Golden State Warriors Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Oubre Doesn’t Need Surgery, Out 1-2 Weeks

May 6th, 2021 at 6:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Warriors forward Kelly Oubre Jr. will not need surgery on his ailing left wrist, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweets. He’s expected to miss one to two weeks of action, Haynes adds.

Oubre was diagnosed last week with a torn ligament in his left wrist and a fracture on the palm of his left hand. He injured the wrist twice this season while falling to the floor after dunks. One happened in practice and the other was in a game against the Wizards on April 9.

Golden State entered Thursday’s action in ninth place in the Western Conference. The timeline gives the Warriors some hope Oubre would be able to suit up for the play-in tournament.

Oubre is averaging 15.4 PPG and 6.0 RPG through 55 games after being acquired from Phoenix in a November trade.

The fact that surgery is not required should preserve Oubre’s value in unrestricted free agency this summer.

Warriors Mulling Reunion With Jordan Bell

May 6th, 2021 at 6:15pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Warriors are considering a contract offer to free agent big man Jordan Bell, Marcus Thompson of The Athletic tweets.

The 2017 second-round pick spent his first two seasons with Golden State. He appeared in 125 regular-season games but his time there was marred by controversy, including a team-imposed suspension after he charged hotel items to assistant coach Mike Brown.

Bell has played for three teams in the last two seasons. He signed two 10-day contracts with the Wizards this year but they didn’t offer him a standard contract after the second one expired. In total, Bell averaged 2.8 points and 3.8 rebounds in five games for Washington, playing 13.4 minutes per night.

The Warriors currently have two open roster spots and have until next Thursday to fill one of them. Bell could add depth to a frontcourt depleted by the loss of rookie James Wiseman, who is out for the season.

California Notes: Bagley, Toscano-Anderson, Warriors, Lakers

May 5th, 2021 at 7:38pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The future remains murky for oft-injured Kings power forward Marvin Bagley III, a talented scorer who still needs to develop on defense, writes Jason Jones of The Athletic.

On Sunday, during his second game back after his latest injury, a left hand bone fracture that kept him sidelined for 22 contests, Bagley showed flashes of the potential that made him so highly coveted out of Duke, racking up 23 points and nine rebounds. The Kings selected Bagley with the No. 2 draft pick in 2018 ahead of future All-Stars Luka Doncic and Trae Young.

“Obviously nobody plans to get a hand caught in a jersey and break your hand, but you can’t control things like that,” Bagley said of his latest injury for the Kings. “What I could control was how I prepared to come back and things that I was doing to make sure I was ready when I did come back.”

Sacramento previously picked up Bagley’s $11.3MM player option for 2021/22. As Jones writes, while Bagley was rumored to be a potential trade candidate in March, the Kings couldn’t find a deal that would net them enough of a return to be worth pursuing.

There’s more out of California:

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has liked what he’s seen out of forward Juan Toscano-Anderson, writes Alex Espinoza of NBC Sports Bay Area. Currently inked to a two-way deal with Golden State, has fought his way into the Warriors’ rotation through his moxie and hustle, averaging 5.4 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and 2.4 APG across 19.5 MPG. “We’ll see how it plays out,” Kerr said to reporters about a potential long-term deal with Toscano-Anderson after this season. “Juan is clearly a very effective NBA player. We’d like to have him here for a long time.”
Though the Warriors have been waylaid by injuries that have impacted their roster depth, they currently have two roster spots empty in a calculated cost-saving decision. Anthony Slater of The Athletic wonders if the club’s choice warrants further scrutiny, considering that it still fighting for a play-in tournament spot during a standout year from All-Star point guard Stephen Curry.
Lakers guard Alex Caruso has had to take on more play-making duties for Los Angeles with key ball-handlers LeBron James and Dennis Schroder both sidelined, as Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register writes.

Strauss Considers Value Of Warriors', Timberwolves' First-Rounders

May 3rd, 2021 at 3:06pm CST by Luke Adams

With Minnesota playing well as of late, Ethan Strauss of The Athletic explores whether there’s a chance that the Warriors could end up with a better shot at a top-five pick with their own first-rounder than with the Timberwolves’ selection.

Check-In On 10-Day Contracts, Open Roster Spots

May 3rd, 2021 at 1:45pm CST by Luke Adams

The 2020/21 NBA regular season will come to an end on May 16. That means that there are just 14 days left in the season, and just four more days left to sign a player to a 10-day contract. As of this Friday (May 7), a 10-day deal would technically cover the remainder of the season.

With the playoffs around the corner, it makes sense that the number of active 10-day contracts around the NBA has been on the decline. The number of league-wide roster openings is also dwindling.

Here are the 10-day contracts that are currently active:

Oklahoma City Thunder: Charlie Brown Jr. (runs through May 4)
Orlando Magic: Ignas Brazdeikis (runs through May 11)
Brooklyn Nets: Mike James (runs through May 12)

Of those three players, Brown is the only one who will technically be eligible to sign another 10-day contract when his current pact expires.

Meanwhile, with players like Austin Rivers, Mfiondu Kabengele, Anthony Tolliver, Yogi Ferrell, and Freddie Gillespie signing rest-of-season contracts within the last several days, more and more teams now have full 15-man rosters and may be done making roster moves this season.

