Golden State Warriors Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Latest On Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson

February 19th, 2020 at 11:52am CST by Luke Adams

Two-time MVP Stephen Curry practiced for the Warriors on Tuesday for the first time since he broke his left hand in October, writes Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. It’s a positive step forward in Curry’s recovery process, though he hasn’t yet advanced to taking contact or scrimmaging.

“I don’t know when he’s going to be allowed to scrimmage,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “It’s not this week or anything. But he looks really good. He’s gaining strength, gaining confidence. He has been putting himself through some brutal workouts, so his conditioning is about as good as it can possibly be for somebody who hasn’t been able to scrimmage.”

Despite the Warriors’ 12-43 record, team owner Joe Lacob tells Mark Medina of USA Today that the idea of sitting Curry for the rest of the season is “not even a discussion internally.” Curry has been aiming for an early-March return, and while there’s no guarantee he’ll meet that target date, the Warriors are expected to re-evaluate him and issue an update on February 28, tweets Poole.

Kerr is looking forward to getting the star guard some minutes alongside newly-acquired forward Andrew Wiggins, as ESPN’s Nick Friedell details.

“I think it’s important for Steph and Andrew to get to know each other and to play together,” Kerr said. “I think it’s important for Steph to play without all the guys we’ve lost who are not gonna be back next year — Kevin (Durant) and Andre (Iguodala) and Shaun (Livingston). … He only got three games before his injury, I think it was, so it’s important for him to feel the difference, because it feels different for us.”

Meanwhile, Lacob hasn’t closed the door on the idea of Thompson making it back to the court at the end of this season, once he has recovered from his torn ACL. The team intends to re-evaluate Thompson this week, per Medina.

“Klay might come back for a few games at the end. He might not,” Lacob said. “That doesn’t matter so much. Maybe we’ll err on the cautious side. Maybe. That’s up to him.”

In spite of Lacob’s comments, Kerr isn’t counting on getting both of his veteran sharpshooters back in the lineup before the end of the 2019/20 season.

“With Steph, there’s a definite timetable,” Kerr said, according to Poole. “It’s easy to look and say that in a couple weeks, Steph is going to be ready to play. I don’t know exactly what day. But Klay is a long way from that. I don’t even entertain any thoughts of Klay playing this year.”

Joe Lacob: “We Can Reimagine The Next Dynasty”

February 19th, 2020 at 9:43am CST by Luke Adams

Rather than gearing up for another deep playoff run as the 2019/20 season enters its home stretch, the Warriors‘ decision-makers already have their sights set on this summer’s draft and the free agent period. While the team would rather be in the mix for another title, Warriors owner Joe Lacob tells Mark Medina of USA Today that the club is making the most of the opportunity to regroup and evaluate the roster going forward.

“The great thing about this is we can reimagine the next dynasty,” Lacob told Medina during All-Star weekend. “I think it’s been a good year for us to take stock with where we’re at and try to recreate.”

At 12-43, the Warriors are well out of playoff contention and approached this month’s trade deadline as sellers. Having given up six players, including D’Angelo Russell, Golden State received Andrew Wiggins, the Timberwolves’ top-three protected 2021 first-round pick, and five future second-round selections. The club also slipped below the luxury tax line, avoiding a more punitive repeater-taxpayer penalty.

Replacing Russell with Wiggins should give Golden State’s roster better balance when injured stars Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson return. Avoiding the tax and re-stocking their collection of draft picks will give the Warriors more options during the offseason as president of basketball operations Bob Myers and the front office weigh potential roster upgrades.

The Dubs also have a trade exception worth $17MM+ and are on track to secure a top-five draft pick. Lacob is optimistic that all those assets will be more than enough to help the Warriors return to contention.

“You add one guy and it can change everything,” Lacob told Medina. “We already happen to have two of the greatest shooters of all time. Look at the games. We’ve only been losing by six or eight points. But add those two guys, and we’re already pretty good. I think Wiggins is going to help a lot.”

Warriors To Replace Pargo, Norvell On Roster?

