Dub Hub: Mike Dunleavy Jr. ‘confident’ Steph Curry will be a Warrior for life

Rounding up all Warriors and NBA related news for Friday, July 12th.

In today’s Dub Hub:

• Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. discusses a potential contract extension for Steph Curry, confidently saying he will be a Warrior for life.
• Warriors release their home preseason schedule for the upcoming season.
• Free agent Kyle Lowry signs a one-year deal to return to the Philadelphia 76ers, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The Golden State Warriors are navigating a new chapter in the franchise’s history following the departure of Klay Thompson, who signed with the Dallas Mavericks this past offseason after 13 years with the team. While Thompson’s exit marks the end of the Splash Brothers era, it also underscores the reality of an ever-changing NBA landscape.

Very rarely do players get the storybook ending of playing for one team their entire career. Warriors superstar Stephen Curry even acknowledged this during a recent interview with Yahoo Sports.

Per Yahoo Sports:

“I mean, I can clearly say I want to be a Warrior for life,” Curry told Yahoo Sports in an interview Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas. “It’s always been my goal, and I’m saying that sitting in this chair right now, but like you said, life, and especially life in the NBA, it is a wild environment, and things change quickly.”

Now, Curry is no ordinary player and the idea of him being in a jersey other than the blue and gold would be a massive organizational failure from all angles. So, when asked about Curry’s upcoming contract extension eligibility, Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. confidently reassured everyone that the best player in franchise history will remain a “Warrior for life”.

For more on this and other news around the NBA, here is our latest news round-up for Friday, July 12th:

Warriors News:

Mike Dunleavy Jr. on Steph Curry’s extension: “He will be a Warrior for life”

Warriors’ Podziemski, Jackson-Davis reflect on USA Select Team experience: ‘We brought it to them’ | The Mercury News

“It was pretty high, not going to lie,” Jackson-Davis said of the level of competition at the scrimmages. “Coach Kerr came in the day before and was like, ‘I want you guys to kick our butts.’…We played hard, we brought it to them.”

Jackson-Davis and Podziemski are used to sharing a court with Steph Curry, but the sheer volume of future Hall of Famers on Team USA is staggering. They played against Curry, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid, Jrue Holiday and Devin Booker, among others.

“I think it was a super fortunate opportunity that me and Trayce got to be a part of — playing against the 12 best players in America,” Podziemski said. “Can’t get anything better than that. Just being a part of that, being competitive, trying to bring the best out of them so they can win the gold in August. Just being around those guys, you can feel the greatness when you’re amongst them on the court. Like I said: blessed opportunity.”

2024 NBA summer league: The top players to watch on all 30 teams | ESPN

Golden State Warriors

Kevin Knox II | Forward

When Knox last played summer league in 2019, he was a featured player for the Knicks coming off his rookie season as the No. 9 pick. Now Knox, who turns 25 next month, is trying to resurrect his career after being waived twice last season. Demonstrating improved 3-point shooting will be key for Knox, a career 34% shooter who shot 33% beyond the arc in 31 games for the Pistons in 2023-24. — Pelton

Team USA basketball: Paris Olympics will be a first for LeBron, Curry and Durant | ESPN

“Yeah, it’s really cool,” Curry said. “I’ve played with Team USA before on the world championship stage, but I don’t know what to expect when it comes to this challenge and this experience. And so I had the first-practice jitters. I’m sure I’ll have it for the game [Wednesday] just because I know it means so much. ...

“Add the surrealness of who is on this team and all the battles that we’ve had over the course of our careers and the fact that we get to put that energy together as teammates. So I’m enjoying every minute of this.”

Warriors announce their home preseason schedule for next year

NBA News:

2025 NBA mock draft: Cooper Flagg is the prize, but entire class is intriguing | The Athletic

1. Cooper Flagg | 6-8 forward | 18 years old | Duke

Let’s put this simply: Flagg is one of the best two-way players I’ve seen at the high school level in a long time. Largely, that’s based on his processing ability. For a teenager, he thinks the game faster than everyone else. You see that most on defense, where he imposes his will upon the game on and off the ball. He’s tremendous as a help defender, blocking a ridiculous number of shots and covering the opposite side of the floor, with serious skill for finding steals. He’s also a great offensive player who has worked his way into his skill set. His handle has improved drastically over his time in high school, and he’s capable of creating makeable pull-up jumpers, particularly from the midrange area. His 3-point shot continues to improve.

Flagg is the ultimate winner and competitor, and the exact kind of player I’d want to join my organization. He’s the first in a group of at least five players who clearly would have gone No. 1 in the 2024 NBA Draft. We’re getting to see why this week during his time with the United States Select Team that is competing against Team USA in Olympics prep scrimmages.

My NBA trade talk and free agency latest | The Stein Line

One source close to the process cautioned this week that the Lakers, until they can move farther away from the second luxury tax apron, can’t even make a run at Trent ... no matter how available he appears to be. The Lakers, remember, are only marginally distanced from the second apron after LeBron James signed a new two-year deal that was less than $3 million shy of the $104 million maximum he could have received.

The Lakers are known to be exploring pathways to shed some additional salary via trades to create sufficient wiggle room needed under the second apron to make use of their $5.2 million taxpayer midlevel exception. Yet even those kinds of moves likely require some form of second-round draft capital attached and taking in a player via sign-and-trade, as a first apron team, is not permitted under the league’s new rules.

Kyle Lowry signs a one-year deal to return to the 76ers

In case you missed it at Golden State of Mind:

A look at Buddy Hield’s contract specifics

Hield’s first two seasons will pay him exactly $18 million combined, with just over half of that coming in the second year of the deal. A potential third year of the contract is only partially guaranteed: if the Warriors pick up the option, Hield will make just over $9.6 million. However, the Warriors can opt out of the third year and pay Hield a $3 million buyout.

Similarly, if Hield stays on the Warriors through three years, a similar situation will play out in the fourth year, per Spotrac. The Warriors can opt out of Hield’s roughly $10.1 million fourth year for about $3.1 million. In both the third and fourth years, those option dates for the Warriors are the day after the draft (though, as we just saw with Chris Paul, the two sides can mutually agree to push back the date).

A tweet to end the week:

Follow @unstoppablebaby on Twitter for all the latest news on the Golden State Warriors.