Golden State Warriors Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Western Notes: Payton II, Warriors, Kings, Murray, Spurs

June 4th, 2022 at 4:20pm CST by JD Shaw

Warriors coach Steve Kerr opted not to play Gary Payton II in Game 1 because he thought Payton’s elbow needed more time, as relayed by Kendra Andrews of ESPN (Twitter link). Payton was active in Game 1 for the first time in nearly a month.

Payton suffered a fractured left elbow against Memphis in the Western Conference Semifinals after appearing in just 25 minutes that series. He has served as a key cog off Golden State’s bench this season, averaging 7.1 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 17.6 minutes per game.

Although he was held out of Game 1, Payton could still receive playing time in Game 2, Kerr said. The Celtics scored 120 points to win Game 1 on the road, shooting 51% from the floor and three-point range. The team’s fourth-quarter spark was led by Jaylen Brown — who could be matched up against Payton as the series progresses.

There’s more from around the Western Conference today:

Tim Kawakami of The Athletic explores how the Warriors could improve their chances of winning Game 2. Golden State led for most of Game 1, but Boston surged in the final period mostly due to hot shooting. The Celtics won the fourth quarter 40-16 after losing the previous three 92-80.
Chris Biderman of The Sacramento Bee makes a case for why the Kings should draft Keegan Murray with the No. 4 pick later this month. Murray, a 21-year-old forward, averaged 23.5 points and 8.7 rebounds per game with Iowa last season.
Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Insider link) constructs a mock draft for the Spurs, who own the No. 9, No. 20, No. 25 and No. 38 picks in the event. San Antonio is one of four teams with multiple first-round picks. Givony believes the team should target Memphis big man Jalen Duren at No. 9 overall.

Lakers Notes: Ham, Westbrook, Prospect Workouts

June 3rd, 2022 at 5:42pm CST by Rory Maher

At least three people involved in the NBA Finals believe Darvin Ham was the correct coaching choice for the Lakers, according to Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times.

Warriors associate head coach Mike Brown, who will take over as head coach of the Kings once the season concludes, has known Ham since 1996, when Ham was a rookie for the Nuggets and Brown was a first-year staffer, Woike writes. Brown later gave Ham his first NBA coaching job as an assistant on his staff with the Lakers in 2011.

“Everyone is like, ‘He’s a rookie head coach, going in there to work for the Lakers with all those veterans,’ but don’t get it twisted,” Brown said. “I would like to see who would be the first to challenge Darvin or roll his eyes because he will stand his ground. And he will make sure his point gets across and gets across within an authority a situation like that may need.”

Like Ham, Draymond Green is a native of Saginaw, Michigan, and he said Ham was an inspiration to him growing up, per Woike. Green also said Ham will bring much-needed toughness to Los Angeles.

“I think he’s going to bring a toughness, a blue-collar mentality just because that’s how he’s built. That’s how he’s raised. You have to be that way from Saginaw,” Green told The Times. “I think it’ll be a different toughness that they haven’t seen. And he’s going to command and require a different respect level that they haven’t really have had. … And I think that will bode well for that team.”

Celtics big man Al Horford also praised Ham, who was on the Hawks’ coaching staff when Horford played in Atlanta, as Woike relays.

“We really got after it,” Horford said of Ham. “He really challenged me to be better on the defensive end. Really challenged me to just be a better player in general. Darvin is about as good a guy as you’re going to see, a big competitor. Extreme competitor. The Lakers are really lucky to have a guy like him. He’s the kind of guy that you want.”

Here’s more on the Lakers:

Ham’s greatest challenge as head coach will be figuring out the best way to utilize Russell Westbrook, writes Jovan Buha of The Athletic. With that in mind, Buha explores three ways the new coach can optimize Westbrook’s minutes, assuming he’s still on the roster in 2022/23. Buha also notes that Ham isn’t expected to address the media until early next week.
L.A. is holding a workout with six draft prospects on Friday, tweets Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times. The six are Lucas Williamson (Loyola Chicago), Hyunjung Lee (Davidson), Paul Atkinson Jr. (Notre Dame), Scotty Pippen Jr. (Vanderbilt), Jamal Cain (Oakland), and Gaige Prim (Missouri State). According to ESPN’s big board, Pippen is the highest-rated among the group at No. 69, which makes sense, since the Lakers don’t currently hold any draft picks.
In case you missed it, Ham was officially hired as head coach earlier today.

Porter, Iguodala, Payton, Williams Will Suit Up For Game 1

June 2nd, 2022 at 6:43pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Otto Porter Jr., Andre Iguodala and Gary Payton II will all suit up for Game 1 of the NBA Finals tonight, Warriors coach Steve Kerr told ESPN’s Tim Bontemps (Twitter link) and other media members.

