Golden State Warriors Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Warriors Notes: Kuminga, Moody, Lee, Atkinson, Bjelica

October 29th, 2021 at 4:04pm CST by Luke Adams

There’s a possibility that Jonathan Kuminga – who has been dealing with a right knee injury – will be active for the first time on Saturday, head coach Steve Kerr said today (Twitter link via Anthony Slater of The Athletic). Kuminga went through a 3-on-3 workout today and the club will likely make a decision tomorrow on his status.

As for the team’s other lottery pick, Moses Moody was assigned today to the Santa Cruz Warriors in the G League. However, after playing in Santa Cruz’s game tonight, he’ll back with Golden State on Saturday, tweets Slater. If Damion Lee, who is questionable with a shoulder contusion, is unable to play tomorrow, Moody could see some action, Kerr said (Twitter link via Slater).

Here’s more on the Warriors:

It’s just not Warriors players who are on the mend from injuries — assistant coach Kenny Atkinson injured his leg during a recent workout and will be off the bench indefinitely until the injury heals, according to Slater (Twitter link).
Nemanja Bjelica has been known primarily as a shooter since entering the NBA, but he’s proving this season with the Warriors that he has a more well-rounded game, writes Rusty Simmons of The San Francisco Chronicle. “He’s a great passer, and just a really good basketball player,” Kerr said. “… I think that’s who our team has always been. That’s why guys with good feel have always been a great fit with us. He’s absolutely a great fit. The guys love playing with him. The ball moves when he’s out there, he spaces the floor, and he forces the defense to react. He’s a fun guy to play with.” Bjelica signed a one-year, minimum-salary deal with the club in August.
In case you missed it, Golden State exercised its 2022/23 team options on Jordan Poole and James Wiseman, guaranteeing their salaries for next season.

Warriors Pick Up 2022/23 Options On Poole, Wiseman

October 29th, 2021 at 3:18pm CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors announced today in a press release that they’ve picked up a pair of team options on rookie scale contracts, exercising Jordan Poole‘s fourth-year option and James Wiseman‘s third-year option.

Poole and Wiseman are, of course, already under contract for the current season, but today’s moves ensure their salaries for 2022/23 are guaranteed as well. Poole will make $3,901,399 next season, while Wiseman earns $9,603,360.

Poole has struggled so far this season, making just 40.8% of his shots from the field, including 22.6% of his threes, but he looked excellent in the preseason and is being counted on to play a key role for Golden State this season, especially until Klay Thompson is healthy. He’ll be extension-eligible in 2022 and would hit restricted free agency in 2023 if he doesn’t sign a new deal next year.

Wiseman, 2020’s second overall pick, is recovering from a knee injury and has yet to play this season. The Warriors are expected to be very patient with his recovery, since he’s not expected to play big minutes even when he’s healthy and ready to return to action.

All decisions on rookie scale options for 2022/23 are due by Monday. We’re tracking them right here.

Community Shootaround: NBA’s Undefeated Teams

October 27th, 2021 at 11:24am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s 2021/22 regular season is only eight days old and no team has played more than four games, but 27 of the league’s 30 teams have already lost at least once. The three undefeated teams left standing are the Bulls (4-0), Warriors (4-0), and Jazz (3-0).

Of those three clubs that have opened the season on winning streaks, Utah is perhaps the least surprising. The Jazz had the NBA’s best record last season and were expected to be in the mix for that honor again in 2021/22 — no team in the Western Conference was projected by oddsmakers to win more regular season games than Quin Snyder‘s club.

Still, the Jazz haven’t faced faced an especially tough test through the first week of the season. Their first two wins came over lottery teams (the Thunder and Kings), and their third opponent (the Nuggets) was missing its two maximum-salary players, Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic, due to injuries when Utah pulled away in the second half on Tuesday.

The new-look Bulls, led by All-Star Zach LaVine and newcomer DeMar DeRozan, have looked great so far, especially on defense, where they rank fourth in the NBA. But they also haven’t been tested by a top-tier opponent — their first four wins came against Detroit, New Orleans, and Toronto, all of whom are missing key players.

Chicago’s road will get a whole lot tougher starting on Wednesday. Twelve of the Bulls’ next 13 contests will be against playoff teams from last season, and the 13th game will be vs. Golden State, the league’s other unbeaten club.

