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And-Ones: FIBA Ranks, Olympic Qualifiers, NBAGL

September 20th, 2019 at 5:49pm CST by Luke Adams

Despite their disappointing showing at the 2019 World Cup in China, USA Basketball has retained the No. 1 seed in FIBA’s international rankings, writes Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. World Cup champion Spain is at No. 2, followed by Australia, Argentina, and France.

FIBA’s rankings account for results from the last eight years, so the fact that Team USA won the 2014 World Cup and took home gold medals at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics keeps the program at the top of that list for now.

Meanwhile, FIBA also announced this week that the 24-team field is set for next summer’s Olympic qualifying tournaments. Eight of the 12 spots in the 2020 Olympics have already been claimed, but 24 countries will have a chance to compete for the final four spots. Brazil, Canada, Germany, Greece, Lithuania, Serbia, and Slovenia – all of whom should have NBA players on their rosters – are among the teams competing in those qualifiers.

Interestingly though, those Olympic qualifying tournaments are scheduled to take place between June 23-28, 2020, so it’s not clear whether members of next year’s free agent class will be willing to participate — suffering a major injury in those games would impact their earning potential a week later.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Ethan Strauss of The Athletic polled a dozen executives around the NBA about the 2019/20 outlook for the Warriors, Lakers, Clippers, and Rockets. The consensus? Those execs unanimously agreed that Golden State will make the playoffs, and believe that the Clippers are a better team than the Lakers. They’re also not convinced that the Rockets will be much better after swapping Chris Paul for Russell Westbrook.
The NBA announced this week that the annual NBA G League Winter Showcase will have a new tournament format this year. The event, which will take place in Las Vegas from December 19-22, will feature a $100K prize for the winning team. That prize will have to be split among all the team’s players, but it still represents a nice bonus, considering the NBAGL’s standard salary is $35K.
In an interesting piece for The Athletic, Danny Leroux explains how an over-the-cap, below-the-tax team that re-signs a player using Bird rights can essentially turn that player into a “walking trade exception” by overpaying him to some extent. Leroux points to Darius Miller of the Pelicans as one example. Miller probably wasn’t getting a $7.25MM salary from any team besides New Orleans, but that contract could be a useful salary-matching piece for David Griffin during the season, whereas a minimum deal wouldn’t have been.

Klay Thompson Wants To Be Part Of Olympic Team

September 20th, 2019 at 9:00am CST by Arthur Hill

Despite a torn ACL that will sideline him for most of the upcoming season, Warriors guard Klay Thompson is committed to representing his country in the 2020 Olympics, writes Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic.

“I would love to play (for) Team USA,” Thompson said. “That is the plan. I would love to be on the Olympic team.”

Thompson was part of the team that went undefeated during the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. Although he shot just 36.4% from the field in eight games, he averaged 9.9 PPG as the Americans cruised to the gold medal.

He would love for his next Olympic experience to include his fellow Splash Brother, Stephen Curry, who had to withdraw in 2016 after suffering an MCL sprain in the playoffs. Although they’ve never played in the Olympics together, Curry and Thompson were teammates on the gold medal squad in the 2014 World Cup.

“That would be amazing,” Thompson said about the possibility of teaming up with Curry in the Olympics. “Amazing. Because even when we played in the World Championships together, we were barely on the floor together.”

The Americans are coming off their worst international performance since NBA players began participating in 1992, finishing seventh at this year’s World Cup. That was preceded by a series of big names declining invitations to training camp or pulling out before the final roster was announced, but it appears that won’t be a problem in 2020. Thompson, Curry and Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard have already announced their intentions to play in the Olympics.

“It was hard to watch us lose,” Thompson said. “Those guys, they sacrificed their summers for that. I’m not going to dog them for losing, though. The world is good.”

Warriors’ Potential Pursuit Of Giannis Doesn’t Concern Bucks

September 19th, 2019 at 9:50pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Because he’s a superstar in a smaller market, speculation about Giannis Antetokounmpo leaving Milwaukee figures to continue until the 2019 MVP inks a long-term extension with the Bucks.

Rumors about the Warriors looming as a threat to lure Antetokounmpo to the Bay Area popped up this week during a Ramona Shelburne appearance on ESPN’s Get Up (video link). That chatter has some within the NBA worried that Golden State will again shift the league’s landscape within the next couple years. However, it doesn’t appear that Milwaukee is worried about that scenario.

“Keeping Giannis, it’s a focus obviously,” a Bucks front-office source tells Sean Deveney of Heavy.com. “But fighting the Warriors is not a focus. The Warriors are not the concern in the least. They’d have a long way to go to get him to Golden State, they’d have to give away a lot. He has never given any indication that he wants to leave Milwaukee. So a lot of that stuff, it is more chatter than anything.”

