Golden State Warriors Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Andre Iguodala Close To Retirement?

November 28th, 2018 at 7:29pm CST by clarkcrum

The Warriors are looking to win their fourth championship in five years next spring, but one of their key role players has been contemplating his future beyond this season, writes Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area.

14-year veteran Andre Iguodala, 34, is already “counting down” the remaining years of his NBA career, telling Poole that while he thinks he could theoretically play another five seasons, he’ll likely hang it up after no more than three additional years.

“I’m going to be done soon. I could probably play a legit five more years, but I’ll probably max out at three more after this year – maybe three more. But if I’m not here, that will weigh heavily on what I will do. I possibly have another year here – if we win. That’s it. I know that. I’m fine with it.”

Reading between those lines makes it sounds as if Iguodala may consider retirement this summer if the Warriors don’t win it all, but he’s still under contract next year and scheduled to make a guaranteed $17.2MM, so that seems unlikely.

Moreover, the Warriors still value Iguodala’s presence, even it may appear that he’s coasting through the regular season despite the team’s relative struggles recently. His ability to affect the game outside of the box score marvels his teammates and he always seems to produce what his team needs at the right moment. Accordingly, whenever he does retire, the Warriors or another team will certainly miss him.

Curry Could Return This Week

November 26th, 2018 at 10:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Warriors point guard and two-time MVP Stephen Curry could be back in action this week, according to an NBA.com post. He will go through a full practice on Tuesday with the possibility of playing against the Raptors on Thursday, coach Steve Kerr told the media. Curry has missed 10 consecutive games with a left groin strain.

DeMarcus Cousins Targeting Post-Christmas Return

November 26th, 2018 at 2:44pm CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors are aiming to get DeMarcus Cousins into their lineup at some point after Christmas, reports Logan Murdock of The Bay Area News Group.

According to Murdock, Cousins had been hoping to make his Warriors debut much earlier, perhaps even during the team’s upcoming five-game road trip. However, the determination to continue taking things slow was made during a meeting last Friday between the veteran center and Golden State’s training staff.

Cousins, who is recovering from a torn Achilles, hasn’t experienced any setbacks, but the Warriors want to ensure that he regains his conditioning and is close to “peak form” by the time he starts playing, says Murdock. The team figures to set a more definitive timeline for Cousins’ debut after seeing how he responds to contact scrimmages. The 28-year-old has been scrimmaging with the team lately, Murdock notes.

The Warriors have had some uncharacteristic struggles over the last week or two, but they’re still 14-7, which puts them percentage points behind the 13-6 Clippers for the No. 1 seed in the West. Once the Dubs get Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Cousins healthy, they’ll be able to run out a starting lineup that features five All-NBA players.

Draymond Green Diagnosed With Sprained Right Toe

November 25th, 2018 at 2:08pm CST by JD Shaw

Warriors forward Draymond Green recently underwent an MRI on his right toe, with the results confirming that he sustained a sprain, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweets. Green has missed the team’s last five games.

Latest On Stephen Curry

November 24th, 2018 at 6:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Warriors guard Stephen Curry isn’t ready to return yet, but he’s making good progress in his recovery from a strained left groin, the team announced today in a press release.

According to the Warriors, Curry was re-evaluated today and is ready to begin to intensify his on-court workouts. If he continues to progress as the Dubs expect, the two-time MVP will likely start practicing with the team next week, with the goal of playing at some point during Golden State’s upcoming five-game road trip.

That means that Curry will sit out tonight’s game vs. Sacramento and Monday’s game vs. Orlando, at the very least. The Warriors will then embark on a road trip that includes stops in Toronto (11/29), Detroit (12/1), Atlanta (12/3), Cleveland (12/5), and Milwaukee (12/7).

While it remains unclear if Curry will be ready for the showdown with the Raptors at the start of that road trip, the team sounds hopeful that he’ll be back in action in time for the showdown with the Bucks at the end of the trip.

Curry has missed Golden State’s last eight games and the team has endured some uncharacteristic struggles in his absence. Including the game Curry left early with the groin injury, the Warriors are 3-6 since their star guard went down.

