With the Gafford rumor, what about Klay?

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Good news to share: I’ll be on Yossi Gozlan’s next Third Apron video that explores various Warriors trade scenarios, as Friday night Chris Haynes of the NBA On Prime followed up his startling athletic shot-blocker rumor with a new one on a potential Golden State pursuit of Anthony Davis (utilizing the Jimmy Butler contract):

That video should come out on Gozlan’s YouTube channel by Tuesday.

But we’d barely gotten a chance to ponder the rim-runner archetype of Daniel Gafford, whom the Dubs obviously played head-on on Christmas.

And when you broach the topic of a player on Dallas, naturally you also think of a fairy tale reunion with Klay Thompson. After all, their salaries add up to about Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield’s, put together.

Granted, Haynes already reported that the Mavs aren’t interested in any of the Warriors’ assets (although in the context of the Davis rumor, see video below). But that just means you need to find additional teams who wouldn’t mind landing JK and/or Buddy and have assets that Dallas does like.

But… this one’s easy: Klay coming back to the Dubs is not happening this trade season, or perhaps as long as he’s being paid the remainder of that three-year, $50 million deal Nico Harrison originally signed him to.

Anthony Slater of ESPN reminded us in his pre-Christmas lead-up piece that the Lakers had actually offered Thompson more, way back when. I mean, if anyone is still bitter about the divorce, let’s face it: Klay found himself a nice landing spot by getting a more-than-fair salary, ensuring a promise to be a starter alongside greats like Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, not to mention joining a team that just gotten to the Finals. And yet, here we are. Here they are. 🤷🏻‍♂️

And Marcus Thompson of The Athletic concluded that this Christmas, there were near-nil mutual desires, let alone financial instruments available, when Klay came back to the Bay with this season’s trade deadline approaching:

“They are an opponent,” Thompson said. “Why would I look at any other team other than the Mavericks like that? It’s just the nature of the business.”

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“Probably all the good times,” Thompson said when asked what he thinks about when visiting his old home. “Record-breaking nights. Championships. All that good stuff.”

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Here’s the video — just posted within the last 24 hours — that includes that monotone postgame Q&A Klay granted in the visitors’ locker room.

That last quote wouldn’t have even happened if not for Nick Friedell of The Athletic asking a “hand grenade” question as Klay finished slurping up his postgame protein shake and was eager (probably) to go introduce Megan Thee Stallion to Festus Ezeli — see subsequent video below:

As one Wardell Stephen Curry told Slater:

“It would be unbelievable,” Curry said of the idea (of Klay returning to the Warriors). “If that time comes and that conversation is had, of course I’m calling him and saying, ‘We want you back.’ And hopefully that would be a welcome message to him. But as we stand right now, that does seem like a far distant reality. But so did him leaving.”

Still, it seemed like the crowd at Chase Center obviously missed him:

But the main thing is, once again: cap sheets!

Gozlan and I both quickly agreed that the upgrade you would get, going from a Hield at $9 million to a Klay at $16.7 million — both playing limited minutes in very reserve roles, mind you — is not worth that difference of nearly $8 million.

It’s just not prudent fiscal management to discard Hield at $9 million in order to pay Klay at $17 million.

I used to think that maybe a buyout next season before its deadline of March 1, 2027 would be the best way for Klay to rejoin Golden State, but then I did some digging and remembered that teams above the first apron can’t sign a buyout player that was making more than the Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception, which is projected to be about $15.14 million for 2026-27. Thompson will make more than that at $17.46 million in 2026-27 and — barring a surprise such as trading Kuminga for only Draft capital, let’s say, which would probably get GSW under the luxury tax line and therefore below the first apron — the Warriors are more than likely to be hovering just below the second apron again by March 1, 2027.

In short, it’s super-unlikely for Klay to come back to us until Summer 2027. This would be the case even if there were mutual interest, just because of prudent cap sheet management.

