How Brandon Williams, Georges Niang could fill Warriors' roster needs | Dubs Talk | NBC Sports BA

Welcome to another edition of the Doves Talk podcast, brought to you by Ben Sidi Sleep World. We got the one and only Monty Poole, our Hall of Famer here in NBC Sports Bay Area. He's our Warriors insider. And of course, Petaluma's finest, Dalton Johnson. Glad to have him on the podcast, our Warriors reporter here at NBC Sports Bay Area. I am Bonte Hill. Kind of do everything around this place, which I love to do. But also, I love to go to Man City Sleep World, especially during the Labor Day sale. Save up to $1,200 on top cooling mattresses like Casper, Helix, and Tempur-Pedic. Beauty sleep queen mattresses starting at just $299. 0% financing on Tempur-Pedic starting at $29 a month and backed by a 365-night comfort guarantee, which gives you a whole year to try your mattress and make sure it is giving you the comfort you deserve. Go to sleepworld.com. That is sleepworld.com. You will be over the moon with the new patches from Mancini Sleep World. Fellas, good morning as we record this podcast on a Wednesday here. And what do you know, we have some moves to discuss because the Warriors are on the board, baby. After going through the offseason for the most part without making any moves except for re-signing their own players and making some picks, the Warriors go out in free agency and sign Brandon Williams, formerly in Dallas Mavericks. And our old friend George Niang, who was back in training camp in 2017 and played for the Warriors G League affiliate. However, he didn't play last season as he fractured his foot in September. So he's got some fresh legs, although he's up there. But let's first discuss Brandon Williams, 26 years old. And Monty, I'll start with you. We saw this joker twice last season, which is why when Brandon Williams popped up, I said, oh yeah, I remember him. He cooked the Warriors in 2 games and he got a win. Um, going to the rim. So Brandon Williams, 26 years old, he'll turn 27 in November. A 6'1 guard who will finish at the rim, still needs to work on his 3-point shot, but a nice depth piece for the Golden State Warriors.

Yeah, I mean, he, he, he's small. That's the downside. He's small. Um, you know, he's, uh, small in the same category like an LJ Cryer, you know, kind of small guy, but his game is nasty. Um, I mean, I, I would— I described it yet yesterday. It's, it's like, it's like one part— you got like a dash of Jamal Crawford, you know, a splash of Leandro Barbosa, and a sprinkle of Kyrie. Now I'm not saying he's as good as Kyrie, don't get aggregated, okay? But what I am saying is that—

sprinkle, yes, sprinkles, yeah, a little tease.

What I am saying is that he gives you some of what those guys can give you Um, he has shades of those guys in his game and makes him an effective offensive player. Um, you know, even without a 3-point shot. And none of those 3 guys excelled at the 3, but they excelled at penetrating and getting to their spots and getting buckets. And, uh, Brandon Williams is a bucket getter. And on that Warriors bench, among the things you need, a bucket getter is high priority.

Yeah.

How many times have we watched him struggle last year when Steph was off the court? You know, and we saw De'Anthony Melton trying to fill that gap, which De'Anthony Melton is— he's a great complementary player when he's alongside Steph, but when Steph's not out there, he caught himself trying to do a little too much at times, got him into trouble. Well, Dee Williams is like, by the way, Melton's high school teammate.

Yeah, back-to-back state championships, Marty. I thought you were gonna probably— Crespi High School, stand up!

Yeah, but, um, but yeah, if you just want to get somebody and get a bucket, you could do a lot worse than Brandon Williams.

There's a handful of reasons why I really like this addition, guys. I mean, you know, number one, Bonte, you, you hit it right off the, the top where you said we saw this guy twice and he lit up the Warriors. Think about Christmas Day when he scored a season-high 26 points. And that was just the flurry of different ways that Brandon Williams can score the basketball. Yes, he's not a 3-point shooter, but you know what happened in that game is there were a handful of times where Brandon Williams was getting past anybody you stuck in front of him. It didn't matter if it was a big like Al Horford or if it was a guard. Then they put Draymond Green on him and Draymond said, you know what, I'm going to play some mind games with you. I'm going to sag off of you. And he took a couple long 2s and hit him and even sagged off on him on a 3. He took one 3, he banked it in. Not a 3-point shooter, but it's the fact that he showed, okay, you're going to challenge me, I'm going to take this shot and I'm still going to find ways. Now you have to come up on me. He's right by you. That man is quick. He's got some nasty handles. He is fast, fast. And that was the biggest thing with the Warriors guards last season, right, guys, is who can beat their man off the dribble and get downhill to either score at the rim or playmake, because he will dish it as well too. You look at that film from that Christmas Day game.

Yeah.

Oh, like the first highlight is him getting to the rim and dropping off to Anthony Davis right there for an easy layup. It's just easy for him. He's 6'1, but he shot 71% at the rim last year. He shot over 58% in the paint last season. So yeah, he's not going to be a shooter, but it's good to get a guard that's a different wrinkle for this team. That's what I like about it. He's not big. He's not going to be a defensive ace, but he's going to be a little bit of that microwave scorer off the bench. He's going to be a playmaker. And the last thing I really like about him, guys, he knows how to get to the free throw line.

Exactly.

