Warriors camp takeaways: Looney makes splash in scrimmage originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
LAIE, Hawaii – On their second day of training camp at BYU-Hawaii, the Warriors evolved from concept to gameplay, battling full-court. Effort, energy and flow are what stood out most to coach Steve Kerr on a positionally three-team day, as he is far from naming five starting teams.
“We just spread them out positionally and spread the guys all over the place,” Kerr said. “No hints about the starting lineup.”
Wednesday ended on a particularly positive note, especially for one veteran.
Here are five takeaways from the second day of Warriors training camp, with commentary 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 worked tirelessly on last season: his three-point shot. Looney hit a game-winning three, and then the party started.
“That’s the best way we can end practice, a Looney three,” Podziemski said.
An outside-leaning Looney has lost 15 pounds to be more versatile, especially on the offensive end as more of a shooting threat. After taking a total of three three-pointers over the past three seasons and not making any, Looney took 400 to 500 three-pointers as an option in the long distance this summer. That doesn’t mean he’ll evolve into the next Splash Brother overnight.
The message sent to Looney is one of confidence. To be aggressive and not hesitate. But he won’t be a pick-and-pop option as the Warriors look to rain threes on their opponents. In fact, he takes advantage of broken play and open opportunities.
“That’s different from being Kevin Love,” Kerr explained. ‘But he feels it. Loon still needs to be who he is, which is a guy who gets a lot of things done on the offensive boards and setup screens. If it’s open and it’s a stoppage three, I want him to shoot it.
Draymond agrees with Kuminga
Although his coach believes he is a power forward, Jonathan Kuminga says he is a small forward. What about Green?
He seems to side with his teammate.
“I think he’s a 3,” Green said. “It has always been my opinion and that will not change. To play the 4, you need certain skills. So often people approach the 4 as if it isn’t a position. … It takes a certain skill set, a certain knowledge, a certain understanding of that position to do that.
‘He’s never done it before. Can he adapt and learn that? Don’t know.”
The numbers tell a different story from Green’s point of view. According to Basketball-Reference’s position estimate, Kuminga spent just 2 percent of his time at small forward last season, compared to a career-high 65 percent at power forward and 34 percent at center forward.
For Kuminga to thrive at small forward, his outside shooting will need to vastly improve, an area he has worked on relentlessly in recent months.
Draymond’s message to Podz
The competition to start next to Steph Curry at shooting guard is in full swing. And it appears to be between three players: Podziemski, Buddy Hield and De’Anthony Melton. Regardless of who gets 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 become is a replica of franchise icon Klay Thompson. By being himself, Podziemski gained so much trust from Kerr as a rookie. Changing 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 is leaving, you have to do this, you have to do that.’ No, be you. You 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 the starting lineup from David Lee years ago, the last thing he tried to be was Lee.
The two have a lot of different skills, so trying to be someone else wouldn’t allow him to flourish and ultimately impact the game on a Hall of Fame level for the Warriors.
“I warned [Podziemski]“If you’re doing great things on the field and there’s something great you’re doing, then do it,” Green said. “If you do a great job, the team, the offense and the organization will adapt to you.”
Speaking of Draymond…
Trying to replicate Green’s playing style is fool’s gold for any other game and for any other team. Organizations are looking for the next version of their all-in-one point-forward that can even take center stage 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 play the short role, hit a pick-and-pop jumper – all things Draymond can do.
“There hasn’t been someone like Draymond in our organization in a while. If we have someone who is defensive-minded, that will help us in the long run.”
The new GP2?
Podziemski also compared another addition to a leftover Warrior. The young guard sees a lot of Gary Payton II in De’Anthony Melton.
“I feel like he could be a twin with Gary,” Podziemski said. “They both look pretty much the same, they both like defense. For me it was great to be able to go against them and conversely to be able to play defense against them.
“I think the better they are defensively now, the better it makes guys like me and Steph during the regular season.”
The Warriors’ lack of ball defense last season couldn’t have been more apparent. Part of that was because Payton was dealing with multiple health issues. Melton was forced to play 38 games in 2023-24 due to a back injury, but is now fully healthy and was averaging 11.1 points per game for the Philadelphia 76ers before his season ended.
Having an offensive defenseman for the Warriors who can provide an offensive boost would be a welcome sight for everyone. Melton, if all goes well, can check both boxes.
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