February 19th, 2020 at 7:51am CST by Luke Adams

FEBRUARY 19: Despite an earlier report (outlined below) that suggested Pargo would probably return to the Warriors, Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link) hears that the team is expected to sign new players soon to replace Pargo and Norvell.

That doesn’t mean that Pargo – or Norvell – won’t re-sign with Golden State later in the season, but it sounds like the team is casting a wider net as it evaluates back-of-the-roster players.

FEBRUARY 18: A pair of players on 10-day contracts with the Warriors saw those deals expire on Monday night, as guards Jeremy Pargo and Zach Norvell are now technically free agents. Golden State’s roster count has dipped back down to 12 players, and the club will have up to two weeks to return to the league-mandated minimum of 14 players.

Although the Warriors may not wait the full two weeks to fill out their roster, they seem unlikely to make a move for at least a couple more days, since their schedule doesn’t resume until Thursday against Houston.

There’s no guarantee that both Pargo and Norvell return for another 10-day contract – or a full-season deal – but Connor Letourneau of The San Francisco Chronicle suggests that Pargo’s time in Golden State probably isn’t over yet. A source tells Letourneau that the Warriors are expected to let Pargo finish the season on the NBA roster.

Pargo, who turns 34 next month and hadn’t played in the NBA since 2013, was an unlikely G League call-up for the Warriors, but he has played well in three games with the team, averaging 8.3 PPG and 2.7 APG with a .500 FG% and .429 3PT% in 14.7 MPG. As Letourneau relays, head coach Steve Kerr has been impressed with the veteran guard.

“You watch him play, and he fits,” Kerr said. “He’s an NBA player. It’s good to see him out there, and I’m glad we’re able to give him this opportunity because he’s earned it.”

While Pargo intends to play professionally for several more years, he’s not necessarily counting on this season as a springboard to further NBA opportunities, per Letourneau. The former Gonzaga standout says he’s just trying to “enjoy the moment” with the Warriors and see what happens next. According to Letourneau, Pargo has already emerged as a respected elder statesman in Golden State, where he’s the oldest player on the roster.

“The biggest thing for me is that guys like Jordan (Poole) and Ky (Bowman), they really listen to what I have to say,” said Pargo, who has played in just 86 total NBA games. “They don’t go, ‘Oh, you’re not this or that.’ They listen, and that means a lot.”

Chriss Shows How Warriors Can Improve Roster

February 17th, 2020 at 9:16pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Reclamation projects such as Marquese Chriss are the types of players the Warriors will need to improve their roster, according to Marcus Thompson of The Athletic. Chriss can eventually complement the trio of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green by running the floor, finishing at the rim and rebounding, Thompson continues. Chriss has been especially productive since signing a two-year, $2.5MM deal and that’s significant, since the Warriors won’t have salary-cap space to upgrade their roster by many other methods for at least two more seasons, Thompson adds.

Warriors Reclamation Project Andrew Wiggins Off To Great Start

February 13th, 2020 at 7:12pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

New Warriors wing Andrew Wiggins, the centerpiece of a trade that sent D’Angelo Russell to Minnesota, is off to an excellent start with his new team, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Wiggins, the No. 1 pick in the 2014 NBA draft, is a reclamation project in what amounts to a redshirt year for Golden State.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr is grateful to have part of a season to develop Wiggins in the 12-43 Warriors’ motion offense before Golden State’s Big Three of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green is fully reinstated next fall.

“He’s a great weapon to have, and we’re still learning how to use him,” Kerr said of Wiggins. “We’re going to experiment with some things the last couple months of the season.” The 12-43 Warriors have ruled Thompson out for the entirety of the 2019/20 season.

Magic Discussed Aaron Gordon Trades Before Deadline

February 12th, 2020 at 3:31pm CST by Luke Adams

Aaron Gordon remained with the Magic through last week’s trade deadline, but Sean Deveney of Heavy.com hears that Orlando discussed the sixth-year forward with a handful of teams. According to Deveney, the Warriors and Timberwolves were among the clubs that spoke to the Magic about Gordon. There was also “chatter” involving the Suns.

Although the Magic ended up having a fairly quiet deadline, executives around the NBA think the team may end up revisiting Gordon trade talks this summer, says Deveney.