He knows how to get to the free throw line, which, which really dropped off for the Warriors post-Steph injury, post-Jimmy injury. And he's someone who's going to shoot right around 80% at the charity stripe too. A handful of reasons to really like this addition this late into the offseason.

Yeah, low risk, high reward move. 1 year, $2.6 million for Brandon Williams. Dog, you mentioned the free throw shooting, 12th in the NBA. And free throw tips drawn per game. That's ahead of guys like Anthony Edwards, right? I mean, the Ant-Man, who's one of the best players in the league. So you look at what he does. And in those Warrior games, the first one on Christmas Day at Chase Center, went to the free throw line 9 times, made 7 of them. Now, at the rim or on 2-point shots in those 2 games, 15 and 19. But Monty, you mentioned the 3-point shooting, just 23% from deep as he shot 47% from 2s. We love the 2s, we love getting to the rim. The next evolution of his game is making some 3s. And oh, by the way, although he played a career-high 66 games last season, averaged 13 points and 4 assists in those 22 minutes, he averaged 2 turnovers a game. So if he gets 30 minutes, will those turnovers get extended? Look, there's a lot to like about this move. Again, it's a cheap move, it's a good piece. I love the fact that he could pair with Melton, his own high school teammate. But Monty, shooting from deep and taking care of the basketball, which has been a problem for the Warriors over the last couple seasons. It's imperative for Brandon Williams to stay on the floor and be a bench piece for this team.

Yeah, I mean, you figure you bring in a guy like Brandon Williams, if everybody else stays healthy, that he's probably looking at 20 minutes a night. Um, you know, maybe on a night when Steph rests, maybe a little bit more than that, but on most nights I would think he would be in the low 20s, high 8s. high teens in terms of minutes, because you got to figure that the ideal backcourt with the current roster is Steph and Melt in the backcourt, and that means Brandon playing with Brandon, you know.

Yeah.

And so, yeah, and so, uh, and BP is more of a connector guy who can score, but Brandon Williams, he can do a little connecting too, you know, he can feed people. And, uh, but the main thing about him is that, yeah, like you said, The Warriors have really needed somebody who could get a bucket, who could take somebody off the dribble and just roast them. The last guy they had could do that that wasn't Steph was Jordan Poole. You know, it's been a while. Yeah.

And so a while.

Yeah. And so now you have a guy who, okay, you put somebody on, on him and he can say, okay, how am I gonna cook you? And probably get away with it. So, um, I think it's an incremental move to improve the offense, which again, you can't hate on that given what the Warriors have done and not done this offseason. So, um, I give this move a strong, you know, B+, A- grade because of the value you get there.

Yeah, the value, DJ. Again, I'm looking at that second game, January 22nd, when the Mavericks beat the Warriors. Steph had an awesome game. I think he scored like 38 in that game. But B. Williams, 7 of 10, And we're like, who is this guy? 19-5-4. I'm like, who is this guy? So I remember going on 9570 Game a couple weeks ago, and when Mark Stein had to tweet, hey guys, like Brandon Williams, George Ndiaye could be a, a, a target for the Golden State Warriors, people laughed. And I say, wait a minute, I remember those 2 games against the Warriors. Wasn't nobody laughing on the Golden State Warriors sideline. It was like, how can we keep this joker out the paint? And so without Jimmy for the first few months, DJ, I think that free throw shooting, you get a guy who could slow the game down and get to the free throw line. And oh, by the way, with this quickness, create wide open shots for others. That is a plus, plus, plus for Steve Kerr coming off this bench. And I like what you said there. It's a new wrinkle. It's a different type of guard for Steve Kerr.

That's, that's what I want to expand on, Bonte, is the fact that I like that he's not a perfect Steve Kerr fit. That's okay. It's okay. I think that we need to see new dimensions. I'm super interested to see How Steve handles a Brandon Williams, who's more of a guy that needs the ball in his hands, who's going to dribble a little bit more than maybe Steve loves, who isn't that natural 3-point shooter. And yeah, you mentioned that the 3-point percentage is down, that the turnovers can go up. Okay, let's see something different. Let's go, hey, Steph is either off this game or he needs a little break. Go out there and dribble and get down and have the ball in your hands and be a playmaker. I think him being next to a pods in a second unit would be a really good thing for him. I think him being around connectors actually help. Yes, he's going to need the ball to dribble and have the ball in his hands, as I mentioned. But you think about Steve Kerr's motion offense— move, move, move— and now you're seeing guys trying to rotate on defense as Brandon Williams has this quickness by you. All right, those guys are rotating, he's going to get the ball, and then he can just get downhill and he's not having to Overplaymake, overdribble. He has it in his bag, but I actually think his differing skill set works in this system as well too. It's, it's going to be fun to see something different for Steve Kerr and to see the way he coaches that as well.

Monty, real quick, we're talking offense, offense, offense, but I wonder—

yeah, that's true—

if you roam the Chase Center and Ron Adams is sitting there, uh, sitting in one of those seats on the sideline, what would Ron Adams tell you about Brandon Williams' defense? That's what I want to know. Can he stay in front of people defensively?

He— his effort on defense is commendable. You know, just physically, there's only so much he can do with his size. And so I, I think that the good thing is that he does try. You know, the Warriors have had a few guys come in that really don't put forth the effort on defense. D'Angelo Russell.

But, um, shots fired, man.