The following teams still have at least one open spot on their 15-man squads:

Golden State Warriors (2)
Miami Heat
Minnesota Timberwolves
New Orleans Pelicans
New York Knicks
Portland Trail Blazers
San Antonio Spurs
Washington Wizards

In addition to these clubs, the Nets, Magic, and Thunder would each have a roster opening if they don’t retain the players on 10-day contracts noted above. The Knicks just opened their 15th roster spot on Sunday night, when Jared Harper‘s 10-day deal expired.

While many of these teams figure to fill their rosters before the regular season ends – either with a developmental prospect or one more veteran for postseason depth – the Warriors are the only club here that must add at least one more player. Teams are only permitted to dip below 14 players on standard contracts for up to two weeks at a time. Since Golden State was carrying Gary Payton II on a 10-day deal up until last Thursday, they’ll have until next Thursday (May 13) to re-add a 14th man.

The following teams also have an open two-way contract slot, which they may or may not fill during the season’s final two weeks:

Minnesota Timberwolves
New York Knicks
Phoenix Suns
Toronto Raptors

Warriors' Loss To Timberwolves Serves As Most Consequential Defeat

May 2nd, 2021 at 8:57pm CST by JD Shaw

The Warriors‘ loss to the Timberwolves on Thursday was their most consequential defeat of the season, Anthony Slater of The Athletic writes, noting that the result negatively impacted both the Dubs’ playoff position and the Wolves’ lottery position. Golden State lost the contest 126-114 (and was out-rebounded by 23), though the team bounced back on Saturday to defeat Houston 113-87.

Kelly Oubre Has Torn Wrist Ligament, Palm Fracture

May 1st, 2021 at 7:54pm CST by Arthur Hill

Warriors forward Kelly Oubre has been diagnosed with a torn ligament in his left wrist and a fracture on the palm of his left hand, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Further evaluations will be conducted to see if Oubre can continue playing, sources tell Charania. He reaggravated the wrist injury in an April 9 game, then returned to the court 11 days later, Charania adds.

Oubre hurt the wrist twice this season while falling to the floor after dunks, explains Anthony Slater of The Athletic (via Twitter). One happened in practice and the other was in a game against the Wizards on April 9.

Oubre is averaging 15.4 points and 6.0 rebounds through 55 games in his first season with Golden State after being acquired in a November trade. He is headed toward unrestricted free agency after making $14.375MM this season.

Stephen Curry Continuing To Accelerate Warriors' Timeline

May 1st, 2021 at 3:57pm CST by JD Shaw

Warriors superstar Stephen Curry is continuing to accelerate his team’s timeline, Ethan Strauss of The Athletic writes. Curry has put forth an MVP-caliber season despite Golden State owning just a 31-32 record, averaging a career-high 31.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game.

Paschall Could Return By End Of Road Trip

April 29th, 2021 at 9:19pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Warriors have provided a new timeline on the availability of power forward Eric Paschall, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Golden State hopes to have Paschall back on the floor near the end of its current four-game road trip, which concludes against the Pelicans on May 4. Paschall has been sidelined with a hip flexor strain since the beginning of the month.

Timberwolves Notes: Lottery Pick, Henry, Russell

April 29th, 2021 at 11:28am CST by Luke Adams

The 2021 first-round pick the Timberwolves traded to the Warriors has top-three protection, so you could make a case that it’s in the team’s best interest to lose as much as possible down the stretch, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. However, the Wolves’ actions at the trade deadline and on the court suggest the team is prioritizing building some late-season momentum that could carry over to next season.

Karl-Anthony Towns has dealt with a nagging wrist issue this season and D’Angelo Russell is coming off knee surgery, but the Wolves have shown no interest in resting those players down the stretch, Krawczynski observes. While Minnesota has hardly been dominant lately, the club has won five of its last seven games after starting the season 14-42.

As our reverse standings show, the Wolves still have the NBA’s second-worst record, but a few more wins in the season’s final 18 days could move them anywhere from fourth to sixth in those reverse standings, reducing their odds of securing a top-three pick. Although the franchise could certainly use another impact player, it appears Gersson Rosas‘ group is content to keep its foot on the gas and to let the lottery balls fall where they may, writes Krawczynski.

Here’s more on the Wolves:

If Minnesota wins a few more games, it could end up hurting the Warriors more than the Timberwolves, contends Michael Rand of The Star Tribune. If the Wolves finish with the NBA’s worst record, Golden State would have a 60% chance of landing either the No. 4 or No. 5 overall pick. But if Minnesota finishes the season fourth in the lottery standings, that pick could slide as far as No. 8. From an optics perspective, giving up a pick in that range would be far better for the Wolves than sending the Warriors a top-five selection, says Rand.
Following up on a report that Baskonia guard Pierria Henry is considering an offer from the Timberwolves, Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News notes (via Twitter) that a buyout with Henry’s Spanish club would need to be worked out. According to Wolfson, who suggests Rosas and the Wolves have long been interested in Henry, there should be resolution one way or the other by the end of the week.
He still hasn’t been inserted back into the starting lineup following his return from knee surgery, but D’Angelo Russell is showing now why the Timberwolves were willing to give up a lightly-protected first-round pick to acquire him at the 2020 trade deadline, writes Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. The newly-healthy point guard is averaging 19.6 points and 5.5 assists per game on .468/.419/.870 shooting in 13 games (25.9 MPG) this month. “My body feeling the way it feels has a lot to do with my individual success,” Russell said.