KGMZ-FM / 95.7 THE GAME
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00:00than Kaminga. Is the team truly now believing in Jonathan Kaminga or are they showcasing him?
00:07Before I play for everybody what Anthony Slater said on the morning roast earlier today.
00:13How would you answer that question? Do you think with this new role and now Draymond and Steph are
00:19in press conferences talking about how Kaminga is him and he is the next one and all of this
00:26do you take this at face value? Does the organization have a sudden
00:30new and full belief in Jonathan Kaminga or are they simply in part showcasing him?
00:36They're showcasing him and if you really thought that he was him then you would have made a move
00:41in the offseason. I don't believe that these 20 games that they've had with Jonathan Kaminga
00:46and it's actually 23 games they've played whatever the number is that he's actually been out there
00:51and been dominant. I don't think that this sample size has opened their eyes to the reality that
00:57oh my god he is him. I mean 23 games later and now you've seen it and what you've seen from
01:03Kaminga is three or four maybe five games of wow he's really really good and you know 10 games of
01:11yeah he's a good player and then another five or six of man he doesn't really fit right and he
01:16hasn't really found his way so is the organization suddenly now all in on Kaminga being him? I don't
01:23believe that so and I don't know if they necessarily went to Steph and Draymond and said hey
01:28we need you to go out there and like get your pom-poms into the press conference and pump him up
01:34I don't believe that either. I do think that they're excited for the young player but I also
01:39believe that this team is playing him because he's playing well and they want to win games but
01:44at the same time by doing that it does inflate his value in the open market. I'm most fascinated
01:50by the Steph and Draymond part of it and and I'm with you I don't think that they've been asked to
01:55follow some sort of a script but I do think that Steph and Draymond have reached the point in their
02:01careers where they are partial executives you know we heard Draymond in the offseason I told
02:06them that was a bad trade don't do that it's a bad trade they do give their input and they are
02:12watching and they are the ones who I think think that they know when they see a championship player
02:19they think I'm not saying they're right every time either just like every other human
02:23but they think they know when they see someone that can help them win a championship and I would
02:29argue that here in year four they're still not convinced on Jonathan Kaminga I'd also argue
02:34that's too long that's too long and so where did this come from all of the sudden last week
02:42it's like now we love Jonathan Kaminga now and then he responded I'll grant you that he responded
02:52with I would argue actually the only game where you really said wow his career high I think it
02:58was 33 that there have been other good moments but that was the only game where you're like damn dude
03:04that was your ball game one time and and and so now here we are all talking about Jonathan Kaminga
03:11and take a listen to what Anthony Slater said to the roast earlier today about JK this is like
03:17information season right now for the Warriors on Jonathan Kaminga and not just for the Warriors
03:22it's for Kaminga to find out who he is in the league the Warriors need to find out the league
03:26needs to find out he has a contract situation coming up the trade market's going to develop
03:30um and you know you might even argue it's I think most people would argue it they've waited too long
03:36to find out more about Jonathan Kaminga but I think Steph Curry, Andre Montgreen want to know for
03:41you know several reasons can he be you know all the way up to the playoff level like the type of
03:46number two score that they're going to need to compete in the first or second round third round
03:51or you know is it is it wiser for him to maybe go explore that elsewhere and hit could he potentially
03:55be a trade piece of the deadline I think we're we are going to find out more over the next couple
03:59months partly because they finally you know let off the brake pedal a little bit and they're going
04:04to allow us to all find out more about it. You know what phrase I'm starting to get a little
04:08tired of with Jonathan Kaminga quote we're going to find out when is Gunner going to get here
04:16that's what I want to know when are we going to get it's this is year four and this is not the
04:20first time that they have started using Jonathan Kaminga I understand that all of a sudden there's
04:26the whole conversation about coming off of the bench and now it's it's going to be a starting
04:31role and Draymond even had one game where he was off the bench and when everyone gets healthy maybe
04:35that'll happen some more here and there but we already last year had the the night where
04:41Sham sent out the tweet and said JK has no more faith left in Steve Kerr and from that moment
04:47forward what they do they played him a whole lot of minutes the next night they did they know they
04:51did for a while I mean for the rest of the season Draymond was hurt no but the rest of the season
04:55last year his minutes were way up they were up but mainly when Draymond was out and by and large
05:01I do think that it's a byproduct of the fact that they didn't have a lot of help last year
05:06and Wiggins missed some games and so you had to have JK the whole idea about finding out I think
05:12that the organization already knows and the whole thing about oh the Warriors need to find out about
05:18Jonathan Kaminga if you really knew about Jonathan Kaminga if you thought that he was a future one
