	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 24, 2018

Bob Myers

Oakland, California

BOB MYERS: Mark asked about Pat McCaw, where things stand. We're continuing to talk to his representatives, conversations have been cordial. We've been talking for most of the summer. We're going to keep talking. Hopefully we reach a resolution that works for him and us. Love to get him here and that's the plan now to keep working in that direction.

Q. Your bench was a concern. Do you feel like going into this year you addressed that concern?
BOB MYERS: I don't know. I hope so. You know every year we try to have the best starting lineup we have, the best team we can make. It's an interesting team. It's different because sometimes our starters play with the bench. So our bench production suffers as far as at least numerically we don't have a highly productive bench statistically. But sometimes the bench includes Klay Thompson or Kevin Durant. When Cousins gets back it will be interesting to see how we use him. But the point is I think we've got a good team. We've got a capable team. Steve does a great job of finding the right roles for guys.

So, yeah, it doesn't matter what I say today but I think we've got a pretty good team.

Q. With things kind of in flux with Pat, how do you evaluate the back end of this roster? Are you guys trying to fill that 15th spot this preseason, or are you open to keeping that open going forward?
BOB MYERS: Historically we've carried 15 for most of the season. We've done a couple of buyouts and signed guys in the past where we've had to cut a guy. We've done that the last couple years or two of the last three. The idea, it might be different this year. We might carry 14 going into the season and see what develops. Obviously we want to give Steve the best chance to win and give our players the most depth we can.

So we're going to have quite a few guys in camp. We'll take a look at them. The NBA's two-way rule allows us to utilize that. We did it with Quinn Cook last year and it was good for us, which is nice.

So we'll see. We haven't had that kind of flexibility. Like I said, in the past we've carried 15. This year I think we'll go into the season with 14. But it's hard to say who that will be at the end of the roster.

Q. You said last week you might have an update on DeMarcus, that he was going to be evaluated by Dr. Ferkel. What do you know about the timeline and how encouraged are you by that reevaluation?
BOB MYERS: All indications are that he's progressing well. He's doing a lot of work, even doing some work out -- these are basketball courts that we're sitting out here. He's doing work out here and he looks good. I think he's on schedule.

What that schedule will be will probably be predicated on how he does when he starts going full speed. He's not able to go full speed yet, but he's going to get in some drills, the ones he can, noncontact type stuff.

We'll probably reevaluate him and Raymond will probably let everybody know in about four weeks with another update on where he's at.

I know there's a narrative that we'll save DeMarcus for the playoffs. That's inaccurate. When he can play he'll play. We won't rush him, but we also won't hold him back. We need time for him to acclimate; we need to acclimate for him. But it's an exciting thing for our whole team to look forward to.

Q. Given Pat's situation, what kind of, I guess, back-up plans do you have to consider in the event that he does not end up here?
BOB MYERS: He plays the wing position. So we have to probably examine all the different wing possibilities. There's veterans. There's guys that we'll have in camp. A combination of that.

Again, the primary hope is that we can get him here. Our job, my job is to give, like I said, the coach and the organization the best team we can. So if that requires something else, that's what we'll have to do. The focus is not to do that.

But we are probably wing heavy going into camp with the idea that we need depth there anyway. I don't think we've got six centers this year, which I didn't mind as much as other people did. But anyways we'll see what happens. But it will be a good chance to evaluate these next couple of weeks.

Q. Bob, given the Warriors' obvious string of success these past few years what do you think will keep the guys motivated during these long stretches during the monotonous time of the season?
BOB MYERS: I think last year we talked a lot about how hard repeating was going to be. And it was hard. And I think Steve and I spoke, and I think he'll tell you when he's up here, I think we're going to try to move out that narrative as far as how hard this all is and it is hard, and rare for us to try and do it again. Raymond's telling me it hasn't -- no team has gone to the finals in 60 years or something crazy five times, I guess. But anyways we're going to try to enjoy it. I know that sounds simple. But the goal is going to be to enjoy this journey this year -- all of it, the highs, the lows, the in between.

If you enjoy going to work and you're talented and you're in a good culture hopefully good things come of that. So Steve's good of that. Steve's a great captain to lead us in the right direction. He's got a great pulse of what the team needs.