Nevertheless, heck, Summer 2027 is when nearly all the contracts on Golden State expire anyways and we’ll see what kind of discounts the old guys come back with as free agents, assuming Curry still wants to keep playing.

Thanks for your patience as I came up with something to talk about in relation to the almost innocuous Christmas Game. The folks on our livestream chat gave disappointing grades even though a win is a win, and even Gozlan objectively observed that the Mavs played poorly.

Bottom line: I think we’ve put the Klay issue to bed.

We can miss him all we want, as Steve Kerr lamented after the last question on the podium, but Thompson is realistically not coming back until we effectively hit the reset button the Summer of 2027.

The Megan Thee Stallion jaunts on Klay’s boat, as seen at the end of this Moses Moody interview shall be few and far between:

All interviews in video format, with captions, are below. Don’t forget the De’Anthony Melton postgame Q&A — he always has some nugget that gets brought up. Transcripts are behind the paywall which will become unlocked soon, when the next set of transcripts after the Toronto game are ready. Or, you can just read the full transcripts in the Comments of each of the videos on YouTube:

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00:00 Melt, just what kind of progress do you feel like you’ve made physically, conditioning-wise? And just how have you felt? You feel like your rhythm’s started to come back?

00:11 DE’ANTHONY MELTON, POSTGAME DAL-GSW: Something like that. Yeah, I’m just trying to keep working through it. I think definitely my conditioning has gotten better. Before, my first five minutes of the game I be feeling like I’m ready to pass out, but now I feel a lot better. I feel like I can play a lot longer. That’s what I’m happy about and I’m just trying to keep working.

00:31 De’Anthony, talk about your effort today, your defensive presence. 16 points off the bench, plus-19 for the plus-minus. Just talk about what was working for you and how you’re feeling out there.

00:42 Just going out there, being aggressive. I think I’ve said that from the jump and I think that’s what the team wants for me, too. When you got everybody being aggressive and we got 12, 13 dudes that can go out there and play, just trying to play my game and understand what needs to be done during the game, too, at the same time. And on the other end, defensively, that’s who I am. That’s who I’m always gonna be, so just trying to figure that out. And obviously just trying to give some of these better players some help and relief.

01:12 Do you believe in the concept of shooting your way out of a slump?

01:16 For sure. For sure. You can’t be scared to shoot. I think that’s when you’re scared to shoot, that’s when it ultimately goes the opposite way, so I think everybody on my team knows. Everybody on the staff knows I’m gonna keep shooting and I gotta keep shooting with confidence and that’s the best thing for this team.

01:34 This week was a little bit turbulent with the past couple games and Draymond and Steve. What did you learn about how this team operates after that incident?

01:45 Everybody on this team is resilient and they know how to win. They’ve been through so many different things and various seasons from winning multiple championships to getting all the way and losing, so they’ve seen a lot and I understand what — talking to other guys, said it’s just something that’s gonna pass over and sometimes they need this to build and to continue to grow.

02:07 Steve talked about how the rotations solidifying and things are becoming more consistent. Do you feel like that’s solving some of the problems you guys had earlier in the season?

02:18 I wouldn’t say necessarily that. I respect everybody that touches the floor for us and I feel like everybody that touches the floor can be (of) service to us. And even the guys that don’t play, I still feel like they could be of service. That’s on Steve to figure out who he wants to play and who is not. All I can do is just worry about myself and just worry about winning the game at the end of the day. And that’s all I try to do.

02:42 De’Anthony, Steph was saying the other night that he still gets nervous when he’s gotta take two free throws down the stretch in a game and maybe that makes all of us feel better, right?

02:51 Yeah.

02:51 That even if Steph gets nervous, then it’s pretty natural. What does that mean to you? Here’s this guy, superstar, who still smiles to the sky and does what he needs to do to get himself calm for two free throws.

03:05 It means a lot. It means a lot. I work on free throws a lot. I try to make 10 in a row, with five swishes, so going to the free throw line, just trying to think about the same thing, just trying to make 10 in a row. So whatever happens, and you gotta just live with the results, but sometimes getting to the free throw line can help you get into a rhythm and get your shot going, too.