“They were trying, and they tried hard to get something done with him at the deadline,” one source told Deveney. “All that gets brought back into focus once the season is over and you have a good idea what the market is for him.”

This is hardly the first time we’ve heard Gordon-related trade chatter this season. Shams Charania of The Athletic reported back in November that teams were monitoring the former No. 4 overall pick, and Deveney wrote shortly thereafter that there may be some long-term concerns in Orlando about Gordon’s frontcourt fit with with cornerstone player Jonathan Isaac.

A pair of January reports even connected both the Warriors and Wolves to Gordon. Those teams ultimately made a blockbuster deal with one another instead, swapping D’Angelo Russell and Andrew Wiggins in a trade that included other players and draft picks.

Gordon has had a down year in Orlando, with his scoring average slipping to 13.9 PPG and his shooting percentage dropping to a career-worst .422 FG%. Still, he’d be a coveted player on the trade market, given his versatility, his age (24) and his relatively team-friendly contract ($34.5MM over two years after 2019/20).

According to Deveney, the Mavericks are another team that has “long had interest” in Gordon, but they might have a hard time putting together a competitive package. Deveney writes that “buzz around the league” suggests the Nets and Nuggets – perhaps with a package featuring Spencer Dinwiddie or Gary Harris – would be teams to watch if Gordon is made available this summer.

Forbes Releases 2020 NBA Franchise Valuations

February 11th, 2020 at 11:44am CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks have had a miserable 12 months, finishing the 2018/19 season with a league-worst 17 wins, missing out on their top free agent targets, and then firing head coach David Fizdale and president of basketball operations Steve Mills during the 2019/20 season.

None of that seems to have had a noticeable impact on the team’s market value though. Once again, the franchise is considered the most valuable of any of the NBA’s 30 clubs, according to a report from Kurt Badenhausen of Forbes. The Lakers and Warriors aren’t far behind, having both surpassed the $4 billion mark for the first time this year.

For the first time, all 30 NBA teams have a perceived worth of $1.3 billion or more, per Forbes’ annual report. Every team’s value increased by at least 6% since Forbes put out their 2019 valuations last February, with a handful of franchises jumping by 20% or more.

The NBA-wide average of $2.12 billion per team in 2020 is also a new record — that league-wide average surpassed the $2 billion mark for the first time. NBA franchise values are up almost sixfold over the last decade, according to Badenhausen.

Here’s the full list of NBA franchise valuations, per Forbes:

New York Knicks: $4.6 billion
Los Angeles Lakers: $4.4 billion
Golden State Warriors: $4.3 billion
Chicago Bulls: $3.2 billion
Boston Celtics: $3.1 billion
Los Angeles Clippers: $2.6 billion
Brooklyn Nets: $2.5 billion
Houston Rockets: $2.475 billion
Dallas Mavericks: $2.4 billion
Toronto Raptors: $2.1 billion
Philadelphia 76ers: $2 billion
Miami Heat: $1.95 billion
Portland Trail Blazers: $1.85 billion
San Antonio Spurs: $1.8 billion
Sacramento Kings: $1.775 billion
Washington Wizards: $1.75 billion
Phoenix Suns: $1.625 billion
Denver Nuggets: $1.6 billion
Milwaukee Bucks: $1.58 billion
Oklahoma City Thunder: $1.575 billion
Utah Jazz: $1.55 billion
Indiana Pacers: $1.525 billion
Atlanta Hawks: $1.52 billion
Cleveland Cavaliers: $1.51 billion
Charlotte Hornets: $1.5 billion
Detroit Pistons: $1.45 billion
Orlando Magic: $1.43 billion
Minnesota Timberwolves: $1.375 billion
New Orleans Pelicans: $1.35 billion
Memphis Grizzlies: $1.3 billion

The Raptors are among this year’s big “winners,” with their value rising 25%, from $1.675 billion a year ago to $2.1 billion this year following their first NBA championship. The Clippers also had a noteworthy bump, moving from ninth place on Forbes’ list to sixth after landing Kawhi Leonard and Paul George last summer.

