Madeline Kenney | Golden State Warriors Insider, Bay Area News Group

Hey, can you hear me?

Okay, good. Well, so can your potential customers, right here on your Odyssey station. You might be used to skipping social ads, but you are still listening to me right now. And so are your clients. To learn how to drive more business and how Odyssey can help get your message to your customers, visit stateofaudio.com. That's stateofaudio.com.

AT&T Fiber presents a straightforward moment. Your wine? Thanks. I'll pretend I know what I'm doing before saying it's good. And I'll pretend I don't know you're pretending. Are you a gagillionaire?

Yeah, I have AT&T Fiber. The straightforward pricing has inspired me to be more straightforward. Me too. Ugh, this wine. I'll fetch you a better one.

Straightforward is better. No equipment fees, no data caps, no price increase at 12 months. Live like a gagillionaire with AT&T Fiber. Limited availability in select areas.

Visit att.com slash hypergig for details. Madeline Kenny, who covers the Warriors for Bay Area News Group. Fresh off sometime in Sacramento, watching rookies and Summer League and everything else that's going on now in the offseason. So we're pleased to have her on the show for the first time.

Madeline, I'll pose that question to you. Why did Draymond decide to re-sign in Golden State for less money? Yeah, I think there was always a belief in anyone that you talk to amongst the Warriors that Draymond was going to come back. It was just going to depend on how much in terms. And he made it very clear that he wanted to come back on a longer deal.

One that would line him up with Steph Curry. And so I think in taking less money for next season, it gives the Warriors a little bit more flexibility. Still, they can only offer a veteran minimum to any guys that they add, but it puts them in a better position. It puts Draymond in a better position in his final year as a player option. So it saves the Warriors money on taxes, like more than $40 million.

So just everyone kind of got a little bit of what they wanted. The Warriors get to save some money. They get Draymond for another three plus years. Draymond gets that longer term deal.

It all works out in the end. Any idea if there would have been suitors or if there were outside suitors for Dray? You know, Draymond's name was linked to a few other teams, including some Western Conference teams. But at the end of the day, I always had the suspicion that I just couldn't see him leaving Steph. Especially with how last season ended up and then it just seemed inevitable that he would eventually come back.

It just was a matter of how many years and whether or not he was going to opt in or out of his player option. I thought it was so much fun to see him and Steph and also Klay interact at the match on Thursday. I don't know if you had a chance to watch it, but boy, they are a hoot when they're together. Yeah, totally. I think there's just all those years of building and winning together. Obviously, with winning comes championship parades and parties.

They know how to have a good time and save. What's your reaction to the Jordan Poole move so he's no longer part of that roster or Dante DiVincenzo? It seems like, again, Madeline, they're willing to shuffle the roster around this core.

What feels like every season? Yeah, it totally was a double-down move to send the message that they want to win now. They want to capitalize on Steph Curry's prime for as long as they possibly can. In moving Jordan Poole, even with Draymond Green coming back, it seemed likely that one of them, as much as they put on brave faces, they worked professionally together, seemed like eventually one would have to go for the other to stay. With moving Jordan Poole, that puts him in a different environment.

He's going to have an opportunity to be one of the go-to guys in Washington. I think it gives him a bigger opportunity. With that, too, it opened up the opportunity for Chris Paul, obviously, to come in. The Warriors are definitely shifting to having more veteran guys in the locker room. Their bench last year was extremely young, and with that came some growing pains. The bench early on in the season was still trying to figure out its identity and stuff. Bringing in guys like Chris Paul, Corey Joseph, those are older guys. They kind of slowed down the game a little bit. The Warriors like to play fast, so it would be really interesting to see how that all plays out, obviously. But also, Steve Kirk can trust them, right?

They're low turnover rate guys. I think these are all moves, obviously, to build a contender for next season. Madeline Kenny is with us from the Bay Area, where she covers the Warriors for Bay Area News Group.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. I've heard Draymond talk extensively about what Chris Paul can mean for this group. How does he fit in, in terms of his skill set, not so much his personality? Yeah, so it will be interesting with Chris Paul, right? Obviously, there's a little bit of history with the Warriors, but it seems like they're all very excited for this union. He has started every game of his career. When you start to look at the Warriors roster as it is and where he fits, it seems more likely than not that he's going to have to be coming off the bench for the first time in his career. Maybe the Warriors will look at a three-guard lineup, close out, but I just can't imagine that the Warriors want to start small that often. They have done it in the past, starting a three-guard lineup with Jordan Poole and having Kavon Looney come off the bench, so that's definitely an option.