Reports had indicated that Payton was on track to return for the Finals but that statuses of Porter and Iguodala were more uncertain.

Payton has been sidelined since May 3 after suffering a fractured left elbow in Game 2 of the Warriors’ second-round series against Memphis.

Iguodala hasn’t played since Game 4 of Golden State’s first-round matchup with Denver on April 24 due to a left cervical disc injury in his neck. Porter has been nursing a sore left foot since Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals. All three players were listed as questionable after going through contact at practice on Wednesday.

The Celtics will have starting center Robert Williams in the lineup, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe tweets. Also listed as questionable, Williams played only 15 minutes in Boston’s Game 7 win over Miami. He missed Game 3 of the series due to soreness in his surgically-repaired knee.

Warriors’ Gary Payton II “On Track” For Game 1 Return

June 2nd, 2022 at 10:37am CST by Rory Maher

Warriors defensive ace Gary Payton II is “on track” to return to action for Game 1 of the Finals against Boston on Thursday night, sources tell Shams Charania and Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Slater cautions (via Twitter) that Payton might not return to the rotation immediately, but his availability gives coach Steve Kerr another option to utilize going forward. Slater adds that “there’s optimism” Andre Iguodala and Otto Porter Jr. will be available for Game 1 as well.

Payton has been sidelined since May 3 after suffering a fractured left elbow in Game 2 of the Warriors’ second-round series against Memphis. Reports surfaced that he’d miss approximately three-to-five weeks at the time, and last Friday Charania and Slater said Payton was expected to be available for the Finals, possibly as soon as Game 1.

Iguodala, the 2014/15 Finals MVP, has been out even longer, last playing in Game 4 of Golden State’s first-round matchup with Denver on April 24 due to a left cervical disc injury (neck). The 38-year-old veteran was limited to 31 regular season games this season while dealing with a variety of ailments.

Porter’s left foot soreness is more recent, popping up during Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals against Dallas on May 22. All three players were listed as questionable after going through contact at practice yesterday.

The Warriors’ depth has shone throughout the playoffs, with all 14 players (minus injured center James Wiseman) receiving minutes this postseason, so potentially having a (nearly) full complement of players will be huge boon as Golden State attempts to win its fourth title in the past eight years.

Warriors Notes: Iguodala, Payton, Porter, Front Office

June 2nd, 2022 at 9:57am CST by Luke Adams

Warriors wing Andre Iguodala isn’t prepared to say whether or not he intends to continue his NBA career beyond this season, writes Mark Medina of NBA.com.

“We’ll wait until we see how it ends. It can go either way with wins or losses,” Iguodala told Medina. “I know my answer. But I don’t want to put it out in the world. I don’t want to get in trouble.”

Due to a left cervical disc injury, Iguodala hasn’t seen any action since Game 4 of the Warriors’ first-round series vs. Denver. He made it through practice on Wednesday without restrictions and said he’s “doing everything I need to do around the clock” in an effort to be available for the NBA Finals, according to Medina.

For now, Iguodala is listed as questionable for Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday, as are Gary Payton II (left elbow fracture) and Otto Porter Jr. (left foot soreness), per Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link). Like Iguodala, Payton and Porter took contact in Wednesday’s practice. The Warriors will announce closer to game time whether the three veterans will be active for Thursday’s contest.

Here’s more on the Warriors:

In an interesting story for The Athletic, Anthony Slater and Marcus Thompson II examine some of the new additions the Warriors have made to their front office in recent years and the role those individuals played in many of the moves that have worked out for the team. Executive director of basketball analytics Pabail Sidhu, for instance, leads the team’s “refurbished” analytics department that identified Porter and Nemanja Bjelica as preferred free agent targets last summer.
Speaking to Marc J. Spears of Andscape, Draymond Green expressed appreciation for the opportunity to once again be playing in the NBA Finals after two tough seasons. “I have a much larger appreciation for it now than I did (from 2015-19) because it was kind of all I knew,” Green said.
Tim Kawakami of The Athletic and ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne (Insider link) revisit two trades that played important parts in getting the Warriors to where they are today: the 2019 sign-and-trade acquisition of D’Angelo Russell, and the subsequent deal that flipped Russell to Minnesota for Andrew Wiggins and the first-round pick that became Jonathan Kuminga. If Golden State hadn’t turned Kevin Durant‘s departure for Brooklyn into a sign-and-trade deal for Russell, the team would’ve lost a maximum-salary slot and that second trade for Wiggins wouldn’t have been possible.
In case you missed it, Warriors president of basketball operations Bob Myers said the team’s rising payroll won’t impede a new deal for Jordan Poole. Our full story is here.

