Golden State Warriors Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Klay Thompson Announces Sunday Return

January 8th, 2022 at 4:12pm CST by Arthur Hill

Warriors guard Klay Thompson has confirmed rumors that he will return to the court for Sunday’s home game against the Cavaliers, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Thompson made the announcement on his Instagram account, along with a clip from the original “Space Jam” movie with Bill Murray saying, “Perhaps I could be of some assistance.” Thompson also wrote, “How I’m pulling up to chase tomorrow, Bill Murray is my spirit animal. IM SO EXCITED TO SEE YALL.”

It will be the first game action for Thompson since he suffered a torn ACL in the 2019 NBA Finals. He also tore his Achilles during the summer of 2020 and missed all of last season. Sunday will mark 941 days since Thompson’s last game, Charania notes.

Thompson has reportedly been ready to return for some time, but the organization was being careful to make sure he was fully 100%. He was also determined to make his season debut in front of Warriors fans, and Golden State played its last two games on the road.

A five-time All-Star, Thompson was part of the foundation of the Warriors teams that won three titles and appeared in five straight NBA Finals. In his last season before the injuries, he averaged 21.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game while shooting 46.7% from the field and 40.2% from three-point range.

Golden State, which has the league’s second-best record at 29-9, plans to insert Thompson back into the starting lineup right away, although he will be on a minutes restriction for a while.

Latest Salary Guarantees: D. Lee, Reed, Hartenstein, Sykes, M. Thomas

January 7th, 2022 at 3:48pm CST by Luke Adams

Warriors swingman Damion Lee will have the rest of his 2021/22 salary guaranteed, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). The news doesn’t come as a surprise, as Lee has been with Golden State for four seasons and has been part of the regular rotation for three of those.

Lee, who will be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, will now have his $1,910,860 cap hit for ’21/22 locked in. The Warriors are also guaranteeing Gary Payton II’s rest-of-season salary, so the team won’t have create any new openings on its 15-man roster.

Here are more updates on players who are affected by today’s salary guarantee deadline:

The Sixers will keep Paul Reed through the deadline, guaranteeing his salary, tweets Scotto. Reed, who is earning $1,517,981 in 2021/22, also has a non-guaranteed minimum salary for next season before he becomes eligible for restricted free agency in 2023. The 6’9″ forward has averaged 2.3 PPG and 2.4 RPG in 19 games (9.4 MPG) for Philadelphia in his second NBA season.
Clippers center Isaiah Hartenstein will have his full-season salary guaranteed, per Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). Hartenstein, earning $1,729,217, was always one of the safer bets to survive the salary guarantee deadline, since he played a key role in L.A.’s frontcourt, putting up 7.7 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 1.9 APG, and 1.3 BPG in just 16.4 MPG (29 games).
After recently signing a two-year contract with the Pacers, Keifer Sykes will have his rest-of-season salary guaranteed, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. Sykes, who made a strong impression in the G League, is off to a strong start at the NBA level too, averaging 10.4 PPG and 3.6 APG in his first five games (26.8 MPG). Since he didn’t sign until December 27, Sykes’ prorated rookie-minimum salary is worth just $558,345.
The Bulls will hang onto sharpshooter Matt Thomas, guaranteeing his minimum-salary contract for 2021/22, sources tell Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Thomas has only appeared in 13 games for Chicago and his three-point rate (34.6%) is well below his career rate (40.5%), but the team apparently values his ability to stretch the floor. He’ll make $1,669,178 this season before becoming eligible for restricted free agency. The Bulls will also have to make a decision today on Alfonzo McKinnie‘s non-guaranteed contract.

Warriors Guarantee Gary Payton II’s Contract

January 6th, 2022 at 6:09pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Warriors are guaranteeing the remainder of Gary Payton II‘s $1.94MM salary this season, coach Steve Kerr told Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link) and other media members.

It’s no surprise Golden State will retain Payton. It was reported two weeks ago that it was likely the Warriors would keep him around.