The Warriors’ hot start may be the most impressive of the bunch — their first two wins were against the Lakers and Clippers, and three of the four have been in road games. I was a little concerned entering the season about Golden State’s depth with Klay Thompson, James Wiseman, and Jonathan Kuminga still on the mend, but a second unit led by Damion Lee, Andre Iguodala, and Nemanja Bjelica has been solid so far, and Stephen Curry (29.0 PPG) has been his usual dominant self.

The Dubs have a chance to keep their hot start going, as they begin an eight-game home stand on Thursday. That stretch will include six games against 2020/21 lottery teams, though some of those clubs – including Chicago and Charlotte – have looked more dangerous in ’21/22.

We want to know what you think. Being undefeated at this point in the season doesn’t mean much – the Magic started last season 4-0, for instance – but do you feel like these teams are for real? Are the Warriors and Bulls playoff-bound? Will the Jazz be the West’s No. 1 seed again? Or do you expect one or two of these clubs to cool off and come back down to earth in the coming days or weeks?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!

Rookie Scale Option Decisions Due Next Monday

October 26th, 2021 at 3:58pm CST by Luke Adams

Outside of the occasional back-of-the-roster transaction – like Orlando signing Mychal Mulder to a two-way contract earlier today – the first few weeks of the NBA’s regular season are generally a fairly quiet time for roster moves.

However, one noteworthy deadline arrives next Monday — teams have until November 1 to exercise the 2022/23 third- and fourth-year rookie scale options for players who were first-round picks in the 2019 and 2020 drafts. For instance, the Cavaliers will have to pick up the fourth-year option for 2019 first-rounder Darius Garland, while the Hornets will have to exercise the third-year option for 2020 first-rounder LaMelo Ball.

Typically, the deadline for these decisions is October 31, but that’s a Sunday this year. When the deadline falls on a weekend, it’s moved to the next business day, per CBA expert Larry Coon.

As our tracker shows, there are still a number of options that have yet to be picked up, including Garland’s and Ball’s. However, there’s no suspense about whether those ones – or most others – will be exercised.

Rookie scale contracts for productive rotation players are among the biggest bargains in the NBA. Most teams even pick up their options on players who haven’t cracked the rotation, since controlling a young player with upside is usually worth the modest cost of his option.

Here’s the list of option decisions that have yet to be announced or reported:

Boston Celtics

Romeo Langford (fourth year, $5,634,257)
Grant Williams (fourth year, $4,306,281)
Aaron Nesmith (third year, $3,804,360)
Payton Pritchard (third year, $2,239,200)

Charlotte Hornets

LaMelo Ball (third year, $8,623,920)
P.J. Washington (fourth year, $5,808,435)

Cleveland Cavaliers

Darius Garland (fourth year, $8,920,795)
Isaac Okoro (third year, $7,040,880)
Dylan Windler (fourth year, $4,037,278)

Golden State Warriors

James Wiseman (third year, $9,603,360)
Jordan Poole (fourth year, $3,901,399)

Houston Rockets

Kevin Porter Jr. (fourth year, $3,217,631)

Indiana Pacers

Goga Bitadze (fourth year, $4,765,339)

Philadelphia 76ers

Matisse Thybulle (fourth year, $4,379,527)
Tyrese Maxey (third year, $2,726,880)

Phoenix Suns

Cameron Johnson (fourth year, $5,887,899)
Jalen Smith (third year, $4,670,160)

Utah Jazz

Udoka Azubuike (third year, $2,174,880)

It wouldn’t be a shock if all 18 of these options are ultimately picked up, but there are a few players who are more at risk than others.

Windler, for instance, has been limited to just 32 games since being drafted in 2019 due to health problems and isn’t a lock to have his $4MM option for 2022/23 exercised.

Azubuike logged garbage-time minutes in just 15 games as a rookie and doesn’t project to have a rotation role in Utah anytime soon. Third-year options are rarely declined and Azubuike’s $2.17MM salary would be very modest, but we saw the Clippers turn down Mfiondu Kabengele‘s option at the same price point a year ago.

Langford, Bitadze, and Smith are among the other players whose option decisions won’t be automatic, though I’d be a little surprised if their teams don’t opt in.

We’ll continue passing along all of these option decisions as they’re reported over the next week, so be sure to keep an eye on our tracker for the latest updates.

Payton Shows Value As 15th Man

October 25th, 2021 at 6:23pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Warriors seriously considered carrying 14 players and Stephen Curry is happy they chose to re-add Gary Payton II to the roster, Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets. The value of having Payton as the 15th man was displayed “one thousand percent,” according to Curry, after Payton contributed 10 points in 17 minutes on Sunday.