It'll be really interesting. Chris Paul obviously gives them a veteran leader for that second unit, assuming he's coming off the bench. He can really help slow down the game. He can help some of the young players take that next leap in their careers.

I think it'll be really interesting to see how the fit is and how it all plays out. It also gives the Warriors financial flexibility in the long term, which is obviously a huge storyline with this team that's paid all of their superstars rightfully so. The Warriors obviously play on that edge where they like to go fast and move the ball around, and sometimes that leads to turnovers. So it strikes me that Chris Paul could certainly be a weapon for them when they're trying to handle the ball efficiently and yet distribute and get everybody involved. Looking back at last season, why was their road record so bad?

I mean, that was the question of the year, even at the end of it. I don't think Steve Kirk could give you a straight answer as to why there was such a massive discrepancy. It just seemed like they were a totally different team whenever they left the Bay Area. Their defense dropped off, and I think a lot of that comes down to, though, is when you're on the road, you have to have strong team chemistry. It just seemed like last season was so disjointed and there was a fracture in the team culture.

They struggled to come together. They struggled to close out games late in the fourth and just shut the door. It's not all the result of what happened in the preseason with Draymond Green punching Jordan Poole, but they definitely did have a dark cloud, as Steve Kirk said, looming over the team throughout the entire season. Obviously, they were able to play together on the court and win games together on the court, but in the end, there was just a fracture of that championship identity or culture that they have built, and it takes time to rebuild that. Madeline Kenny is with us from the Bay Area, covers the Warriors as they try to piece together another roster that will compete in the West. Since we've heard from that core, they do not believe the window is closed.

It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. So what else do they need then? You mentioned the move toward veteran guys that can fill out the roster.

What else do they still look for? They can always use some size, right? The Warriors are probably one of the only teams, if not the only team, that doesn't have a guy that is taller than 6'9". I mean, they like to play that small ball, but I think that they could really use some depth in their front court, so finding another guy that's still available.

And you can always go for a versatile two-way wing, right? I think they're pretty good on the guard spot right now based off of their recent signings, but right now the main priority after signing Draymond Green, obviously, is getting some front court depth. It is funny because as you said that, I was looking at the roster, and right now there are exactly three guys who stand 6'9", and no one who stands taller than that.

Which is kind of crazy when you think about it, right? That's why they went after James Wiseman with the number two overall pick a few years ago. They were trying to add some size, and there were always questions when James Wiseman was dealing with the injuries he had when he was with the Warriors. Are they going to go get a big in the buyout market? Are they going to add one in the offseason? They stuck to it with James Wiseman before, obviously, he was dealt the deadline last season, but they won without size before.

Right. In the wake of Bob Myers stepping down, which I think was a shock to a lot of people in the NBA world, what's the biggest difference between him and what the Warriors get with Mike Dunleavy Jr.? You know, obviously Mike Dunleavy Jr. has been around for the last few seasons.

He's a familiar face to a lot of them. I think Bob Myers was grooming him to be his successor, knowing that at some point this potentially was going to happen. And with his contract expiring, I think Bob just wanted to go to the beach, honestly, and chill out and relax.

You know, being a general manager and the team president of basketball operations, those are really high stress jobs. And I think he paid his dues with the Warriors. They won four titles. They went to several more NBA finals.

He saw that it was a time. He's a father, too, so wanting to spend time with his kids and wanting to spend time with his wife, you can never fault somebody with that. But with some of you, you have a guy that's already been praised for his basketball knowledge, his ability to identify talent. You know, he's been in a lot of those meetings and in the front office and with Joe Lakob and stuff in recent seasons. He obviously has relationships with Steve Kerr, a very close one, which is extremely important. You know, the GM coach relationship, having that where they can have an open line of communication and open dialogue about, you know, what Steve thinks, what Mike thinks and all of that. And he's also been around Steph, Draymond, Clay. And those are three of the most important voices within the organization. So once you have the respect of them, then it's kind of like a trickle down effect.

So it's really hard to say, you know, how how they're different. But I think time will tell with that. But I know that a lot of people are excited for him to take this next step in his career. Definitely a pre-established relationship that helps in the continuity and consistency from one man to the next.

And actually, that triggered a thought. I know that Andre Iguodala had wrist surgery. He's been with this group for a long time, too. Even more now is kind of a veteran, a leader, maybe like a coach on the bench. Is he going to be back with the team next year? I think he's well, he said at the beginning of last season that it would be his last. And he said he kind of said on his podcast, you know, Steph, don't ask me to come around again after this season because he's 39 now.