03:25 So do you do that every day, every practice, every pre-game?

03:28 Yeah, every chance I get I try to make 10 in a row with five swishes involved, too. And then when I’m at the free throw line, telling myself the same thing, 10 in a row, 10 in a row, 10 in a row, because I’ve done it. So, just gotta keep going.

03:41 Does that humanize No. 30 a little bit too?

03:44 He’s human and I think we all know that and I think that’s why we love him, too.

03:49 De’Anthony, you guys are always gonna be considered a smaller team, but you see what Al did tonight, QP, what he’s done this season, Trayce coming on really stronger--

03:56 Two-big lineup. Two big lineup today.

03:58 Exactly, yeah, so how can that unlock something different when Al came in with Trayce and then made those threes?

04:03 Man, we could be more active on defense, honestly. Having those bigs out there, and especially with Al, the way he came back and ready to shoot, we love it and we’ve been missing it. 4-for-6 is definitely something we need and also defensively allows us to sometimes grab rebounds and let Trayce run the floor and get all our wings out in transition, too. Al being out there and having more of a size allows us to finish possessions off.

04:33 Right here. Whether it’s deflections, rotations, communicating with the team, you’ve already talked about defense, talk about your game today and how you rate yourself in the game.

04:45 Yeah, I’m just happy I hit a couple jumpers today, honestly. That’s all I can be happy for right now, but I think defensively, that’s always gonna be me, figuring out where I went wrong and I don’t really like to get scored on or to miss coverages and stuff like that. So I talk a lot with the player developments, the ones that watch a lot of film, in terms of what I could have did better. And I ask them, all around, what you seeing? And I feel like they’re pretty honest with me and just try to have great conversations with them, just trying to keep working and just keep building. It’s one game. We got a lot more games to go, so I just wanna make sure I’m doing this when it’s 82, Game 90, stuff like that.

05:33 Whether it’s the speed of Brandon Williams or just how Cooper can just do everything on the floor, just talk about those young guys and how you were able to defend him today.

05:42 That’s my dog, too, Brandon Williams. We played together in high school. To see him really go out there and just do his thing and 9-for-12 and 7-for-9 from the free throw line, I never really congratulate somebody on the other team, but love to see him go out there, play, do his thing and find a way in the league. Because sometimes it’s tough when you young coming up and trying to figure it out, so love to see him play and all the other guys, they’ll figure it out.

06:13 Great. Thank you.

06:14 Yeah. Thank you.

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06:17 You want your first question?

06:18 JIMMY BUTLER: Yeah yeah, of course. Always.

06:20 What was it like to see De’Anthony Melton make a shot?

06:22 Man, you know what? I’m actually happy for him. It’s about time. What was the first one, the one in the corner over there?

06:29 The first three? Yeah.

06:30 Missed the first one. Two for a dollar. No, we like that, though. I’m happy for him that he’s back hooping and confident and, like I always say, we got so many guys that can make shots and I’ve seen him do it time and time again, so good for him.

06:44 33 assists. 33 assists. You guys have been averaging the low-20s lately, so what does this mean that you get to 33 today?

06:51 Al (Horford) back. Big Gator. Aw, no, it was clicking tonight. We’re moving the ball at an incredible pace, finding guys and sometimes it may look a little bit too unselfish because we do have layups, myself included, but we all love to see everybody else shine, so it’s a good problem to have.

07:13 How does Al change things when he is on the floor?

07:16 Definitely spreads the floor, challenge shots at the rim, high-IQ type player. And then he’s just really fun to play with, as long as you’re out there having fun, being joyful. Ball’s moving, you’re guarding, you’re competing, that’s who he is. That’s who he’s always been.

07:32 Three in a row for you guys. What do you feel like’s clicking?

07:34 We streaking, baby. Yeah, we streaking. I don’t know. I think we’re guarding at a high level, making shots. I’m telling you, it always helps, but I think we’re more so on the same page. We just gotta keep being together. It’s not gonna be all good, it’s not gonna be all bad, but we need to stay somewhere in the middle.