It hasn’t helped that the Dubs have had to deal with other injuries while Curry has been on the shelf. Draymond Green and Alfonzo McKinnie will both remain out of action for tonight’s game, and are still considered day-to-day, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic.

Warriors Notes: Centers, Curry, Green, Iguodala

November 22nd, 2018 at 1:58pm CST by Arthur Hill

Tyson Chandler‘s statement that he considered signing with the Warriors before joining the Lakers is a sign that Golden State is having second thoughts about its current group of centers, writes Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Steven Adams dominated the Warriors on Wednesday with 20 points and 11 rebounds in Oklahoma City’s 28-point win, elevating concerns that Damian Jones, Kevon Looney and Jordan Bell aren’t doing enough in the middle.

The organization made the decision to go with younger centers this summer, letting JaVale McGee, Zaza Pachulia and David West all leave. However, after a few weeks Golden State was already reaching out to a veteran like Chandler to provide more stability.

Jones made his 17th start in 19 games Wednesday, but posted just four points and no rebounds, continuing his season-long struggle. Looney had four points and nine rebounds in 22 minutes, but Slater notes that his offensive limitations make it hard to trust him with a larger role. Bell has fallen out of the rotation and hasn’t played well enough to earn more minutes.

Of course, the Warriors’ problems at center could be solved in a big way once offseason addition DeMarcus Cousins is able to play. But there’s still no timetable for him to return after last season’s Achilles injury, which means center could be a lingering issue for the defending champs.

There’s more Warriors news to pass along:

Stephen Curry didn’t appear to be bothered by a groin sprain during shooting drills at Tuesday’s practice, but the Warriors are being careful about bringing back their star guard, Slater relays in the same story. He has already been ruled out for games Friday and Saturday against the Trail Blazers and Kings. Golden State is 2-5 since Curry suffered the injury.
Draymond Green, who is sidelined with a sprained toe, may be losing his impact as a vocal leader, Slater adds. Green was caught on camera giving a fiery speech during a first-half timeout, but the reaction of his teammates suggests that it wasn’t inspirational.
Andre Iguodala hasn’t been able to provide a scoring boost with Curry and Green sidelined, writes Dieter Kurtenbach of The San Jose Mercury News. Iguodala is averaging just 6.4 PPG since the start of November. Kurtenbach contends he could be filling the roles of playmaker and third scorer, but appears to be coasting through the regular season.

Green Reasserts Himself As Leader; Durant Fined $25K

November 21st, 2018 at 11:11pm CST by Arthur Hill

Draymond Green is reasserting himself as a leader in the Warriors‘ locker room after last week’s altercation with Kevin Durant, says Shams Charania of The Athletic in a Twitter video. Green addressed the team following Sunday’s loss in San Antonio, emphasizing the need to regroup and pointing out areas that need to be worked on. Charania adds that the Warriors remain confident that things will be fine once Stephen Curry returns from his injury.
Durant was fined $25K for a profane comment he made to a fan during Saturday’s Warriors game in Dallas, tweets Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.

Warriors Believed Team Chemistry Was At Stake After Draymond Green Altercation

November 21st, 2018 at 3:13pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Warriors winning their third straight title seems much less likely now than it did prior to the season. Golden State’s appears mortal on the court and off the court, there’s plenty to be concerned about even if Kevin Durant claims the tiff with Draymond Green won’t impact his long-term decision making.

The team suspended Green for the altercation and according to Tim Kawakami of The Athletic, both coach Steve Kerr and GM Bob Myers believed that the chemistry of the entire team was at stake. They wanted to make sure the situation didn’t develop into a series of “personal grievances and lingering resentments,” Kawakami writes. The suspension was handed down to prevent Green from dictating the mood and terms for the remainder of the season into the offseason.

Team management was upset that the move was viewed as the organization picking Durant over Green. While it’s easy to look at it that way, the decision to suspend Green had more to do with making sure the chemistry of the team would remain repairable.

If Durant leaves, the Warriors want it to be because it was his own choice and not because another player was barking at him.

