- Offseason addition Glenn Robinson III won the competition for the Warriors‘ starting small forward job, writes Anthony Slater of The Athletic. While Robinson played well in the preseason, he essentially won the job by default, with Alfonzo McKinnie waived and Alec Burks sidelined due to an ankle injury.
Stephen Curry hasn’t given up on the championship dream with the Warriors this season despite the loss of Kevin Durant and long-term injury to Klay Thompson, as he told Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
“A championship is still the goal,” Curry said. “It’s always been. We’ve experienced it all and we’re going to keep pushing to get back there. That’s the goal. It’s the North Star. The narrative might have changed internally, but we’re still chasing the same goal.”
We have more on the Warriors:
- Frontcourt injuries have made for a difficult preseason, Anthony Slater of The Athletic notes. The Warriors have gone most of the preseason without Willie Cauley-Stein and Kevon Looney and their absences have shown in preseason losses to the Lakers. “We need to get healthy,” coach Steve Kerr said. “You have to have rim protection in this league.” Kerr is hopeful that Looney, who has been sidelined by a hamstring injury, can return for the season opener, Slater tweets.
- The team is now technically $375K under the hard cap after deciding to waive Alfonzo McKinnie and retaining Marquese Chriss, salary cap expert Albert Nahmad tweets. However, since Chriss’ contract doesn’t become fully guaranteed until January 10th, the Warriors are essentially $2MM below the hard cap with Chriss’ deal counting $9,485 daily until that deadline, Nahmad adds.
- Draymond Green ripped the Suns’ organization for mishandling Chriss during his time there, Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area writes. Chriss was the eighth overall pick in 2016 but lasted just two seasons in Phoenix. “No one ever blames these (lousy) franchises. They always want to blame the kid. It’s not always the kid’s fault,” Green said.
- Charania provides updates on a pair of roster battles, writing that Javonte Green is the favorite to become the Celtics‘ 15th man over Max Strus, while Marquese Chriss is “moving closer” to claiming a regular season roster spot with the Warriors.
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The 2019/20 NBA regular season will get underway in just eight days, which means it’s time to get serious about predictions for the upcoming campaign.
With the help of the lines from a handful of sports betting sites, including Bovada and BetOnline, we’re running through the predicted win totals for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, by division. In a series of team-by-team polls, you’ll get the chance to weigh in on whether you think those forecasts are too optimistic or too pessimistic.
Having already looked at the Atlantic, Northwest, and Central, we’re moving onto the Pacific today…
Los Angeles Clippers
- 2018/19 record: 48-34
- Over/under for 2019/20: 54.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
Trade Rumors app users, click here for Clippers poll.
Los Angeles Lakers
- 2018/19 record: 37-45
- Over/under for 2019/20: 51.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Anthony Davis, Danny Green, Avery Bradley, Quinn Cook, Troy Daniels, Jared Dudley, Dwight Howard, Talen Horton-Tucker, DeMarcus Cousins (injured)
- Lost: Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Lance Stephenson, Reggie Bullock, Mike Muscala, Tyson Chandler, Moritz Wagner, Josh Hart, Isaac Bonga, Jemerrio Jones
Trade Rumors app users, click here for Lakers poll.
Golden State Warriors
- 2018/19 record: 57-25
- Over/under for 2019/20: 48.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: D’Angelo Russell, Willie Cauley-Stein, Alec Burks, Glenn Robinson III, Jordan Poole, Omari Spellman, Eric Paschall, Alen Smailagic
- Lost: Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, DeMarcus Cousins, Damian Jones, Quinn Cook, Jordan Bell, Andrew Bogut, Jonas Jerebko
- Note: Klay Thompson is expected to be out until at least the All-Star break.
Trade Rumors app users, click here for Warriors poll.
Sacramento Kings
- 2018/19 record: 39-43
- Over/under for 2019/20: 38.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Dewayne Dedmon, Trevor Ariza, Cory Joseph, Richaun Holmes, Justin James
- Lost: Willie Cauley-Stein, Alec Burks, Kosta Koufos, Corey Brewer, Frank Mason
Trade Rumors app users, click here for Kings poll.
Phoenix Suns
- 2018/19 record: 19-63
- Over/under for 2019/20: 29.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Ricky Rubio, Aron Baynes, Dario Saric, Frank Kaminsky, Cameron Johnson, Ty Jerome, Cheick Diallo, Jevon Carter, Jalen Lecque
- Lost: T.J. Warren, Josh Jackson, Troy Daniels, Dragan Bender, Jamal Crawford, Richaun Holmes, De’Anthony Melton, Jimmer Fredette, Ray Spalding
Trade Rumors app users, click here for Suns poll.