Payton has been a regular part of the rotation, appearing in 36 games (seven starts) and averaging a career-best 7.9 PPG and 3.7 RPG in 16.9 MPG.

All players still under contract will have their salaries fully guaranteed for the rest of the 2021/22 season on Monday but the true deadline is tomorrow, since waivers must be requested. Damion Lee is the other Warrior without a fully guaranteed salary.

Warriors Notes: Poole, Wiggins, Klay, Lesser-Paid Players

January 5th, 2022 at 7:01pm CST by Rory Maher

At 29-7, the Warriors have the best record in the NBA, a half-game ahead of the Suns. One key to the team’s success this season has been the maturation and development of third-year guard Jordan Poole, who’s being groomed to become Golden State’s new sixth man, as Anthony Slater and Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic detail.

Poole’s situation on the club is unique, in that he’s the only young player to have a consistent rotational role. He describes the dynamic as being akin to a middle-child.

“The dynamic is what you see,” Poole said. “I’m not the youngest. I’ve been around for a little bit, but I’m kind of like the only one in the middle of the pack. The older bros have been through it. Sometimes we’re gonna throw you with the young guys, sometimes you can come with us. Essentially, it’s the middle-child treatment.”

Slater and Thompson write that Poole is known for having an excellent work ethic; the Warriors have data showing he’s in the gym more than any player on the team. Veteran Andre Iguodala, the team’s former sixth man, has taken Poole under his wing. As a third-year former first-round pick (28th overall in the 2019 draft), Poole is eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer.

“The new sixth man is getting $20 million a year,” Iguodala said. “That’s the bottom offer for a guy like that, the Tyler Herros and Jordan Pooles. You got those few guys who are starters but for teams they are on, they’re sixth men. You don’t have a problem with going above and beyond taking care of them because you know they’ll be a staple player for your franchise.”

In 30 games (28 starts) this season, Poole is averaging 18.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists in 30.1 minutes per contest. He also sports a .454/.348/.887 shooting line, good for a 59.3 true shooting percentage.

Here’s more on the Warriors:

ESPN’s Baxter Holmes wrote an in-depth story detailing how former No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins has been a “perfect fit” with Golden State, examining many aspects of the forward and his role within the team.
Head coach Steve Kerr says Klay Thompson will be on a minutes restriction when he makes his long-awaited return (possibly Sunday) and will probably rest one of the two games in back-to-back sets, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic (via Twitter).
The Warriors have the NBA’s highest payroll, but a huge part of their success thus far is owed to the contributions of lesser-paid players, John Hollinger of The Athletic writes. Hollinger notes that Otto Porter Jr., Gary Payton II, Kevon Looney, Poole, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Nemanja Bjelica, Damion Lee, and Iguodala have all been impactful, and the eight players earn a combined $17.6MM — about the market value of a decent starter. Of the eight, only Poole is under contract through next season — the other seven will be free agents this summer (JTA is restricted, the rest are unrestricted).

Warriors Hope Wiseman Begins Contact Drills Next Week

January 4th, 2022 at 8:25am CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors hope that second-year center James Wiseman, who participated in the team’s shootaround on Monday, can begin contact drills next week, says Ali Thanawalla of NBC Sports Bay Area. Wiseman has exited the health and safety protocols, but continues to work his way back from the knee surgery that ended his rookie season.

NBA Reschedules 11 Postponed Games

January 3rd, 2022 at 7:59pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The NBA has announced the rescheduling of the 11 games postponed in December due to COVID-19 issues, listing the changes in a press release.

Additionally, eight other scheduled games have been shifted to accommodate the postponements. A pair of others have been shifted to new starting times.

Most notably, Kyle Lowry‘s return to Toronto will take place two days earlier than anticipated, as Tim Bontemps of ESPN points out.

The Raptors will now host the Bulls on February 3 instead of the Heat. Lowry’s return will occur on Feb. 1 in Miami’s rescheduled visit. The game that Toronto was originally scheduled to play that day against the Hawks will now be played on January 31.

