Which teams that hoped to be contenders entering 2023/24 should be panicking after slow starts? John Hollinger of The Athletic explores that topic, with the Warriors topping his list (an eight on a scale of one-to-10).
The indefinite suspension of Draymond Green and the poor play of Andrew Wiggins and Klay Thompson “presents a dilemma” for Golden State, which just won the title two seasons ago. The Warriors will be faced with many difficult decisions in the coming months, Hollinger notes, with Thompson’s expiring contract looming large.
The Raptors (seven), Hawks (six), Grizzlies (five) and Suns (four) also hold places on Hollinger’s “Panic Meter” for various reasons.
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Speaking of the Raptors, two of their starters — Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby — are at the top of the trade candidate big board compiled by Sam Vecenie of The Athletic. Bulls guard Zach LaVine ranks third on the 25-player list, followed by his Chicago teammates DeMar DeRozan and Alex Caruso.
- Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press takes a look at the early impact of the NBA’s new 65-game requirement for awards, writing that Heat guard Tyler Herro (ankle) and Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons (thumb surgery) are among the noteworthy players who won’t meet that requirement due to injuries, with many others having missed several games already. Herro has accepted that he won’t have a shot at a postseason award. “Next year then,” Herro said. “Or the year after that.”
- Warriors assistant coach Kenny Atkinson has joined the staff of the French national team, per a team press release. Atkinson, formerly the head coach of the Nets, interviewed for several NBA head coaching jobs in recent years.
- Hasheem Thabeet, the No. 2 overall pick of the 2009 draft, is signing a contract with the Kaohsiung Steelers, a Taiwanese team, agent Jerry Dianis tells Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Thabeet appeared in 224 NBA games with the Grizzlies, Rockets, Blazers and Thunder, but has been out of the league since the ’13/14 season.
Warriors have a tough pill to swallow…
Their big 3 is now a single ageing star…
Do they show loyalty and allow them to ride out as Warriors lifers and tank…
Or
Do they trade 2 out of 3 and make it look like they are giving Steph another title chance…
HA!! This analysis is coming from a guy who thinks Jordan Poole has a viable future in the NBA.
Guy?
More viable than Draymond Green…
But that ain’t hard at this point…
What they should do is trade wiggins, paul, saric, payton for assets to retool next year for steph. Hope klay takes a discount and they have some wiggle room. I think letting the young guys play as much as possible this year should be the way.
Last time Dubs bombed a season they got draft picks they’re still waiting to pan out.
They should use Klay, CP3 expirings and picks to re-tool.
Dubs have a very strong culture. They can roll the dice on resigning “rentals” like OG or Siakam.
That is why they have a new GM who picked 2 good future asstes in last year’s draft compared to what the previous GM threw away draft picks. I wouldn’t mind seeing them trade for draft picks because their new GM is much better at drafting.
CPortland owns their pick so tanking doesn’t help
Trade.
I hope Thabeet has a opt out clause because the Lakers need him……
Zach LeVine is really ahead of Caruso and derozan? Must be trying to get clicks
I was trying to figure out what Serbian player named Panic we have in the leaugue when I read the title.
Kenny Atkinson could maybe take the French coach position after the olympics
What postseason award was Tyler Herro gonna win??