Warriors Notes: Iguodala, McCaw, Green, Young

The bone bruise on Andre Iguodala‘s left knee is healing more slowly than the Warriors had hoped and he appears to be a long shot to play in Game 7, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Iguodala was declared out shortly before Game 6 and is officially listed as day-to-day, but coach Steve Kerr is pessimistic about his chances to return.

“We’re operating under the assumption he won’t play,” Kerr said.

Losing Iguodala has left the Warriors scrambling to find a fifth player to pair with their four All-Stars. Of the contenders, rookie Jordan Bell had the best plus/minus rating in Game 6 at +10, but he’s slow to react defensively and remains jumpy and prone to foul trouble, Slater writes. Kevon Looney has been starting in Iguodala’s absence, but the Rockets are scoring on him regularly and he doesn’t provide much offense. Shaun Livingston has looked best in that role, but Kerr prefers to limit him to 15 minutes per game.

There’s more Warriors news to pass along this morning:

• Saturday’s blowout allowed Patrick McCaw to see four minutes of action at the end of the game, Slater notes in the same story. McCaw, who missed nearly two full months after a frightening fall, was activated before Game 6. Slater suggests he could work his way into a larger role if the Warriors reach the NBA Finals. “Coach Kerr pulled me aside today and just [asked] me, how would I feel being active and suiting up and if we get up big to play three or four minutes at the end of the game,” McCaw said. “… I called my mom. I called my dad, let them know I would be putting my uniform on tonight.”
• Two years ago, Draymond Green was convinced he was about to be traded following a heated clash with Kerr, writes Howard Beck of Bleacher Report. However, Kerr denies the team ever considered such a move. “This guy is the best at what he does in the entire league,” he said. “At that point, he had already helped us win a title, and he’s in the prime of his career. Like, what are we talking about? The ‘Draymond problem’ wasn’t really that big of a problem. It was just: Can we help him channel his emotion and his energy in the right direction?'”
• Nick Young provided an unusual explanation for his defensive improvement in Game 6, relays Jace Evans of USA Today, saying former NBA star Dennis Rodman visited him in a dream. “He had the purple hair, all kinds of stuff,” Young said. “He told me, ‘Tomorrow you’re going to play a little defense,’ and I was like, ‘Nah that’s not my game, Dennis Rodman, why you in my dream?’ But it just so happened I played a little defense.”