Well, I mean, he was, he was the famous one. It's like I remember Draymond Green saying that, oh, D'Angelo played some deep, played some defense. Now I know he can do it. And guess what? That's the last time he did it, man. So, but, but yeah, I mean, I think this is an offensive move, um, much like, for example, last year when they brought in Seth Curry. Seth Curry ain't stopping anybody on defense, but Seth can get buckets. He can shoot that 3, you know. So Brandon's a different type player, but in terms of what he gives his team on offense, you're hoping that it cancels out what he might give back on the other end because, you know, he's gonna try and that means some steals maybe, you know, and stuff like that. But he ain't shutting anybody down. And if he's playing with Brandon Podimsky, Brandon ain't shutting anybody down either. So that could be a little touchy, touch and go with that, with those 2 in the backcourt defensively for sure.

Yeah.

Yeah, I think the combinations are important here. Get Brandon Williams on the floor with D'Anthony Melton, right? You keep Brandon Pacziewski on, or even GP2, and you're going to go super small here. Um, but GP2 could still guard at the point of attack. I think it's important for Steve Kerr defensively to kind of match this team up together to make sure that, hey, I don't have a backcourt with Brandon Williams and Brandon Pacziewski where you're having difficulties stopping guys at the point of attack. Get them alongside Melton, get them alongside GP2. I think we'll see some defensive lineups around Brandon Williams where he can create. Let's get to George Nyang'o, DJ. Career 40% 3-point shooter. And he didn't play last season, had fractured his foot last September, missed the entire season, 33 years old. But from 2020 to 2025, he did play in at least 72 regular season games. So maybe that was just an exception last season to where he wasn't on the floor. Look, he's not going to move around much, DJ. Defensively is another guy where you got to watch out for him. Now he could get rugged, and I think minutes will be tough to come by at his position, but when he is on the floor, you cannot leave this young man open. I mean, he shoots 40% from the 3-point line over the course of his career, so that's a plus right there when this team needed some shooting.

Yeah, I really see last season as quite the outlier for him. I mean, Bonte, you mentioned that he has a string of history where he stays healthy, he's reliable, He's going to be able to get on the floor when you need him to, and he's going to know who he is. He's not going to play outside of himself. This is a guy, as you mentioned as well, too, 40% 3-point shooter for the last, what, 6, 7 seasons that he's played. I think his last season between— what was it? The Cavs and the Hawks. He was in the 91st percentile from corner 3-pointers. So you look at somebody who's a specialist like that, and we've mentioned multiple times, as Monte's pointing at me, this entire offseason. Find your hot zones. And we see the corner 3s for guys like Draymond, guys like Pods, guys like George Niang now, too.

Okay?

So I think that he's going to help there. He's not a guy that's going to play every day, but going to get you huge minutes. He's going to be a good locker room presence. He's a good, solid veteran. And what he is, too, guys, they have a lot of length that can shoot the ball now. I think that if you include LJ Cryer, who's on a 2-way contract, They have something like six players that are six four and under. Oh, the small ball warriors, right? But then you look it down the line, and I'm not even including Jimmy Moses right now. I'm starting at the beginning of the season. You talk, you go down the list of Yaxel Lindbergh, George Niang, Draymond, KP, Al Horford, Charles Bassie. That's six guys right there that give you some size, and at least four of them are serious threats from three point range. So I think that's where. George Niang fits the Warriors for the locker room and on the floor as well too.

Yeah, man. The thing about Niang is that that corner 3 you mentioned, that's the first thing I think about with him. Yeah, uh, I mean, that's what he does on offense. And, you know, I always think about, you know, a guy like PJ Tucker when he played for the Rockets, you know, when they had Harden and those guys. Yeah, PJ on offense, all he did was stand out that corner. That's all he did. And if he was open, he shot it, and he made a pretty good percentage because that was his shot. Um, Niang is similar in that regard, um, but he's a physical guy like PJ was. He's a very— he's not afraid of physicality at all. He'll mix it up with you whether you're 5'2 or 20'5, you know, right? He doesn't care. Uh, he doesn't care. He's, he's one of those dudes, man. You don't want to mess with George Niang, the Minivan. So I look at him, and this move is is a depth move, but it's quality depth because he can make that corner three. And when he comes in the game, you will know he's on the floor, especially defensively. He does stuff that gets attention. It helps his team. Are you one of those guys that opponents don't like?

No doubt. No, he'll be fun to watch in training camp battle with guys like Key Santos and Yaxel Lindbergh. The one and only Draymond Green, of course, 6'6, 230, but he'll mix it up with a lot of people. Whenever you see a highlight with Niang, he's always barking at somebody. He'll let you know that he hit a 3-point shot, but the Warriors do make some moves. So they're on the board, some nice depth pieces. I like these moves here. Look, they're not going to play 40 minutes a game. They're not going to play 30 minutes a game, 20, 25. And with the unknowns of, as you guys mentioned, Jimmy Butler, Moses Moody, look, we don't know if KP is going to play on back-to-backs. You don't know if Al Horford's going to play on back-to-backs. You don't know if Draymond Green's going to play on back-to-backs. And the Warriors have 15 back-to-backs this season. So some pieces to where they could fill in if guys are not ready to roll here. But let's look around the league as Warriors make their moves here with Brandon Williams and George Nyang'o. I'm going to start with Klay Thompson. There was a fraction of the segment of Warrior fans who wanted to see Klay come back to the Bay. I don't think us, us, we didn't see that happening. But he goes down to Miami, Miami with Erik Spoelstra, Pat Riley, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bam Adebayo, Biscayne Bay. He's gonna have his boat out there, he's gonna enjoy the beach.