Although every franchise’s value increased, the Nets had the smallest jump, just 6%. The Magic‘s modest 8% increase resulted in the team slipping from 23rd on last year’s list to 27th this year.

It’s worth noting that when a franchise has been sold in recent years, the price often exceeds Forbes’ valuation, so these figures are just estimates.

Lacob Talks Wiggins Trade, Tax, Warriors’ Outlook

February 10th, 2020 at 10:50pm CST by Luke Adams

In the days and weeks leading up to last week’s trade deadline, there was some skepticism that the Warriors would actually trade D’Angelo Russell. Even though the point guard didn’t necessarily look like a long-term fit in Golden State, it seemed likely that the club would want to wait at least until the offseason to fully weigh the trade market for Russell. That would have given him a chance to play alongside Stephen Curry, who is aiming to return from his hand injury in March.

However, the Warriors decided to act sooner rather than later, sending Russell to the Timberwolves for a package that included Andrew Wiggins, a first-round pick, and an opportunity to get out of luxury-tax territory this season. Speaking to Tim Kawakami of The Athletic about the deal, Warriors owner Joe Lacob suggested the club didn’t think it could’ve done better if it waited until the summer.

“We got what we wanted,” Lacob said. “I think if I would’ve bet before the trade deadline, I probably would’ve said we would’ve re-evaluated in the summer, gone through the whole year. But we were fortunate. We got what we wanted, and we did it.”

Lacob offered up a few more interesting comments about the trade and the Warriors’ plans going forward. If you have an Athletic subscription, the conversation is worth checking out in full, but here are some of the highlights:

On the deal being a win/win for the Warriors and Timberwolves:

“Anybody who can’t see that this is a great deal for us, I don’t know what they’re thinking. You can sit and talk about what his salary is, but (Wiggins) had the same salary as D-Lo. They’re both good players. They’re different players. You can question whether this is a better fit; we think it is, as much as I liked D-Lo. He’s a really good player. And I think it’s good for him, too. So it’s a fair, good thing for both teams.”

On why the Warriors wanted to get below the tax line this season:

“Here’s the deal: When you are competing for a championship, I’ve always said we’re going to pay the tax. … But when you’re not winning this year and you’ve got … as good as those players were for us, they’re (expiring contracts after this season), it just didn’t make sense. So I think getting out of the tax so we could get out of the repeater (tax) next year … it’s not about the money. It’s more about the opportunity this summer to flush out our roster that’s the best possible roster for next year.”

On whether the Warriors will be willing to use their mid-level exception and $17MM+ trade exception in the summer, increasing payroll well beyond the tax threshold:

“Yes, I’m talking about mid-level exception, I’m talking about trade exception, any of the possibilities. Doesn’t mean we will, doesn’t mean we’ll be able to, but we have the opportunity, we have the chance to do that now.

“… It’s going to be the highest payroll we’ve ever had next year. We know that. The question is how high. If there’s a trade-exception (deal) that we really want, that’s worth it, let’s consider it. Mid-level exception? Very likely to use. The first pick in the draft, if we were to get that? With luxury tax, (that contract would be) huge.

“Really, the emphasis is on next year. The next two years, our window — Steph’s last two years under contract, before we hopefully bring him back again — we need to field the best possible team we can. That was the emphasis.”

USA Basketball Announces 44 Finalists For 2020 Olympic Roster

February 10th, 2020 at 10:21am CST by Luke Adams

USA Basketball has formally announced a preliminary group of 44 players who are candidates to be part of the program’s roster for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

The final roster will only consist of 12 players, so most of these finalists won’t actually play for Team USA at the Olympics. Some will likely withdraw from consideration, while others simply won’t make the final cut. However, these players have all expressed interest in being involved in the process.

“This is the first step in USA Basketball identifying the 12 players who will represent the United States as members of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball Team in Tokyo,” said USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo.

“… Over the course of the remainder of the NBA season we’ll continue to monitor all of the athletes. Selecting the 12-man USA roster will obviously be an extremely challenging and difficult process, and we will again attempt to select the very best team possible to represent our country and who we hope will be successful in our difficult mission of repeating as Olympic champions for a fourth consecutive Olympics.”

