Warriors Rumors

Kerr: Warriors’ Roster “Far From Being Finished”

The Warriors will look a whole lot different in 2020/21 than they did in 2019/20, as Splash Brothers Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson get healthy and return to action after missing most – or, in Thompson’s case, all – of the past season.

In addition to getting those two stars back, Golden State expects to make more changes to its roster this offseason, perhaps with a focus on adding size and athleticism, head coach Steve Kerr said this week on The Athletic’s TK Show with Tim Kawakami.

“I think we need to be more athletic, for sure,” Kerr said, as Drew Shiller of NBC Sports Bay Area relays. “We’re obviously very skilled. But we don’t have an overly athletic team. We’ve lost a lot of bounce and a lot of pop on the wings — even at the center position. (So) right now, we’re not big enough or athletic enough to get where we want to be.

“But we all know that. We have the draft and we have free agency to address all that stuff. And potential trades,” Kerr continued. “I think (president of basketball operations) Bob (Myers) would be the first to tell you this roster is far from being finished.”

Despite being capped-out for 2020/21, the Warriors have several interesting assets at their disposal, including the No. 2 overall pick in the draft and a $17MM+ trade exception.

[RELATED: Various Ways Warriors Could Use Trade Exception]

The club will also have the taxpayer mid-level exception (worth approximately $5.72MM) available in free agency and could dangle future draft picks – such as Minnesota’s top-three protected 2021 first-rounder – in trade talks.

The Warriors are typically aggressive when it comes to pursuing roster upgrades, so with all those assets on hand, Kerr’s assertion that the roster is a work in progress comes as no real surprise.

Still, as Shiller observes, it’s a good sign for any fans be worried about the impact the coronavirus pandemic might have on Golden State’s willingness to spend. Based on Kerr’s comments, it doesn’t sound as if the team will prioritize cost-cutting moves or be content to stand pat this fall.

Poole Evaluates Howard's Fit With Golden State

Warriors Need Big Center, Athleticism

Mike Brown Interviewed For Clippers’ Coaching Job

Warriors associate head coach Mike Brown interviewed in recent days for the Clippers‘ head coaching position, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).

Brown has served as an NBA coach for more than two decades, holding assistant roles in Washington, San Antonio, and Indiana to start his career. He became the Cavaliers’ head coach in 2005 and led the team to a 305-187 (.620) record over the next five seasons, earning a spot in the 2007 Finals and winning a Coach of the Year award in 2009.

After departing the Cavs in 2010, Brown over as head coach of the Lakers for the lockout season of 2011/12, leading the team to a 41-25 (.621) record. He was let go just five games into the following season when L.A. got off to a 1-4 start, and rejoined the Cavs for a single season in 2013/14.

Since 2016, Brown has been a top assistant on Steve Kerr‘s staff in Golden State. Brown, who has also interviewed this year for the Knicks’ and Pacers’ head coaching jobs, is set to coach the Nigerian national team that will compete in next year’s Olympics in Tokyo.

The Clippers have also met with Tyronn Lue about their open coaching job. According to Wojnarowski, Lue is still in a strong position to be promoted after serving as an assistant on Doc Rivers‘ staff, but the club is conducting a full search for Rivers’ replacement.

Various Ways Warriors Could Use Trade Exception

The $17.2MM traded player exception held by the Warriors as a result of last year’s Andre Iguodala trade has become one of the most intriguing non-player assets to watch during the coming NBA offseason.

Trade exceptions allow NBA teams to take on a certain amount of salary without sending out any salary in return for matching purposes. While they typically expire after one year, the expiry dates for the Warriors’ TPE and the others created last July will be postponed until after the start of this year’s free agent period to make sure clubs still have a chance to use them. The start date for the 2020 free agent period remains up in the air, but appears likely to land sometime in late November.

Despite the extended deadline, the Warriors aren’t a lock to make use of their trade exception. Most TPEs ultimately go unused, and Golden State already projects to be a taxpaying team in 2020/21 — taking on additional salary will cost the team exponentially more in tax penalties.

Still, few NBA teams are more comfortable with a high payroll than the Warriors, and that exception represents one of the few paths the capped-out club has to improve its roster, so there has been plenty of speculation in recent months about how it could be used.