But it's a—

I like this fit for Klay Thompson as he goes down to Miami. What do you guys think?

Well, when, when they got Giannis, everybody's like, well, the Heat now, uh-oh, they're a player now, here they come. They need some more shooting though. That was pretty much a given. You can look at that roster and go, they needed more shooting. And even though, you know, you've got some guys on the team that can shoot it, uh, Klay Thompson is one of the all-time best shooters in NBA history. So, um, on that roster with the inside gravity of Giannis and Bam, Klay should have some space. And Davion Mitchell, whose 3-ball is now pretty dang good, Yeah. You know, when he came into the league, it wasn't much, but he's worked on it and now he's got a pretty solid 3-point shot. So I— Miami is better for getting Klay Thompson. Um, you got Wiggins still there, you know, so they, they could surprise. Spo is one of the best coaches around. I, I like them a lot. And, and if Klay just— his role is just to bang 3s, bang 3s and, and defend, uh, other wings. And Klay can do that. You know, he's not the defender he used to be, but, but he can still defend up. You know, your Jayson Tatums, he can guard those guys. And, um, no, I think Miami is a much better team for getting a guy like Klay on that roster because Klay also creates his own gravity. Nobody wants to see Klay Thompson shooting open 3s.

No doubt. And look, you talk about Miami's defense and what he could do defensively. Yeah, he's not the same player. But you think about the Miami Heat, the number one team in the league when it comes to playing zone defense. Zone defense. So, uh, Bam, Giannis, a lot of length out there, right? Off night, Davion Mitchell. Oh, his old friend Andrew Wiggins. We know 2-way Wiggs and what he did back in 2022. So help having a zone defense, playing zone is going to help out Klay Thompson tremendously. And look, he's a slow starter. We know when it comes to shooting, that's why you got Tim Hardaway Jr. down there. But From the first of December through March, Clay Thompson shot 40.5% from the three-point line on 7.5 attempts on a team with the Dallas Mavericks that had no idea what they were doing last season. It was all about rebuilding with Cooper Flag or whatnot. He goes to a team that knows what they're doing, that's playing for high stakes, which he wanted. He could still shoot that thing, and I think that zone defense DJ down in Miami, knowing that Miami will play a 1-3-1. They'll play 2-3, they'll play 3-2. That's going to help out Klay Thompson over the course of the season.

I love this move for Klay. I love this move for the Heat. I mean, you guys have already listed all out all the reasons, and there are obvious reasons right there. I mean, you think about him in Miami with Spo. Spo is going to be able to easily draw up plays to get Klay wide open when it comes to Bam, when it comes to Giannis down low, that kind of defensive help that he's going to get between the rotations and the length of Davion Mitchell, Andrew Wiggins, Bam. and Giannis, he has the support that he needs to really help him out at this stage of his career, offensively and defensively. And Miami Klay is just going to be a happy guy. I mean, come on.

What a place to play.

Dallas wasn't meant for him. Miami is meant for our guy Klay. And just that situation in Dallas is not what he signed up for. He signed up to compete for championships with Luka Dončić. And all of a sudden he's going, whoa, what is going on around me? So I think from us, I think I'm happy for Klay. I think it's a good reset for him. He's going to be out in the humidity enjoying it, saying, oh, I've come to my pores, dive into the water and shoot some threes. It's a good life for Klay Thompson, fellas.

It's a good life. It's a really good life for Klay. It's a perfect landing for Klay. But you're right. He goes to Dallas. They trade Luka. Kyrie gets hurt. It's not what he signed up for. New coach, new front office, new everything in Dallas. And he gets to buy out there and signs a relatively cheap deal. With the Miami Heat, two years, eleven and a half million dollars with a guy who knows. I just want to see Clay Thompson back in the playoffs, whether it was with the Warriors or the Miami Heat. Playoff Clay is going to be fun with that bunch down there in South Beach, Miami. Now what about James Harden resigning with the Cleveland Cavaliers? Obviously they were in the sweepstakes with for LeBron James, whether or not LeBron James wanted to end his career back home in Cleveland. That didn't happen, so they of course they waited on James Harden, and James Harden. Waited on them. They gave Big Game James money, a lot of freaking money, a lot of money for a team. And I get you had to do it, but did you have to do it? I mean, I look, I like the Peyton Watson addition with Cleveland, but James Harden, who's gonna walk into the Hall of Fame, it's a lot of money for Big Game James. I, I shouldn't even disrespect James Worthy like that. Let me just say James Harden. You know what James Harden does in big games? That's disrespecting the Hall of Famer.

Small Game James.

Yeah, you mocked the beard. No, the Cavs, you know, they— I think the Peyton Watson move is really shrewd. Yeah, a nice 2-way wing. He's long, 6'7, 6'8. Um, you know, Denver's gonna miss him. They're gonna miss him, you know. And I guess, you know, the, the general belief is that, well, they paid Christian Braun so much money that they couldn't, they couldn't bring back Payton Watson when I think Payton Watson's a better 2-way player.

