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00:00From someone who covers the team and covers the NBA as a whole for ESPN on the River Islands
00:04guest line, it's Oum Young-Massouk, who is with the team in Utah right now.
00:08Oum, thank you so much for coming on.
00:10Thank you for your time on a busy day.
00:12Hey, guys.
00:13Thanks for having me.
00:14Yes.
00:15What would you say to that?
00:16Is today's news of Kevin Durant not wanting to come, is it a little bit of a realization
00:22that maybe the Warriors aren't quite the destination for stars that they think it is?
00:27Look, I mean, this one in particular has a little history behind it.
00:31So I mean, I am a big old school 80s, 90s, R&B, hip-hop, 80s fan, and there's a reason
00:38why some of these groups that you used to love growing up break up and they never get
00:43back.
00:44Sometimes there's a history there and they can't get over stuff like that.
00:48And so, you know, I was a little surprised that KD was against the reunion, but I certainly
00:54there's certainly reasons to understand why he's already been here and I guess he doesn't
00:58want to do it again.
00:59But as far as the gut punch, the day's not over yet, guys.
01:02I mean, the Warriors have been very aggressive on the trade front and I don't expect that
01:08to stop anytime soon.
01:10I think they're going to continue to be aggressive and still try to make a trade.
01:14You had me thinking about New Edition when Bobby Brown left and went solo.
01:17I'm a huge New Edition fan.
01:19Yeah, I'm a huge New Edition fan.
01:20New Edition actually got back together.
01:22And they've been on tour in Las Vegas.
01:24I wouldn't see their residency in there.
01:25Great.
01:26But unfortunately, I don't think we're going to see this second act for KD and Steph and
01:30Draymond.
01:31Yeah.
01:32Mark and I were kind of running through it last week and I was trying to make the comp
01:34on who the Johnny Gill would be because I thought that he was quietly the most underrated
01:39member.
01:40But you and I could do this all day.
01:42It's more important to ask you about the pivot point as they try to go out with 19 hours
01:48left until the deadline.
01:50To where do the Warriors seek for that New Edition?
01:54Yeah, I would think it would be Jimmy Butler.
01:58They have been aggressive about it.
02:00You know, there was some talk initially that it was going to be maybe trying to get Jimmy
02:04Butler and redirecting the Phoenix in an effort to get Kevin Durant or things like that.
02:09A very complicated trade.
02:12There's been a lot of smoke around Jimmy Butler to Golden State for a long time now.
02:15And so I know Brian Winters had reported that Jimmy would be against doing an extension.
02:22But at this point, it just seems like the Warriors are so aggressive about wanting to
02:26get somebody in now that maybe they'll just deal with that later.
02:30I mean, I'm a personally, I'm a proponent of saving as many assets and chips as you
02:36can for next summer if you don't get what you want right now.
02:41You know, I know the Warriors have said like a couple of weeks ago, let's not be rash.
02:45Let's not be desperate.
02:46You know, Steph had said that.
02:47Let's not mortgage the future.
02:48Steve Hurd said that.
02:49Draymond, they were all aligned on the same thing.
02:53And I think diplomatically, you know, it was basically like, if there's a bigger trade,
02:57a bigger fish to go get next summer, we'll save everything for then.
03:01But clearly, there's been a little bit of a shift with the Warriors and I think, excuse
03:06me, I think they want to go after someone next.
03:09Alright, so Om Youngmasuk in Utah, ESPN covering the Warriors and the league.
03:16Om, if they are to get back into that conversation with Jimmy Butler, and if they are to say,
03:22hey, who cares about an extension, let's just do now, in this moment, with Miami potentially
03:27desperate also to get rid of him, what do you think the cost would be?
03:32I'm not sure.
03:33That's a good question.
03:34I think, you know, we've seen Andrew Wiggins, we've seen maybe some draft picks, like maybe
03:42hopefully, I think if you're thinking of the Warriors, you're thinking hopefully second
03:45round picks, and maybe expiring contracts.