Q. How do you view this coming year with Durant? Obviously signs a one-year deal. There's going to be conversation about him maybe more so as a Warrior going into [inaudible] that you've ever had. Do you, Joe mentioned maybe this is like a re-recruiting. Do you sense this will be a re-recruitment of Kevin Durant?
BOB MYERS: I think for any player and having had that history as an agent, I think what players want, in my experiences is, they want to get paid fairly. They want to win and they want to like going to work, just like all of us. We want to be successful, make fair money and have fun. That's our job to create an environment for our players.

And I think we do a pretty good job of that. Look, Kevin Durant, for me as a basketball fan, to get to watch him just practice is a treat, is a treasure.

What we're experiencing right now, I don't -- I have to remind myself that this is such a rare time for our organization to have this kind of talent. Just for me to go to our games, forget about being the GM of the team, to watch our team practice and play, to watch Steph Curry shoot on his basket. I'm going to remember that for the rest of -- to watch Kevin Durant and Steph Curry right here do a shooting drill. I don't take any of that for granted.

But in regards to players staying here and wanting to be here, that's all we can control. But Kevin, yeah, I hope Kevin's here, I hope he plays until he's 50. He's fantastic, obviously what he's done for us, what I hope he continues to do goes without saying.

But whether it's him or anybody else we've got other free agents, too, we just want to make it an environment where they want to come back to us. And I think we've done a pretty good job of that.

Q. You announced promotions and hirings today. Curious about the Mike Dunleavy decision, how that came to be and the specifics of some of the promotions?
BOB MYERS: We promoted, I think David Kelly was in a separate release, he's our capologist. He's got a better title than that, Chief Legal Officer. But everything is so sophisticated now from a business standpoint. We have to understand the revenues of our organization in relation to what we can spend on our players. It's all interconnected. David is fantastic at that.

We did promote quite a few people. Some people moved on to different organizations. We wish them well. That's always going to happen in the NBA. So, yeah, we've done a lot.

Dunleavy, we've been a little short in pro scouting. Pro scouting is someone that sees NBA games in person. For me, it may seem like I see a lot of NBA, but I may only see an Eastern Conference team once when we play them here at home. That's not enough to truly evaluate the player in a trade.

Even in free agency you want a better understanding of who you're signing. If Anthony, if you've watched him 15 times live and I've watched him once, well your opinion is probably going to be more weighted than mine.

A lot of teams are more getting involved in pro scouting. We've got some great college scouts as well. So that's the impetus behind him. We want to grow organically. We want to reward our people and keep hiring good people.

Q. There's a lot of guys on the roster, I can't think of their names, but they're due for big extensions.
BOB MYERS: Who is that?

Q. Their name escapes me. One is a Thompson. Where do those negotiations stand? Are you currently -- is that out and you're going to just go into the season? Or is there any talks for extension with either of those two?
BOB MYERS: We've talked to both of those two. I think we've got a window until the 31st. Again, any negotiation has to work for both sides. But those two players, those are guys that you want to keep in your organization, along with a guy like Kevin Durant. Those guys, you do what you can to retain them. But you also want to treat them fairly. And they want to get what they're worth.

That's what you have to work towards. And I think we've got great dialogue. Where it will end up I don't wholly know right now. But if it works for them, works for us, we'll be happy to go that direction.

Q. Do you feel like this team is rested and there's no overseas trip this time? And also what do you lose in a locker room sense with David West not coming back?
BOB MYERS: Well, are we rested? We better be, right because we're starting tomorrow. Talking to some of the players, this offseason I think people went away more than ever. I would talk to other GMs over the last couple of weeks, their players are in working out, part of me thought why shouldn't our guys be here.

But I think it was healthy. It's been four years for a lot of them of a pretty short offseason. But they know each other well. I mean, I'm sure they're reconnecting in there right now. It's a pretty tight-knit group. It's interesting. Having had the experience of going to the Finals for four years, it gives you an ability to maybe find a rhythm in all of it.

So I think they're going to come with a good energy. And I think it's still -- it's a greedy team. They still want to keep winning and that's pretty powerful.

David is irreplaceable. David's one of the best people I've ever met. You cannot, people like that just don't come along that often. So we will miss him dearly. I hope he comes around. I think he's going to stay in the area. I hope he comes by practices or a few games.

But we were fortunate to have David West here for one day let alone two years. And I'm so happy that what we were able to give him in return was a couple of championships. Because that guy's a guy that deserves to have championships.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297