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Warriors Notes: Adams, Wiggins, Haliburton, More

June 4th, 2020 at 9:45am CST by Luke Adams

Warriors assistant coach Ron Adams transitioned into a new role this year, traveling with the team less and stepping away from coaching on the bench as he assumed more player development responsibilities. As he tells Tim Kawakami of The Athletic, Adams found that transition challenging at times.

“I think when you’re used to being in the fight and you’re not in the fight, that adjustment is a hard one,” Adams said. “But having said that, I enjoyed the year. … Change is difficult, especially when you’ve done the same thing for a number of years, as I have. But it was probably necessary. We have a lot of good young coaches; they need to develop. And hopefully, I can be a part of that process. But yes, not being in the fight was difficult.”

Adams, who signed a one-year contract with the Warriors last summer, expressed interest in returning to the team for the 2020/21 season, despite the fact that he’ll turn 73 years old later this year.

“I would like to come back, yeah,” he told Kawakami. “I have no reason not to. I want to be involved.”

Here’s more on the Warriors:

During his conversation with Kawakami, Adams offered some interesting insights on a number of Warriors players, including newly-acquired forward Andrew Wiggins, whom Adams referred to as “a really, really outstanding all-around player,” specifically praising his defense. “I was elated to get him into our program,” Adams said of Wiggins. “I think he’s a star player. I think he’s gonna flourish with more shooting on the floor. But I was personally really happy with the all-around nature of his game and what he showed in that regard more so that his scoring, even.”
Connor Letourneau of The San Francisco Chronicle has heard that the Warriors have Tyrese Haliburton ranked as the top point guard on their 2020 draft board, ahead of LaMelo Ball, Killian Hayes, Cole Anthony, and others. Letourneau says he expects Golden State to “seriously consider” Haliburton if the team is drafting between No. 2 and 5.
Elsewhere in his mailbag, Letourneau discusses whether the Warriors would consider trading Draymond Green, why the team reopened its practice facility even though its season likely over, and whether Marc Gasol is a realistic target in free agency.

Latest On The NBA’s Lottery Plans

June 3rd, 2020 at 9:13pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The NBA is expected to finalize a proposal on Thursday that will send 22 teams to Orlando in order to finish out the season. It will be a unique experience for a number of reasons — one interesting wrinkle will be how the league determines the lottery odds for 2020 without all of the clubs playing the same number of games.

The Warriors, Cavaliers, Timberwolves, Hawks, Pistons, Knicks, Bulls, and Hornets will likely be locked into the top eight lottery slots, a source tells Hoops Rumors. The order within the top eight has yet to be determined, but the structure means the Wizards couldn’t go 0-8 this summer when the season resumes and land a better position in the lottery than those teams that won’t be playing.

It’s “part of the tradeoff” for the franchises that won’t be given a chance to resume their campaigns, per the source. Another scenario discussed was freezing the lottery as it stands, allowing no movement up or down by any team, even those in the 9-14 positions. Either way, the top eight are expected to be assured of their standing.

Both the lottery and the combine had been postponed indefinitely, though they are now expected to take place in August. Nothing is finalized as of this writing, including the proposal to return.

Here’s a look at the odds of each lottery position as well as the order of teams, should the league go with the current standings:

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
GSW	14	13.4	12.7	12	47.9	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
CLE	14	13.4	12.7	12	27.8	20	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
MIN	14	13.4	12.7	12	14.8	26	7.1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
ATL	12.5	12.2	11.9	11.5	7.2	25.7	16.8	2.2	–	–	–	–	–	–
DET	10.5	10.5	10.6	10.5	2.2	19.6	26.7	8.8	0.6	–	–	–	–	–
NYK	9	9.2	9.4	9.6	–	8.6	29.6	20.6	3.8	0.2	–	–	–	–
CHI	7.5	7.8	8.1	8.5	–	–	19.7	34.1	12.9	1.3	>0	–	–	–
CHA	6	6.3	6.7	7.2	–	–	–	34.5	32.1	6.7	0.4	>0	–	–
WSH*	4.5	4.8	5.2	5.7	–	–	–	–	50.7	25.9	3	0.1	>0	–
PHX*	3	3.3	3.6	4	–	–	–	–	–	65.9	18.9	1.2	>0	>0
SAS*	2	2.2	2.4	2.8	–	–	–	–	–	–	77.6	12.6	0.4	>0
SAC**	1.3	1.4	1.6	1.8	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	86.1	7.6	0.1
NO**	1.2	1.3	1.5	1.7	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	92.0	2.3
POR*	0.5	0.6	0.6	0.7	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	97.6

*Will play eight more regular season games

** The Kings and Pelicans have matching 28-36 records and would be subject to a random tiebreaker to determine which team gets the No. 12 slot and which gets No. 13. Their spots in this list (and their odds) could be flipped if the NBA ends up freezing the standings to determine the lottery’s order.