03:50I don't think with the way that Miami is looking to get off with Jimmy Butler, I know, you
03:56know, I know if you're going to stay, you wouldn't want to have to give up some of your
03:59younger assets, like the Mayhem projects, so it would seem to be that most of the smoke
04:04has been around Wiggins and maybe some other smaller pieces.
04:08Have you heard any chatter at all about Draymond Green possibly being on the move, or was that
04:13only connected to a potential Kevin Durant move?
04:18I think, you know, I've heard Draymond's name has been discussed, I think, but I'm not sure
04:24exactly what they were discussing it for.
04:29My guess is that it would have been probably a move to try to get Kevin Durant, because
04:36of the connection between the under-managed P.A. and the Michigan State Ties and Draymond
04:40Green, and also that Bradley Beal wasn't going to be moved, so it would have had to take
04:46probably somebody like Draymond Green to get Kevin Durant out of Phoenix.
04:50Hey, Oum, I'm interested, and I think a lot of Warrior fans are too, with this idea of
04:55Wiggins being involved in a deal.
04:59How much, at this age and at this time, how much of an upgrade is Jimmy Butler over just
05:05Andrew Wiggins?
05:06I totally get that question.
05:09I will say one thing about Jimmy Butler.
05:11Everywhere he's gone, I think when he goes there, right after a trade or move, he turns
05:16the ball out.
05:17And so, I think that's one thing you can get from Jimmy Butler.
05:20Of course, what complicates this is the contract.
05:23I think he clearly wants a new contract, and if he doesn't want to re-sign at Golden State,
05:28well, is he going to come and ball out at Golden State if Golden State were to get him?
05:34Before then, you would hope so, because certainly he wants a new deal.
05:38And then that would be the upgrade, that Jimmy Butler, Jimmy Butler, if Jimmy Butler balls
05:43out like we know he does, then I think he's going to upgrade over Wiggins.
05:48And I say that, saying that Wiggins has had a great season.
05:51Wiggins has been, quietly, a great two-way piece for the Warriors.
05:56Every night I watch him defensively, he's taking on guys that are bigger than him, smaller
06:00than him, quicker than him, and he's done a great job.
06:03And he's been aggressive at, you know, he's been aggressive taking the rim, he's tried
06:06to be that second score that they needed to be while Kamingla was out.
06:11So I think Wiggins has had a very good season.
06:14So I think Jimmy Butler would be an upgrade, though, if he follows his history of wherever
06:19he goes with a new team, he balls out.
06:22He balls out early and maybe blows it up late, so depending on how long you had him, maybe
06:27you don't ever get to that second stage of the Jimmy Butler experience.
06:31Oum, how much did the Jonathan Kaminga injury kind of ruin the Warriors' plans to either
06:37showcase and deal him, or have him play so well that Wiggins would truly be expendable?
06:43That's a good question, I mean, because you also don't know, like, if he played so well
06:49that maybe they opt to keep him.
06:52I think that when he got hurt, he had shown a six-game stretch, I believe, where he was
06:58on fire.
06:59But I think he probably has shown enough of what teams mostly believe in him, which is
07:03he has a lot of upside, the athleticism is there, the potential.
07:07So as long as it's not, like, a knee injury or anything like that, since this was an ankle
07:14sprain, I don't think it was at risk of teams shying away from him because of this ankle
07:18injury.
07:19Oum, let's go back to your very first answer, where you're like, hold up, everybody, the
07:22day's not over yet.
07:24What about the PR of where this story has been?
07:28Do you feel like the Warriors need to do something just because there's been so much
07:33talk?
07:34I think it was maybe on your stage, I can't remember, I heard Bob Myers say this recently
07:39about how front office certainly can take into consideration what fans are thinking
07:44and what public opinion is.
07:46And I think more than ever, this trade deadline, it certainly feels like once Luka got traded,
07:53everybody was like, holy cow, anything is on the table.
