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Blackhawks Veteran Is Key Piece This Season

Nick Foligno (© Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images)

The Chicago Blackhawks will be looking to take a step forward in their rebuild this season. When noting that they have several young players who have the potential to break out, the possibility of them being a bit more competitive in 2025-26 is there, even if they miss the playoffs again.

While a lot of this season's focus should be on the Blackhawks' youngsters, Nick Foligno's importance to the Original Six club in 2025-26 should not be ignored. 

As the captain of the Blackhawks, Foligno will continue to be relied upon because of his excellent leadership qualities. Having a veteran like him in the room is undoubtedly a great thing for the Blackhawks' youngsters, as he has 18 years of NHL experience. He was also previously captain of the Columbus Blue Jackets, so he is undoubtedly impactful as a leader.

Furthermore, at this stage of career, Foligno is still capable of providing decent secondary offensive production and plenty of grit. In 78 games this past season with the Blackhawks, the 6-foot winger recorded 15 goals, 20 assists, 35 points, and 200 hits. Thus, he should once again be a key forward for Chicago in 2025-26, and it will be interesting to see what kind of year he puts together. 

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Ex-NBA All-Star argues Warriors, Kings should swap Jonathan Kuminga, Malik Monk

Ex-NBA All-Star argues Warriors, Kings should swap Jonathan Kuminga, Malik Monk originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

As the Warriors’ contract saga with free-agent forward Jonathan Kuminga approaches the three-month mark, there are plenty of opinions across the NBA landscape on how to bring the standoff to an end.

Former NBA All-Star Jeff Teague hasn’t shied away from sharing his thoughts on the situation throughout the offseason, and this week, he advocated for Golden State to make a move that would benefit both itself and Kuminga.

On a recent episode of his “Club 520” podcast, Teague explained why he’d like to see the Warriors complete a sign-and-trade deal that would send Kuminga to Sacramento and guard Malik Monk to the Bay.

“Malik Monk could actually be a fire addition to the Warriors,” Teague stated (h/t Golden State Warriors on SI.com). “But I think they are set on a big — that’s what they need more than anything. I think he’d be a fire addition, though, because they need a spark plug like him. That’s the Jordan Poole type of player right there.”

Across his last three seasons with Sacramento, Monk has averaged 15.3 points per game on 44.3 percent shooting from the field and 34.4 percent from 3-point range. The 27-year-old finished fifth and second in NBA Sixth Man of the Year voting in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, respectively.

As Teague noted, Monk could provide the Warriors with a similar spark off the bench to former Golden State guard Jordan Poole, who played a pivotal role in their 2022 NBA Finals-winning run.

“I think if he got in that system with those veterans and those players, that could mold him a little more. He’ll probably be better than Jordan Poole, to be honest,” Teague continued on Monk. “I’m not saying he’s a better player. Jordan Poole is cold, but Jordan Poole grew up in that system, so he figured out how to be successful in it.” 

While the Warriors finding a Poole-type replacement sounds great in theory, it might not be all that realistic at this point.

According to a report by NBC Sports Bay Area’s Dalton Johnson on Saturday, the chances of Golden State agreeing to a sign-and-trade featuring Kuminga are slim.

With time running out for both sides to make a decision, a conclusion to this months-long saga should come soon.

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Warriors officially promote Steve Kerr's son Nicholas to assistant coach

Warriors officially promote Steve Kerr's son Nicholas to assistant coach originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Another Kerr will be on the Warriors’ bench for the 2025-26 NBA season.

Nicholas Kerr, son of Golden State head coach Steve Kerr, was promoted to an assistant coach role for the upcoming season, per a Warriors release Saturday.

Kerr, 32, spent the last two seasons as the head coach of the Santa Cruz Warriors, Golden State’s G-League affiliate. He has been with the organization since 2018, previously spending three seasons with Golden State working in player development and as a video coordinator.

Under his father, who is entering his 12th NBA season as Golden State’s head coach, Kerr will join a veteran coaching staff on the Warriors’ bench. Former NBA head coaches Terry Stotts and Jerry Stackhouse are two prominent names on the staff; both were hired prior to the 2024-25 season.

The Warriors also announced a slew of other changes within their basketball operations department. Notably, David Fatoki was promoted to vice president of basketball development after serving as the general manager of Santa Cruz for the last four seasons. Nikola Milojević, son of late Golden State assistant coach Dejan Milojević, has been hired in a video coordinator, player development role as well.

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