Warriors camp takeaways: Looney splashes in a scrimmage originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
LAIE, Hawaii – In their second day of training camp at BYU-Hawaii, the Warriors progressed from concepts to playing, scrimmaging a full court. Effort, energy and flow are what stood out the most to coach Steve Kerr on a day where three teams were created positionally because he is far from naming the starting five.
“We just split them up positionally and spread guys all over the place,” Kerr said. “No suggestions on the starting lineup.”
Wednesday did end on a particularly positive note, especially for one veteran.
Here are five takeaways from the second day of Warriors training camp, which featured comments from Kerr, Draymond Green, Trayce Jackson-Davis and Brandin Podziemski.
Looney For Three … Bang!
Podziemski found center Kevon Looney, and the big man showed off what he’s worked tirelessly on during the offseason: His 3-point shot. Looney drilled a game-winning three, and the celebration ensued after that.
“That’s the best way we can end practice, Looney three,” Podziemski said.
bent over Looney dropped 15 pounds to be more versatile, specifically on the offensive end as more of a shooting threat. After taking a total of three 3-pointers the last three seasons, and not making a single one, Looney took 400 to 500 threes this summer to be a long-range option. That doesn’t mean he’ll evolve into the next Splash Brother overnight.
The message sent to Looney is one of faith. Be aggressive and don’t hesitate. But he won’t be an option and a popular choice as the Warriors look to rain down threes on their opponents. More so, it’s him taking advantage of broken plays and open opportunities.
“That’s different than being Kevin Love,” Kerr explained. “But he feels it. Loon has yet to be who he is, which is a guy who does a lot of things on the offensive boards and sets screens. If he’s open and there’s a stationary three, I want him to shoot it.”
Draymond Chimes In On Kuminga
Although his coach believes that he is a forward, Jonathan Kuminga says he is a forward. What about Green?
He seems to join his teammate.
“I think he’s 3,” Green said. “It has always been my opinion and that will not change. To play the 4, it requires a certain skill. So often, people approach the 4 like it’s not a position. … It requires a certain ability, a certain knowledge, a certain understanding of that position to do that.
“He never did it. Can he adjust and learn that? I don’t know.”
The numbers tell a different story from Green’s point of view. According to Basketball-Reference’s positional rating, Kuminga spent just 2 percent of his time last season at small forward, as opposed to a career-high 65 percent at power forward and 34 percent at center.
In order for Kuminga to thrive as a small forward, his outside shooting will need to improve greatly, an area he has worked on relentlessly in recent months.
Message from Draymond To Podz
Competition to start alongside Steph Curry at shooting guard is well walked. And, it appears to be between three players: Podziemski, Buddy Hield and De’Anthony Melton. No matter who is given the job, Podziemski expects to play a lot with the other two.
The last thing Green and the rest of the Warriors want Podziemski to be is a copy of franchise icon Klay Thompson. Being himself is what earned Podziemski so much trust from Kerr as a rookie. To change now would be foolish.
“I want him to be Brandin,” Green said. “You can fall into the trap of so many people saying, ‘Oh, Klay’s leaving — you’ve got to do this, you’ve got to do that.’ No, be you. You’ll have a much better chance of succeeding at being yourself than trying to fill someone else’s role.”
Green can use himself as an example. When Green took over years ago in the starting lineup for David Lee, the last thing he was trying to be was Lee.
The two have vastly different skill sets, so trying to be someone else wouldn’t let him flourish and ultimately impact the game at a Hall of Fame level for the Warriors.
“I warned [Podziemski]: If you’re doing great things on the court and there’s something great that you’re doing, do it,” Green said. “If you’re doing it great, the team, the offense, the organization will adapt to you.”
Speaking of Draymond…
Trying to replicate Green’s style of play is fool’s gold for every other game, and every other team. Organizations have been looking for the next version of their do-it-all who can even play center when needed.
Good luck with that. However, the Warriors may have found their own new version in Kyle Anderson.
“He’s just like Draymond,” Podziemski said of Anderson. “He understands how players move, where guys like their touches and he can make plays out of the short roll, hit a pick-and-pop jumper — everything Draymond can do.
“There hasn’t been someone like Draymond in our organization for a long time. Having one of those who is defensive minded, that’s going to help us in the long run.”
The New GP2?
Podziemski also compared another addition to a trailing Warrior. The young guard sees a lot of Gary Payton II in De’Anthony Melton.
“I feel like he can be twin brothers with Gary,” Podziemski said. “They both look the same, both love defense. For me, being able to go against that and conversely being able to play defense against them was great.
“I think the better they play defense now, the better it makes guys like me and Steph during the regular season.”
The Warriors’ lack of on-ball defense last season couldn’t have been clearer. Part of that was due to Payton dealing with multiple health snafus. Melton was held to 38 games in 2023-24 due to a back injury, but is fully healthy now and averaged a career-high 11.1 points per game for the Philadelphia 76ers before his season ended.
Having a point guard for the Warriors who can be an offensive boost would be a welcome sight for everyone. Melton, if all goes well, can tick both boxes.