Antetokounmpo, who can’t hit the free agent market until the summer of 2021, is eligible to sign an extension with Milwaukee next offseason. The Bucks plan on offering him a super-max deal as soon as they are able to.

As for the Warriors, they currently have Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and D’Angelo Russell on maximum-salary contracts, with Draymond Green making close to the max. Those four players will earn a combined $137.8MM during the 2021/22 season, so as Deveney’s source notes, Golden State would have to make some serious roster changes to realistically make a play for Antetokounmpo.

Stephen Curry Talks 2020 Olympics, KD’s Departure

September 18th, 2019 at 10:15am CST by Luke Adams

Count Stephen Curry among the potential Team USA players who didn’t participate in the 2019 World Cup but is interested in helping the program recapture gold at the 2020 Olympics. Speaking to ESPN’s Rachel Nichols (link via Nick Friedell at ESPN.com), the Warriors‘ star said that he intends to join Team USA in Tokyo next summer, health permitting.

“That is the plan, for sure,” Curry said. “You know, obviously knock on wood, you don’t want any injuries or things like that to interfere. … [I] definitely want to go. I’ve never been on the Olympic team. I’ve been on two World Cup Championship gold medal teams. But the Olympics is the experience that I want. And next year will hopefully be it.”

Besides Curry, a handful of other stars have spoken out in recent days about being part of the USA Basketball roster in 2020. Some, like Donovan Mitchell and Kemba Walker, were part of this year’s World Cup roster and have expressed interest in representing Team USA again at the Olympics. Others, like Curry and Damian Lillard, passed on participating this year but would like to play next summer.

Of course, before Team USA makes any decisions on its 12-man roster for Tokyo, we’ve got a full NBA season to play. In his conversation with Nichols, Curry offered several thoughts on the upcoming year and looked back at Kevin Durant‘s free agent decision. Here are a few of Curry’s most notable comments, via Friedell:

On Durant’s decision to leave the Warriors for the Nets:

“At the end of the day, we live in an age where choice at the forefront, and K made a decision for himself and you can’t argue that. I wish we could still play with K. He’s an unbelievable talent, unbelievable person. We accomplished a lot together. But things have changed a little bit. So you obviously wish him the best, obviously with his recovery first and foremost and things on and off the court. But we’re gonna have to battle down the road. So this should be a fun, new experience on that front too.”

On potential “load management” during the 2019/20 season:

“I want to be smart about what I’m doing. I doubt there will be any games where I’m playing 48 minutes (laugh). I could, but that’s not part of how you achieve greatness, at the end of the day, for what we’re trying to accomplish, which is a championship. So everything’s going to be in light of trying to get another banner. All the other stuff is — it’ll take care of itself.”

On the possibility of winning his third MVP award this season:

“I always say, I’m playing like I’m the best player on the floor no matter what the situation is. That’s my mentality. It might not mean I’m taking every shot, but that’s the aggressiveness that I need to play with and the confidence I need to have. So, that’ll carry me the rest of my career. And at the end of the day, winning an MVP would be special. And it’s something that I’ve experienced before and would love to experience again. I’d love to push the envelope and push the limits a little bit. [But] you won’t see anything different about how I play this season versus years past.”

Green Wants To Play In Olympics; Myers Calls Livingston's Tale Inspirational

September 13th, 2019 at 5:37pm CST by Dana Gauruder

In the wake of Team USA’s flop in the FIBA World Cup, Warriors forward Draymond Green wants to play in next year’s Olympics, he said in a CNBC interview relayed by NBC Sports Bay Area’s Brian Witt. Green anticipates that many other stars who skipped this year’s event will also want to wear the Team USA uniform in Tokyo.

“I do hope to play, and I think a lot of guys will want to play,” the Warriors’ three-time All-Star said. “The schedule this year was a little treacherous with the games that were in America, and also the travel to Australia, which is why I think a lot of guys dropped out. You know, a long ways to China.”

Warriors GM Bob Myers called Shaun Livingston’s story “one of the most inspirational in the history of professional sports” in a statement released by the club. Livingston announced his retirement on Friday. “What he accomplished after suffering so many trials and tribulations early in his career is a true testament to who he is as a person, which has always been characterized by tremendous class, grace and professionalism,” the statement read in part.

Shaun Livingston Announces Retirement

September 13th, 2019 at 10:56am CST by Luke Adams

Veteran NBA guard Shaun Livingston is calling it a career, announcing his retirement this morning in a post on Instagram.