Previous voting results:
- Philadelphia 76ers (54.5 wins): Over (54.9%)
- Boston Celtics (49.5 wins): Under (57.0%)
- Toronto Raptors (46.5 wins): Under (59.1%)
- Brooklyn Nets (43.5 wins): Over (58.3%)
- New York Knicks (27.5 wins): Under (54.9%)
- Denver Nuggets (53.5 wins): Over (51.8%)
- Utah Jazz (53.5 wins): Under (50.8%)
- Portland Trail Blazers (46.5 wins): Over (78.7%)
- Minnesota Timberwolves (35.5 wins): Under (57.5%)
- Oklahoma City Thunder (32.5 wins): Under (55.1%)
- Milwaukee Bucks (57.5 wins): Over (63.5%)
- Indiana Pacers (46.5 wins): Over (56.6%)
- Detroit Pistons (37.5 wins): Over (69.8%)
- Chicago Bulls (33.5 wins): Under (56.2%)
- Cleveland Cavaliers (24.5 wins): Under (70.0%)
- The Warriors’ overall confidence in rookie guard Jordan Poole is gradually beginning to grow, Monte Poole of NBC Sports writes. “He’s really advanced,” Draymond Green said of his teammate on Thursday, moments after Poole scored 19 points in 21 minutes against the Timberwolves. “He’s very good with the basketball and he can shoot it, which is obviously at a premium in this league today. But he can really create shots for himself and can really stretch and space the floor out.”
A few Warriors players have asked general manager Bob Myers to find a spot for Marquese Chriss on the roster, according to Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. Chriss made an immediate impact Saturday in Golden State’s first preseason game with eight points, six rebounds and four assists in 13 minutes. He also fills a need for a team that’s dealing with injuries to big men Kevon Looney and Willie Cauley-Stein.
But keeping Chriss won’t be easy. The Warriors are severely limited because of a hard cap that came along with the sign-and-trade for D’Angelo Russell. To hold onto Chriss, they will have to either trade one of their 13 guaranteed salaries or waive Alfonzo McKinnie, whose $1,588,231 contract is non-guaranteed. A two-way deal is theoretically possible, but Chriss didn’t sign an Exhibit 10 contract, so he’d have to clear waivers for that to happen.
“I’ve heard good things, positive things from the coaches,” Chriss said. “I’m just trying to stay open-minded and keep being coached. Whether or not it works out here, I was able to come here and learn some things that I would be able to take other places. I think at the end of the day, my goal was to show them that this was where I should be and put the pressure on them.”
There’s more Warriors news to pass along:
- McKinnie is engaged in a three-way competition for the starting small forward slot, notes Monte Poole of NBC Bay Area. He’s battling Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III, who both signed as free agents over the summer. Poole suggests that McKinnie has the edge because of his experience with the team, but he may have slipped with a poor first preseason game in which he made just one of four 3-pointers and finished at minus-23.
- Anthony Slater of The Athletic takes an in-depth look at the hard cap and the effects it will have on the Warriors throughout the season. The team is already within $407,257 of the $138,928,000 figure, which means they can’t add a 15th player to the roster until March 3, when a pro-rated minimum salary will become small enough to fit. Slater notes that once that date arrives, Golden State could reach out to Andrew Bogut again when his Australian season is complete.
- Stephen Curry told reporters today that he hasn’t determined how the NBA’s standoff with China will affect his Under Armour tours of the nation going forward, tweets Logan Murdock of NBC Sports.
The Warriors have signed center Kavion Pippen and waived guard Devyn Marble, according to a team press release. It’s likely to be an Exhibit 10 contract for Pippen.
Undrafted in June, Pippen averaged 12.4 PPG, 5.8 RPG and 1.66 BPG in two seasons at Southern Illinois University. The 6’10” center attended Three Rivers Community College prior to enrolling at SIU. He’s the nephew of longtime Bulls star Scottie Pippen.
Marble, signed by Golden State on September 30, played eight minutes in the Warriors’ 123-101 preseason loss to the Lakers on Saturday night.
