Golden State Warriors Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Stephen Curry Set To Return On Tuesday

January 10th, 2023 at 2:27pm CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors‘ lineup will get a major upgrade on Tuesday night, according to Kendra Andrews of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that Stephen Curry will return and start as Golden State hosts the Suns.

Curry’s minutes limit is still being determined, Andrews adds.

Curry suffered a left shoulder subluxation in the Warriors’ loss to Indiana on December 14 and has missed the last 11 games as a result of the injury. President of basketball operations Bob Myers said last week that the club was hoping Curry would be able to return this Friday — the former MVP will be back on the court even earlier than that.

Golden State has had an up-and-down run since Curry went down. The team lost three of its first four games without him, including a pair of blowouts, then reeled off a five-game winning streak before losing its last two contests at home to Detroit and Orlando. The Warriors will take a 20-20 record into Tuesday’s home game vs. Phoenix before departing for a five-game road trip.

Curry is the third Warrior to return from an injury absence in the past week. Andrew Wiggins was back on Saturday after missing 15 games due to an adductor strain and illness, while Andre Iguodala made his season debut in the same game after being sidelined for most of the first half with a hip issue.

Warriors Notes: Curry, Thompson, Wiggins, Iguodala, Buyout Market

January 9th, 2023 at 5:26pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Stephen Curry‘s return could be imminent. Curry participated in Monday’s practice and scrimmages, according to ESPN’s Kendra Andrews, and he’s listed as questionable to play against Phoenix on Tuesday. Curry hasn’t played since Dec. 14 due to a shoulder injury.

Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins were also full participants while Jonathan Kuminga, James Wiseman and JaMychal Green sat out.

Kevon Looney, Draymond Green, Donte DiVincenzo and Jordan Poole did not participate in the scrimmages because they’ve played heavy minutes in recent games (Twitter links here).

We have more on the Warriors:

Wiggins missed 15 games due to an adductor strain and illness. In his return against Orlando on Saturday, he scored 12 points in 19 minutes but shot just 4-for-12 from the field. He told The Athletic’s Anthony Slater that he’ll need some time to regain his best form. “It just felt a little rusty out there just trying to get my feet right, get back in rhythm,” Wiggins said. “But I know it’s going to take a little time.”
Andre Iguodala made his season debut in the same game and also needs to scrape off some rust. He wasn’t much of a factor in 12 minutes. However, Iguodala isn’t a crucial rotation piece like Wiggins, Slater notes in the same piece.
The trade deadline is a month away, followed by the buyout market. The Warriors, who have an open roster spot, need to add another piece, Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic opines. What do they need the most? In Thompson’s estimation, an athletic big would be ideal. They could also pursue a wing capable of stressing defenses off the dribble.

Warriors’ Andrew Wiggins Expected To Return On Saturday

January 6th, 2023 at 5:32pm CST by Rory Maher

Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins was a full practice participant on Friday, per head coach Steve Kerr (Twitter link via ESPN’s Kendra Andrews), and is now listed as probable for Saturday’s game against Orlando, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic.

Generally, when players are listed as probable, it means there’s a strong chance they’ll suit up, and that’s the expectation for Wiggins, according to Slater. The 27-year-old has missed 15 consecutive games due to strained right adductor and then an illness. As Slater notes, it has been the longest absence of Wiggins’ career — he had never missed more than 11 games in a season prior to this.

Through 22 games (32.8 MPG), all starts, Wiggins is averaging 19.1 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 2.2 APG, 1.4 SPG and 0.8 BPG on .511/.450/.628 shooting. His FG% and 3PT% are both career highs, as is his .621 true shooting percentage.

Wiggins is the second player expected to rejoin Golden State’s lineup on Saturday — forward Andre Iguodala announced on his podcast that he’s going to make his 2022/23 season debut against the Magic. The two veterans should help bolster the Warriors on both ends of the court — the defending champions currently rank 15th in offense and 18th in defense.

The Warriors are currently 20-19, the No. 9 seed in the West, but only trail the No. 6 seed Clippers by a half-game.

Andre Iguodala Expected To Make Season Debut On Saturday

January 6th, 2023 at 2:23pm CST by Luke Adams

Warriors forward Andre Iguodala announced today via his Point Forward podcast that he intends to make his season debut on Saturday when Golden State hosts the Magic (Twitter link).

“We got 24 hours ’til I step on the court, man. It’s a go,” Iguodala told co-host Evan Turner. “Hope the fan base is excited. I’m a little nervous, but actually I’m also excited. I try to play it cool, calm, and collected all the time, but excited to get there on the court. It’s finally happened.”

Iguodala, who weighed the possibility of retiring this past offseason, eventually elected to re-sign with the Warriors and made the deal official just before training camp got underway. However, his 2022/23 debut has been delayed due to a left hip issue.

It’s unclear how much action Iguodala will see now that he has been cleared to return. Last season, he appeared in only 31 games and averaged 19.5 minutes per contest during the regular season, then logged just 61 total minutes in seven playoff appearances.

Iguodala will turn 39 later this month and at this point in his career is probably more valued for his veteran leadership in the locker room than his contributions on the court. Still, while he no longer offers much offensively, the 19-year veteran is a versatile defender and will give head coach Steve Kerr one more option off the bench as the club awaits the return of Stephen Curry.

