Golden State Warriors GM Mike Dunleavy Jr. addresses fans at open practice

gqlshare

Oct 20

SAN FRANCISCO – Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. briefly spoke in front of some 13,000 fans before an open practice on Thursday about the summer blockbuster trade that flipped Jordan Poole for Chris Paul.

Dunleavy told the fans at Chase Center that he reached out to both parties once the trade sending Poole, Patrick Baldwin Jr. and Ryan Rollins to the Wizards was finalized in early July.

"It was not an easy discussion, but I think those guys are in a good place to continue their careers," Dunleavy said. "On our end, we reached out to Chris and welcomed him aboard."

For Dunleavy, who was promoted from vice president of basketball operations to general manager after Bob Myers stepped away at the end of last season, it was his first big move as GM.

Prior to his work in the front office, Dunleavy was the team's No. 3 overall pick in the 2002 draft and enjoyed a 15-year career as a player.

Dunleavy told the fans that the top priority in the offseason was to keep the veteran core of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green together.

"The first thing I think we have to say is, we finished in the top eight of the league," Dunleavy said. "But for this organization, we only care about championships, so how do we get back to that?"

Later in the interview, Dunleavy called the free-spending ownership group led by Joe Lacob "the best ownership group in sports."

"His willingness and competitiveness to get the best product out there is second to none," Dunleavy said. "All you can ask for is to have the resources to improve our team year after year."

Even though Dunleavy is now making the final decisions, he said he still takes input from his players and coaching staff when making personnel decisions.

"The biggest thing Steve (Kerr) looks for is guys who compete, and guys who have skill … guys who do anything for the team," Dunleavy said. "Our staff, coaches like Steve and certainly our players, we want to get everybody's input."

On a more lighthearted note, Dunleavy cracked an Allen Iverson joke when asked about the number of fans at the team's one open practice of the season.

"Practice? We're talking about practice," Dunleavy asked rhetorically. "Oh, it's unbelievable. This is incredible, and I think you're gonna see some good stuff today."

Practice notes:

After the interview, the teams went about what a mic'ed up Kerr described as a light practice following the team's grueling 116-115 victory over the Sacramento Kings the day before..

Sitting near the top of Chase Center was nine-year-old Hiyagen Beraane, who completely ignored the slice of pizza his father had bought him in favor of watching his favorite player.

Did it matter that nobody was keeping score?

Not a bit.

"Steph Curry is the best," Beraane said without taking his eyes off the action, with his father adding "He was ready the whole day" for his first trip to Chase Center.

For the low price of $5, fans were able to watch Curry and Thompson splash three-pointers on the bright yellow court.

The senior Beraane said that because of how expensive regular season tickets are, this was his son's first chance to watch the Warriors in person.

The Warriors ended the open practice with a singing contest, which started with rookie Brandin Podziemski from Santa Clara singing "Sweet Caroline," with help from Beraane and an enthusiastic crowd.

With the crowd cheering at a playoff-level loudness, Curry closed out the night by confirming the team's desire for a fifth championship with the current core.

"You've been with us the whole entire way, so let's get another one," Curry said.