“After 15 years in the NBA, I’m excited, sad, fortunate and grateful all in one breath,” Livingston wrote. “Hard to put into a caption all of the emotions it takes to try and accomplish your dreams.

“I wasn’t supposed to be here. Anybody that has beat the odds understands the mental and emotional strain it takes to inspire yourself on an uphill war, let alone inspire others. ‘The injury’ gave me a chance to find and prove to myself (and the world) that I wouldn’t be defined by my circumstances. With my time in the League what I will be most proud of is the fact that my character, values and faith were tested, and I persevered.”

The fourth overall pick in the 2004 draft, Livingston began his NBA career with the Clippers and was on the rise when his development was derailed by a catastrophic knee injury in his third season. In addition to tearing his ACL and PCL, Livingston also dislocated his kneecap, tore his lateral meniscus, sprained his MCL, and dislocated his patella.

While there were doubts about his ability to return as an effective NBA player following that injury, Livingston eventually made his way back to the court and appeared in over 800 more games (including the playoffs) for the Heat, Thunder, Wizards, Bobcats, Bucks, Cavaliers, Nets, and Warriors.

Livingston, who turned 34 years old on Wednesday, was a key contributor off the bench for Golden State during the team’s recent run of five consecutive NBA Finals appearances. During those five years, the 6’7″ guard averaged 5.4 PPG and 2.4 APG in 367 regular season contests (17.5 MPG) and won three titles with the Warriors.

Livingston was released earlier this summer before his contract for 2019/20 could become fully guaranteed because the Dubs were obligated to keep team salary below a hard cap. It’s not clear if he would have played one more season in Golden State if the club had been able to keep him on its roster or if he would have ultimately decided to retire anyway.

For what it’s worth, a report at the time of his release indicated that Livingston intended to continue his career. Assuming that report was accurate, it seems the Illinois native either had a change of heart or didn’t find an opportunity he liked.

Livingston’s next step is not yet known, but a July report suggested the Warriors would likely offer him a role in the organization upon his retirement.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pacific Notes: Durant, Thompson, Lakers’ DPE, Kings

September 11th, 2019 at 10:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

Kevin Durant left the Warriors because he wasn’t able to find the family atmosphere he wanted, writes Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. Durant got the championships and individual awards he was seeking when he signed with Golden State three years ago, but as he indicated in a Wall Street Journal interview this week, he couldn’t be part of the organization in the same way that Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala were.

Poole notes that Durant was impressed by the closeness those four players displayed when they came to the Hamptons to recruit him in 2016. That influenced his decision, but he still felt like an outsider. He wasn’t drafted to the organization like Curry, Thompson and Green, and he wasn’t instrumental in the Warriors’ first title in 40 years the way that Iguodala was.

Poole adds that the family dynamic faded over Durant’s three years with Golden State as players spent more time with their actual families. The Currys had two more children, Iguodala got married and Green became more devoted to fatherhood. Green was a close friend for Durant in his first season with the team, but he hung out with DeMarcus Cousins more often last year.

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

Steve Kerr tells Joe Vardon of The Athletic that it’s going to be like “Year 1” as he guides a much different Warriors roster. While many key pieces are gone from the championship years, Kerr said surviving while Thompson heals from a torn ACL will be the biggest challenge. “Losing Kevin, Andre, Shaun (Livingston) obviously, those are huge losses,” he said. “Losing Klay on top of all that really changes the way we’re going to have to play at both ends. Klay was always an integral part of everything. Movement on offense, but also the guarding of the ballhandler on defense, switching onto bigs. So until he gets back, we’ve got to re-imagine everything and adapt accordingly.”
The Lakers are seeking a disabled player exception after Cousins’ injury, but it’s likely just a tool that may be used later in the season, according to Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report. There are few options who could make a difference at a $1.75MM salary, which is half of what Cousins is owed. However, minimum contracts decrease through the year, and the DPE will be more valuable once buyout season arrives.
Buddy Hield and Bogdan Bogdanovic will be competing not just for minutes in the Kings‘ backcourt, but for contract extensions as well, notes James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area.

Kevin Durant Talks FA Decision, Warriors, Thunder

September 10th, 2019 at 12:16pm CST by Luke Adams

Kevin Durant hasn’t spoken much this summer about his decision to leave the Warriors for the Nets in free agency, but he opened up on that topic in a conversation with J.R. Moehringer of The Wall Street Journal.

As Durant explained to Moehringer, after going through an extended series of meetings during his free agency in 2016, the star forward didn’t feel the need to do the same in 2019. He didn’t even need to speak to the Nets before making his decision, having felt confident from the outside that Brooklyn was the right fit.

