Rumors

Long-time Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr met with controlling owner Joe Lacob and general manager Mike Dunleavy for two hours on Monday, league sources told ESPN, as the sides continue to figure out whether it is the best path forward for Kerr to continue as the coach. Both sides described the meeting as productive, but there remains no resolution nearly two weeks after the Warriors' season ended in Phoenix. Kerr, Lacob and Dunleavy plan to reconvene next week to continue discussions, league sources said. Kerr will take a previously planned golf trip to close out this week as those around him continue to describe Kerr as torn about his own side of the choice. "It's April," one source said. "We don't need to rush."

ESPN

That lottery pick is an important tool within the Warriors' plan to rearrange the roster this upcoming summer, which is part of the equation in Kerr's decision whether to return. At this stage of his life and career - 60 years old, having just wrapped his 12th season in the same role - there's an agreed belief that Kerr still makes sense as the head coach leading a firm playoff contender built around Steph Curry and Draymond Green, but not necessarily the fresh face of a reconstruction. "I still love coaching, but I get it," Kerr said the night the Warriors were eliminated. "These jobs all have an expiration date. There is a run that happens, and when the run ends, sometimes it's time for new blood and new ideas."

ESPN

Team sources remain adamant that this is purely a "basketball decision", based around Kerr's desire to keep coaching, management's desire for some offensive philosophy and staffing tweaks and whether there's a collective belief that the Warriors will be able to utilize transaction season to better beef up its roster to compete in a crowded conference.

ESPN

On the management side, the Warriors are committed to Dunleavy and he remains committed to them, despite external noise about Chicago's front office vacancies. Dunleavy quietly signed an extension in recent months, team sources said, and has multiple years left on his deal.

ESPN

The signs continue to point to yes — at least for another season. Kerr, 60, still has the fire to do the job and would like to continue coaching Curry, the man who helped him create the culture that produced four NBA championships. Kerr and Warriors GM Mike Dunleavy have repeatedly said throughout the season that they would discuss the future after this campaign ended. A team source reiterated the same message in recent days. Another team source highlighted the need for organizational alignment regarding the road ahead — from owner Joe Lacob on down — as an important aspect in those talks.

New York Times

Bonzi Wells: We had a window but just after that game it was like so deflating. Matt Barnes: Sheed, you said you put the blame on yourself. Tell me why. Rasheed Wallace: Oh yeah cuz out of them 13 shots I missed, like six or seven of them and they was dummies too. Right there in front. Boom. Yo jump shot. Boom. Jump hook. Boom. Right there. I've missed all that sh*t. So, I put a majority of it on myself. And I also I think for me in my opinion where all that sh*t started going downhill was when Mike Dunleavy called the timeout after we was telling him not to call a timeout. He's trying to call a timeout and we trying to distract the refs like no, no, no…

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Former Bulls sharpshooter Kyle Korver, currently an assistant general manager with the Hawks, is one of the names league sources told NBC Sports is connected to the job. Other names that sources said were connected to the job early on include former Atlanta Hawks GM Landry Fields, current Warriors GM Mike Dunleavy (this may be more of a wish list play by the Bulls, it is highly unlikely Dunleavy leaves Golden State), current Minnesota GM Matt Lloyd (a Chicago native who worked for the Bulls for 13 years), and CAA agent Austin Brown (this would be following in the footsteps of the Lakers and Knicks, who hired former agents as GMs and had some success with them).

NBC Sports

Stephen Curry speaks highly of the way Green has managed the down season, noting Green's leadership and saying, "he has been super consistent with his voice." Green has accepted those choices without agitation, letting Kerr and general manager Mike Dunleavy know that he is willing to move to a bench role, if necessary, while still believing plenty of positive basketball remains ahead. "It doesn't have to look a certain way for me," Green said. "I fear ever becoming one of those guys that everybody else knows [their time is up] but me. I just never want to be that guy. Ego and entitlement can very much lead you to be that guy."

ESPN

But as the Warriors explored the idea of trading for an inactive Porzingis, they said they did their "due diligence" on his medical history and felt comfortable making the move. "The simple answer on that for me is I heavily rely and trust our medical group," Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy told ESPN. "So when they look at the stuff and they say, 'We're good, we feel comfortable with what we're dealing with,' then I'm on to the next thing from a basketball standpoint. So for that reason, we collectively are good with the decision and will go from there."

ESPN

But as Kuminga's career developed, Kuminga believed he'd shown enough in supplementary roles to have earned more consistent trust and on-ball opportunity. Neither happened to his liking, sources said, only hardening his belief that Kerr and general manager Mike Dunleavy would only ever view him as a run-fast, jump-high athlete without the requisite skill to be a lead option.

ESPN

In response, both Kerr and Dunleavy would often cite Kuminga's lower efficiency numbers in isolation and in the midrange as proof of their reasoning. They blamed Kuminga's agent Aaron Turner and those around Kuminga, team sources said, for prioritizing and working "on the wrong things" away from the facility, routing his career down an incorrect path. The disconnect affected contract negotiations, and multiple members of the organization questioned whether it was more important for him to win or to win his way.

ESPN

Golden State Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy denied that Draymond Green was in active trade conversations in advance of this week's deadline despite the team's pursuit of Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo. "I'd walk that back," Dunleavy said. "His name was not in conversations other than the ones where teams called me to ask about him. The idea that he stayed with the Warriors past the deadline was greatly exaggerated. It was never a possibility of him not being here or remotely close. I've conveyed that to him."

ESPN

Sam Yip: Somewhat tense moment when Mike Dunleavy was asked about Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green in Giannis Antetokounmpo rumors. “You’re putting words in my mouth, so that’s an unbelievable assumption...I’m not going down the roster talking about who’s in trade, who’s not.”

x.com

Anthony Slater: Mike Dunleavy when asked about possibility of using first rounders in a non-Giannis deal: “We’re willing to do whatever it takes to improve this team, whether it’s young players or first round picks.”

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