Myers: Rising Payroll Won’t Keep Warriors From Retaining Poole

June 2nd, 2022 at 7:47am CST by Luke Adams

With Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Andrew Wiggins set to earn a combined $148MM in 2022/23, the Warriors will once again blow by the luxury tax line (projected to be at $149MM) next season and will likely have the NBA’s most expensive roster. However, the rising cost of Golden State’s payroll won’t prevent the team from retaining breakout guard Jordan Poole, president of basketball operations Bob Myers told Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports.

“No, no,” Myers said. “I mean, thankfully (I) work for an ownership group in Joe (Lacob) that has committed all kinds of resources to winning. And I know that because every time I asked him about roster and strategy, it’s always winning.”

The Warriors’ team salary in 2021/22 was approximately $176MM, while their accompanying tax bill is worth $170MM+, meaning the team is spending about $346MM on this year’s roster. Golden State will remain subject to the NBA’s more punitive “repeater” taxpayer penalties as long as its team salary remains above the tax threshold.

“You don’t need me to tell you what our payroll is. It’s pretty high,” Myers told Goodwill. “So he just wants to win. And we’ve spent a lot and we’ve kept all the players we want to keep, so I don’t see that changing.”

As expensive as the Warriors’ roster is, the organization makes a significant amount of revenue as a result of deep playoff runs like this year’s, as Tim Kawakami of The Athletic has outlined. Retaining key rotation players like Poole will help give Golden State the opportunity to make more of those runs and maximize the earning potential of the Chase Center.

Poole is under contract for one more season, but will be eligible for a contract extension this summer and appears to have made a strong case for a deal worth at least $20-25MM per year. The 22-year-old averaged 18.5 PPG and 4.0 APG in 76 regular season games (30.0 MPG) in 2021/22, and is at 18.4 PPG and 4.5 APG in 16 playoff contests (30.1 MPG).

If Poole signs an offseason extension, it would go into effect in 2023/24, at which point Andrew Wiggins‘ maximum-salary contract would be off the books, which could help lessen the Warriors’ financial burden. Of course, as good as Wiggins has been this year, the team may want to lock him up beyond his current deal too. Based on Myers’ comments, it doesn’t sound like Lacob would say no if the front office believes it’s the right move.

Pacific Notes: Warriors, Green, Lakers, Kings

June 1st, 2022 at 1:33pm CST by Luke Adams

Speaking to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today, Warriors owner Joe Lacob referenced a division rival when he discussed his long-term goals for the franchise.

“We are very goal-oriented,” Lacob said. “Our goal right now is to sustain being really good for a long time. I look at Jerry Buss and the Lakers, and how he owned the team for 33 years and made 16 Finals. That’s just an astonishing achievement, an incredible owner.

“Whether we can sustain that over such a long period of time, like Jerry Buss did – the Celtics certainly had great history but it was a little bit of a different time – I don’t know. But we’re going to try. That’s what we’re trying to do here.”

The Warriors are back in the NBA Finals this year for the sixth time in the last eight seasons, and are seeking their fourth championship during that time.

Even though he only appeared in 46 of 82 possible regular season games this season, Warriors forward Draymond Green views it as a “slight” that he didn’t make the All-Defensive First Team, writes Nick Friedell of ESPN. “When I look at the First Team, I am not sure I can pinpoint, definitely not five guys that had a better defensive season than me,” Green said. “And there are no (games-played) requirements. There is not some amount that you have to play in. If there was an amount that you had to play, then I would be an idiot sitting here and saying that.”
The Lakers are working out six prospects today, bringing in R.J. Cole (UConn), Jules Bernard (UCLA), Kur Kuath (Marquette), Jaden Shackelford (Alabama), Zyon Pullin (UC-Riverside), and David McCormack (Kansas) for a pre-draft audition, tweets Kyle Goon of The Southern California News Group. Pullin is reportedly expected to remove his name from the draft pool before tonight’s NCAA withdrawal deadline.
Houston’s Fabian White Jr. was among the prospects to work out for the Kings on Tuesday, per Sean Cunningham of FOX40 News (Twitter link).

Warriors Notes: Porter, Iguodala, Payton, Looney

May 31st, 2022 at 5:43pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Injured Warriors role players Gary Payton II, Otto Porter Jr., and Andre Iguodala were all able to fully partake in a relatively light team practice on Tuesday, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic. The team has a full contact practice scheduled for Wednesday. According to Slater, Golden State head coach Steve Kerr indicated he should have a better sense of the injured players’ availability for the start of the series following that session.