07:57Let's call every team and see who's available.
08:00Whereas that might not have been the case before, just because you just assume so and
08:04so was untouchable.
08:06And so I think, you know, as we go on here, I think the Warriors are just going to be
08:11aggressive and trying to get whoever they can.
08:13I mean, yeah, I mean, it's certainly a thing that Kevin Durant doesn't want to come to
08:19have a reunion.
08:21But I don't think that was going to stop them from being aggressive no matter what.
08:26If they make no deal and the Warriors wind up tomorrow at 12.01 with the exact same team
08:31that we have today, where does that leave the Warriors in terms of their morale inside
08:36the locker room, you think?
08:39I think a lot of guys will be relieved, number one, because I think it's probably been a
08:43very tense week or so.
08:47It's only tense in every NBA locker room around the trade deadlines.
08:51But the Warriors, a lot of words, I've heard their names and trade rumors, and shoot, even
08:54Draymond Green was saying on Monday, we know Joe Laker is pissed and like basically being
09:01a 500 team.
09:02And, you know, after Luka Doncic has been traded, anybody could go.
09:06And so I think you would see guys that are relieved, maybe that would unlock them a little
09:12bit more.
09:13But they look, you know, regardless of the trade deadline, they've been a 500 team now
09:17for a long time.
09:19So I think you're just going to continue to see probably more of the same, that the Warriors
09:23will show these spurts of looking really good, and then they'll go through a two-game losing
09:28streak of looking really bad, and they'll probably hover right around the play-in and
09:33maybe get a little bit closer to seven or eight, but they're probably going to be in
09:37that seven to ten range.
09:40Broad view here, is the way the Warriors are playing all of this realistic?
09:47In other words, this whole idea of like, you know, Joe Lacob, in fact, was listening to
09:53our station earlier today, and Matt Steinmetz said, there's all these reports that Joe Lacob
09:59is angry, and you just mentioned Draymond saying, hey, Joe Lacob is pissed.
10:03And Lacob texted him and goes, I'm not mad, I just want to win.
10:08And my thought immediately was, do you get to just win every year, even when your players
10:13are almost 40 years old?
10:15Is this a realistic approach for the Warriors?
10:19Let me say something to Golden State fans out there who may have been a little spoiled
10:24with four championships.
10:25You have an owner who wants to win.
10:29Be thankful for that.
10:31Because there's a lot of teams in this league that have owners who have different bottom
10:36lines.
10:37Joe Lacob wants to win championships.
10:40He's gotten a taste of it.
10:42He wants to continue this dynasty.
10:44He wants to keep the window open around Steppencury.
10:47There's a lot of worse things you can get from an owner than that.
10:51So if I were a Warriors fan, I'd be very happy that Joe Lacob is doing everything he can
10:56to try to win.
10:57Again, though, my thing is, do you go after a guy that maybe there's no guarantee you're
11:04getting out of the second round of the playoffs in the Western Conference Finals this year,
11:08versus waiting next summer for potentially a bigger star that you weren't expecting to
11:14become available, and that star is in the mix for you guys.
11:18I don't know.
11:19To me, I think I'm probably waiting.
11:22Is this still a great marquee destination for a star in the offseason?
11:29I think so, because it's the Bay, it's Golden State.
11:32It's a team that wants to win.
11:34It's a team that has a new arena.
11:36It's a team that has a good culture, a coaching staff.
11:39I don't think that it's a place that players would not want to go to.
11:44And you have Steppencury, who is probably one of the easiest stars to play with.
11:48So I understand, maybe, the thinking here that Kevin Durant didn't want a reunion, but
11:54I don't think that there are other stars that wouldn't want to play.
11:59This is great stuff on a huge day.
12:01Thank you so much for spending some time with us.
12:04Alright guys, well it should be an interesting next lesson, 24 hours.
12:08You're damn right.
12:09Yep.
12:10Yep.
12:11Alright, thanks so much.
12:12Alright, see you guys.