Sources: D’Antoni eager to coach if season starts

Two days after indicating that he didn’t want Mike Dunleavy and the Golden State Warriors to make a “desperate” move ahead of the trade deadline, Stephen Curry clarified that he is still eager to win. Curry’s comments came after a narrow win by the Warriors at the Minnesota Timberwolves.

“Anyone who thinks I’m OK being on an average basketball team is insane,” Curry said. “Take whatever I said, I still stand on it. But that doesn’t mean we’re not in a situation where we are trying to get better, make appropriate moves that help you do that. Mike knows that. We’ve talked about it. That’s the expectation from me. It doesn’t mean you’re reckless. What people’s definition of that is is what I was talking about with Twitter fingers. Trade machines are fun. But what does that actually look like? We’re gonna handle our business. Mike is gonna handle his. We will see where we end up.”

Steve Kerr also spoke to the sentiment he shares with Curry.

“I hope there’s not a misconception that we are not fighting and scrapping and doing everything possible to keep this going,” Kerr said. “It almost feels like the narrative became the Warriors are giving in. We are not giving in. We’re just not gonna give away the future. Those are two totally different things. We’re fighting.”

Malik Monk would like to stay with the Sacramento Kings. The Sacramento Kings would like to retain Malik Monk. Unfortunately, the Kings may have to fend off some suitors who can make Monk larger offers in free agency.

Sacramento is limited to re-signing Monk using his Early Bird rights, as they are expected to be an over-the-cap team this summer. That means the Kings can offer Monk a contract that caps out at nearly $78 million over four seasons.

Given his skills as a shooter, scorer and playmaker, and Monk’s ability to perform at a high level off the bench, the veteran guard is one of the better free agents this summer. Teams that project to have cap space could give Monk an offer that beats what Sacramento can offer.

But Monk said in a perfect world that he’d “definitely” return to the Kings. Monk emphasized that he knows he can always make more money, but he’ll be prioritizing fit this summer. Monk added, “I think it’s going to play out the right way.”