Marble, 26, averaged 13.3 PPG in 34 games for Italy’s Aquila Basket Trento last season. He was the 56th overall pick in the 2014 draft and was acquired by the Magic in a draft-night deal with the Nuggets. He appeared in 44 games with Orlando before he was traded during the summer of 2016 to the Clippers, who quickly waived him. Marble played briefly in Greece before joining Trento in January 2017.
The Warriors worked out several centers Friday and may add one to their training camp roster soon, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic, who adds that the team isn’t able to offer any guaranteed money because of hard cap issues. Golden State is short-handed in the middle due to a strained left foot suffered by Willie Cauley-Stein that will force him to miss all of camp. Cauley-Stein is off crutches and attended tonight’s game, but remains in a walking boot.
The frontcourt situation is creating a greater opportunity for Marquese Chriss, who signed with the team Monday. Chriss’ contract also contains no guaranteed salary, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN, but he is receiving a virtual “open audition” for any teams that might need big men. The Warriors are his fourth team in the past 13 months.
There’s more tonight from the Pacific Division:
- Second-round pick Terance Mann had plenty of Clippers connections before the team drafted him with the 48th pick in June, writes Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. Team scout Leo Papile served as a mentor to Mann and has known him since age 13, while Mann’s mother used to coach at Northeastern and frequently took her sons to watch the Celtics when Doc Rivers was running the team.
- The Clippers aren’t sure if Kawhi Leonard will play in any preseason games, but Rivers doesn’t believe it matters, Greif tweets. “You can make the case no, because you’re getting your reps in practice, you are playing live,” Rivers said. “He played the whole practice today that was live. But will he not play one [preseason game]? I don’t know that, he probably will play one, but I would say I’m not that concerned, either way.”
- Kings big man Harry Giles didn’t join the team on its trip to India because of knee soreness, but he received some good medical news this week, according to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. An MRI didn’t reveal any new issues with Giles’ surgically repaired left knee.
The Warriors enter this season a slightly different version of the dominant Golden State squads from recent years. While mainstays Draymond Green, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson remain, the departure of Kevin Durant and a slew of new faces has changed the landscape in Oakland.
While Thompson’s outlook is unclear given his recovery from a torn ACL, the presence of Curry and Green — to go along with the new addition of D’Angelo Russell and others — keeps the Warriors in the discussion of top Western Conference teams. However, given the roster turnover, Green says adjusting to the new personnel has been a focal point early in training camp, ESPN’s Nick Fridell writes.
“Just the lack of familiarity,” Green said. “You get used to a certain thing for so long, and then it’s not that. The normal reads that you would make, just kind of second nature, you got to make sure they’re there. It’s just a lot more making sure everyone’s on the same page, or getting there. Everybody’s not on the same page, which is to be expected, so just getting everybody there is the difference.”
Check out more notes related to California teams:
- The change within the Warriors‘ organization has not been limited to just the players. Anthony Slater of The Athletic explores how Golden State’s coaching staff is getting acclimated, especially defensive specialist Ron Adams, who remained with the team but in a reduced role.
- Ethan Strauss of The Athletic writes that despite the perception of the Warriors acquiring Russell just to eventually trade him, Golden State is operating under the belief that the All-Star guard will be a fixture of the team for the future.
- Given the Clippers‘ active offseason, the addition of Maurice Harkless flew under the radar. However, now that training camp has begun, Harkless is hoping to stand out as an effective role player, Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times writes. “Like about a month ago when we first started meeting together as a coaching staff, you start thinking, ‘Oh, we got Mo Harkless.’ We have more on our team. And then you watch what he can do,” head coach Doc Rivers said.
- While superstars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are set in stone, along with Patrick Beverley and Ivica Zubac as starters, other positions for the Clippers will feature training camp competition. Jovan Buha of The Athletic examines all the competition in L.A. and how the team’srotation may shake out.
- After finishing just outside the postseason picture last season, the Kings entered the offseason looking to acquire veteran players who have experience in a winning culture. As Jason Jones of The Athletic writes, the additions of Cory Joseph, Trevor Ariza and Dewayne Dedmon all aligned with that goal.
Warriors rookie big man Alen Smailagic has a severe ankle sprain, Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweets. Coach Steve Kerr said Smailagic, a second-round pick, will be out for the “foreseeable future” due to the injury.
The 18-year-old Serbian played in the G League for Santa Cruz – the Warriors’ affiliate – in 2018/19 but wasn’t draft-eligible until this year. He was shut down early in the pre-draft process and was “hidden” in Serbia from the rest of the NBA. He signed a four-year, minimum salary contract with two years guaranteed.