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Steve Kerr sounded refreshed when he spoke on the phone.

That is what happens when the Warriors’ coach spends the summer winning another NBA championship, inherits a restocked roster and signs a contract extension. That is what happens when Kerr has a three-day coaches retreat in Lake Tahoe filled with film sessions, dinners and time by the lake. That is what happens when Kerr has more offseason plans next week in New York (U.S. Open) and Springfield, Massachusetts (Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame).

That relaxation will stop soon, though. The Warriors will have training camp beginning on Sept. 24. Then, the team’s nine-month quest to win another NBA title begins. After winning three of those in the last four seasons, Kerr already sensed what is next.

“We’ve got to make sure we’re enjoying the run,” Kerr said in a phone interview with Bay Area News Group. “Maybe that’s changing some things up.”

Some of those changes already took place. The Warriors essentially replaced a plodding Zaza Pachulia with All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins at their mid-level exception ($5.3 million). An understated Kerr said, “It’s great to have DeMarcus on board because it’ll change our look a little bit.”

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Those changes will not happen right away. Cousins became available at a discount because of questions surrounding the left Achilles tendon injury he sustained in late January with the New Orleans Pelicans. Just as the Warriors have done in the past two regular seasons with their star players, they have placed higher priority on Cousins’ long-term health than establishing a short-term timetable. Still, Cousins recently posted a video of him hoisting jump shots and driving to the basket.

“He’s right on schedule. He hasn’t had any setbacks. He’s doing well,” Kerr said of Cousins. “Beyond that, there’s nothing. No prediction. Especially with an Achilles injury, you have to wait and see how the player responds once he’s on the court and moving at full speed.”

All of which means Cousins might not be available for the beginning of training camp, preseason (Oct. 5 vs. Sacramento) and the regular season (Oct. 16 vs. Oklahoma City). After all, most players need between six to 10 months to recover from an Achilles injury.

Therefore, Kerr sounded flexible on using fourth-year forward Kevon Looney, second-year forward Jordan Bell or third-year center Damian Jones to start at center. Kerr might favor Jones to accelerate his development after spending the past two seasons mostly with the Warriors’ G-League affiliate in Santa Cruz. Kerr said he would “love to give him a shot” at the starting center spot. To subscribe to the Planet Dubs podcast click here.

“All three of them are very different, which we like. But we’re anxious to see DJ,” Kerr said. “He’s worked hard in Santa Cruz and he’s incredibly explosive and powerful. It’ll be fun to throw him out there with our four All-Stars and see what he can do.”

Before and after Cousins’ eventual return, the Warriors will encounter more changes. Yes, they will rely on All-Stars Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant and Draymond Green as they have done for the past two seasons for obvious reasons. Yes, the Warriors will depend on Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston to provide a steady veteran presence off the bench as well.

But with the Warriors hoping to reach the NBA Finals for a fifth consecutive season, Kerr plans to become even more conservative with their regimen. He said it is “still up for debate” on whether he will hold fewer practices or have optional shootarounds.

“It’ll definitely be different,” Kerr said. “You can’t grind these guys to death.”

While Kerr ponders that itinerary, he sounded firm on the workload. Expect more rest time than practice for the four All-Stars, Iguodala and Livingston. Expect more instruction for Cousins and wingman Jonas Jerebko, whom Kerr believes will “fit right in” after shooting 36.3 percent from 3-point range in the past nine seasons. Expect plenty of work for Bell, Jones, Looney, rookie forward Jacob Evans, fourth-year guard Quinn Cook and third-year guard/forward Patrick McCaw assuming he accepts the Warriors’ $1.7 million qualifying offer.

“It allows for us to be creative at practice, work the young guys a little bit more and give the older guys a little bit more of a rest and give them a chance to recuperate and work on their bodies,” Kerr said. “We’ll have to be more flexible with our approach with how our work day is going to operate.”

Kerr sounded more definitive, though, on his stars’ workload for the actual games. Do not be surprised if he allocates the same minutes to Thompson (34.3), Durant (34.2), Green (32.7) and Curry (32.0) as he did last season.

“Those numbers are good. We like those numbers. Then in the playoffs, we’ll do whatever we have to do,” said Kerr, who played his All-Stars in the high 30-minute range in the 2018 postseason. “But I like the idea of the young legs that we have at our disposal to give us energy on those nights when maybe our older guys aren’t feeling it. Our young guys should never be tired. They should take advantage of every opportunity and we should lean on them. So it’ll be fun to see what they got and give them a chance.”

Kerr sounded just as intrigued about Cousins for different reasons. While the Warriors’ young reserves have questions about their long-term potential after losing veteran reserves in JaVale McGee, David West and Nick Young,

Cousins has questions about his recovery and whether he can adapt to the Warriors’ fast pace. Still, Kerr envisioned showing “a lot of interesting stuff we can do with DeMarcus,” including featuring him as a post player, screen setter, jump shooter and facilitator.

“DeMarcus gives us a dynamic we haven’t really had, a really dominant big man,” Kerr said. “I think our players will take a lot of joy out of helping DeMarcus come back from the injury and helping him rebound and get his career back on track and in turn lean on him to help us win again. I think it’s going to be a really good scene for our season.”

What might not be a good scene: the uncertainty of whether Durant will play his final year with the Warriors this season. The Warriors hope Durant simply signed a so-called “one-plus-one” deal this summer so he can agree to a five-year, $221 million contract next July. But there is league-wide uncertainty on if Durant might leave so he can prove he can win an NBA title elsewhere.

“You don’t worry about that,” Kerr said. “This year is this year. We’ll worry about all that stuff later on when the time comes. This is about this season. We’ll see where it goes.”

Plenty expect that just leads to the Warriors winning another NBA championship. The Warriors have confidence that will happen. Soon, though, Kerr has the task in convincing his players not to think that will happen automatically.

“You always want to try to keep it fun, light and loose. We’ll do that,” Kerr said. “We’ll see what that means along the way.”

Before then, Kerr and his players will enjoy the last few remaining weeks of vacation. Then, the work begins once again.

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