The first two makeups will occur next week — the Nets at the Trail Blazers on Monday, January 10 and the Pistons at the Bulls on Tues, Jan. 11.

“There’s no easy way to do this,” Nets coach Steve Nash said to Bontemps and other media members. “If we were expecting it to be a sweet little add to the schedule, and no blood drawn, that would be foolish.”

The other rescheduled dates are as follows:

New Orleans Pelicans at Philadelphia 76ers
- Previous: Dec. 19
- New: Jan. 25
Denver Nuggets at Brooklyn Nets
- Previous: Dec. 19
- New: Jan. 26
Toronto Raptors at Chicago Bulls
- Previous: Dec. 22
- New: Jan. 26
Chicago Bulls at Toronto Raptors
- Previous: Dec. 16
- New: Feb. 3
Miami Heat at San Antonio Spurs
- Previous: Dec. 29
- New: Feb. 3
Washington Wizards at Brooklyn Nets
- Previous: Dec. 21
- New: Feb. 17
Orlando Magic at Toronto Raptors
- Previous: Dec. 20
- New: March 4
Golden State Warriors at Denver Nuggets
- Previous: Dec. 30
- New: March 7
Cleveland Cavaliers at Atlanta Hawks
- Previous: Dec. 19
- New: March 31

Klay Thompson Eyeing Potential Sunday Return

January 3rd, 2022 at 2:53pm CST by Luke Adams

There’s optimism that Klay Thompson will be able to return from his 30-month absence this coming Sunday when the Warriors host the Cavaliers, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).

Thompson, who missed the entire 2019/20 season due to a torn ACL and then spent the duration of the ’20/21 campaign recovering from a torn Achilles, has been practicing with the team for several weeks and appears on the verge of making his season debut.

The Warriors and Thompson have been eyeing a home game for Klay’s return. After Golden State hosts Miami on Monday, the club will embark on a two-game trip to Dallas on Wednesday and New Orleans on Thursday before returning to the Bay Area for Sunday’s contest. A decision on Thompson’s potential availability for Sunday is expected to come when the team returns from its brief road trip on Friday, says Wojnarowski.

With an NBA-best 28-7 record, the Warriors have been just fine without Thompson so far this season. However, if Golden State gets anything close to the All-Star version of the 31-year-old back, it would be a huge boon to the team’s title hopes. Before his injuries, Thompson was one of the league’s best outside shooters and was one of the Dubs’ best defenders.

COVID-19 Updates: Porzingis, SGA, Garland, Valanciunas, More

January 3rd, 2022 at 1:05pm CST by Luke Adams

Mavericks big man Kristaps Porzingis has entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols and has been ruled out for Monday’s game vs. Denver, the team announced today (via Twitter).

The Mavericks got good news over the weekend, as Luka Doncic was cleared to play for the first time since December 10 and led the team to a win in Oklahoma City on Sunday. But now Porzingis is at risk of missing a few games due to the health and safety protocols, and he’s not the only Mav affected — the club still has four other players in the protocols too.

Here’s more COVID-related news from around the NBA:

Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is no longer in the health and safety protocols, acting head coach Mike Wilks said today (Twitter link via Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman). Gilgeous-Alexander only entered the protocols on Saturday, so he may have registered a false positive test.
Cavaliers guard Darius Garland, who had been in the COVID-19 protocols since last Tuesday, was able to practice today, per head coach J.B. Bickerstaff (Twitter link via Kelsey Russo of The Athletic).
Pelicans center Jonas Valanciunas has cleared the protocols and will be available for Monday’s game against Utah, tweets Andrew Lopez of ESPN.
Damion Lee and James Wiseman have exited the protocols for the Warriors, per the NBA’s injury report. Wiseman remains sidelined while he recovers from right knee surgery, but Lee is no longer on the injury report at all, and Golden State doesn’t have any players in the protocols.
After briefly clearing the protocols, Hornets forward P.J. Washington reentered them on Sunday, according to the team (Twitter link). He’ll miss Monday’s game vs. Washington (Twitter link).
Lonzo Ball and Alfonzo McKinnie of the Bulls have both exited the health and safety protocols and will be available to play on Monday vs. Orlando, tweets K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago.
Nets rookie Kessler Edwards is no longer in the COVID-19 protocols, according to the NBA’s injury report. Brooklyn was hit hard by an outbreak in December but currently has no players affected.
Lakers assistant David Fizdale, who briefly served as the club’s acting head coach during Frank Vogel‘s stint in the protocols, has now entered the protocols himself, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Quinndary Weatherspoon Signs Two-Way Deal With Warriors

