After being eliminated in the play-in tournament, the Warriors know they’ll have to improve their defense to get back into title contention, writes Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. That may include roster changes to bring in players who are more defensive-minded.
“It’s not just about scheme and personnel,” coach Steve Kerr said. “It’s also about how much better the rest of the league is. And how much different things are with the shooting and the pace. It’s just much, much harder to guard. There’s a reason the offensive ratings have skyrocketed. But there’s no doubt we’ve got to be better defensively. We were good at a lot of things. We were. We were, not surprisingly, excellent when Draymond (Green) was healthy.”
Suspensions and injuries caused Green to miss 27 games this season, which had a sharp impact on the team’s defensive numbers. Poole points out that the Warriors had a 113.5 defensive rating with Green, which would have ranked 11th in the league. It fell to 121.1 when he wasn’t available, the worst mark in the NBA.
“But we can’t just say, ‘Well, as long as Draymond’s healthy we will be fine defensively,'” Kerr added. “We’ve just got to be better. I’ve got to do a better job. Our staff has got to do a better job. We have to assess everything.”
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- The Lakers are moving slowly in their head coaching search and are getting acquainted with several candidates they didn’t interview before hiring Darvin Ham two years ago, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (video link). He cites examples such as Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori, Heat assistant Chris Quinn, Pelicans assistant James Borrego and ESPN broadcaster J.J. Redick. Wojnarowski expects a lengthy hiring process, saying, “There’s no obvious choice, there just isn’t. There’s no star coach out there available.”
- Mike Brown has proven he deserves an extension in his first two seasons as head coach of the Kings, contends James Ham of The Kings Beat (subscription required). Brown is entering the last year of his contract, and Ham believes the team should take care of him soon to avoid any speculation about his future.
- Suns CEO Josh Bartelstein, who played a role in purchasing the franchise’s former G League affiliate when he was working for the Pistons, helped to unveil its replacement today, notes Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports. The Valley Suns give Phoenix a G League partner for the first time since 2021 when the Northern Arizona Suns were sold to Detroit and renamed the Motor City Cruise. “Ironically enough, I was the one on the other side buying the team from the Suns and getting it to Detroit, and now three years later, I’m here,” Bartelstein said. “It’s really, really important. I mean, the G League is a staple of many NBA franchises.”
The Sacramento Kings summer list is long. Changes are needed. Running it back didn’t have the desired results and while it is not time to start at square one, the team must balance continuity, while making necessary adjustments to the overall talent on the roster.
With the NBA Draft just weeks away and then an extremely important free agency period that may completely hinge on whether the team can retain star sixth man Malik Monk, the next six or seven weeks are going to be extremely interesting in Sacramento.
Monte McNair and Wes Wilcox are tasked with managing the busy offseason, but there is one more piece to the overall puzzle that must be resolved — the future of head coach Mike Brown, who is entering the final year of his contract.
There have been rumors about what Brown is looking for in an extension since the season ended. A report from Anthony Slater and Sam Amick of The Athletic put the number in the $10-12 million range last month. Jake Fischer of Yahoo! Sports added this tidbit earlier in the week, “Brown’s talks are expected to center around a similar eight-figure threshold.”
In his first season at the helm of the Kings, Brown led the team to an 18-game improvement over the previous season, pushed his team to a third place finish in the Western Conference standings and took home the NBA’s Coach of the Year honor. He also helped snap a 16-season playoff drought and posted just the ninth .500 or better record since the team moved to Sacramento before the 1985-86 season.
Brown backed up year one with a 46-36 record in year two, but the Kings fell short of the playoffs, falling in the second of two play-in tournament games. The failure to repeat the success of the previous year hasn’t sat well with ownership, according to sources.
This shouldn’t be a complicated matter, but like everything else in Sacramento, it is.
No way you just copied and pasted James Ham’s piece on Browns extension. Formulate your own opinions.
And if you’re going to rip someone elses work again least acknowledge that you’re doing so. This actually irritates me so much.
Warriors problem is they got old and couldn’t beat teams with a big center. Playing Green tat center hurts the team. First get a big man that can set screens and play defense. Next look for young players that are athletic. Getting tired of seeing the warriors in trade rumors for some old star that is expensive which they do not need. West teams got younger and its what the warriors must do too. Stop living in the past.
Hate to be the bearer of bad news but living in the past is the definition of the Warriors future.
I mean if they want defense, they can have Smart for Wiggins
Wiggins is not the problem. Having no size and older players is the problem.
Not saying he is, but Kerr’s comment is saying he wants better defense. I’d say Smart is better defensively than Wiggins as well as being cheaper to free up some room for them to make other adds. They have young talent in BP, TJD, Moody, & Kuminga but Kerr has to play them. Having Klay gone, or at least at a much cheaper rate, will help them too.
Wish it was that simple. Shots not falling is huge for the Warriors. When they shoot well, they win, but that team as constructed is so volatile that when their shots aren’t falling, they’re pretty horrid. Add to that lack of size, shoddy team defense and the constant coin flip that is Thompson, the sit Curry for long stretches lest he actually breathe hard once in awhile calls by Kerr…it’s a huge hodge dodge of finger pointing and blame someone else.
IMO, they need to get more athletic, shoot something other than threes, and get to the line more often, but that’s pretty simplistic.
They do need a good bench 3pt shooter that can come in when Curry is not it. CP3 was never the answer in he slowed down the offense too much taking poor shots when clock was running down. #1 reason they should not take on any more big name payroll so they can build a bench with athletic players.
Capella for Wiggins and a draft pick. If Arc89 is talking about getting a center who can matchup with the other West centers then this would be a perfect deal. If Wiggins doesn’t work, then CP3 for Capella. Probably have to attach a 2nd round pick but both teams would benefit from this deal.
Capela would fit very, very well there
“As long as Draymond is healthy”
Gets far too much of the focus here…
It should be more about “As long as Draymond is on the rails” because when he falls off the teams effort goes with his ability to keep his cool…
He’s one mistake away from a career ending suspension… Having such a loose cannon as the on court defensive co-ordinator leaves to a lot of holes in a defence and a lot of confidence issues in the locker room…