Barry Tompkins: With 49ers done, focus shifts to Warriors, Giants

Is football season almost over?

Phew! Thank goodness.

All right, there is that one lone game that remains next week, and it is right here in our midst, but who’s playing again? That’s right — not the home team. So, I thought we might turn our attention to more immediate matters and chat a bit about our other local heroes.

Like the hometown hoopsters.

Here is a team that was a tall guy’s version of a love-in for years. It was “Just Us,” and Kumbaya as the W’s looked like world beaters for a decade until all the youthful exuberance and magic moved to Oklahoma City and San Antonio. So, what to do? What to do?

Here’s the reality. Steph Curry is still Steph Curry. He has defied age and still has the ability both to beat virtually anyone in front of him and also bring 18,000 people out of their seats. But he also gets more than a few owies and while the magic is still there, the rabbit in the hat needs more rest these days.

Draymond Green still has an understanding of the game that is without peer, but on occasion now suffers from a case of “sometimes your mind writes a check that your behind can’t cash.” And then he gets angry.

Jimmy Butler is on forced vacation for the rest of the season, so the trio is now a duet.

Fans adored the coach who knew everything about how to play the game, and was universally loved to the point of people saying “He could be President. Now they hope he actually runs.

The rest of the cast is composed of a mix of young and old role players, some with potential to step into a starring role, and some specialists who are harmonious when the band is all together but not so much when they have to solo.

And then there’s Jonathan Kuminga. And the trade deadline a week away.

Kuminga can score. And, what’s more — Kuminga can score. And therein lies the rub. So can just about anybody else who’s cashing an NBA paycheck these days.

What even remotely makes him a desirable addition for another team is that he’s young and maybe able to mature as a complete player.

Now the issue for the W’s is, do we unload this guy in an addition by subtraction move, or keep him to at least fill one of Jimmy Butler’s shoes for the rest of this year?

And what about Giannis? He seems to be available.

And he’s expensive. What could the Warriors give up to get a franchise-changing big man?

First of all, in addition to Kuminga, you’d have to part ways with either Jimmy Butler or Draymond Green. And, probably either Moses Moody or Brandin Podziemski. That and enough first-round draft picks to make the post-Curry years a wasteland. But, it would really make next year — and maybe even this year — a whole lot more interesting.

All right, that’s solved. Let’s move on to baseball.

Pitchers and catchers report on Feb. 10th. That’s exactly two days after the NFL season ends.

And what can we expect? I was going to ask you that question.

Quite honestly, I can’t handicap the Kentucky Derby in February any more than I can guess now how our local baseball squad will do in 2026. The truth is, I think I have a better chance of picking a winner in the Derby.

The biggest issue is there’s a tendency to compare yourself to the Dodgers, and that’s just not fair. That’s like hoping your Honda can beat a Lamborghini. What the hope would be is is that you can beat the Toyota in Phoenix or the Kia in San Diego.

I’m not ready to make any Giants proclamations quite yet, but I do want to say I’m still very much with Team Posey.

There hasn’t been a lot of activity so far this off season from Posey and staff and I still feel there’s another shoe (or perhaps slipper) to drop. But there are, I believe a couple of items to note.

Harrison Bader is not going to make the Dodgers tremble in fear, but he’s a solid addition. Great defender and a bat that’s as good as any short of Devers, Adames, and Chapman.

More importantly, in a commentary this week, the Giants’ farm system is now No. 13 in major league baseball.  It was No. 27 when Posey took over. So tuck these names away in the bowels of your mind: Josuar Gonzalez, Dakota Jordan, Keyner Martinez and Bo Davidson.

That’s the good news — a glimpse into the future. The bad news? The Dodgers’ farm system is No. 2.

Finally, I made a promise to myself when I first began writing this weekly yarn here in the IJ that I would never be one of those grizzled wretches who thinks that the good old days ended shortly after D-Day.

But, every now and then I feel compelled to talk with you about something or someone that harkens back to a time before BFF’s and LOL’s.

John Brodie died last week. He was a friend.

He was also one of the most interesting athletes I’ve ever had the pleasure of associating with.  He was an All-American quarterback at Stanford as a collegian, the most valuable player in the NFL in 1970, and the quarterback of his home team for 17 years.

As a young broadcaster Brodie would test you. He was a bit of a cynic, quick witted, and irreverent.

I was a sideline reporter for a game in Seattle and was standing behind the end zone when Brodie overthrew his receiver on a potential game winning touchdown. I caught the ball. After the game I asked him why he threw it to me. He didn’t miss a beat, “You were open,” he said.

He was dubbed the “Million Dollar Quarterback” when he was offered a deal with the Houston Oilers of the rival AFL. The 49ers and the NFL agreed to pay him the near million just to keep him in the league.

So I asked him once why the “Million Dollar Quarterback” still had to hold the ball for extra points and field goals. Again, it took him a nano-second to say, “So it won’t fall over.”

He tested a young reporter. I’m still not sure I passed.

He’ll be missed.

Barry Tompkins is a 40-year network television sportscaster and a San Francisco native. Email him at barrytompkins1@gmail.com.