Although the U.S. men’s team has won three consecutive Olympic gold medals, the program had a disappointing showing at last year’s World Cup, finishing in seventh place. Team USA will be looking for a bounce-back performance in Tokyo this summer, with many players from that World Cup squad among the 44 finalists announced today.

Here’s the full list of players who are candidates to play for Team USA at the 2020 Olympics:

Bam Adebayo (Heat)
LaMarcus Aldridge (Spurs)
Harrison Barnes (Kings)
Bradley Beal (Wizards)
Devin Booker (Suns)
Malcolm Brogdon (Pacers)
Jaylen Brown (Celtics)
Jimmy Butler (Heat)
Mike Conley (Jazz)
Stephen Curry (Warriors)
Anthony Davis (Lakers)
DeMar DeRozan (Spurs)
Andre Drummond (Cavaliers)
Kevin Durant (Nets)
Paul George (Clippers)
Draymond Green (Warriors)
James Harden (Rockets)
Montrezl Harrell (Clippers)
Joe Harris (Nets)
Tobias Harris (76ers)
Gordon Hayward (Celtics)
Dwight Howard (Lakers)
Brandon Ingram (Pelicans)
Kyrie Irving (Nets)
LeBron James (Lakers)
Kyle Kuzma (Lakers)
Kawhi Leonard (Clippers)
Damian Lillard (Blazers)
Brook Lopez (Bucks)
Kevin Love (Cavaliers)
Kyle Lowry (Raptors)
JaVale McGee (Lakers)
Khris Middleton (Bucks)
Donovan Mitchell (Jazz)
Victor Oladipo (Pacers)
Chris Paul (Thunder)
Mason Plumlee (Nuggets)
Marcus Smart (Celtics)
Jayson Tatum (Celtics)
Klay Thompson (Warriors)
Myles Turner (Pacers)
Kemba Walker (Celtics)
Russell Westbrook (Rockets)
Derrick White (Spurs)

And-Ones: Free Agency, Goodwin, Robinson, Brown

February 9th, 2020 at 7:48pm CST by JD Shaw

An active 2020 trade deadline has likely watered down the free-agent market this summer, a pattern far from the norm after a combined $4 billion was spent on more than 150 players last July, Bobby Marks of ESPN.com explores.

There were a total of 12 trades within the 48-hour window of the trade deadline this year, with high-profile players such as D’Angelo Russell, Andre Drummond, Andrew Wiggins and Clint Capela switching teams.

As Marks notes, the 2020 free agency class is projected to be mediocre for the most part. The Knicks could have upwards of $50MM to spend (though they’ll likely wait until the following summer for stronger talent), with the Hawks, Pistons, Hornets, Suns, and Heat also set to have north of $20MM.

Beyond Anthony Davis, some of the top unrestricted free agents this summer include Fred VanVleet, Montrezl Harrell, Danilo Gallinari and Serge Ibaka. Drummond ($28.7MM), DeMar DeRozan ($27.7MM) and Evan Fournier ($17MM) all have player options in their contracts, while Brandon Ingram and Bogdan Bogdanovic are set to enter restricted free agency.

Here are some other odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Free agent guard Archie Goodwin has signed in Germany with Ratiopharm Ulm, the team announced, as relayed by Sportando. Goodwin, 25, holds NBA experience with the Suns, Pelicans and Nets, most recently playing in Turkey. Goodwin was drafted with the No. 29 overall pick by Oklahoma City back in 2013.
Former NBA forward Thomas Robinson has signed in Russia with BC Khimki, the team announced on social media. Robinson signed a one-month deal with an extension until the end of the season. The 28-year-old has played for Sacramento, Houston, Portland, Philadelphia, Brooklyn and Los Angeles across his professional career, spending time with the Spurs during summer league in 2019.
Warriors associate head coach Mike Brown has agreed to be the head coach of the Nigerian men’s basketball team, according to Marc J. Spears of ESPN’s The Undefeated (Twitter link). Brown will coach Nigeria during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics this summer, with Nigeria BB president Musa Kida reportedly looking for a high-profile coach that holds NBA experience.