Jeremy Pargo Signs With Israeli Team

June 3rd, 2020 at 1:46pm CST by ChrisCrouse

JUNE 3: Hapoel Jerusalem has published a tweet officially welcoming Pargo to the team, a signal that they’ve reached a deal with him.

JUNE 2: Jeremy Pargo is receiving interest from Hapoel Jerusalem of the Israeli Premier League, Ennio Terrasi Borghesan of Sportando reports.

Pargo, who went undrafted back in 2009, spent this past season with the Santa Cruz Warriors, Golden State’s G League team. He earned a 10-day deal back in February and saw NBA action in three games.

Prior to his 44 minutes of court time, the combo guard had not played in the NBA since the 2012/13 season, when he suited up for the last Sixers’ team before Sam Hinkie took over the reins of the franchise. In addition to Philadelphia, Pargo has had stints in Memphis and Cleveland, and has six years of international experience, playing in Russia, Israel, Italy, and China at various points in his career.

Warriors Reopen Practice Facility

June 1st, 2020 at 3:47pm CST by Luke Adams

As the City of San Francisco entered the next phase of its coronavirus reopening plan on Monday, the Warriors moved forward with the opening of their practice facility for voluntary individual workouts, reports Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The Warriors will adhere to the NBA’s health and safety protocols as they get players back into the practice facility, conducting temperature checks on anyone who enters the building and ensuring that no more than four players are on the premises at a time. According to Slater, about five players showed up for workouts on Monday as the facility reopened.

As Slater explains (via Twitter), the Warriors still aren’t expecting to be part of the NBA’s plan for resuming the 2019/20 season this summer. Still, the team and its players want to stay active and begin summer training programs. Holding practices and scrimmages could also benefit the young squad if and when the league eventually allows group activities.

The Bulls, Pistons, and Spurs are now the only three NBA teams that have yet to reopen their practice facilities. Chicago intends to do so this Wednesday and Detroit continues to tentatively target June 12. San Antonio’s plans remain unclear.

Warriors Better Off Not Playing From Draft Standpoint

May 28th, 2020 at 6:47pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Anthony Slater of The Athletic examines the implications if the NBA leaves the Warriors out of its plans to resume the season. The biggest positive is that it would give the front office additional time to assess the financial landscape and direction they want to go before making any draft-night decisions.

Warriors Notes: Myers, Draft, Resumption, Mullin

May 24th, 2020 at 9:56am CST by Arthur Hill

The Warriors project to have the best odds whenever the draft lottery takes place, but they aren’t committed to keeping their pick. General manager Bob Myers confirmed to Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area that trying to trade for a more established player remains an option.

“Yeah, we’re going to consider all that,” Myers said. “Now, I don’t know if the headline is going to be that we’re trading our pick. So, be clear that I said ‘consider.’”

Golden State is aiming to get back into title contention after a lost season due to injuries to Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Myers admits there’s not a “transformational” player at the top of this year’s draft and Poole states that there’s little difference in talent level between the top pick and No. 5, which is the farthest the Warriors can drop in the lottery. Adding to the uncertainty, the traditional pre-draft evaluation process has been disrupted because of COVID-19 concerns.

The current front office has never been in position to make a top-five pick, so the Warriors are reaching out to other franchises, including the Hawks, whose GM, Travis Schlenk, was a former Golden State executive.

“He said there’s a lot of activity, that it depends on the traffic and how open you are to doing something,” Myers said. “The higher you are, the more optionality you have to make moves. The thing about trading or not is you want to make the best decision possible. The best position might be to draft, or it might be a trade. You don’t know until you see what you can do and what offers you have.”

There’s more Warriors news this morning:

It’s not certain that Golden State and the other teams at the bottom of the league will participate in a resumption of the season, but many people in the organization believe it would be beneficial, writes Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. A few practices and games could provide a mini-camp to help prepare the team for the start of next season.
Former Warriors star Chris Mullin believes The Last Dance documentary sheds light on how impressive Golden State’s five-run in the NBA Finals was, relays Alex Didion of NBC Sports. “I think it puts into context how great this last five-year period the Warriors have been on,” Mullin said in an interview on KNBR. “That’s a hard thing to endure man, and the way they did it, they did it with some grace and some class and some dignity. I know (Warriors coach) Steve (Kerr) didn’t let the cameras in, but I think as years go by, we’re gonna look back and go ‘Man, that Warriors team of the last five years was a special, special time here in the Bay Area.’”
The Warriors have almost no chance of reaching the 70-game threshold for their regional sports network, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Of the 65 games they have played, nine have been exclusive to national TV, so they would need 14 more to meet the target.

