Clippers star Kawhi Leonard, who has been out of action since October 23 due to right knee soreness, took part in a five-on-five workout on Friday for the first time since he has been sidelined, writes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Leonard won’t be available on Saturday when the Clippers host the Nets, but head coach Tyronn Lue said he is encouraged by the forward’s progress.
“The first time he was able to get on the floor and play five-on-five and he looked pretty good,” Lue said. “Still have a ways to go, but that was the first sign of positivity of him getting on the floor, playing five-on-five.”
As Youngmisuk relays, Lue said that Leonard will need a “few more (workout) opportunities” before the team is comfortable clearing him. The Clippers’ head coach also said he’s not sure whether the former NBA Finals MVP will continue to come off the bench when he returns, like he did in his first two games of the season.
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- Since Cameron Johnson went down with his knee injury, the Suns have made an effort to reopen some old Jae Crowder trade talks, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst stated in the most recent episode of his Hoop Collective podcast (hat tip to RealGM). Like Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, Windhorst and his ESPN colleague Tim Bontemps have both heard that there’s no indication the Suns and Crowder will mend fences and have the veteran forward report to the team.
- Moving Jordan Poole into the starting lineup in place of Klay Thompson isn’t something the Warriors will consider to jump-start their struggling bench, head coach Steve Kerr said during an appearance on Damon & Ratto on 95.7 The Game (YouTube link). “No, that’s not something I’ve given any thought to,” Kerr said. “Jordan and Klay are very different players. Jordan’s more on the ball, Klay’s off the ball. … Klay is a starter. That five-man (starting) unit is the very best unit in the league.”
- While it’s a good thing that Warriors two-way players Anthony Lamb and Ty Jerome can be counted on to play regular roles, it’s not a great sign that they’ve already earned more trust from Kerr than the team’s young prospects, according to Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area, who considers whether Golden State’s plan to develop three youngsters (James Wiseman, Moses Moody, and Jonathan Kuminga) while trying to contend is flawed.
Kerr’s insane obsession with giving playing time to Jerome and Lamb has literally caused them to lose every single game they have lost this season. Simply put: if they dont suit up, GSW wins all of those games.
Why? Kerr is insane. Moses Moody deserved every last second of those Jerome+Lamb minutes, he’s 100x a better player and has proved and earned it. Kerr is reckless and idiotic, just relentlessly getting bailed out by Steph Curry over and over and over…
FIRE STEVE KERR.
Fire the man with 4 rings!!! LOLLLL yeah right
Someone who isn’t muted ask A’sfaninLexington who he’d rather coach the team? All these problems pointed out but never a solution presented.
Now he’s just trying to cover his predictions of 79 wins this year. It’s a shame when you ditch logic just to CYA.
I think he said the reserves alone would be a top 5 team too
4 rings but doesnt make any finals with GSW if Curry isn’t there, LOLLLLL yeah right, newb
Dude, Kerr has had all NBA jobs and been mid at them, take away Curry, MJ and Pop, the real talents, and he has zero rings period. GSW would have had 6 rings in the Curry era so far if No Kerr.
LOL Take away Jordan and Kobe and Phil Jackson has zero rings. Take away Duncan and Popovich has zero rings. What’s the point of playing that silly game?
Take away the best player on any championship team and guess what happens – they don’t win championships regardless who the coach is. Repeat after me: “It’s a players league”.
I have no idea what games you been watching but the entire 2nd unit been playing terrible so to just blame Jerome and lamb shows your lack of understanding basketball. Lamb’s FG% is 56%. Jerome 53%. I think Thompson’s 36% and Poole’s 40% are a big reason for losing. Poole’s TO 3.2% Jerome .3%
Those #’s don’t lie, and I’ve stated it before, the Warriors really do need Divincenzo in the lineup on defense, and to allow Moody to develop in those extra Minutes. The Warriors always had a bit of fluctuation between Payton II & Poole last season in the starting line-up. I do think Moody is & can be an exceptional defender with reps, but I also think Divincenzo is their best shot this season.
The UK guy has gone way to emotional. Warriors biggest problem is they had no training camp instead went on a promotional tour to Japan. Never gave their second unit a chance to get to know each other.
Gaslight much lol – emotional? No, I want wins. You must hate winning along with Kerr, and think playing 2-way scrubs is “important” while they directly lose us games. Why?
Those numbers DO lie when its like 5 for 10 shooting vs 40 for 90 shooting, genius.
@ARC 2 – please dont ever use small samples like that again, I have been watching Ty Jerome throw the ball into the stands and Lamb be completely terrible. The fact that they are on the court in prime time is literally the only reason, as they are not NBA-level talent, they are G-League talent. Moody, Wiseman and Kuminga are NBA-talents, but Kerr hates them because they are good at basketball.
You still arent answering my question as to why Kerr thinks G-Leaguers are better at NBA basketball than Moody and Kuminga are. When do you plan on answering that?
How can you watch all these games, clearly see Kerr being a negative, and come on here and defend him? And then have the audacity of defending dumpster G Leaguers and telling me I dont know basketball because they went 1 for 2 shooting while Poole went 40-90, like shut up man just agree with me you lost the argument here long ago….
SMH just like I said way too emotional. Stats don’t lie. Klay and Poole has been terrible. The defense has been terrible. You can blame Kerr all you want but the players play the game.
Can I just mention how dishonest it is to say “the second unit is playing terrible” after I already explained to you why – Jerome and Lamb are not NBA-level talents, so GSW is dipping down to 3-on-5 when they put them both on court at the same time, and they proceed to get absolutely cooked. This has happened in every single game. You for some reason, think that GSW would get cooked anyway, when that isnt true as GSW has led the game in all their losses by 10+, then the 2-wayers come out and its game over. When will you see this???
Curry seems like a fairly patient fella. It took 2 years to get rid of Nash, hopefully Kerr is doing what he has to, and isn’t sparking the ire of the Vets. The Vets also know whats wrong & how to fix it, I think? Their patience with Kerr could be short if his coaching is blowing games though.
Lamb 10 points off the bench tonight with a +6 so what happen to the Lamb
I’m sure Bob Myers is scouring hoop rumors message board looking for some yack in the UK to decide the future of the Warriors. Kerr isn’t going anywhere
Kawhi has the best job out there. His game reputation speaks for itself, but that was in the past. Not sure this deal for the Clippers was the right move. Anything short of the finals during the duration of his contract is an utter failure.
I am going to go there first. Kawhai is done with his playing days. He very clearly needs micro fracture surgery in order to be able to perform the activities of daily life without pain.
The sooner the Clippers and Kawahi come to grip with it the quicker the dark overcast clouds lift off this franchise.
It’s just that simple.
Start saying your goodbyes now.
Very interesting, I looked up the procedure on Wikipedia to get an understanding. Seems like hit or miss procedure historically among professional athletes. Age has a lot to do with it and Kawhi is already 31 so you may have a legitimate point.
Fingers crossed we can still watch The Man play ball. Probably the best two-way player in the league when he’s on the floor right now. Just the first couple of games he played this year showed me a lot. Hope he gets healthy.