Durant also noted that the motion offense the Warriors run “only works to a certain point,” and that the later rounds of the postseason require him to get more creative on offense. According to Moehringer, the 10-time All-Star wanted to go somewhere where he’d be “free to hone that sort of improvisational game” over the course of the season.

The opportunity to join his “best friend in the league,” Kyrie Irving, was a plus for KD too.

Over the course of Moehringer’s piece, Durant offers a handful of interesting thoughts and observations on his fit with the Warriors, his relationship with the Thunder, and his feeling about the NBA. Here are a few of those highlights:

On never fully fitting in with the Warriors:

“I came in there wanting to be part of a group, wanting to be part of a family, and definitely felt accepted. But I’ll never be one of those guys. I didn’t get drafted there.… Steph Curry, obviously drafted there. Andre Iguodala, won the first Finals, first championship. Klay Thompson, drafted there. Draymond Green, drafted there. And the rest of the guys kind of rehabilitated their careers there. So me? S–t, how you going to rehabilitate me? What you going to teach me? How can you alter anything in my basketball life? I got an MVP already. I got scoring titles.

“As time went on, I started to realize I’m just different from the rest of the guys. It’s not a bad thing. Just my circumstances and how I came up in the league. And on top of that, the media always looked at it like KD and the Warriors. So it’s like nobody could get a full acceptance of me there.”

On the hostile reaction he received from the Thunder and their fans when he returned as a Warrior:

“Such a venomous toxic feeling when I walked into that arena. And just the organization, the trainers and equipment managers, those dudes is pissed off at me? Ain’t talking to me? I’m like, ‘Yo, this is where we going with this? Because I left a team and went to play with another team?’

“… I’ll never be attached to that city again because of that. I eventually wanted to come back to that city and be part of that community and organization, but I don’t trust nobody there. That s–t must have been fake, what they was doing. The organization, the GM, I ain’t talked to none of those people, even had a nice exchange with those people, since I left.”

On the business of the NBA:

“Some days I hate the circus of the NBA. Some days I hate that the players let the NBA business, the fame that comes with the business, alter their minds about the game. Sometimes I don’t like being around the executives and politics that come with it. I hate that.”

Warriors Sign Juan Toscano-Anderson To Exhibit 10 Deal

September 10th, 2019 at 9:42am CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors have signed free agent forward Juan Toscano-Anderson to an Exhibit 10 contract, according to agent Misko Raznatovic (Twitter link). RealGM’s transactions log confirms that the deal has been officially completed.

Toscano-Anderson, 26, played his college ball at Marquette before going undrafted in 2015. He has spent most of his professional career with teams in his home country of Mexico, but joined Golden State’s G League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors, for the 2018/19 season.

In 44 games (16 starts) with Santa Cruz, Toscano-Anderson averaged 7.0 PPG, 6.8 RPG, and 2.1 APG with a .438/.341/.590 shooting line in 23.8 minutes per contest. At the conclusion of the NBAGL season, he rejoined Fuerza Regia in Mexico for the LNBP playoffs. He also participated in the G League Elite Camp this spring, then played for Golden State’s Summer League squad in Las Vegas.

His new deal with the Warriors indicates that Toscano-Anderson may return to Santa Cruz for the 2019/20 campaign. If he spends two months with the G League squad, he’d be eligible to earn a bonus of up to $50K as a result of his Exhibit 10 deal with Golden State.

Delaney, Meeks, Afflalo Working Out For Warriors

September 10th, 2019 at 9:02am CST by Luke Adams

9:02am: Jodie Meeks, Arron Afflalo, and DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell are also working out for the Warriors today, Shaw has learned (Twitter link).

7:52am: Veteran point guard Malcolm Delaney is working out for the Warriors today, a source tells JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors (Twitter link). Delaney also recently auditioned for the Knicks.

A former Virginia Tech standout, Delaney spent two seasons with the Hawks from 2016-18, averaging 5.7 PPG and 2.8 APG in 127 total games in Atlanta. Outside of that two-year NBA stint, Delaney has spent his professional career overseas, playing for teams in France, Ukraine, Germany, Russia, and China.

A recent report indicated that Delaney was in talks with Spanish club Barcelona about a potential deal, but was continuing to seek out NBA offers before deciding whether or not to return to Europe.

While the Warriors have room on their offseason roster to add Delaney or another player, it’s hard to see a path to a regular season roster spot for a camp invitee in Golden State, given the team’s hard cap. The Dubs would have to release Alfonzo McKinnie‘s non-guaranteed contract or make a trade to create the room necessary to carry another player into the regular season.

A report on Monday indicated that former first-round pick Jared Cunningham would also be working out for the Warriors.