SAN FRANCISCO — The direction of the Warriors’ offseason waits on Steve Kerr, so with the coach still undecided about his future, general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. also put his traditional postseason news conference on hold.
With Steph Curry and Draymond Green already addressing their futures following Friday’s play-in loss to the Suns that ended their season, that meant there wasn’t much of any consequence left as the remainder of the roster took the podium one-by-one Monday inside Chase Center.
Still, here’s one thing we learned about each player in the last time we hear from them before they regroup at the end of summer for a training camp that could look different from years past.
Al Horford: Still contemplating future
Horford described his first year with the Warriors as a “positive experience,” despite not getting the chance to chase a championship like he had hoped when he decided to leave the Celtics.
Horford, 39, possesses a player option for next season but said he’s undecided about his future. He did not rule out retirement and said he would talk it over with his wife, Amelia.
“Fortunately for me, I’m healthy. I feel good. I still feel like I can contribute and play at a very high level still. Those are all things that I’m going to look at,” Horford said. “Now that everything kind of gets quiet, you know, it’s something that I’ll reflect on all that.”
Brandin Podziemski: Hopes to sign contract extension
Podziemski, 23, won’t be a restricted free agent until after next season, but now that he is eligible for an extension to his rookie deal, he hopes it can get done this summer.
Podziemski, who took on more responsibility with Curry sidelined, said he look lessons away from watching the different ways Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody handled their contract situations.
“I want to be here for the long-term,” he said. “I think both seeing (Kuminga) and Moses do two different things for me helped, just seeing the goods and bads to both sides. I don’t think one is better than the other, but seeing that as a teammate and seeing how they handled both situations, I think is going to help me.”
Podziemski also walked back comments from before the season, when he said his goal was to be better than Curry. The brashness earned criticism inside and outside the organization.
“I know I’m not going to be better than Steph. He’s the only person that can be Steph,” Podziemski said. “So for me it’s just having that confidence, but understanding that I’m just trying to be the best version of Brandin Podziemski I can be, and wherever that kind of takes me in this career.”
Quinten Post: Foot injury won’t prevent him from playing with Dutch national team
An injury to his right foot prevented the 26-year-old center from appearing in all but one of the Warriors’ final 13 games, but he said he was gearing up to be ready for a potential first-round series.
“I kept trying to play through it, and I put myself back,” he said.
Post also lost playing time once Horford was healthy and the Warriors had added another big man in Kristaps Porzingis. Post and Porzingis are set to be unrestricted free agents.
In the meantime, Post said he hopes to continue to improve his defense, get leaner and “play a bunch of basketball.” That includes suiting up for the Dutch national team.
“I think I’ll be back in about two weeks and start ramping it up from there,” Post said of his health. As far as his future with the Warriors, he added: “I would love to be here for as long as possible.”
Will Richard: Plans to play Summer League despite hitting ‘rookie wall’
The Warriors looked like they found a diamond in the rough with Richard, the 56th overall pick in this past draft, but the rookie guard admitted he wasn’t the same player from about the All-Star break onward.
“It’s been a long season just from playing in the (NCAA) National Championship to predraft workouts, Summer League, training camp,” Richard said. “It’s been nonstop.”
Still, Richard said he planned for only a little downtime before getting back to work. He confirmed that he plans to play in the NBA Summer League this July for a second year in a row.
“I know it’s a big summer,” he said.