Much of that speculation has centered on the idea that the Warriors will try to acquire a single player whose salary is near that $17.2MM upper limit, but there are several other ways the team could theoretically look to utilize its TPE.

We’ll run through a few of those potential paths in the space below, so let’s dive right in…


Acquiring a single player

This is the simplest option for the Warriors and a potential trade partner. In this scenario, Golden State would likely send out a draft pick or two in exchange for a single player whose salary comes in below $17,285,185.

This category covers a wide range of possibilities. For instance, Golden State would be able to use the exception to accommodate a player like Evan Fournier, who is making $17.15MM next season. However, the team has no obligation to use as much of the TPE as possible, so it could just as easily be used to acquire a player earning $3MM or $4MM who might represent a better value.

Depending on the value and the cost of the incoming player, the Warriors may be willing to put one of their most valuable trade assets – this year’s No. 2 pick or next year’s top-three protected Timberwolves pick – on the table. But some veteran trade candidates won’t have nearly that high a price tag.


Acquiring multiple players

Unlike certain other salary cap exceptions – such as the disabled player exception – a trade exception can be used multiple times as long as there’s still money left on it. For instance, the Warriors’ $17MM+ TPE could be used to acquire a player earning $10MM and a second player earning $7MM.

There are countless examples of how this could work, but after using Fournier as our first example, let’s stick with the Magic — Golden State’s exception could theoretically be used to acquire, say, Terrence Ross ($13.5MM) and Khem Birch ($3MM). The Warriors could also use it in two separate trades.

Targeting multiple lower-cost players rather than one more expensive target could be a way for the Warriors to replenish their veteran depth.


Acquiring a bridge player

Yet another member of the Magic – Aaron Gordon – has frequently been cited as a potential trade target for the Warriors, but his 2020/21 salary ($18.14MM) isn’t quite small enough to fit into Golden State’s TPE. Because trade exceptions can’t be combined with player salaries, there’s no way for the Dubs to directly use their TPE to accommodate a Gordon deal.

However, there’s a workaround if the Warriors do want to target a player who makes a salary in that range — a “bridge” player.

Using the TPE, Golden State could theoretically acquire a player on an expiring contract in the $16-17MM range, such as Timberwolves forward James Johnson. From there, they could flip that player in a second trade to acquire someone making up to about $20MM, via normal salary-matching rules. Essentially, they’d be using the first player’s contract as a bridge to accommodate the second’s.

There are plenty of potential obstacles here. For one, it would mean working out two separate trades with two different teams — negotiating one deal is tricky enough, so adding the extra step might cost the Warriors an extra asset.

Additionally, if Golden State wants to turn around and flip a player it just acquired via trade, it can’t combine him with a second player for salary-matching purposes, which would limit the club’s options to some extent.

Still, if a player like Gordon or Myles Turner ($18MM) is high on the Warriors’ wish list, this route might be the most viable way of getting them to Golden State.


Acquiring a player via sign-and-trade

Although a trade exception can’t be used to sign a free agent outright, it can be used to accommodate a sign-and-trade, as long as certain criteria are met and the player’s first-year salary fits into the exception.

Unfortunately, this probably isn’t an option for the Warriors, since a team acquiring a player via sign-and-trade can’t have a team salary above the tax apron (approximately $138.9MM if the cap doesn’t increase) at any time during the league year. This restriction is why Golden State had to trade Iguodala in the first place last July to accommodate the D’Angelo Russell sign-and-trade.

The Warriors already have $142MM+ in guaranteed salaries on their books for 2020/21, so barring major cost-cutting moves, a sign-and-trade acquisition won’t be possible.


Claiming a player on waivers

A trade exception can also be used to claim a player off waivers, as long as his salary fits into the TPE. However, like the sign-and-trade concept, this may not be one of the Warriors’ more viable options.

If a team is waiving a player, it presumably means that team wasn’t able to trade him for anything of value. If that’s the case, Golden State is unlikely to want the player on the terms of his existing contract — he’ll likely pass through waivers and be available at a lower cost.

This is still a scenario worth keeping in the backs of our minds if a productive player hits waivers, but it seems like a long shot.


Completing a trade that allows the exception to be rolled over

A trade exception can essentially be “rolled over” if a team has an exception available but sends out salary as part of the deal anyway.