07:53 In that realm, what’s your perspective on the last few days here, Dray-Steve thing the other night, the apology at practice?

08:01 Look, man, that’s just part of the game. When you’ve been together for so long, y’all gonna have arguments. It ain’t gonna be quiet all the time. Like, it’s okay. You got two fierce competitors that have won it together and that want to continually win. We know what it is and if you’re looking at me, I’m just looking up, like, all right, here we (go). Like, I expect that to happen. That’s okay. We move on from that.

08:25 Did you learn anything about how they handle those type of situations being this is maybe the first one?

08:31 It’s like that. Y’all yell at each other. Turn me on a little bit. I’m not gonna even lie. I like that. I like the confrontation. It’s good for us.

08:40 Jimmy, when Al has missed seven games, for him to come in there and hit four threes in a row like that, what kind of lift is that and about maybe how he stays ready? What does it say about that?

08:54 I think that’s the thing. You always have to same — and I’ve seen him still working on his game out there, getting his shots moving. I’m just glad that he’s helping, that he gets back to doing what he loves to do and obviously it’s helping us win, so that’s a plus for everybody. But as long as he’s happy out there, competing, man, we got our guy back.

09:13 And you have a 5 who’s out there shooting threes. How much does that open things?

09:18 It changes everything for everybody, especially me. And whenever you get guys that are making shots, like Melt over here, finally made some shots, get a guy a couple of assists, the game’s just more fun that way. When you get the pass and somebody else is shining.

09:34 From a rotation standpoint, it seems like lines are split between, one, Steph and Draymond and then you and shooting. What do you make of that setup and being able to toggle between styles during your game?

09:45 Nah, that’s great. Whoever you’re out there with, play basketball the right way. It’s gonna be easy. It’s real easy with No. 30 out there because you just get him the ball and he’ll do everything. It’s still a learning curve whenever I’m out there, but we’re getting used to it. But I could care less, as long as we win. Everything’s fine.

10:00 Jimmy, how confident are you that you guys can maintain what you built the last week and take it on the road?

10:06 Nah, we good. We finish high. Just stay together, have fun, play basketball the right way, home and away, and we’ll be alright.

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00:00 STEPH CURRY, POSTGAME DAL-GSW: Let’s do this before everybody gets back. You just tell them I said some great things and we can leave. Merry Christmas.

00:10 Merry Christmas, Steph. Alright, first question. Tell me how you’re feeling, just finished your 13th Christmas Day Game at this point in your career. How important are these games to you and what do they mean to you?

00:25 They’re special because only 10 teams get this opportunity and especially at home. It’s a great honor, the history of this day, basketball, or in the history of the league, so I don’t ever take them for granted. It is a different energy all around the arena and this started at home with the family. Very cool slot where you get a little time in the evening with the family, so I’m looking forward to get home, but it’s always fun especially when you get a win.

01:02 You’re talking about history. Was it on your mind that you reached the 26,000 career scoring mark today?

01:10 No, I didn’t know going into it which is great because those things take care of themselves. The more you play, the more opportunity you get out there. And it is special milestone for sure. I think there’s 22 guys in the history of the league, so you look up and there’s some other active players still doing it, still climbing the ladder. I’m happy to be a part of that chase to see how far I can get up there.

01:38 Hey Steph, over here. How long had you been warming up before you realized Klay had come out, too, before the game?

01:46 In the what?

01:47 How long had you been warming up when you realized that Klay had come out to and was warming up with you?

01:52 He usually has — since he’s — last year when we played him, he usually warms up around the same time, so I knew he was gonna be out there. And had a quick moment with him at half court and then kept him moving.

02:09 Did you notice the crowd’s reaction to that moment at midcourt? It seemed to elicit some excitement?