January 3rd, 2022 at 12:26pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

JANUARY 3: The Warriors have officially signed Weatherspoon to a two-way contract, the club announced today in a press release.

JANUARY 2: Shooting guard Quinndary Weatherspoon, who just completed a 10-day hardship exception deal with the Warriors, will rejoin Golden State on a two-way contract, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Weatherspoon was selected with the No. 49 pick out of Mississippi State by the Spurs, and logged two seasons with the Spurs on two successive two-way contracts, splitting his time between San Antonio and the team’s Austin NBAGL affiliate.

The 25-year-old out of Mississippi State kicked off the 2021/22 season with the Warriors’ NBAGL affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors. Weatherspoon has averaged 16.1 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 3.7 APG, 1.2 SPG and 0.7 BPG through nine games with Santa Cruz this year.

In his lone game with Golden State so far this season, Weatherspoon scored six points on 3-of-3 shooting from the floor. He also chipped in a rebound, a steal and a block.

Weatherspoon will supplant 6’3″ point guard Jeff Dowtin as the Warriors’ second two-way player while 5’11” point guard Chris Chiozza will continue to occupy the other two-way slot. Dowtin was released earlier today.

Pacific Notes: Thompson, Bagley, Davis, Clippers

January 2nd, 2022 at 8:50pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Warriors‘ postponed game Thursday in Denver allowed the team to hold a rare scrimmage, which served as a dress rehearsal for Klay Thompson‘s return, writes Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Thompson teamed with backcourt partner Stephen Curry under game-like conditions for the first time since the 2019 NBA Finals, marking a significant step in his return to action after missing two full seasons with injuries.

“Being out there, going up and down with the first unit, that was a big moment for me,” Thompson said. “A silver lining in the NBA canceling the game.”

Thompson has been physically ready to play for about a month, Slater adds, but the team has been cautious to avoid any setbacks. His first game will take place at home, but it’s unlikely to happen Monday, and Slater notes that a January 9 contest against the Cavaliers seems to be emerging as the target date. Thompson will return to the starting lineup right away, but he’s not expected to be used in back-to-backs and will begin with a restriction of about 18 minutes per night.

“Somewhere around there,” he said. “We got such a great, deep team. I don’t need to come back and shoulder a huge load. We’re so deep and talented that I can ease into things, which I’m very grateful for.”

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

After beginning the season out of the rotation under former coach Luke Walton, Kings forward Marvin Bagley appears to have a secure spot in the starting lineup as long as he keeps playing well, according to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. Bagley will make his fourth straight start today as interim coach Alvin Gentry looks for rebounding help. “We’ve been struggling with rebounding,” Gentry said. “We’re a small team when we play the way we’ve been playing. Marvin’s rebounding numbers have been really good, so we stuck him in there and I think his numbers continue to be good. … We’ll continue to play that group and hopefully our rebounding will get better because we’ve got more size out there.”
Terence Davis started six games in December while the Kings were short-handed, but he’ll be removed from the rotation now that other players have returned, Anderson adds in the same story. “It’s a tough situation, but I think it’s tough to play 10 guys. I think it’s tough to play 11 guys,” Gentry said. “You have to make a decision. That doesn’t mean he won’t play or won’t be in the lineup again, but right now I think it’s very difficult.”
The Clippers picked up a tough road win against the Nets Saturday despite having to rely on three players who weren’t on their roster at Christmas, notes Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times.