Pacific Notes: Oracle Arena, Zubac, Cousins, Kerr

Tickets at the Oracle Arena have long been the hottest commodity in town, which has now resulted in an embarrassing story for the Warriors. The team has been issued a fraud alert, AJ Neuharth-Keusch of USA Today reports, as 650+ fans have been sold counterfeit tickets from third-party sources. To avoid being turned away at the door, the team issued a news release encouraging fans to avoid non-verified vendors.

Other goings-on from the Pacific…

• Ivica Zubac has exceeded coach Luke Walton‘s expectations. The 19-year-old rookie has played in each of the Lakers‘ last eight games, and was even used as a positive example when the team reviewed tape. “It’s a good message and a good visual when the guys see it on film,” Walton told Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times. “We don’t call any plays for Zu and he ends up with 15 shot attempts because he sets hard screens or rolls hard to the basket with his hands ready and when they collapse, he’s ready to make the pass to the weak side. I think that’s a good lesson for everyone to learn as far as you don’t need play calls for you to get opportunities to score the ball.” Zubac is averaging 4.9 points on 12.3 MPG in 2016/17.
• Andrew Sharp of Sports Illustrated proposed a DeMarcus Cousins-to-Detroit trade, in which the Kings would receive a package headlined by Andre Drummond. Cousins has had a tumultuous (albeit productive) run with Sacramento, as illustrated by Kevin Arnovitz’s profile piece on ESPN.
• Suns GM Ryan McDonough must choose between pursuing a playoff spot and rebuilding, Doug Franz of Arizona Sports writes. As Franz notes, it could be a positive experience for 20-year-old Devin Booker to play in a postseason atmosphere.
• Warriors head coach Steve Kerr will play Draymond Green, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Kevin Durant at the same time during the All-Star Game in New Orleans. “It’s a great honor for those guys individually and for us as an organization,” Kerr told Chris Haynes of ESPN. “It’s pretty remarkable to have this group together right now and to see them all playing so well together along with the rest of our guys. It doesn’t always work that way — where you put a group together, a group of stars — and it doesn’t always click. But it’s clicked because our guys are unselfish and they enjoy playing with one another, so we’re really happy for all four of them.”