There’s more out of Golden State:

Payton is “trending” toward being a game-time decision for Game 1 of the 2022 NBA Finals, slated to tip off on Thursday, per Shams Charania of Stadium (Twitter video link). “We still got some boxes to fill,” Payton said of his availability, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN (via Twitter). Payton has been sidelined since suffering a left elbow fracture in Game 2 of the Warriors’ conference semifinals series against the Grizzlies.
Payton won the NBA’s 2021/22 Bob Lanier Community Assist Award this season, the Warriors announced in a press statement. The honor is meant to reward players for outstanding community outreach. The league and award sponsor Kaiser Permanente will donate $75K to Payton’s charity, the GPII Foundation, which helps young people struggling with language-based learning disabilities.
Warriors assistant coach Dejan Milojevic has helped Golden State starting center Kevon Looney gobble up rebounds like never before, writes Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. Thompson notes that Looney is grabbing 21.6% of possible rebounds when on the court during the 2022 playoffs. Should the trend continue, that would be a top-50 all-time postseason rebounding rate. “Rebounding is something that I’ve always enjoyed,” Looney said. “I made a lot of strides this year. I feel like I’ve always been pretty good at it. I always have my moments. But this year I’ve been way more consistent, and really more locked in on it, and that’s been able to make a difference.”

Poll: Golden State Warriors Vs. Boston Celtics

May 30th, 2022 at 9:15pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The last two teams standing have plenty of history in the NBA Finals.

The Celtics will be seeking to break their tie with the Lakers for the most NBA championships. They’ve both won it 17 times, though Boston hasn’t captured the Larry O’Brien trophy since 2008 and hasn’t reached the Finals since 2010.

The Warriors will be seeking their fourth title in eight years — they won it in 2015, 2017 and 2018.

Defense has been the calling card of both teams. They finished first and second in the regular season in defensive field goal percentage — Boston held opponents to 43.4% shooting, while Golden State limited opponents to 43.8% shooting. They are second and third in that category in the postseason behind Milwaukee.

Both teams have versatile players who can guard multiple positions. Boston has the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart, Golden State has former DPOY Draymond Green.

Offensively, the Celtics rely on their wings while the Warriors lean on their guards. Boston’s Jayson Tatum (27.0 PPG in this postseason) and Jaylen Brown (22.9 PPG) are capable of taking over games at any time. Of course, Golden State has the Splash Brothers. Stephen Curry (25.9 PPG) and Klay Thompson (19.8 PPG) are just as dangerous as ever and they’ve got plenty of support from 22-year-old Jordan Poole (18.4 PPG).

The Smart-Curry matchup could set the tone for the series. Andrew Wiggins will draw either Tatum or Brown.

The Celtics’ frontcourt of veteran Al Horford and Robert Williams, with a big assist from Grant Williams, will go toe-to-toe with Green and one of the postseason’s biggest surprises, Kevon Looney.

With the home court advantage and championship experience, Golden State enters the Finals as the favorite. However, Boston’s defense and dynamic scoring duo can’t be underestimated.

So now it’s your turn to decide how the Finals will play out. Vote in our poll, then head to the comments section below to share your thoughts!

Western Notes: Warriors, Finals, Wood, Grizzlies, Lakers

May 29th, 2022 at 9:19pm CST by JD Shaw

The Warriors are thankful to have plenty of rest ahead of the NBA Finals, Kendra Andrews of ESPN.com writes. By defeating Dallas in five games, the Warriors put themselves at a competitive advantage over the Celtics and Heat — who needed a Game 7 to decide their series on Sunday night.

“We gave our guys two straight days off, which is almost unheard of, in playoffs or even just regular season,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “So it was a great chance to decompress the last couple of days.

“We won’t have a formal practice until tomorrow. It’ll be the first day we’ll build on our opponent. So I’ve said it many times: You go to the Finals, it’s almost a two-month journey filled with stress and fatigue, so if you can build a little break, it’s very meaningful.”

Golden State is dealing with injuries to Gary Payton II, Andre Iguodala and Otto Porter Jr., but Payton and Iguodala will likely return in the Finals and Porter’s injury isn’t considered serious.

On the flip side, Miami is dealing with injuries to Kyle Lowry, Max Strus, Jimmy Butler, P.J. Tucker, Tyler Herro and Gabe Vincent, while a pair of Boston starters – Marcus Smart and Robert Williams III – have missed time in the Finals due to various ailments.

There’s more from the West this evening:

The Rockets are continuing to receive trade interest for big man Christian Wood, Kelly Iko reports for The Athletic. Wood, 26, complements the Rockets well offensively, but the team may consider moving his contract and focusing on its younger core. He averaged 17.9 points and 10.1 rebounds per game this season.
Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal examines 14 players to watch for the Grizzlies’ three draft picks next month. Memphis owns the 22nd, 29th and 47th selections in the event, which takes place on June 23.
New Lakers coach Darvin Ham is expected to have control over choosing his coaching staff, Marc Stein confirms in his latest article at Substack. Stein also reports that senior advisor Kurt Rambis will not be a regular presence in coaching meetings as he was under Frank Vogel‘s leadership.