Warriors Notes: Magnay, Rest Of Season, Draft

May 21st, 2020 at 4:51pm CST by Luke Adams

Brisbane Bullets big man Will Magnay, who has played in Australia’s NBL since 2017, said this week on the Gibbo Goes One-On-One podcast that the Warriors had interest in him earlier this year, but never formally offered him a 10-day contract.

“The Golden State Warriors had asked the Bullets if they had offered me a 10-day contract, would the Bullets release me,” Magnay said (link via NBL.com.au). “That was the conversation that went down and somehow that news got out. There was never anything on paper, there was interest and whatnot but never anything on paper.”

Magnay, who played his college ball at Tulsa, was named the NBL’s Most Improved Player in 2020 this season. The 21-year-old averaged 8.1 PPG and 6.1 RPG in 27 games (21.9 MPG) for the Bullets.

Here’s more on Golden State:

The Warriors still don’t expect they’ll be part of a resumed NBA season, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic, who notes that it’s unclear whether veteran stars like Stephen Curry and Draymond Green would even suit up if the team does have to play a few regular season games this summer. As Slater explains, Golden State’s focus is on next season and the club would view a resumed 2019/20 campaign as a de facto Summer League.
Within that Athletic article, Slater previews the offseason outlook for everyone on the Warriors’ roster, suggesting that Marquese Chriss and Damion Lee will almost certainly receive the rest of their partial guarantees, while Juan Toscano-Anderson, Ky Bowman, and Mychal Mulder (all on non-guaranteed contracts) might end up competing for one or two roster spots.
Many of the Warriors’ virtual draft interviews so far have been with non-first round prospects, according to Slater, who says the team is looking to “gain a wide view of the draft landscape.” The Dubs haven’t officially formed a draft board yet, sources tell Slater.

Warriors Would Be Comfortable With Chriss As Starting Center In 2020/21

May 20th, 2020 at 4:54pm CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors are in position to secure a top-five pick in the 2020 NBA draft, and a big man looks like an obvious need for a team projected to start Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson in the backcourt and Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green in the frontcourt.

However, Connor Letourneau of The San Francisco Chronicle suggests the Warriors aren’t as high on the likes of James Wiseman and Onyeka Okongwu as you might think. As Letourneau details, Golden State’s system doesn’t require a dynamic scorer or play-maker at the five — the team just wants someone who can reliably play his role.

Marquese Chriss is someone who may fit that bill, given the strides he made in 2019/20 as a rim-runner, passer, and defender. In fact, multiple sources tell Letourneau that the Warriors would be comfortable entering the ’20/21 campaign with Chriss as their starting center. For his part, the former lottery pick says he’s prepared to play whatever role the team asks.

“I’m just thankful to have an organization that believes in me,” Chriss said. “At the end of the day, if (the Warriors) do draft (Wiseman), I know they’re making the best decision that they can for this team and that they feel will be beneficial for us to win a championship. As a team player, I want to win and I want to be a part of the team. Whatever role I have to have to make that happen, I’ll take on.”

Kevon Looney Undergoes Season-Ending Surgery

May 20th, 2020 at 3:40pm CST by Luke Adams

Warriors big man Kevon Looney underwent surgery on Tuesday to repair a core muscle injury, the team announced in a press release. According to the club, he’ll begin rehab work immediately but isn’t expected to be ready to return until the start of the 2020/21 season.

It has been a disappointing 2019/20 campaign for Looney, who was hampered by health issues all season long, including an abdominal strain, hip issues, and a neuropathic condition.

In total, the 24-year-old appeared in just 20 games for Golden State, averaging 3.4 PPG and 3.3 RPG in 13.1 minutes per contest.

Looney is in the first season of a three-year deal that includes a guaranteed $4.8MM salary for 2020/21 and a $5.2MM player option for ’21/22. As such, it’s in the Warriors’ best interest to make sure he gets as healthy as possible for the start of next season. Golden State is 15-50 in ’19/20, so even if the team resumes play this summer, getting Looney back wouldn’t have been a priority at that time.

Rose, Satoransky Among Targets With Trade Exception?

May 18th, 2020 at 8:01pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Guards Derrick Rose, Tomas Satoransky and Reggie Bullock are among the guards the Warriors could target with their $17MM trade exception, Grant Liffmann of NBC Sports Bay Area opines. The Warriors obtained the large exception in the Andre Iguodala trade with Memphis last summer.