Stephen Curry, Miles Bridges Named Players Of The Week

October 25th, 2021 at 2:45pm CST by Luke Adams

Warriors star Stephen Curry and Hornets forward Miles Bridges have been named the NBA’s Western Conference and Eastern Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for the first five days of the 2021/22 season, the league announced today (Twitter link).

Both Curry and Bridges helped lead their teams to three-game win streaks to open the year — Golden State and Charlotte are two of the NBA’s seven undefeated teams and are among the three that are off to 3-0 starts.

Curry, who led the NBA in scoring last season, picked up right where he left off by averaging 31.0 PPG and knocking down 14 three-pointers in his first three games. He also filled up the box score with 9.0 RPG, 7.0 APG, and 2.3 SPG, recording a triple-double and two double-doubles. Curry beat out fellow Western Conference finalists Nikola Jokic, CJ McCollum, Ja Morant, and Karl-Anthony Towns.

Bridges is coming off a pair of 30-points outings and has averaged 25.0 PPG and 8.0 RPG overall, with a scorching-hot .542/.444/.938 shooting line. He took home this week’s hardware over Eastern finalists Seth Curry, Spencer Dinwiddie, Kevin Durant, Tyler Herro, Zach LaVine, Julius Randle, and rookie Evan Mobley.

Kuminga Making Progress; Dowtin Thrilled To Be Stephen Curry's Teammate

October 23rd, 2021 at 9:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Rookie forward Jonathan Kuminga is making “good progress” with a strained right patellar tendon and will be re-evaluated on Friday, the Warriors announced (via Twitter). Kuminga suffered the injury in an October 6 preseason game.
Jeff Dowtin modeled his game by watching Stephen Curry, so he’s thrilled to be on the same team as his favorite player, per Connor Letourneau of The San Francisco Chronicle. The Warriors claimed Dowtin off waivers Monday and put him into one of their two-way slots. “Honestly, I haven’t wrapped my mind around the fact that we’re teammates,” Dowtin said. “Right now, I’m just kind of focused on playing basketball.” Dowtin has already talked to Damion Lee and Juan Toscano-Anderson, who both earned regular roster spots after starting as two-way players, to get advice on how to follow that same path.

Warriors Tried To Trade For Bjelica Last Season

October 22nd, 2021 at 10:01pm CST by Rory Maher

The Warriors‘ Bob Myers recently stated that the team tried to trade for free agent acquisition Nemanja Bjelica last season, writes Alex Didion of NBC Sports Bay Area. “We tried to trade for him a few times last year and just couldn’t find the right deal for (the Kings) and us, and then he got moved to Miami and never really got a foothold there,” Myers said Thursday morning on 95.7 The Game. “We’ve always liked him because we thought he could fit what we do, which is what you guys see, it’s a lot of read and react stuff, lot of randomness.“

Payton Gets Partial Guarantee; Warriors Adjusting Approach To Wiseman's Development

October 21st, 2021 at 12:14pm CST by Luke Adams

Gary Payton II‘s new minimum-salary contract with the Warriors includes a $350K partial guarantee, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link). Payton, who was waived and re-signed within the last week, would have received a $659K partial guarantee if he had made the opening-night roster on his previous deal. By cutting him and then bringing him back, Golden State saved some money while still rewarding Payton for making the team.
Connor Letourneau of The San Francisco Chronicle explores how the Warriors are adjusting their approach to James Wiseman‘s development in the center’s second NBA season.

Warriors Re-Sign Gary Payton II

October 19th, 2021 at 12:21pm CST by Arthur Hill

Gary Payton II, who was waived by the Warriors over the weekend, has been re-signed, the team announced (via Twitter). It’s a non-guaranteed deal, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic.

Golden State had a roster spot open after cutting Payton – along with guards Avery Bradley and Mychal Mulder and big man Jordan Bell – on Friday. The team now has a full roster, with 15 players on standard contracts and a pair on two-way deals.

Payton’s former contract would have paid him a $659K guarantee if he had remained on the roster for opening night. Every bit of salary is significant for the Warriors, who are well into tax territory, so bringing back Payton after he cleared waivers allows them to have him on the team and essentially pay him by the day.

The 28-year-old guard joined Golden State in April on a pair of two-way contracts, then was signed for the remainder of the season. He got into 10 games, averaging 2.5 points and 1.1 rebounds in 4.0 minutes per night. He is valued for his defensive skills and could be useful for the Warriors off the bench in certain situations.