I'm with you. Yep.

So, uh, he'll help Cleveland in that, that defense that they have. They have a pretty good frontcourt defense with, with Mobley and Jarrett Allen, but on the wings though, they could be a little soft. And so Max Strus wasn't a great defender, you know, good but not great. Payton Watson's a better defender. Um, so I like their starting 5. Their depth, I'm not so sure about. Um, you know, but I still, you know, I don't— I think James, James Harden has a ceiling. He has a ceiling, and it ain't the NBA Finals, okay? James Harden's a very good regular season player. He gets to the playoffs and his ceiling goes, goes down, and that's just been his history. And until I see it otherwise, that's James Harden to me, as a guy who It's a really good regular season player, but gets to the playoffs and he just— I don't know whether it's mental or physical or both, but the playoffs come around and here come the turnovers.

3 years, $97 million. I just, I mean, I'm not pocket watching, man, but God, you are good. Yeah, you kind of am. It's just like, why?

Why?

3 for $97 million. But, but you— let's get to Denver for a second because they're going to be a Western Conference foe. And look, the lawyers, they've told us, Mike Dunleavy and Joe Lacob, whether the fans believe it or not, whether we believe it or not, they believe they could be in the top 6 in the Western Conference. Now Denver's an interesting team because Aaron Gordon has not been healthy, right? And to me, he's the ultimate X factor for that basketball team. But they signed DeMar DeRozan, not known for defense. Christian Braun, you talk about the 5-year, $125 million contract, does not look pretty. You lose a Peyton Watson, another creator. You have to depend on Jamal Murray to stay healthy, and we know he's not, uh, akin to playing great defense on that side. He's a great offensive player, but defensively he could get targeted here. So what do you think about the moves for the Denver Nuggets? It feels like they haven't done enough around Nikola Jokic.

I can hear Nuggets fans now saying, you following this? You know, the Warriors fans come, you know, they complain about the front office not taking care of Steph. I think if you're a Nuggets fan, you can make that case. You can make that case. And they won that championship, it's like they're sitting on that.

Yeah.

That was 3 years ago now, you know. They're sitting on that. And you're right though, you mentioned Aaron Gordon, who is such a huge part of what this team can do when it's at its best. The Nuggets with a healthy Aaron Gordon will be our scary team. And the thing is, he can't He has not been able to stay healthy lately. And if, if he's not gonna be— if he's gonna be in and out of the lineup, then their ceiling drops. No matter how good Joker is, their ceiling's gonna drop because Murray's— Murray's good on offense, you know, he makes big plays and stuff, but defensively, you're right, he's not giving you much. And so—

Right.

DeMar DeRozan, I put him in the same category as a bucket getter, you know, even at his age, he's really good at getting to his spots. He's a mid-range master. He'll help their offense, but this team needs help on defense too. And last year they got shredded repeatedly. And I don't see how that changes much with the roster they have.

DJ, it's a weird fit. No doubt. I'm not feeling this Nuggets roster right now.

No, there's opportunities for implosion for sure. I mean, you talk about defense and if you're going to have Jamal Murray DeMar DeRozan and Jokic on the floor at the same time, you're gonna go, oh, he's by Murray. Oh, he's by DeMar. Here comes Jokic. Oh, you got by him. Like, it's— there's some worries there in Denver, the Mile High City, when it comes to defense. Like, just no doubt about it. Yeah, if everything goes right, the offense is there. But you guys talk about the front office, and yeah, if I'm a Nuggets fan, if I'm a Nikola Jokic fan, I'm going, what's going on? Why can't Our guy who's multi-time MVP, going to go down as an all-time, all-time great, gets some help. Has he played with what, one All-Star? Yeah, had Jamal Murray when he got his one All-Star appearance so far.

Yeah.

And so we can— so fans can complain all they want about what's, what's, what is going on and what's happened here in Golden State. Take a look at Denver when it comes to the multi-time MVP Nikola Jokic, and then You really have actual, actual reasons to complain and go, guys, when they won the championship, we were already writing about this is the next dynasty. This is the next, next thing.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Like, number one, it shows how quickly things change in the NBA. And number two, the Nuggets have not done their guy Jokic even close to enough favors out there in Denver.

Well, Mike Malone was talking about the dynasty, right? And at the parade, like, hey, we go back to back. About to start this dynasty. Now he's in Chapel Hill culture, the Tar Heels. Think about how quickly things change. By the way, Jokic has a player option next offseason.

Well, that, well, that, that's the big thing, right? Everyone talking about cleaning the books for 2027, and you're going, well, you can't really— it's not how it works anymore in the NBA when it comes to free agency, right? Like, these guys get locked up. So we've already heard Mike talk, Mike Dunleavy talk about We have a lot of, lot of, a lot of ways we can get better when it comes to in-season. But when you talk about clearing the books, it's really this, this list of guys who have player options for next year. Jokic, Jokic is top of the list. But yeah, I think the Warriors kind of like how things are going in Denver right now, especially if that implosion happens.

Let's not do that to Warrior fans. Let's not, let's not, let's not do that. But I'm just, just mentioning that he's got a player option.

I'll do it.

I'll do it. That's right.

