GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 28, 2026

Mike Dunleavy

Media Conference

MIKE DUNLEAVY JR.: Thank you, everybody, for being here bright and early as we try and get on our way to Hawaii today. We're getting everything crammed in this morning, so thanks for getting up and at 'em.

I think, first and foremost, outlook on the season, we're humbly optimistic about the prospect for this team. It's been a long offseason, particularly because you don't make the playoffs, and it ends up being a lot of time, but I think we put a good amount of work in.

We like the team that we have. We like the depth that we have, and as Raymond just mentioned, we're going to have to start the season off with a little bit behind the 8-ball with Jimmy and Moses out. They will not be ready for opening night, which we all kind of knew. We'll have more updates as it goes.

Additionally, Kristaps is going to be out indefinitely with a health issue that I was informed about yesterday, so he'll miss the start of camp here. Don't have a timeline for him or anything further than that. So we're a little banged up to start, but we've got plenty of depth. We'll get through it.

We feel good about the group that we have. We have a nice mix of young guys, some old guys, but everybody can play. I know we're looking forward to taking on the challenge. We're well aware of how people feel about this team, what we did or didn't do this offseason, but I think it's a group that's kind of come together. They're united. We're looking forward to going to camp this week in Hawaii and getting to work.

I think we have the right group of guys to go out there, perform, and have a great season. Looking forward to that. Happy to open it up to any questions, and we can get into stuff.

Q. Do you know if the health issue Kristaps is dealing with is related to POTS or something similar that he's dealt with in the past?

MIKE DUNLEAVY JR.: I mean, look, you know I want to give you as much information as I can always. It's a health thing that I really can't comment on. Raymond would probably back me up on that, but it's a health matter.

Q. (Off microphone).

MIKE DUNLEAVY JR.: Yeah, no, I just got word of it yesterday. He finished the season last year, and he was in last week doing well and everything. Again, I don't have a timeline on it. Hopefully he'll be back soon, but this is something we just found out.

Q. (Off microphone).

MIKE DUNLEAVY JR.: Yes. Yeah, he won't be in Hawaii.

Q. We'll ask you about obviously Steph's extension. When did that really start to solidify that you knew it was definitely going to happen in this format, or how did this format come to be, one plus one with less than the max?

MIKE DUNLEAVY JR.: Yeah, I think he became eligible the 29th of August, so at that point something could be executed. You know, we talked through it with him. Obviously there's a path where we could have held out and not done anything, and you could make the argument you have a ton of room and flexibility moving forward, and you keep it open.

But I think given Steph's desire to be here, our desire to keep him here, I think we found a middle ground where he was incredibly generous in taking this deal, where he's taking less money to help the team out because, as Steph goes, he's as competitive as there is. He wants to win. He's put us in a position where it gives us a little bit more flexibility to do that.

So I think the middle ground was signing him up to be able to almost ensure that he'll finish his career here while also keeping some flexibility, keeping some optionality on it, and we've done that.

Q. Is the $10 million per year a target number? Is there a specific reason why it's ten?

MIKE DUNLEAVY JR.: I think when meeting with him, to be clear -- I would never ask him to take less money. He deserves everything he gets, but it came down to a point where I think he saw some of the stuff we had presented, and I think it just seemed like a reasonable number to do.

There's some math behind it that's tricky to get into, but I think it was a good middle ground for everybody, and we landed on something that works.

Q. Mike, to that point, was there any kind of pitch to Steph maybe not to encourage a pay cut, but just to say this is -- did you present Draymond, Jimmy, the expiring contracts that you have up and potentially what could be available, trade market, free agency? What was the impetus for him to feel comfortable enough to take a cut?

MIKE DUNLEAVY JR.: Yeah, I think we just presented him with a plan to remain tremendously competitive, and then we showed him scenarios. We showed him our books and what it looks like and this and that and the whole thing. I think Steph's biggest thing is, allow me to understand. What are we thinking? How are we doing this?

So we went through that with him, enabled him some time to give it thought and think about it, and then we came back with this concept that made a ton of sense.

We're thrilled to have him signed up and will be here many more years. I think it's a great thing for Steph, our organization, the fans, and the whole Bay Area.

Q. How much sleep did you lose about worrying whether Steph was going to leave? Did you ever think it was --

MIKE DUNLEAVY JR.: I lost zero sleep over that. I think we've been -- I think he's a guy that's committed to the organization. He wants to be here. He believes in our ability to put together a great team. I've spent very little -- I've lost sleep on a lot of things. That is not one of them.

