{"id":3321,"date":"2026-06-29T16:09:43","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T16:09:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3321"},"modified":"2026-06-29T16:09:43","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T16:09:43","slug":"kurtenbach-talks-cheap-actions-expensive-the-warriors-dont-deserve-the-benefit-of-the-doubt-on-big-offseason-moves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3321","title":{"rendered":"Kurtenbach: Talk\u2019s cheap, action\u2019s expensive \u2014 the Warriors don\u2019t deserve the benefit of the doubt on big offseason moves."},"content":{"rendered":"
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Wake me when the Golden State Warriors actually do something.<\/p>\n

Just let me know if general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. creates his own route instead of taking the easy win in front of him.<\/p>\n

Read more Sexual assault civil trial against former Bay Area mayor set to begin<\/a><\/p>\n

Because it seems as if nothing has changed: the exact same kind of rumors are once again emanating from, what I can safely presume is the same dubious, yet high-level source inside the Chase Center.<\/p>\n

And I expect the same result to follow.<\/p>\n

A lot of smoke, but no fire.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re all just choking on a smog of hypothetical blockbusters that never materialize.<\/p>\n

Sure, perhaps this summer things will be different.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the Warriors actually have a legitimate shot at landing LeBron James.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Maybe James isn\u2019t just using the thirsty Dubs as leverage to spur the Lakers into action. (Don\u2019t we get our fill of that dynamic with the Dodgers and Giants?)<\/p>\n

And perhaps the Warriors are actually going to swing a massive trade for Anthony Davis, reuniting the big man with his former Olympic teammate, Steph Curry.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t question that interest in both is genuine and earnest.<\/p>\n

But I also won\u2019t pretend it isn\u2019t just a fun whiteboard exercise that will completely disintegrate the second a realistic return package needs to be assembled.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

How many times do you have to cry wolf before people stop listening?<\/p>\n

How often can you claim to \u201cbe in the mix\u201d before you stop earning credit from the fanbase?<\/p>\n

For me, that ship sailed a while back with these Dubs.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not that I question if the Warriors can improve this offseason.<\/p>\n

They absolutely can, and, frankly, they must.<\/p>\n

There are routes, particularly with Draymond Green declining his player option and becoming an unrestricted free agent \u2014 a maneuver that allows the Warriors to lock him up to a team-friendly contract while freeing up some additional mid-level exception money.<\/p>\n

But the improvement I can foresee \u2014 the type of move I\u2019d actually expect \u2014 resides strictly on those fringes.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the Anfernee Simons and Collin Sexton class of improvement.<\/p>\n

Appreciable, sure.<\/p>\n

But hardly the seismic shift required to contend in the modern Western Conference.<\/p>\n

Read more Bay Area\u2019s mild heat wave set to fade; Fourth of July likely to be warm<\/a><\/p>\n

I have asked for months \u2014 no, years \u2014 for Dunleavy to find creative ways to reshape this roster. To be bold. To be brash. To put something serious on the line.<\/p>\n

This team won just 36 games last year, after all.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not how the Dubs do business.<\/p>\n

Remember: Jimmy Butler didn\u2019t happen for nearly two years.<\/p>\n

The Warriors bided their time until his asking price was next-to-nothing.<\/p>\n

Effectively, it cost just an immediate first-round pick and a fat new extension to finally get him in the door. That\u2019s the kind of deal that the Warriors had to make \u2014 it was too straightforward, too easy.<\/p>\n

But there are no layups for the Dubs this summer.<\/p>\n

Nothing less than radical, out-of-the-box thinking will suffice given their current, suffocating, purgatorial scenario.<\/p>\n

This is a front office that has been tied to everyone, but once there\u2019s actual heat, they leave the kitchen.<\/p>\n

Lauri Markkanen, Michael Porter Jr., or even Trey Murphy \u2014 fine basketball players.<\/p>\n

But when you can\u2019t even pull the trigger on those secondary guys, how exactly are you going to grab Giannis Antetokounmpo?<\/p>\n

How are you going to miraculously pry Kawhi Leonard loose?<\/p>\n

You aren\u2019t.<\/p>\n

And I have no idea where James and Davis fit on that scale these days.<\/p>\n

Rumors are cheap in the NBA.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re a wildly devalued currency, trading on par with the Argentinian peso.<\/p>\n

Yes, talk is free, and the Warriors\u2019 front office loves to talk.<\/p>\n

Action? That\u2019s the hard part.<\/p>\n

That requires risk, conviction, and a willingness to occasionally lose a trade in a vacuum to win on the court.<\/p>\n

Right now, Golden State seems terrified of making a mistake.<\/p>\n

They linger in the transaction periphery, always the bridesmaid, never the bride, hoping that the empty calories of rumors will prove filling.<\/p>\n

Yes, they seem to think that they deserve points for effort.<\/p>\n

And until Dunleavy proves he can navigate the NBA\u2019s deep waters, expect more of the same.<\/p>\n

Read more Supreme Court says Fed\u2019s Cook can keep her job for now, but it upholds other Trump firings<\/a><\/p>\n

More leaks, more leverage plays, and more empty hands when training camp opens.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Talk is cheap, action is expensive. 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