In today’s Dub Hub:
- Steph Curry wrapped up Day 1 of his annual Curry Brand Tour in China.
- Rockets’ Alperen Şengün discusses his first playoff experience against the Warriors.
- Heat trade Haywood Highsmith and a 2032 second-round pick to the Nets, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Steph Curry’s 2025 Curry Brand Tour tipped off in Chongqing, China on Monday, and the four-time NBA champion couldn’t have asked for a better start.
After arriving to a massive reception on Sunday, Curry launched Day 1 with his annual Curry Camp, giving the best young players in the country a chance to train under his guidance. The day also featured fan-focused events that kept the energy rolling, as crowds packed the venues and showered Curry with the kind of support he’s long enjoyed across Asia.
For Curry, it was the perfect blend of basketball, culture, and community to kick off what promises to be another memorable stop on his international tour.
For more on this and other news around the NBA, here is our latest news round-up for Tuesday, August 19th:
Warriors News:
Inside Curry Camp: A Day With Stephen Curry and His Growing Legacy of Mentorship | Warriors Talk
Stephen took a trip down memory lane and told me a “core memory” for him was attending Kobe’s elite camp while a freshman at Davidson as a “college counselor”. He let out a smile and added it was memorable in part “because I wasn’t good enough in high school to get invited to these camps”. He remembers Kobe doing an hour long Q&A session in his camp. He also attended Steve Nash and Paul Pierce’s camps, and says that he tries to bring the best of all those experiences in aggregate to his own camp.
Warriors’ Jonathan Kuminga has fallen behind his draft peers in performance and pay | San Francisco Chronicle
Beyond the numbers, Van Gundy wondered whether Kuminga helps his team enough in ways other than scoring — such as passing and crashing the offensive boards.
“I would say Wagner is a winning player, and also Cunningham and Barnes,” Van Gundy said. “I’m not sure about Kuminga. I don’t see the overall understanding of the game that allows him to fit among other guys, and help a team play well at both ends.”
The stat that could swing every NBA team’s 2025-26 season | ESPN
The Warriors’ problem for the majority of this past season was that their offense completely collapsed when Stephen Curry rested. Golden State scored just 104.2 points per 100 possessions when it was without both Curry and Jimmy Butler III, according to Cleaning the Glass. That figure ranked in the 5th percentile of all lineups leaguewide. For comparison, Golden State was up at 120.1 points per 100 possessions (85th percentile) with Curry.
However, Butler’s presence solved that problem after the trade deadline. The Warriors had a perfectly respectable 113.9 offensive rating when Butler took the floor without Curry, ranking in the 47th percentile. Average is just fine in those circumstances, because the Warriors are so great with Curry that they just need to hold serve without him. Add in phenomenal, 99th-percentile defense in those Butler-without-Curry minutes, and it’s easy to see why Golden State went 23-8 with the third-best net rating in the league after Butler first suited up.
Granted, the Warriors’ offense did fall apart in the second round of the playoffs when Curry was injured. But Butler was also banged up at the time.
Exclusive Interview with Alperen Şengün | Amerikan Mutfak Extra w/ English Subtitles
First in 40: The Story of the 2014-15 Warriors | Ep. 2 – Perfect Balance
NBA News:
Sources: Raptors GM Webster to head basketball operations | ESPN
Webster succeeds his former boss, Masai Ujiri, as the lead Raptors executive. The Raptors parted ways with Ujiri on June 27, one day after the NBA draft, and announced that they had enlisted CAA Executive Search to assist in hiring a new team president. Webster will remain in the GM role.
Webster joined the Raptors in 2013 as Ujiri’s first hire, rising from vice president of strategy and assistant general manager roles to the GM spot, and now lands the organization’s foremost authority position.
Ranking the NBA’s 40 best big men, plus schedule highlights | The Athletic
Yes, I’m already buying the Hansen hype. No, I don’t care if it takes a little bit for him to realize it. I’m going all in, and I believe he’s a top-25 big man right away with his skill and size. I’m interested to see what Lively and Ware do this season, because they could easily vault themselves into the top-20.
Last note for now: I’m still not certain Ayton will be someone JJ Redick likes coaching.
Heat trade Haywood Highsmith and a second round pick to the Nets, per ESPN’s Shams Charania
In case you missed it at Golden State of Mind:
Arrivederci, JTA!
According to “Il Piccolo,” which is a local newspaper in Trieste, Italy and not a magazine devoted to small woodwind instruments, JTA will be portando il suo talento nel Mar Adriatico — that is, taking his talents to the Adriatic Sea. He’s agreed to a deal with Pallacanestro Trieste, a team based in Trieste that plays in Italy’s Serie A, the top professional league.
Follow @unstoppablebaby on Twitter for all the latest news on the Golden State Warriors.
