quality of depth — I mean, you saw that, especially in the Finals here where guys are coming off the bench and putting in production — how much does that a factor versus just kind of ride, like the Knicks did, ride your main 4, 5, 6 guys?

08:42 Yeah, I think there's multiple ways to do it. Last year going into the season, we really leaned into depth and it was good for us in some ways. I think in some ways it can create some issues with lineups and playing time and puts a lot of stress on Steve and the coaching staff in terms of who to play. I do think there's a level of depth that you have to have. If you can have 7, 8, 9 guys that are NBA rotation players, you're gonna be in business. Obviously, that helps prevent issues with injuries where a guy or two goes down, but just to make it through, it's a long haul, two months of postseason basketball, where it's at your high highest limit. You gotta have that depth and that's something that we'll — it matters to us. Like, I feel really good about our roster, if you look at guys 10 to 14, 10 to 15. And that's part of having depth. I think we can get better in the middle. I think we can get better and add some depth there and then we're really talking.

09:36 It seems like, I mean, Desmond Bane gets traded for four first round picks. Seems like every off-season someone's gonna trade for 3, 4, 5 first round picks. In your mind, has the Draft been devalued or draft picks been devalued in recent years and kind of where do you see the Draft when it comes to building a team, in terms of importance?

09:55 Yeah, I mean, I think it's a little bit "eye of the beholder" with the draft picks. Certain teams value picks differently. They value draft pick swaps differently and I think for your own team, when you're sending them out, it's important to evaluate where you're at. If you're a younger team that has a longer runway, then you're probably gonna be more inclined to send draft picks out. If you're an older team that has a shorter runway, you gotta be a little bit more protective of those picks and no doubt you should use them when the time comes, if you're really trying to win. But you gotta be selective about it. You gotta think it through of the value of your own picks because, once you lose them, the path to not being good and sort of doing a little rebuild or anything like that goes out the window because you don't control your picks.

10:40 Where are you at with Kuminga and his restricted free agency and how do you hope that situation plays out?

10:46 Yeah, so we can start — the Finals ended last night — we can start pursuing that right now leading up into free agency and I think we're in a good spot with it, honestly. We have the ability to bring him back. He's restricted and I think there'll be good dialogue and I'd like to figure something out sooner than later. That'd be great, but I also acknowledge with restricted free agency, these things can drag out a little bit and take some time, but I think we feel pretty comfortable with who JK is as a player and what he can do for our organization and we'll continue — it's a main priority going into free agency.

11:20 What would be the benefits of getting something done sooner than later? Why do you want that to happen?

11:25 Yeah, I mean, I think just clarity, right? Roster clarity, in terms of what else we need to add in free agency. Also what we have to spend in terms of minimums, exceptions, those different types of things. So I think that's — the sooner the better for everyone, his sake too, I would say, I would believe. But like I said, restricted free agency, restricted free agency can be a little different, so we may have to be patient.

11:50 How much do you have to even declare what his role is going to be in your minds or even in discussions with him, before you can get to a number, before you can decide whether it's better for him to move? Do you have to fix, in your mind — I know things can change, but obviously with Steve and everyone else, what his role is gonna be and what do you imagine it is right now?

12:12 Yeah, I think it's important to have those discussions. I mean, anytime, whether it's your own guy you're bringing back or signing a new player, you always talk with — I talk with the players, Steve does, sometimes he connects with our players on our roster too. I mean, you have all these conversations. In JK's position being an incumbent player, it's a little bit more known, but yeah, I think some of those conversations will need to happen, especially the way this season kind of unfolded last year where there's some moments where he wasn't playing as much and then the role's bigger and it's kind of — then he was injured — like, all this up and down. Sure, that's something that will probably be necessary to clarify.

12:49 Hi Mike, how has free agency looked different now, when you have just the sheer number of trades? Do you see it any differently? I mean, I know it's Draft week, but that's right on the horizon, too, and maybe that affects the Draft too.

13:06 Yeah, a couple things. I mean, I think first off, teams are less reliant on cap space and saving up for big free agencies. You see a lot more extensions of players already on the roster, so there's probably less players out there. I think the other caveat to it is, there's a few mechanisms that'll hard cap you to these different aprons that we have to be aware of and that can restrict some moves and some trades and things like that. And when those trades do happen, it creates those hard caps at times, so being leery of those things because, for us, a team that's willing to spend a lot of money, you have to be careful about limiting yourself. We did that a little bit last summer with the first apron. Fortunately, we were able to move some things around and acquire a player like Jimmy Butler halfway through the season, but it can make it hard. And so to be mindful of that stuff, I think is important.

13:56 Does more scouting come into play when you're looking at potential trade options and things, or maybe that sounds silly, but--

14:05 Yeah, I mean, I think we're on it, regardless, whether it's guys that are gonna be free agents, guys that potentially could be eligible for trade or players that we want to trade for. We've got a pro scouting staff that's out there all year long looking at players, so I don't think much has changed in that regard, maybe just some different mechanisms to make it happen.