Q. How difficult will it be to assess the roster without Jimmy and Moses and KP, and how will that affect your roster-building process moving forward?

MIKE DUNLEAVY JR.: Last year when those guys went down versus this year is different because you have a whole offseason to prepare. So knowing that Jimmy and Moses aren't going to be ready for the season, we knew that building this roster in the offseason.

So I think we know what we're getting into going into it. KP, you know, I'm not marking him down as being out to start the season or anything like that. He's just not available this week.

Q. Mike, where did things stand with POTS and the extension conversations?

MIKE DUNLEAVY JR.: I think as it's been, we want to get something done with it him. I think we have until the 19th of October. Good conversations with his representation. We would like to get something done there. I think everything is in a good place.

Q. Mike, how much of building the roster this offseason did you take into account or do you expect guys like Al Horford, D'Anthony Melton, Porzingis to come to play back-to-back? Do you expect them to have to be managed at all?

MIKE DUNLEAVY JR.: I think everybody is going to have to be managed, young, old, what have you. We have got some guys that have had some injuries. We have some guys that are older. We've got a great medical group. We'll manage it as we go through the season.

But I think part of the reason we built this team with a good amount of depth is on certain nights we know not everybody is going to be available, and we still can expect to win games.

Q. Mike, in general with KP, did you guys feel like you had a good understanding of everything with his health and this or that across the last few months in order to be able to re-sign him and make that decision and feel confident in that, and is there any frustration now that it's just kind of hard to maybe pin down what his status is?

MIKE DUNLEAVY JR.: Yeah, I mean, I think we feel comfortable with everything. You know, disappointed that he won't be out there tomorrow, but it's early, so don't want to overreact to anything.

Definitely disappointed that he won't be out there with his teammates, but we'll get there.

Q. With Podziemski, you have been protective of some of your future flexibility on that. How does that, I guess, factor into conversations about extending him or not?

MIKE DUNLEAVY JR.: Yeah, I mean, I think it factors in. Definitely works both ways. That's why we want to come to terms on a contract that works for us and works for him. That's sort of what we're navigating.

You know, when you have a good player that you want to remain around, you want to try and figure something out.

Q. He was literally in the building?

MIKE DUNLEAVY JR.: He's been around, yeah.

Q. Was he on court and everything?

MIKE DUNLEAVY JR.: Yeah, he's been participating and everything. So it's just kind of popped up.

Q. Speaking of injuries, Steph's knee has been a topic of subject. What is sort of the plan to manage his knee over the course of the season?

MIKE DUNLEAVY JR.: Yeah, he's had a really good summer in that regard. I think he's trained a little bit differently than he has, but I think he's in a good spot for a build-up here to the season.

Look, I mean, at 38, you probably got a lot of things going on, and so it's something we'll be mindful of. We're on top of it. We'll have to manage it throughout the year, but overall we feel like Steph can play at an incredibly high level. It's just being mindful game to game, week to week of how he's doing, and we'll go from there.

Q. Have you guys had conversations with Steph about the knee?

MIKE DUNLEAVY JR.: You know, Rick, who runs our medical group, has those conversations, and I know he's feeling great right now. He's in a good spot. That's kind of the most important thing, but those guys are in lockstep day in and day out on how he's actually doing, and Rick informs me and keeps me posted on that stuff, but we're all systems go here with him, which is great.

Q. I know at the end of the season Al said that he was not sure where he was going to go, what he was going to do. What were the discussions like with him, and how are you feeling about where he is physically?

MIKE DUNLEAVY JR.: Yeah, I mean, he's in a great place right now because, as you remember last season, going through free agency, changing teams, there's a delay in signing him because of all the other stuff going on. I think he really didn't really get a chance to settle in and get going.

So this year he's a returning player. He's been in the gym. He's been working out. I think he feels great. We feel good about where he's at. I know he's a lot more comfortable. I think he'll play a big role for us this year.

Q. You were 38 once a long time ago.

MIKE DUNLEAVY JR.: A long time.

Q. Obviously you've been around Steph for a while, but do you ever get a moment to pause and think about the team you are building that's built around a 38-year-old and how insane that is that he is still at this level at 38?

MIKE DUNLEAVY JR.: It's incredible. It's incredible. I mean, the way this guy has kept it going, I pause and think about it all the time, but it's the reality.