And so I don't I don't anticipate him finding any type of that minimum. I don't know if coaching is something that he sees himself doing. You know, he just recently got a stake in an NWSL team coming to the Bay Area, an ownership stake that is. And so he could still pop around the Warriors next season. He was at the California Classic opener for the Warriors just a few days ago. And so, you know, I think it might be hard for him to leave just because he's been around. He has such strong relationships with a lot of those guys. But I also think he deserves to be able to enjoy retirement.

You know, whenever he officially announces that he is retired. Madeline Kenny is with us from San Francisco, covers the Warriors for Bay Area news group. What stands out about what you've seen so far from summer league and rookies and the offseason hoops? For the Warriors, some of the guys to watch in summer league are going to be Lester Quinonez. He was in the running a front runner for a two-way deal. He went undrafted out of Memphis. He had a two-way with the Warriors for part of last season.

DeSantis is another one to watch. He's a second rounder last year, spent all of last season in the G League. He's put on 15 pounds of muscle, seeing how that will impact his game. And as he adjusts from, he's a Brazilian, so adjusting from that type of playing style to the more physical American game. He's made so much progress over the last year.

It's kind of cool to see. And then the other one is Brandon Pajemski. He's the 19th overall pick out of Santa Clara. 20-year-old, very confident in his abilities, and now he's in that transition period of going from college to pro and all of the whirlwind that comes with that. He had a pretty mixed bag for his opener on Monday, but saw a lot of progress in today's game, just being more aggressive, being more decisive. The Warriors want him to put him in situations so he can be a scoring option for them.

And so seeing that and maybe even seeing how he grows on the defensive side, those are some of the things to watch for the Warriors in Summer League. Does it ever surprise you anymore, the popularity of not just this team and how it's grown over the last decade, but its stars in Steph and Dre and Klay? It is something that it's really hard to explain to people unless you're just around it, like the circus that it is. People have compared it to a traveling boy band like the Beals or something.

Maybe a more recent one would be One Direction, I don't know. But it is crazy. You go to some of these arenas and you see more Steph Curry jerseys than the star player on the home team. You see fans lining up outside hotels and stuff or coming early just to watch him warm up. You hear them chant his name and stuff, and it is super surreal to see and witness it all.

You have to take a step back sometimes and just appreciate it, just because you know that it's fun now and it'll always be a great memory, but these things don't always last. And the fact that the Warriors have been able to keep it together this long with that group, that's something super special and extremely rare in the NBA. I think I was reading the other day that Steph Dre and Klay, since Dame has requested a trade, it's those three and then Giannis are the only players in the NBA, I believe, who served 10 years with the team that's drafted them or something like that.

That's crazy. I think that loyalty that those three have to the franchise and then the success they've had speaks for itself. I always encourage fans, when they get passionate about what's going on, just enjoy it. This is just sports at the end of the day. Just enjoy the fact that you're watching the history we made. I know that they reignited my love for the game and what I fell in love with in the first place about basketball, and so it is a joy to watch them, even when they win all of, what was it, nine games on the road last season, so that definitely could be infuriating, I can imagine, for fans.

Totally. Luckily, most of the fans, I think, are in the Bay Area, but I feel bad. It seems like poor New Orleans, whoever's making the schedules, must have something out against them because it seems like the Warriors are always playing in New Orleans on the end of a back-to-back. Steph hasn't played. He didn't play there at all last season, and maybe not even the season before, so something that's hard is when, with load management and stuff, trying to manage these guys means that they might not play games on the road, and fans that live outside the home team town don't always get a chance to see their favorite players.

And there definitely are many, and they're more of an international phenomenon now, this core, especially Steph. So you can find Madeline Kenny on Twitter, at madkenny, I love that, K-E-N-N-E-Y, covers the Warriors for the Bay Area News Group and giving us the latest on their off-season dealings. It's great to catch up with you. Thank you so much for a couple of minutes. Thank you so much for having me.

AT&T Fiber presents a straightforward moment. Your wine? Thanks. I'll pretend I know what I'm doing before saying it's good. And I'll pretend I don't know you're pretending. Are you a gagillionaire?

Yeah, I have AT&T Fiber. The straightforward pricing has inspired me to be more straightforward. Me too. Ugh, this wine. I'll fetch you a better one.

Straightforward is better. No equipment fees, no data caps, no price increase at 12 months. Live like a gagillionaire with AT&T Fiber. Limited availability in select areas. Visit att.com slash hypergig for details.