All we're doing is laying out the facts, laying out the facts. That's all we can do.

Uh, I know we got some mailbag questions real quick though. I'm gonna ask you fellas because it's starting to feel like this upcoming season that the East is a little stronger than the West coming in. We know about San Antonio and OKC. I'm not a believer in LaMelo Ball going to Minnesota. I think they lost a big piece in Naz Reid for what he meant for that locker room and for that organization. We just discussed the Denver Nuggets. What about the Lakers? We have no idea. The Clippers are going to take a fall. Shaedon Sharpe, just, he's out for 6 months for the Portland Trail Blazers. What does that mean for them? What does that mean for them? Utah, they're ascending, but are they there yet? I just don't— Dallas, they're rebuilding. Now Houston's going to be fine. They get Fred VanVleet, but offensively they can be challenged at times. Where's Amen Thompson's jump shot going to be? Where's Tyrese Easton's jump shot going to be? Is Shangun going to get better defensively? To me, it almost feels like the Eastern Conference is a little powerful, a little more powerful than the West coming into the season. I don't know, what do you guys think about that?

Well, I, I think they're obviously better. They're a better conference than they were last season. They've improved a lot, uh, and they've now got, you know, 5 or 6 teams there that you can say this is a top 6 team. The fight for the top 4 is going to be nasty. You got to figure that, you know, New York going to be there. You figure they're going to be there. Miami's going to be there. Cleveland's going to be there. Detroit's going to be there. I mean, they've got Philadelphia.

Philly.

Oh, I was gonna get to that. Don't forget about nobody. Some really good teams are in there, are there, and you haven't even talked about the Sixers yet. So I think the depth of potential championship contenders is deeper in the East than it is the West now. Um, the West is still the— I think the West top 2 is still—

Yeah.

That's, that's, that's tough. But after the top 2, there's a pretty clear drop-off. And you can then say, well, who, who's gonna be the 3rd best team in the West? Uh, Denver, maybe because of Joker. It ain't gonna be either of the LA teams, I don't think. Phoenix? No, you know.

Yeah, it's a good point.

Yeah, Dallas is still rebuilding. Um, so Memphis is rebuilding. OKC is going to be there, but San Antonio's gonna be there. But after that, yeah. So I think it's fair to say that, yeah, the East is stronger. Uh, deeper. They're deeper now. The West was deep last season in teams that could play But not were serious championship threats. The team that finished 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, they weren't going to win any championships, but they were able to make the playoffs. And so now look at the East and you go, man, you could— there's 4 or 5 teams that you wouldn't be shocked if they made it to the Finals. Yeah.

DJ, what do you think?

I mean, I mean, I think number 3 through 8, 3 through 10, is going to be a fascinating race, to be honest with you, because yeah, When you, when you mentioned that question, who is going to be the, the number 3 team in the West? There's not a clear-cut answer, not even close. Like, we know that, that the cream of the crop is going to be the Spurs and the Thunder still. We understand that. And the Thunder already had to make a couple of moves. They already had to downgrade a little bit. But hey, maybe that means it's more opportunities for guys like AJ Mitchell and some other people in Oklahoma City. They're going to be fine. They will be just fine.

Yeah.

We understand that. But after that, yeah, I mean, the Rockets have their firepower, but they have their question marks. We understand that. The Timberwolves, they have their firepower. They have their question marks. Same with Denver, as we're mentioning right now. The Clippers are going to take a huge step back without Kawhi and so on and so forth. The Lakers, I want to see it. I don't really know exactly what that team is going to look like. Yeah, I, I, again, for the Warriors, as they wait, as, as they creep towards Jimmy Butler's return, as they creep towards the deadline, it's the name of the game for them, guys, is obviously staying afloat. It's being able to ride the waves and not let the waves sink the ship. That's what it's going to be. So if they, if they can hover anywhere between 6, 7, 8, they're— they can be okay. They need to be able to hover closer to 6, obviously. And those first 20 games, as we always mention, are going to be huge. So yeah, there's, there's reason for them to be able to hover there and to be able to ride the waves and not let it sink the ship.

Well, I feel like we got our new slogan for the season. You know, the Niners had this Quest for Six thing for so long. The Giants have nothing like it. Hashtag nothing like it. For the Warriors coming into the season, it feels like it's hashtag tread water.

I like it.

Hashtag ride the waves. Hashtag ride the waves.

If he gets back.

Uh, let's take a couple mailbag questions before we get out of here, man. We always appreciate the mailbag questions coming in from Dub Nation. This one from Galen C. Galen C., more on Will Richer, please. I think he has huge Spurs guard-like potential. Also, we'll love a 15-player deep dive series countdown to preseason. Galen wants 15 full episodes of a deep dive. We will love it. I know it's a lot, but the fans will love it. Thanks for all you do. Thank you, Galen, for the question. Uh, Will Richard, start with you, DJ. We, we haven't really discussed Will Richard much. He played in Summer League alongside Yaxel. Uh, he surprised us out of the second round last season. Never really felt like he got his confidence after that game in Madison Square Garden where Steve Kerr reamed him, letter apologizing about it. But Will Richard, where does he factor into this season, into this rotation? He's a bigger guard on this team. We know they got a lot of small guards, but Will Richard, 6'4, 6'5, has the ability to shoot the 3. What about his prospects coming into the season? What do you see from Will Richard?

