Golden State Warriors Rumors | Hoops Rumors

COVID Updates: Wiggins, Poole, Len, Payton, Rogers, Tolliver, Wright

December 27th, 2021 at 10:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Here are the latest developments regarding players entering or exiting the league’s health and safety protocols:

Andrew Wiggins has cleared the protocols, Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets. The Warriors forward practiced on Monday and is probable to play on Tuesday against Denver, Kendra Andrews of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets. Wiggins entered protocols on December 19.
Guard Jordan Poole has also cleared the protocols, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. He’ll return to the Warriors’ facility on Tuesday but won’t play as the team needs to assess his conditioning, Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweets.
Kings center Alex Len is listed as questionable to play on Tuesday, which indicates he’s cleared the protocols, James Ham of The Kings Beat tweets.
Suns guard Elfrid Payton returned to action on Monday after clearing the protocols, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets. Payton had just entered the protocols on Sunday, so apparently he had a false positive.
We noted earlier on Monday that Blazers coach Chauncey Billups has entered the protocols. Assistant coach Roy Rogers is also in the protocols, Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian tweets.
Anthony Tolliver‘s 10-day contract with the Pelicans has been voided after he tested positive for COVID-19, Will Guillory of The Athletic tweets. Tolliver was signed on Sunday.
Moses Wright, who has been playing on a 10-day contract with the Clippers, has also entered the protocols, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN tweets.

Klay Thompson Played Role In Quinndary Weatherspoon's Call-Up

December 27th, 2021 at 7:55am CST by Luke Adams

Klay Thompson played a part in getting Quinndary Weatherspoon called up to the Warriors, tweets Nick Friedell of ESPN. Weatherspoon, whose 10-day deal runs through January 1, heard from multiple people in the organization that Thompson “sung his praises” to the front office for the way he defended Klay in G League scrimmages.

COVID Updates: Green, Brooks, Bazley, Augustin, Scrubb, Niang, Neto

December 26th, 2021 at 4:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The league continues to be ravaged by COVID positives with an increasing number of players entering the league’s health and safety protocols. Here are the latest updates:

Warriors star forward Draymond Green has entered the protocols, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. Green joined four other Warriors in the protocols heading into a pair of games against Denver.
The Grizzlies’ Dillon Brooks, De’Anthony Melton and Yves Pons all entered the protocols prior to their game against Sacramento on Sunday, the team’s PR department tweets. Memphis now has five players under those restrictions.
Darius Bazley became the first Thunder player in protocols, Andrew Schlecht of The Athletic tweets.
Veteran Rockets guard D.J. Augustin has entered the health and safety protocols, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle tweets.
Clippers two-way player Jay Scrubb has been placed in the protocols, Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times tweets.
Wizards guard Raul Neto has joined two other Washington players in the protocols, Josh Robbins of The Athletic tweets.
Two Hornets regulars, Miles Bridges and P.J. Washington, are now in the protocols, the team’s PR department tweets.
On the positive side, Sixers forward Georges Niang has cleared the protocols, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets.

Two Warriors Assistant Coaches Now In COVID-19 Protocols

December 25th, 2021 at 3:26pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Warriors assistant coach Chris DeMarco has joined Mike Brown in the NBA’s health and safety coronavirus protocols, per Ramona Shelburne of ESPN (Twitter link). It was first announced that Brown had entered COVID-19 protocols on Thursday.

Shelburne notes that Golden State will be missing Brown, DeMarco and Kenny Atkinson, the team’s top three assistants behind head coach Steve Kerr, ahead of its Christmas Day game tonight in Phoenix against the Suns.

Atkinson, who suffered a leg injury in October, recently returned to the Warriors’ bench, but still isn’t traveling with the team for road games, per Shelburne and Anthony Slater of The Athletic (via Twitter).

The matchup represents a contest between the two top teams, by record, in the entire NBA. The Suns are 26-5 on the year and have won their last five straight games. The Warriors are 26-6 and have won two consecutive contests. Each team has defeated the other once so far this season.

COVID-19 Updates: Hawks, Blazers, Celtics, Bucks, Nets

December 24th, 2021 at 6:00pm CST by Rory Maher

Wesley Iwundu, who just signed a 10-day contract with the Hawks on Thursday, has entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Iwundu played 23 minutes in the Hawks’ 98-96 victory over the Sixers Thursday night, scoring two points and grabbing five rebounds. ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets that the Hawks will need to sign another replacement player to replace Iwundu — himself a replacement player.

Hawks big man Onyeka Okongwu, who made his season debut last week, has entered the protocols as well, Sarah K. Spencer of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets. In three games this season (22.3 MPG), Okongwu is averaging 10.3 PPG, 5.7 RPG, and 2.0 BPG. The Hawks now have nine players in the protocols.