He's really good, and he deserves what he's worked for. Because he's extended this window for himself, he's extended the window for the team, and we're going to continue to build it because of him.

Obviously Draymond is in the same boat. Steve as a coach. We've got these guys that can still do it for so long. It's a remarkable window that's remained open. It's fun to be a part of.

Q. Are Jimmy and Moses going to be going to Hawaii?

MIKE DUNLEAVY JR.: Yeah.

Q. Do you imagine -- Jimmy we know sometimes is off doing something else, but do you imagine both those guys will be mostly around the team until rehabbing through the season?

MIKE DUNLEAVY JR.: Yeah, I think we always do the rehab differently with all the guys. You go on long road trips and stuff, we defer to, hey, what's best for the player to get their best work in. It doesn't mean they're going to be on every road trip and every game and all those things, but we'll put them in the best position to get them back as soon as possible.

Q. You've talked about kind of some of the swings that you guys have taken before in this offseason and obviously the whole LeBron process playing out. Was there maybe frustration that you guys weren't able to kind of land a bigger fish, so to speak, and how did you pivot eventually to Brandon Williams, Georges Niang and filling out the roster that way?

MIKE DUNLEAVY JR.: Yeah, I think you set out in the offseason to try and address some things and improve your team and being mindful of all the sacrifices you have to make in terms of what you're giving up and foregoing.

We run out of a lot of ground balls and looked at a lot of stuff, and you ultimately make what you think is the best decision. I think we've built a team here that we feel very good about. We've maintained some flexibility. We have a whole bunch of assets. We're in a really good spot, and that's kind of the way I look at it.

So adding guys like Brandon Williams and Georges Niang, that adds to our depth. These are good basketball players that we think can help us night in and night out and particularly on nights where we have a few guys out.

So I think it makes a ton of sense, and we're really happy with the team we have.

Q. Do you like where Jimmy and Moses are at?

MIKE DUNLEAVY JR.: No, no, I wish they were starting the season.

Q. In their rehabs?

MIKE DUNLEAVY JR.: Yeah, I think they're both in a good spot. They're progressing well. It's hard to determine exactly when they'll be back at this stage of the rehab because it really comes down to how you're doing each day, so I won't get into those phases right now, but it's tricky. Forget one, but having two guys that aren't going to be ready to start the season that are key rotation players, really good players, wings that are such a valuable position in the league.

We're in a bind in that regard, but I think we've done the best we could at improving the roster to a point where we have some depth and we could to hold down the fort until those guys come back.

Hopefully when they do get back, it will give us a nice boost.

Q. I wanted to ask you about Draymond where he's at coming into the year and then also Yaxel and just how those two can kind of handle that power forward spot?

MIKE DUNLEAVY JR.: Yeah, I mean, I think both those guys, I am excited to see them play together. Both great defenders, great passers. I think they'll pair up really nicely.

I mean, Draymond has had an incredible run. You saw it in the play-in game against the Clippers. One of the greatest defenders of all time, showing it right there on a big stage.

Yaxel is coming in as a more mature veteran rookie who we think can help us out a lot this year, but you have to remember he's a rookie. These guys are doing it for the first time. There's going to be nights where they just -- the season gets long, they're new to this, the whole thing.

We feel pretty confident about the player that he can be and excited to see him get out there and go.

Q. I was also going to ask about Yaxel. How do you balance just the expectations of, hey, you're a rookie, we can't put too much on your plate, but also, we don't have our two starting wings, and we're going to need you in the first half here?

MIKE DUNLEAVY JR.: Yeah, I mean, I think that will be a great one for Steve, as he kind of juggles lineups and rotations and all those things, but we're going to ask a good amount of him. You don't always do that with the rookies. We feel like he's ready, and we'll see what he can do, and hopefully he can help us out a lot.

You know what, if he can, he's a rookie. Building knowledge, it takes some time. But based on his performance in college and what he's been able to do this summer, we have some optimism for him.

Q. How much did the summer, and it's a short sample size I realize, but how much did that fill you with confidence that Yaxel can help right away?

MIKE DUNLEAVY JR.: Yeah, I mean, a little bit of it is that. He's been in our gym. He's put the time in, as a bunch of our guys have, and that's really important.

Then a little bit of it is just the situation that we're in with Moses and Jimmy out, we don't have much choice. Some guys are going to have to play some minutes here that if those guys were healthy, they may not be playing. It gives a great opportunity for those that are looking for that. We'll see what they can do.

But that's the nature of the beast here.