14:26 Mike, obviously Oklahoma City winning this championship, still a very young team. Is it as simple as saying, "Okay, to get out of the West, you gotta find a way to get past those guys," and, if so, how do you compete with their youth, their size, their athleticism, and all of that?

14:42 Yeah, well they'll be the defending champs next year going into the season and they'll be the team that we gotta knock off, for sure, and the good news is, though, I mean, there's been an incredible amount of parity the last six, seven years, multiple different champions, multiple different finalists, so I don't want to say it's wide open, but I don't think it's to the point where it was in 2016-17, but this organization, where it was really, really hard to oust a team. So Oklahoma City is really good. They're gonna — they play their cards right, they're gonna be really good for a long time. And health is a part of that and certain other things, but no doubt, they're — I mean, the regular season they had this year was incredible and, obviously, making the playoff run to win the championship this year, they're gonna be the team to beat.

15:26 Mike, obviously anything can happen and you're gonna be open to everything as you always are, but last summer we know kind of the big names that you guys were discussing and came close to, or however that went. Does adding Jimmy Butler and maybe one of the names that was coming up last summer kind of put a little bit of a ceiling on the kinds of names you're talking about? I know again, yeah, you never know, but that $50 million play or whatever, is that kind of not gonna be in sight this time?

15:58 Only because just of our salary structure and the way it works with the amount of money you can use underneath the second apron. That probably restricts it more than anything for us in terms of pursuing the best roster we can, so I think we'll look at stuff, we'll look at players that we really like that may — we just gotta be — it's just almost impossible for us to add players in the salary range of guys we were looking at last summer since we've added Jimmy. So , that would be the only limiter, but in terms of finding talent, improving this team, we're gonna look under every rock to try and do that.

16:36 This is more out of curiosity than anything, but when you have the 41st pick in a Draft and you're working on Draft prep, how high up does your board go? Do you do the top 10?

16:46 Yeah, we do — yeah, we do the whole thing. just from a process standpoint to be able to look back to see how we're evaluating players. And since I've been here, we've drafted almost at every level. We've drafted 2, we've drafted 7, we've drafted 19, we've drafted multiple picks in the second round, last pick of the first round, that type of stuff. So you gotta be ready for anything and I think it's just a good exercise to go through, for us to have a whole complete board. You never know, Draft night, something happens, you trade up. So we gotta be ready for everything and it's a fun week and exercise to go through all that and lock it in and then you can look back and see how you did.

17:24 Mike, obviously, everybody was looking for a 16-win player, playoffs, right? But I remember Draymond on exit interviews was bringing up 82-game players and obviously we know Steph, Jimmy, Draymond's ages and everything. What is it gonna take to get those 82-win players so you guys aren't in playoff mode in February already, right? I mean, how do you create that kind of roster so you have a little more comfort in March, April?

17:48 Yeah, I mean, hopefully we can get some 96-game, 96-win players, hopefully — I think I did the math right there, but yeah, I think it's a great point. This isn't a team that we can just say, "Hey, let's get through the regular season and have a roster ready to go for the postseason." The West is really tough. The league is really tough. I mentioned the parity before, so in that regard, we've got, I mean, we won 48 games this year and we were in the Play-in. So we've gotta be able to have a really good team that can sustain the regular season, through some nights of rest, through some injuries, all that may come about. So yeah, we've gotta have a — we're taking all that into account, guys that can — we look at trades and free agency. We're gonna look at guys, how healthy they are, right? How many games they play, that stuff is important and we'll factor it all in. And hopefully we can also put together a roster that we feel, once the regular season turns over to the postseason, that team can be really good too.

18:46 Obviously, a lot of questions about Jonathan, but just wanting to check in with two younger guys of Brandin, Moses. I know they went through surgeries this off-season. Just your overall, expectations for them getting ready for training camp, etc.?

18:57 Yeah, on the health front there, for sure, those guys, had successful procedures and nothing major, which is good. And they'll be able to get back and definitely be ready by training camp and even have a good portion of their summer for our player development program and all that. So they're doing well and, hopefully, those are things get knocked out, put it behind you and move on.

19:18 Mike, whether it's free agency or the Draft, where do you prioritize point-of-attack defense versus rim protection defense?

19:26 Great question. I feel like that's a big debate throughout the league right now and, generally, the rim protection's more valuable, at least that's the way guys are paid and guys are sought after in trades. But you ask any coach, point-of-attack is pretty important, being able to control the ball, handle it in these pick-and-rolls. Some of these guys in this league right now, they can guard on the ball. Big guards have been highly effective with teams that have gone deep in the playoffs, so both are really important with having a guy on our team like Draymond. We're elite with a guy like that and I think we can be better on the ball, so I don't want to say that means it's more important, on the ball for us. I would say both are extremely important and we'll look to handle both those in free agency, but to me, you can't have enough. It's like shooting. If you can have a bunch of guys out there that can guard, that can switch and then, most importantly, protect the backside, you're in business. Cool? Raymond, I gotta talk to these guys on Wednesday, Thursday night too?

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