02:14 Yeah, they don’t miss a thing, for sure, especially the Splash Bros out there, so very sentimental moment. I’m sure anytime we’re in the same space and Draymond included, so that was cool, for sure.

02:32 Steph, you’ve talked about realizing there’s more behind you than in front. Does seeing Klay and that kind of becoming normal on the other side make you remember how close you are to this thing being over?

02:47 Yes and no. It will never be normal seeing him somewhere else, but it’s also we’re all trying to deal with the here and now. We’re such competitors that no matter what position you’re in or situation you’re in with your teams, you still feel like you can win and you have a lot to accomplish, so it’s a great reminder of the journey, but you don’t really put too much extra emphasis on it. That time will come down the road.

03:18 Except for the last 10 games, you guys have been averaging like 22 assists per game. Today, you guys hit 33 and didn’t really shoot that well. What does that say about what the way the offense can run?

03:31 It just shows what we’ve been working on, trying to get organized around my unit when we’re out there and me and Draymond, especially, where there’s a lot more organized chaos and pet patterns and stuff. We’re still calling some plays, but then it — the drastic difference when it’s just Jimmy out there and trying to get organized around him. Our offense was a struggle for a good while throughout the season and all that shows is, one, if you take care of the ball and get good possessions, decent shots over the course of the game, you give yourself a good chance to weather the storm if you’re not making shots, because you’re not handing the other team points and you’re making them work. So we’ve had a good stretch of games doing that.

04:24 Sounded like Steve and Draymond apologized to the team in the last couple days. You guys have won three in a row now. How do you now look back on that situation and maybe the apology and, I guess, where is the team maybe in a better place than it was five days ago?

04:43 I think they’re — them two are in a better place, but I was up here talking about it. They were gonna be professional in how they handled it and that’s how they handled it and how we’ve handled it as a team, so stuff like that happens. They have the equity of years and years of relationship that is, it’s had its moments, but as a professional as you are, you come back and you approach the next day with a fresh start and they handled yesterday at practice. And we responded well as a team.

05:18 Steph, when Al can come in like that and open up the floor by hitting threes in a row like that, what does that do for everybody to be able to just open up the court for you guys?

05:32 Yeah, it’s the vision of what he would add to our team from the jump. I know he’s battled a lot of injuries and absences and he’s trying to, personally, I’m sure, find a rhythm and that availability is huge. But it’s why he is who he is, why he’s had the career that he’s had and why he’s such a coveted big man because of what he can do. So that run that they had basically won us the game, at the end of the first quarter, start of the second. So that was the difference in giving us a little bit of separation where we could also have that cushion the rest of the game.

06:13 Is it hard to do that? He’s missed seven games. I know he stays ready, but still it’s probably different when you step back on the floor.

06:20 Yeah, he works very hard behind the scenes to get ready and that’s just a confidence and experience thing, him being in the league so long. I’m sure nothing surprises him. It’s just a matter of how he feels and can he be healthy and get out there and he knows what to do.

06:39 Hey Steph, Coach had mentioned earlier this is not a great team. A good team, but it could become an excellent team. What’s your assessment on that and what would it take to become excellent or great again?

06:56 One, not getting too down on yourself if it’s not going right. And not acting like we’ve done anything with a three game win streak. We have to continue to obsess over the details. We’ve been a really good defensive team all year, but offensively it’s been our kind of barometer on if we’re playing well or not, so take care of the ball, take good shots, use each other to create good looks and just stay locked in on playing with effort and energy. It’s very simple concepts, but can you go do it? And we’ve had three games in a row where we’ve done it.

07:35 Hey, Steph. Sorry if this was asked before, but Steve was talking about how the rotation stabilized a bit. Do you feel like that’s starting to solve some of the problems you guys have had earlier in the season?

07:47 Yeah, we’ve been asking for that and asking for it — also understanding it’s been hard because of injuries because of the revolving door of who’s available, who’s been playing well, certain things that Coach sees that he’s making or informs his decision. So it helps when guys know who they’re out there playing with and can develop a chemistry and a rhythm, especially offensively because it does change depending on who you’re out there with. So I — the hard part is you got Buddy, JK, Gui, Pat, Seth who’s hurt. You got guys who have also played and they have to stay ready, too, because things can change really quickly.