Yeah, Will Richard is definitely going to be needed a lot. I mean, he's someone who's, what, 6'3, 6'4, but he's more of a wing than a shooting guard. And what do the Warriors miss the most right now is wings. Without Jimmy Butler, without Moses Moody, they need help at the wing. They're like at the 3. As far as the small forward goes, there's a pretty big hole right there when it comes to the Warriors. I think Will Richard You look at his age, you look at what he provides, and he definitely is going to have a real, real, real chance to have some big-time minutes, I think, for this Warriors team. I like what he did in Summer League where, number one, he really stepped up as a leader. He was no doubt the guy that was leading the huddle. That was the voice on the floor. He connected really closely to Yaxel Lindenberg. I think that that was very intentional for him. for him to kind of take him under his wings as someone who's a mature young guy going into year 2. And so he's someone in Summer League who didn't try to be like, I'm going to show you what I got in my bag. I'm going to step outside of my game. I'm going to dribble, dribble, dribble and really try to score 30 a game. No. What he did instead is going, I know what my role is. Can I get better at my role? Can I expand it a little bit? Can I have a quicker shot? Can I get a little stronger? Can I play a more aggressive defense without having to foul? Those types of things are what I think stood out in Summer League and why, no doubt about it, Will Richard has a very real role on this team. As far as Spurs guards, I don't know about that. I don't know if I see him as a Stephon Castle or a Dillon Harper, anything like that. But man, if he can get closer to a Devin Vassell, now we're talking a little bit. So yeah, Will Richard definitely has a real, real role on this team?

Yeah, I think in Will's case, you know, he was coming off— came into the NBA, he was coming off the longest season of anybody in, in college at Florida, and the rookie wall hit him hard. And he'll admit it. He admitted it. Oh yeah, it was real. It was a real thing. Um, but he has spent most of the offseason in the Bay here. He worked out at Chase Center on a regular basis. You can tell. You watch some in Summer League. You saw a little bit of it in Summer League. You can see his body's a little bit bigger, um, his shot's a little bit quicker. Still kind of funky, but, but it was going in, you know. Um, but I think in Will's case, he can sort of fill that Moses Moody gap a little bit, you know.

Yeah.

And in terms of a guy who can give you some wing defense, um, Moses isn't a 2-guard either, but, you know, he can play it on occasion. I think Will is, you know, not quite as long as Moses, but He gives you some of that, but he's an active player on both ends. And, and so I like what Will has done. I'm gonna be catching up with him pretty soon because I, I think this offseason I saw a guy in Summer League that looks like he's ready to make a little bit of a leap. And you can make a leap in year 2. I thought for a rookie, second round, late second round rookie, he had a really good season.

Yep.

So if you can make a leap into year 2 and become a permanent rotation guy, You know, I I think that's very possible even with the roster they have right now. So no, good on Will.

And Galen, we'll get back to you about the deep dive 15. You're giving our producers some ideas here, but you're putting more work on the plate of Monty and DJ and myself. I mean, you know, geez Louise. No, great great questions, Galen. Last question here, PJ O'Neill. What do you think of the two new players the Warriors signed? Brendan Williams and George Niang. And on the top of the podcast, we discussed it. We all like the moves, low-risk, high-reward moves, depth pieces. We understand what they are. They're not going to come in here and be starters. They have, you know, they have their flaws. There's no doubt about that. But some of the positives that they have is what this team really needs. Brandon Williams getting to the free throw line, shooting 71% at the rim last season, being able to break his man off the dribble. Now 23% from 3, he's going to have to improve that. And the turnovers per those 22 minutes that he averaged last season A little concerning when you had a team like the Warriors who turned the ball over a ton. They've got to cut that, they got to cut that back. But I love the positives here with Brandon Williams and George Nyang. You guys touched on it as well, the corner 3-point shot. He's a career 40% 3-point shooter. He's rugged. He's a nice piece off that bench and a good locker room guy. So I think we all like the moves, Monty.

Yeah, I think, you know, if you're a Warriors fan, you know, you You were hoping for a big name, and if it was LeBron, okay. There were Warrior fans who were split on some. Some people didn't want LeBron. They just didn't like any, any part of LeBron. There were other Warriors fans who were like, hey, if we can get LeBron, we know we'll be in the mix. The bottom line though is that that didn't happen. And when that doesn't happen, you got to be able to fill in the gaps around the margins, or whatever you want to— however you want to phrase it. You got to do the little things that make your team better. And we saw what the Warriors' weaknesses were last season, and they were glaring when Steph and Jimmy were gone. It's like, oh my God, this roster is barely competitive in the NBA, and we don't want to do that again. So people say they're running it back. Yeah, sort of. But I think, you know, with Yaxel— they didn't have a Yaxel last year. They didn't have one of those. Uh, Georges Niang— I don't think they really had a guy like that coming off the bench. In terms of his, again, reliable corner 3, rugged defense. And you definitely didn't have a guy like Brandon Williams coming off the bench that could light it up because his first step is lethal and he gets where he wants to go. His handle is terrific. And so yeah, I think they're a better team right now than they were last season. The question is when Moses and Jimmy get healthy, you know, will those guys be able to just dive right in and pick up where they left off? Because if they can, the Warriors could do some damage.