Here are a few more COVID-related updates:

Backup point guard Dennis Smith Jr. and two-way rookie Trendon Watford have entered the protocols for the Trail Blazers and the rest of the team will now be re-tested, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter). DSJ and Watford are the only players currently in the protocols for the Blazers.
The Celtics have four new players entering the protocols: C.J. Miles, Justin Jackson, Aaron Nesmith, and Bruno Fernando, tweets Jared Weiss of The Athletic. However, Al Horford, Juan Hernangomez, Jabari Parker, and Brodric Thomas, who’ve all been in the protocols, are listed as questionable for Saturday’s game against Milwaukee, so they could be exiting the protocols soon. Until those four are cleared, the Celtics will have 12 players in the COVID-19 protocols — the largest outbreak in the NBA.
In addition to Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bobby Portis has exited the protocols for the Bucks, Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press tweets. Like Horford and the other Celtics, Donte DiVincenzo, who’s also been in the protocols, is listed as questionable to make his season debut Saturday.
Meanwhile, Bruce Brown and James Johnson have exited the protocols for the Nets, but seven others, including star Kevin Durant, remain in the protocols for their game Saturday against the Lakers, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter).
Warriors rookie Moses Moody has entered the protocols, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link). Golden State now has four players in the protocols.

Warriors Expected To Guarantee GPII's Salary; Atkinson Returns To Bench

December 24th, 2021 at 2:09pm CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors are expected to guarantee Gary Payton II‘s $1.94MM salary for the 2021/22 season by hanging onto him beyond next month’s league-wide salary guarantee date, Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated writes in a profile of the guard. Spears adds that there has “been talk” of Golden State signing Payton to a longer deal, but he’s not extension-eligible, so that would have to wait until he reaches unrestricted free agency during the 2022 offseason.
Warriors assistant coach Kenny Atkinson, who had been away from the team due to a leg injury, returned to the front of the bench on Thursday night, as Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweets.

COVID-19 Updates: Marshall, Cooper, Hampton, Towns, Brown

December 23rd, 2021 at 9:49pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pelicans’ Naji Marshall has entered the league’s health and safety protocols, Christian Clark of the New Orleans Times-Picayune tweets. Earlier in the day, Nickeil Alexander-Walker became the first New Orleans player to enter protocols this season. Marshall, a second-year forward, has appeared in 19 games off the bench this season.

We have more COVID-19 related updates:

Hawks rookie point guard Sharife Cooper has entered the health and safety protocols, Sarah Spencer of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets. Cooper joins six other Atlanta players currently on the list. The second-round pick has appeared in eight games off the bench this season.
Magic guard R.J. Hampton exited the protocols on Thursday, Khobi Price of the Orlando Sentinel tweets. He didn’t play on Thursday in order to work on his conditioning. Hampton was placed in the protocols on December 17, which means he produced two negative tests at least 24 hours apart.
Karl-Anthony Towns is asymptomatic, Timberwolves coach Chris Finch told Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link). “He is in the best spirits possible,” Finch said, adding Towns was very disappointed he couldn’t play on Thursday. Towns was placed in the protocols on Thursday, joining six other Minnesota players.
Warriors assistant coach Mike Brown has entered the protocols, Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweets.

Arctos To Increase Stake In Team

December 23rd, 2021 at 8:20pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Arctos Sports Partners is increasing its stake in the Warriors from 5% to 13%, Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams of Sportico report. The team is valued at about $5.5 billion in the deal, the same valuation as when Arctos bought its initial 5% earlier this year. A majority of this new equity is coming from minority partners, with a small portion from the team’s main owners, Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, the Sportico report adds. The deal must be approved by the NBA’s Board of Governors.
Warriors big man James Wiseman could advance to on-court contact next week, Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweets. Wiseman has been rehabbing from offseason knee surgery.

Warriors Sign Quinndary Weatherspoon To 10-Day Deal

December 23rd, 2021 at 6:31pm CST by Luke Adams

DECEMBER 23: The signing is official, according to a team press release.

DECEMBER 22: The Warriors are calling up shooting guard Quinndary Weatherspoon from their G League affiliate, per Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that the two sides have agreed to a 10-day deal. Golden State will complete the signing using a hardship exception.

The Warriors haven’t been hit too hard yet by COVID-19 this month, but do have two players in the protocols for the time being — Jordan Poole entered the protocols last Friday and Andrew Wiggins joined him on Sunday. This will be the club’s first hardship signing of the season.

The 49th overall pick in the 2019 draft, Weatherspoon spent his first two professional seasons with San Antonio, logging limited minutes in a total of 31 games. This season, he has been a regular contributor for the Santa Cruz Warriors in the G League, averaging 16.1 PPG, 4.3 RPG, and 3.7 APG on .442/.281/.905 shooting through nine games (27.4 MPG).

Golden State’s team salary is far above the luxury tax line, but Weatherspoon’s 10-day deal won’t count for cap or tax purposes. He’ll earn $95,930 across 10 days.

Teammates Raving About Klay Thompson

December 22nd, 2021 at 10:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

Warriors players are raving about Klay Thompson after watching him in workouts, according to Shayna Rubin of The San Jose Mercury News. Thompson is expected to return sometime in January, and his teammates say he’s looking like the player he was before the injuries. “He’s always going to shoot the ball well, but he seems really confident in his body,” Kevon Looney said. “He’s going up for dunks. He’s playing physical and when you see that much confidence in him, it means he’s getting close to ready. It’s a joy to have in practice to have his energy back.”