05:23you would have inked him to a deal last year in the offseason I look at Moses Moody do you think
05:28that they knew last offseason about Moses Moody what they thought about Moses yes and they gave
05:34him 3 and 39 and Moses took it because he realized this is good money and this is probably the player
05:41I am for now and so the team I think they knew about Moses Moody they didn't have to find out
05:47about Moses and I do think that they understand about Jonathan Kaminga and Kaminga wanted a lot
05:53more than the team wanted to pay him and so for the team it was we kind of know who you are as a
06:00player so go out there and be that player and maybe somebody else will give you big money it's
06:04a little bit different because I mean Moses played college basketball I think part of this is that
06:08JK is so raw and and and and so everybody knew that he was kind of a project and so you get a
06:15little bit more time to see if you're really really going to pop but that's that's kind of
06:20what I'm interested in in exploring right now with with Jonathan Kaminga this newfound let's
06:27give him a lot of minutes let's talk about him a lot after the game is that actually coming from a
06:32genuine place and we did just get this text Comcast business text line I like it I agree with this
06:38this is 813 it's not one of the other mark they're showcasing him because they believe in him
06:45I'd say it a little bit of a different way because I don't know if they believe in him yet
06:50like fully I there's no question left as to whether or not Jonathan's good everybody knows
06:55Jonathan's good I think the question everyone wants to get to is if they're upside to greatness
07:02or is this a piece that they should use to help the current crop that's the question and yes you
07:09can scratch both itches at the same time showcasing him and believing in him I guess today
07:17December 11th those are the same thing of course that means putting him in the game a whole lot
07:23well it's if he's playing well then you put him in the game and you play him a whole lot because
07:27it helps you win and that's ultimately what you want no matter if it's this year next year or
07:32the year after that you want to win basketball games if he's playing like he has over the last
07:37couple of weeks then you play him because he's playing really well and if that also means that
07:42other teams are going to look at him and go wow he had 33 and went over Houston and he came back
07:47with 20 when Steph and Draymond were there and this guy's actually maybe he's taking the next
07:52step and if the Warriors don't want to pay him maybe we do and so yeah you're serving both
07:58masters at the same time and that's the ideal you play a guy because he's playing well and you also
08:03play him because you want other teams to see that he's playing well and you get to the deadline or
08:08you get before the deadline and teams are going to come knocking on your door for him this fascinating
08:12man it's fascinating that Slater said it's information gathering time on Kaminga but that's
08:16not just for the Warriors it's for everybody it's for the entire league to figure out who this guy
08:22is if I've got to lean in one direction right now again admitting that you can kind of do the same
08:26thing together at the same time but what if I force the Warriors into almost like a prediction
08:33what what right now today what do you think is your best way of using the asset that is
08:41Jonathan Kaminga I think it's showcasing him for a trade I'm stunned at how much trade chatter
08:48there is surrounding the Golden State Warriors and those of you listening I don't know how much
08:54other stuff or Warriors related content you consume I don't know how much you're on the
08:59internet I don't know how much you're on social media I don't know how much you're watching debate
09:03shows nobody's talking about anything else in the NBA there is not one debate show right now that
09:10doesn't have half the segment dedicated to the Warriors and trade rumors you'll see this this
09:18happens all the time there are eight teams interested in Jimmy Butler and one of them is
09:22the Warriors and then we talk about it for seven minutes LeBron James where would he want to go the
09:28Golden State Warriors sprinkle in some Giannis or some butch a bitch or whatever you want and then
09:35the Brooklyn thing comes out Shams does the same thing multiple teams want to talk to the Brooklyn
09:40Nets about these three players one of the teams is the Golden State worth why are there so many
09:48trade rumors out there I believe at least one of the answers is is that the Warriors feel
09:53they absolutely have to do something because they're just not good enough right now right
10:00and I don't think that as you get deeper into this process I don't think that coming in necessarily
10:06has to be a part of it so yeah you're showcasing him because he's playing well but you're playing
10:11him because he's playing well and he's helping you win basketball games even though you're two
10:16and four since he was out due to injury and he's averaging 19 and a half in those games
10:20he's been playing well over the course of the last month or so I don't necessarily think that
10:26you have to make a trade that involves cominga and you might get to the end of the year and realize
10:31man cominga really helped us this year and we got to the playoffs and we won a series and
10:36cominga was great and then some team offers him 40 million and you let him go at that point
10:41you don't have to trade him at the deadline or realize that you've kind of blown it because if
10:46he's playing this well he can be a player who helps you win and helps you get to where you