08:36 One more Klay question. Is it safe to assume there was some intent behind the shoe choice tonight?

08:45 No, I just happened to randomly find some Anta Klay Thompson 11s lying around in the back. Just thought I’d wear them and they happened to be my size. It’s pretty cool.

08:59 Hey Steph, real quick. You talk about your legendary career and then you play a young guy in Cooper Flagg, who’s taken the league by storm. Just what’s your assessment of him seeing him up close for the first time?

09:10 I saw him at my camp a couple years back and then I saw him again at the USA Select Team last summer, so it’s not a surprise what he’s been doing, why he’s the No. 1 pick. What he did at Duke, future’s bright. Plays well. Wise way beyond his years and just his basketball IQ. You can tell. That’s gonna be a journey you wanna stay locked in on. He’s gonna be around for a long time.

09:43 Steph, back here. I don’t know if you’ve already been asked this, but just talk about what today meant, not just for the holiday, but just you being able to achieve that milestone and just all the other things you’ve accomplished in your career.

09:58 13 straight Christmas Day Games. You said the scoring, milestone, rocking Klay’s shoes, all the things. It’s been a great blessed day. I’m just so fortunate to play this game and now I get to go hang out with my family and enjoy Christmas, so hopefully y’all get to get home, too, and see yours as well.

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00:00 (Inaudible) did you like that aspect of (your win)?

00:05 STEVE KERR, POSTGAME DAL-GSW: Yeah, it is. I’m not sure how much of it was our defense. It’s just the way they’re built, but it’s a weird stat line. They shot 55%, but for the most part, they made some tough shots. They didn’t get to the line a ton. We kept them off the three-point line. It’s a modern defensive game where it doesn’t feel great, but in the end the defense is enough.

00:37 3-0 homestand. There felt like maybe a little turbulence within it, but you exit over .500 to go out on the road. Just how do you feel where you guys are at right now?

00:48 I feel like we’re in a good place. We have a rotation. We’re healthy. Getting Al back today was huge, the way he shot it in the first half, just creating that separation, but our centers are all playing well. I think QP — it’s funny because QP has not shot the ball well, but he’s played really well defensively and to have Trayce out there doing the same, defending, blocking shots, and then to have Al, suddenly we have a pretty big front line, should we choose to go big, but multiple options off the bench. I like the way we’re playing, but now we gotta go on the road and keep it going.

01:34 Steve, De’Anthony with a season high 24, 20, yeah, 24 minutes. What kind of strides have you seen from him from just a physical like conditioning standpoint and took, I think it was, 14 shots today. Did you like that level of aggression from him?

01:48 He’s been aggressive since he came back. It’s one of the things I love about De’Anthony. He’s not shy. He really attacks the moment and his defense is excellent and he gives us another ball handler out there. You have to remember, he hasn’t played, really, for most of two years. That’s a long time to be out, so he’s still getting his rhythm back. You saw when he made the three at the end, he put his hands to the heavens. And he’s had a lot of open threes that haven’t gone yet that will start going once his legs are really underneath him and he’s found his groove.

02:22 Steve, with Al, how much can that just give him a lift also? And did you see this coming in this week that he would be able to just come right back out quite that strong?

02:33 No. No, he’s been out for a while. No, and he is finally cleared today and I told him before the game, I said, I’m not exactly sure when you’re going in because I’m gonna keep Trayce in his rotation because he’s playing so well. And Al, to his credit, stayed ready and immediately started knocking down shots that created the separation for us. We know how good he is. We know what he can mean to us and it’s really fun to see him back on the floor and obviously playing so well.

03:11 And how much does he open things up, because he can do a variety of things for you?

03:15 Yeah, the way he picks and then pops as a 5-man, it really opens up the floor and making four threes in that first quarter opened up the game. We scored 40 points and played with the lead the rest of the way, so I thought Al was really the key player in the game tonight.