For example, if two teams swap a pair of players earning $15MM apiece and one team has a $15MM trade exception available, that club could use the exception to take on the incoming player and create a new exception using the outgoing player’s salary. That would reset the one-year clock to use the TPE.

This is a somewhat tricky concept, and in the Warriors’ case, it’s complicated further by the fact that the team has no contracts in the $17MM range — the only Golden State player earning between $5MM and $29.5MM in 2020/21 is Draymond Green ($22.24MM), who is unlikely to be dealt.

Still, there’s theoretically a way to make this work, especially if the Warriors’ trade partner has cap room. Here’s a hypothetical example: Let’s say the Hawks and Warriors work out a deal that sends Andrew Wiggins ($29.54MM) and a draft pick to Atlanta in exchange for Dewayne Dedmon ($13.33MM) and Kevin Huerter ($2.76MM).

The Hawks will have more than enough cap space available to accommodate the extra incoming salary, while the Warriors could fit Dedmon’s and Huerter’s contracts into their trade exception. As a result, Golden State could create a new trade exception worth Wiggins’ outgoing salary ($29.54MM) and would have a full year to use it.

I’m not sure either Atlanta or Golden State would be overly enthusiastic about that specific trade, but it serves as an example of how the Warriors could avoid losing the TPE while also avoiding tacking on a ton of extra money to their 2020/21 payroll. In this hypothetical scenario, they’d have even more flexibility with that new larger trade exception down the road, while also reducing their short-term team salary.

It will be difficult to find the right trade partner and the right combination of assets to make this scenario work. But last year’s Russell sign-and-trade was an example of the Warriors’ willingness to accumulate assets whenever and however they can in the hopes that they’ll be able to eventually maximize their value and fit — they knew Russell probably wouldn’t be a long-term fixture, but recognized getting him and trading him down the road was better than losing Kevin Durant for nothing. They’ll likely consider taking a similar approach with this trade exception if no other favorable options arise.

Contract information from Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.

Examining Klay Thompson's Rehab, Eric Paschall's Conditioning, More

  • Monte Poole of NBC Sports examines a series of notes related to the Warriors, including Klay Thompson‘s rehab, Eric Paschall‘s conditioning, and more. Golden State coped with an injury-riddled 2019/20 season, accruing the worst record in the league at 15-50. “It helps to get a really good look at everybody,” coach Steve Kerr said of the team’s mini-camp, which did not include Stephen Curry or Draymond Green. “Seeing them play, seeing them on the court, you start to get a sense of who might fit where and who could play what role and what your strengths and weaknesses are. We know Steph and Draymond so well that it’s easy to envision the group with them. This week has given us a better idea of what we need to look for.”

Steve Kerr Offers Insight Into Warriors’ Mini-Camp

The Warriors reunited for their team mini-camp on September 23, and while veterans Stephen Curry and Draymond Green did not join the team for workouts, starters Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins did.

In speaking with media about the team’s progress in practices, head coach Steve Kerr noted that the team will not hold any more formal intra-squad scrimmages during its mini-camp, Nick Friedell of ESPN tweets. Anthony Slater of The Athletic reports that Wiggins is slated to depart the mini-camp this weekend, ahead of its official end on Tuesday (Twitter link).

Although Thompson, who missed all of the 2019/20 season due to an ACL tear suffered in the 2019 NBA Finals, did partake in some elements of the mini-camp, Kerr asserted that the veteran sharpshooter would most likely not participate in 5-on-5 team workouts, per Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area (Twitter link).

Friedell notes in a separate tweet that center Kevon Looney, who played in just 20 games during the 2019/20 season due to various ailments, has impressed Kerr during the mini-camp. Kerr said that if Looney looks the way he did in the 2018/19 season, he anticipates that the big man will be slotted back into the rotation at a regular 20-25 minutes per game.

This spring, Looney underwent surgery to repair a core muscle injury which contributed to some of his absences during 2019/20. Looney will earn $4.8MM in 2020/21, with a $5.1MM player option for the ’21/22 season.

Meanwhile, free agent veteran swingman Jonathon Simmons was among the non-roster players who earned an invitation to the Warriors’ team mini-camp. Slater tweets that Kerr had high praise for Simmons’s performance in the mini-camp thus far, and alluded to the possibility that the free agent may have a future with Golden State.

“Possibly,” Kerr said. “We could use the length on the wing.”