Yeah, where would they be at in the standings once Jimmy and Moody gets back? That's again, hashtag tread water, tread water, try to figure it out a way until Jimmy gets back.

Yeah, you don't want to be 10-0, 500, right?

Exactly, because there's going to be Hey, there's going to be a couple different segments in the season, DJ. Um, you know, there's the season before Jimmy, there's the trade deadline, what happens with the optionality that they're talking about these days up in the Warriors front office. But, uh, we, we like the additions here with Nyang and, uh, Brandon Williams.

Yeah, to get those 2 guys on August 25th at the back end of your roster, the 14 and 15 spots, there's no doubt in my mind that you have to be able to give that a solid B+, A-. I think Monty mentioned those grades earlier. And yeah, they are those kind of grades for the back end of your roster at this point of the offseason. Nobody was going to see the Warriors as favorites, and those 2 signings weren't going to change anybody's mind as far as that goes. But these are strong depth pieces that I think bring more balance to the roster. And as we've mentioned, guys, ride the wave and see what you got. We can talk about the hypotheticals. We could talk about the trade deadline, when Jimmy gets here, when Moses gets here. I'm going to shut it down for now because this is what the team is right now. And let's assess that team going forward and give them a chance. Because right now, I do think that it has balance up and down the roster, and we're going to see what the other hidden variables are going to do to this team.

Man, you guys got to be fired up about basketball, man. I can't wait for that. It's go time.

Come on now.

Hey, I saw the press release the other day. We're all involved in Warriors preseason.

I know.

All right.

We don't know what this roster— there's a lot of unknowns, and I love that going into a season.

It's good.

You know, it's, it's, you know, it's gonna be challenging for some of the fans out there mentally. I get it. 4 of the first 5 are on the road. But you know what? It's almost go time, fellas. It's almost go time. Monty, you got something to say? You're pondering something.

No, I'm just thinking, you know, you mean you said there's a, there's a lot of unknowns. What's known is doesn't change. What's known is that Steph has to be on the floor. Yeah. And because if you're not on the floor, you know, they're not built to be a good team without him, and definitely not built to be a good team without him and Jimmy on the floor.

Yeah.

But at least now you can look at those guys and say, you know what, they should be able to compete a little bit better because a guy like Williams gives them something they didn't have last year that they really could have used. And I think also this is the first offseason for D'Anthony Melton where he wasn't rehabbing or You know, doing something to get his body right.

Good point.

If if he comes in this season healthy and can stay healthy, I think he can give him something that he tried to give him last year but wasn't able to do. And you put him with Steph, I think Anthony Melton's a good good player.

And DJ lost in the sauce too before we end this. We touched on a little bit with Mully last week when he joined us, but we're not discussing enough the improvements that can be made for Brandon Pajimski. and Guy Santos. How much better will those 2 players be coming into the season? They're still relatively young, and I know fans don't want to hear— we know about the critics when it comes to, uh, Podziemski, but he played a lot better post-All-Star break. Now, the Warriors didn't win a lot of games due to Steph being out. Of course, Steph has to be on the floor. But those guys individually, I thought, took a step forward here. And what will they look like this season coming in? Will they improve at all? I don't think enough has been made about the improvements those 2 players could be— can make, uh, to their games.

While the losses kept racking up at the end of the season, those opportunities were huge for those 2 players, for Guy Santos, for Brandon Podziemski. Guy Santos was one of the best stories in the entire NBA last season. He is the developmental success story that, that should be shined on right now in Golden State. It deserves that. And then Brandon Podziemski— Monty just mentioned how D'Anthony Melton He finally had a healthy offseason. So does Brandon Podziemski. He played all 82 games last season, one of only 18 players. He had 2 surgeries last offseason. So before he could even get to basketball skills, he had to go through 2 surgeries. So now he's able to have a full long offseason where it's just, all right, how am I going to continue to get my body right so I can play hopefully 82 again, but get to the basketball skills from an early stage in the offseason? It's huge for a player like him too. So there's arguments for both sides. And I think that the Warriors are just hoping that their glass half full argument is going to be the winning edge at the end of the day.

I got to say, I love Brandon's haircut.

Oh, nice cut, man. Fresh lining.

Different.

I see he's going for some waves on that thing too.

Maybe get some waves. I wonder if he's going to go headband. We all love the aesthetics, right? Hey, man, we didn't know what we were going to— well, we knew what we were going to talk about. We're like, we don't know if we got enough. 45 minutes later, here we are here. And I could talk for another hour about Dubs basketball, but we got to end it right now. Petaluma's finest, Dalton Johnson, our Warriors reporter here at NBC Sports Bay Area. Warriors insider, Hall of Famer Monty Poole here at NBC Sports Bay Area. I am Bonte Hill. As always, we are brought to you by Mancini Sleep World. Save up to $1,200 on the best mattresses at the Mancini Sleep World. Labor Day sale. Again, save up to $1,200 on top cooling mattresses like Casper, Helix, and Tempur-Pedic. You will be over the moon with the new mattress from Mancini Sleep World. Shop sleepworld.com, sleepworld.com. Thanks for all the mailbag questions. We'll get to everything next week. Of course, we'll be back on the Dust Talk podcast. Until next time, everybody.