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Stephen Curry: "It was a great run. Under Armour had a great experience over the 12, 13 years I was there. I developed Curry Brand underneath Under Armour. They were able to take my brand out and search for a new partnership that for me is looking at the longevity and legacy of what I think is possible not just here in the US, but globally across basketball, golf, lifestyle, and training. Li-Ning has been an unbelievable partner. It's a long-term scope of what we're trying to do. It's crazy just from a product perspective, I got to try out a bunch of different shoes and I lived up to the free agent tag for sure. I tried literally everything and there was a reason that Li-Ning stood tall at the end because the product reigned supreme and so Dwyane Wade, Jimmy Butler, two guys that have been with the brand for a very long time, they kind of set the stage. I'm excited, we're five months in, I just got back from a tour the last week, so I'm excited about the opportunity."
Oh No He Didn't: Anthony Slater on Jimmy Butler: "From what I've heard he's gonna gather the team for an organized player only event next week in Southern California just like he did last year"
Oh No He Didn't: Anthony Slater on how involved Steph is in personnel decisions: "He's heard, his voice matters. Mike Dunleavy will call him at various points. And obviously, anytime Steph Curry calls, Mike Dunleavy, Joe Lacob, they will pick up, and they'll hear what he has to say. But he doesn't want to be too involved, he never has wanted to be too involved. He called LeBron James this summer as a recruiter, he'll do that, but I'll give you an example. A couple of years ago, the Warriors were deep in trade talks for several players. They ended up trading for Jimmy Butler, but Steph Curry very much values his place as a leader in the locker room. And he doesn't wanna be viewed as moving chest pieces around. He was very friendly with Andrew Wiggins. They had to trade Andrew Wiggins to get any of those trades done. So Steph Curry, I think always is wanted a separation between front office and him. And that's how he's always kept it"
Marcus Thompson: I feel like they include him in the process. He's aware of what's going on. His voice matters, and as long as that's the case, Steph is fine. He's going to hold their feet to the fire; he's going to make sure they're sticking to it. The Warriors want to win. They are thirsty to win. So their match made heaven that way. As you can see, they tried to get every star out there. They failed, but... I mean, that's what it is at the end of a run, right? It's not going to be pretty. This was probably as best as you can hope for. Hopefully Jimmy Butler comes back for them, and they can make another run, and maybe upset somebody, maybe give it one last valiant effort. What more can you ask for? They want four championships. I think Steph is good enough to stay in the game to where it's like, okay, if you get him the right pieces and get him in a matchup, he'll scare somebody. Now, ideally, they can get somebody good enough to make him like the No. 2. So, he's not carrying everything. That's just hard to do when the two oldest people on the team are making, you know, $120 million. It's tough to not go and get another player who's better than both of them.
Patrick Beverley: "The first team we play against is the Clippers, and if we win, the Minnesota gets into the playoffs after 16 years. Jimmy Butler has been there, Derrick Rose has been there, all these different players have been there, high-level players, all-star, Jeff Teague, all-star caliber type players, and Minnesota has never been there. And then you inject Pat Bev in there and we're playing with a number seven seed."
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Butler has been slowly increasing his on-court work while traveling the globe this summer, and the most recent strength tests on his right ACL recovery have shown notable progress, according to league sources. But Butler still has extensive rehab work ahead. He is expected to be limited to individual court and strength work when training camp opens in a month, league sources said, with the 36-year-old forward needing more time to be cleared for a full contact setting. A return in January or February can be considered an optimistic target, but there are plenty of checkpoints ahead before getting that clearance. The Warriors' lead medical decision-maker, Rick Celebrini, is noted for a cautious approach. -- Anthony Slater
NBA Trade Machine: Over the past 24 hours, Patrick Williams featured in 5.1% of trades built on HoopsMatic. Within his trades, he landed most often in Minnesota (20.7%), Golden State (19.0%), and Oklahoma City (10.3%). Most often, he was traded for Josh Green (19.0%), Jimmy Butler (19.0%), and Alex Caruso (10.3%).
Nick Friedell: A couple more notes -- Dunleavy remains optimistic that the Warriors can get a deal done with Podz before the new season begins. There's also no update on the timeline for Jimmy and Moody's return as they continue rehab.
Pau Gasol on playing with Jimmy Butler in Chicago: I think Jimmy always had a special affection for me because we complemented each other very well. His cutting game, his off-ball movement, suited him very well with a big man who could pass to him and find him in those positions, and well, I think he always appreciated it and still has a lot of affection for me.
Stephen Curry took a measured approach when discussing the future in a recent interview with The Athletic during teammate Moses Moody’s charity event in North Little Rock, Ark. “The through line,” Curry told The Athletic’s Marcus Thompson II, “which is hard on anybody in this situation, especially with us keeping this thing together, is knowing that when Jimmy (Butler) got hurt and Moses got hurt, the whole calculus of everything changes. How do you get through their absence and still stay at a certain level? And then how that goes into this year. It’s the same deal. So, I’m a realist on that.”
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NBA Courtside: Dillon Brooks says he would want to Box Jimmy Butler 👀 “Jimmy Butler. It’s all about basketball for sure. But I feel like some things went to far. I always feel the animosity”
They lobbied him on the Hall of Fame spectacle of linking up with Curry, their veteran-friendly environment, an ability to hike his salary up toward the $15.1 million nontaxpayer mid-level exception and the proximity to family. There was even a back-channel exploration from James, league sources said, about the feasibility of zipping back and forth to Southern California various times during the NBA calendar, as Green and Jimmy Butler occasionally do.
So LeBron chose the 76ers, and the Warriors are left to wonder what might have been. Should they have tried to trade Jimmy Butler and draft picks for Anthony Davis? At summer league in Las Vegas, a small contingent of Golden State’s front office pushed for that path, but AD’s injury history and desire for a new extension ultimately convinced team brass to stay put.
Danny Emerman: "It could be really interesting to see how he comes back from that knee injury. I've heard that he's targeting, as early as Christmas, who knows how his rehab turns out. That is something that's obviously subject to change. If he comes back and he looks awesome, the Warriors might not want to trade him. They really love Jimmy Butler. And from what I've been told behind the scenes, they've constantly reassured him and his camp that they don't want to trade him, that they're committed to him."