03:34 Why did you decide to go to him?

03:36 I’m sorry?

03:36 Why’d you decide to go--?

03:38 They’re a big team and they have size at every position. And the thing we talked about in our coaches meeting was, we want to keep Trayce in his rotation, but we also want to get Al out there. And so there was a debate about maybe playing them together, maybe playing Al with Dray, but we weren’t quite sure how we’re gonna do it. We’re really trying to commit to a regular rotation because we’ve finally been able to do it the last couple games. And then we just decided, let’s just fit him in wherever it feels right and I really like him with Jimmy. I like him playing pick and roll with Jimmy because Jimmy’s so good getting downhill and getting him the ball, getting Al the ball if he’s open. And we saw that a few times.

04:27 How do you feel about the way you guys are rebounding the ball right now?

04:30 The crashing on offense has been really good the last few weeks. It was not good early in the season. And, yeah, how many offensive boards tonight? 13. Feels like we’re generating extra possessions now every game which is a big part of the modern game, big part of our game, so we’re doing that and having some bigger guys out there with Trayce and Al. It does feel like we’re more capable of taking care of the defensive glass as well.

05:00 Steve, you guys had 33 assists. Lately in the last 10 games, you guys averaged 22 assists a game which is pretty low for this team. What — did anything change, because you had 33 today and then gave them only six points off turnovers?

05:14 We didn’t make shots, either. We were 14-for-50. Other than Al, nobody shot the three well tonight, so biggest thing is, 11 turnovers, taking care of the ball. I think only four in the second half, so as Jimmy says, we were getting shots on goal and that’s all we want. If we’re taking care of it, we’re getting looks, next game that could be 24-for-50 instead of 14-for-50, the way we know we can shoot it.

05:44 What’d you think of the overall ball movement, in general?

05:47 It was good. It was good. Yeah, the ball moved and guys got open looks and it was a kind of a methodical win because we weren’t making shots, but we were getting good possessions.

05:59 Hey, Steve. It looked like Brandin went to the locker room with Rick (Celebrini) for a sec. What’s the — ?

06:04 Not sure what he did. Have you heard yet? So Rick told me he was available the last few minutes, but if you don’t need him, let him rest, so we let him go.

06:15 And what’d you like about his floor game? Seems like he had what, nine assists or — seems like he’s just moving the ball well.

06:23 Yeah, eight boards, four assists, only one turnover. He makes a lot of things happen out there. He’s at his best when he’s getting off the ball early and when he gets off of it and the ball starts swinging side to side, a lot of really good things happen and he’s a good player.

06:44 Hey Steve, just looking down at this, seven players in double-digit scoring. We’re talking about the ball movement, 33 assists. Is this kind of the identity, the makeup of this team that you’re looking for?

06:57 Yeah, we’ve always been a ball movement team. Steph off the ball is so powerful and Jimmy loves to pass. Jimmy would prefer to get an assist than a basket. You saw it tonight, nine assists and 14 points. He loves that kind of game. Draymond’s such a good passer and so we’ve — this has been our identity over the years and I feel really good about the way we’re playing, as long as we’re making simple decisions and the simple passes. So we get plenty of attempts.

07:31 And then also defensively you saw a lot of hands out there, a lot of guys getting on to loose balls and things like that and turned around to easy buckets. Just talk about defensively what you guys are looking out for.

07:44 Yeah, we’re mainly just trying to contain penetration, make people have to shoot over the top of us, not get easy buckets in the paint, fast break transition stuff. If we can keep teams from getting the easy stuff, then we feel good about our ability to slow them down.

08:07 Steve, have you gotten used to seeing Klay on the other side yet?

08:10 I’m sorry?

08:10 Have you gotten used to seeing Klay on the other side yet or is it still weird?

08:13 No, I’ll never get used to seeing Klay on the other side. I miss Klay, wish he was still here. Thanks.

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