Simmons most recently played for the club’s G League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors, in February and March.

Warriors Have Met With Tyrese Haliburton

  • Projected top-10 pick Tyrese Haliburton said today that he has interviewed with the Knicks, Warriors, and Pistons so far during the pre-draft process (video link via Ian Begley of SNY.tv). Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter link) has heard that the Pistons – who hold the No. 7 pick – “really like” Haliburton.

Draft Notes: Achiuwa, Jones, Hampton, Terry

Potential top-10 selection Precious Achiuwa has interviewed with a number of lottery teams, Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype tweets. Achiuwa, a power forward who averaged 15.8 PPG and 10.8 MPG as a Memphis freshman last season, has talked to the Kings, Wizards, Knicks, Nets, Cavaliers, Suns, Spurs, Pistons and Thunder, among others. He’s currently listed at No. 10 overall on ESPN’s list of this year’s top 100 prospects.

We have more on the draft:

  • Duke point guard Tre Jones has spoken with the Bucks, Suns, Thunder and Timberwolves, among others, according to Kennedy (Twitter link). Jones had an interview lined up with the Bulls, but it was postponed due to their coaching change. Jones anticipates he’ll be a mid- to late-first round pick. He’s currently listed at No. 34 overall by ESPN.
  • Combo guard RJ Hampton, who played last season in Australia’s NBL, has talked to the Wizards, Kings, Thunder, Pistons, Suns, Trail Blazers, Knicks and Bulls, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington tweets. He posted modest stats in 15 NBL games before suffering a hip flexor injury and returning the U.S. Hampton is currently ranked No. 13 by ESPN and Hughes speculates he could be a late lottery steal like Michael Porter Jr., who sat out for a year after getting drafted by the Nuggets.
  • Stanford point guard Tyrell Terry has interviewed with the Suns, Thunder, 76ers, Raptors, Knicks, Nets, WarriorsTimberwolves and Bulls, Kennedy tweets. He’s pegged at No. 42 in ESPN’s rankings. He averaged 14.6 PPG, 4.5 RPG and 3.2 APG as a freshman.

Draft Rumors: Hayes, J. Smith, Ball, Edwards, Krejci

With the NBA’s virtual combine underway, a handful of this year’s top draft-eligible prospects are speaking with reporters today on conference calls and are revealing some information about their pre-draft meetings.

French point guard Killian Hayes, for instance, confirmed that he has interviewed with the Spurs, Wizards, Knicks, Bulls, and Warriors, adding that his agent has told him to expect to come off the board between No. 2 and No. 10 on draft night (Twitter link via Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic).

Maryland big man Jalen Smith told reporters, including Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington (Twitter links), that he has met with the Wizards, Spurs, Raptors, Nets, Suns, and Bulls, among other teams. Smith ranks No. 20 on ESPN’s big board.

Potential No. 1 pick LaMelo Ball was more evasive when asked about his meetings, refusing to name any teams he has talked to except for the Knicks, as K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago tweets. That meeting occurred prior to the lottery, per Steve Popper of Newsday (Twitter link).

While it’s possible Ball has had other meetings with top teams that he declined to mention, Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link) hears that the guard’s interview with the Timberwolves is still to come. Minnesota, of course, holds the top pick in the draft.

Here’s more on the draft:

  • There’s a belief around the NBA that the Timberwolves may make an effort to trade down from No. 1, but if they keep that pick, multiple sources believe they’ll select LaMelo Ball rather than Anthony Edwards, says Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report.
  • According to Wasserman, there’s some concern among scouts and executives about Edwards’ professionalism, drive, and desire to win. While the Georgia wing still figures to come off the board early, the likelihood of him falling to No. 3 appears to have increased, Wasserman notes.
  • One scout who spoke to Bleacher Report said his team will be putting more stock this year into prospects’ basketball IQ and other intangibles, and Wasserman believes other clubs around the NBA could take a similar approach. Tyrese Haliburton and Isaac Okoro are among the players who could benefit from that trend, Wasserman adds.
  • Czech guard Vit Krejci, who is playing for Zaragoza in Spain, has suffered a left ACL injury that will require surgery and is expected to sideline him for the rest of the season, according to the team (hat tip to Sportando). Krejci had declared for the 2020 NBA draft as an early entrant, but could still withdraw his name before the league’s November deadline.