Durant: Green Incident Won’t Affect Free Agency Decision

November 21st, 2018 at 8:33am CST by Luke Adams

More than a week after his much–discussed on-court confrontation with Draymond Green took place in Los Angeles, Kevin Durant tells Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports that he’s ready to move on from that incident, adding that it will have no bearing on his free agency decision during the summer of 2019.

“Nah, [it won’t factor],” Durant said on Tuesday. “Because at the end of the day, I’m just a ballplayer that’s just trying to be in a great environment to play basketball and groom my skills every day. And I want to compete on a level that once the game starts, I’m just totally comfortable with my surroundings, with just going out there and being me.”

Durant spoke at length to Haynes about the aftermath of the altercation, which he says he didn’t consider as serious as everyone else made it out to be. While the two-time Finals MVP admits he was upset in the moment, he tells Haynes it didn’t take long to put the whole thing in perspective.

“I was upset, but I know that I can’t hold on to something like this,” Durant said. “I know that I’ve got to make a choice with myself, like how long are you going to be upset about this to the point where you’re going to let it affect what you do on the floor or how you approach the game? Once it gets there now, I got to make a grown-man decision and tell myself, ‘Look, man, no matter what, you still got to come to work every single day. It’s going to work out. It’s going to figure itself out.’ And I think everyone’s been handling it the best way they could and we’re just trying to move forward with it.”

Durant has a player option for 2019/20, but is expected to turn it down to become an unrestricted free agent. He’ll have full Bird rights at that point, meaning he could sign a five-year deal with the Warriors. He could get up to four years from any other team, and several big-market clubs around the NBA expect to have significant cap room, including the Knicks, Nets, Clippers, and Lakers.

There has already been plenty of speculation about Durant’s eventual decision, and last week’s incident only helped to create more “outside” noise, which the star forward suggests has been more frustrating than the confrontation itself.

“It’s always going to come back,” Durant said to Haynes. “Like, ‘Are they all right? Man, he didn’t play well. Is he going to leave?’ Why do I even have to think about that at this point? … Then it turned into, ‘K.D.’s going to this place, he doesn’t like the Warriors no more. He should go here, he should go there.’ More distractions.”

Warriors Notes: Green, Durant, Carmelo

November 20th, 2018 at 1:32pm CST by Luke Adams

The last week has represented perhaps the most challenging stretch of the Warriors‘ current era. Since last Monday, the club has lost four of five games, including three straight, and has dealt with the ongoing fallout of a much-publicized confrontation between All-Stars Draymond Green and Kevin Durant.

Despite their week of turmoil, the Warriors remain confident in their outlook going forward, writes Nick Friedell of ESPN.com. Golden State has too much talent not to turn things around, especially once Stephen Curry is healthy enough to return to action, and winning figures to help solve any other problems that ail the team, as Quinn Cook observes.

“I just think if we would have won these past two games, nobody would be talking about it anymore,” Cook said of last week’s Green/Durant incident. “I think we just got to be better on the floor, and nobody will remember this once we start winning again.”

As Friedell observes in a separate piece for ESPN.com, head coach Steve Kerr isn’t complaining about the Dubs’ recent struggles, pointing out that the franchise has lived a “charmed existence” for the last several years.

“This is the real NBA,” Kerr said. “We haven’t been in the real NBA the last few years. We’ve been in this dream. And so now we’re faced real adversity and we got to get out of it ourselves.”

As the Warriors prepare for a Wednesday showdown against the Thunder, let’s round up a few more notes on the club:

Don’t expect the Warriors to pursue Carmelo Anthony if and when he’s waived by Houston, says Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. Spears hears from a source that Golden State has no interest in Anthony.
Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area lays out all the reasons why it wouldn’t make any sense for the Warriors to consider trading Kevin Durant or Draymond Green this season, despite their recent altercation and possible lingering tension.
Is Green worth a maximum-salary investment? Frank Urbina of HoopsHype explores that subject, concluding that – as valuable as he is – it’s hard to imagine Green securing a long-term max deal when he eventually reaches free agency in 2020 at age 30.
In an interesting piece for The Athletic, Anthony Slater explores how the modern media landscape makes it difficult for NBA players and teams to quickly move past incidents like last week’s confrontation between Durant and Green.