Joe Lacob Talks Payroll, Green, Thompson, Wiseman

January 5th, 2023 at 11:45pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Warriors team governor Joe Lacob sat down for a wide-ranging conversation with Tim Kawakami of The Athletic, on his show The TK Podcast, and discussed the possibility of an impeding $450MM payroll for next season’s team.

“It’s not possible without losing quite a bit of money at the bottom line, let’s put it that way,” Lacob said of being open to foot the bill for the 2023/24 season. “I can’t really answer the question right now other than to say: When have you ever known me not to be aggressive? We are aggressive. We’ll do whatever we can do if it makes sense and we’re in a winning, real championship mode.”

Though Golden State won the 2022 championship, the team stumbled out of the gate this season. Thanks in part to long-term injuries to stars Stephen Curry and Andrew Wiggins, the team is currently just the ninth seed in the West with a 20-19 record.

Kawakami and Lacob also discussed the erratic play of 2020 No. 2 draft pick James Wiseman, the futures of Draymond Green and Klay Thompson in Golden State, and much more.

The whole interview is well worth a read in full, but here are some other highlights:

On whether the Warriors will actually lose money this season, given their already hefty luxury tax bill for 2022/23:

“It depends how far we go in the playoffs. If we go to the finals, we should be OK. If we don’t, we’ll probably lose money… All I could tell you is we’re just trying to keep up. We have a unique situation in that we have this aging but still great set of players. We have championship aspirations, and it costs a lot of money to do that. And we’re going to try like heck to rectify our finances going forward, but not at the expense of being able to win.”

On if Golden State will retain Green, who has a player option for 2023/24, and Thompson, who will reach free agency in 2024:

“I want to keep those guys here. I want them to be here. As long as they’re playing at a very high level, rest assured they will be here. I would love obviously for some of them to sacrifice (in salary) a little bit, or what they perceive as a sacrifice, to stay and to help our organization maintain a great roster. You always hope for that. It usually doesn’t happen. And I can’t blame them because they have limited life spans as players and they want to make as much money as they can.

“… Draymond and Klay, first of all, they’re both under contract for next year, so let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves here… In Draymond’s case, he gets to decide, he has the power. He gets to opt in or opt out, do what he wants. I’d love for him to stay.”

On how the team is weighing Wiseman’s development against the win-now needs of the roster:

“There’s always a timetable in sports, whether we like it or not… But he’s 21 years old. You have to put this in perspective. And he’s an immense talent, he’s an incredibly hard worker, he really cares. These things matter. He had a lot of really bad breaks as we all know, it’s been well chronicled… He’s also in an organization and on a team which is trying to win championships. It’s different than playing somewhere they’re just throwing everybody out there, young guys are putting up numbers, getting a lot of experience. It’s hard for our young guys to do that here.”

Warriors Hopeful Stephen Curry Can Return Next Week

January 4th, 2023 at 8:15pm CST by Rory Maher

Warriors president of basketball operations Bob Myers is optimistic that reigning Finals MVP Stephen Curry can return to action sometime next week, possibly next Friday in San Antonio, according to ESPN’s Kendra Andrews.

“He’s working out on the court, and the two-week mark to reevaluate him this weekend,” Myers said on Bay Area radio station 95.7. “There have been no setbacks, so (next Friday) would be a hope. That’s what we would be shooting for, something in that range when he could be back. He’s been, not contact, but out there doing all this stuff. He looks like the same guy. He’s got a sleeve on his shoulder and arm.”

The Warriors announced earlier today that Curry would be reevaluated on Saturday. He sustained a left shoulder subluxation on December 14 while trying to strip the ball away from Pacers big man Jalen Smith. Next Friday, January 13, would be just over four weeks since he was initially injured.

Head coach Steve Kerr confirmed that next Friday is a realistic timetable for Curry’s return, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic.

“I think so. He’s progressed really well,” Kerr said.

When Curry first went down, there was some fear that Golden State’s season might spiral out of control. The team lost three of its first four contests without the star guard, including a couple of blowouts.

However, the Warriors have righted the ship, reeling off five straight home wins to move to 20-18, the No. 9 seed in the West. The Warriors finish off their lengthy home stand against Detroit (Wednesday), Orlando (Saturday) and Phoenix (next Tuesday) prior to the January 13 contest in San Antonio.

The eight-time All-NBA guard was having another stellar season prior to getting injured, averaging 30.0 PPG, a career-high 6.6 RPG, 6.8 APG and 1.0 SPG on .500/.434/.919 shooting through 26 games (34.4 MPG). Until he returns, Jordan Poole and Klay Thompson will continue to carry a heavy offensive load.

Pacific Notes: Warriors, Klay, Kawhi, Clippers, Kings

January 4th, 2023 at 7:10pm CST by Rory Maher

The Warriors provided updates (via Twitter) on several injured players on Wednesday evening. Star guard Stephen Curry will have his left shoulder reevaluated on Saturday, which is in line with what the team previously announced.

Starting forward Andrew Wiggins has begun practicing and is ramping up his conditioning after missing the past 14 games due to a strained right adductor and then an illness. He will be reevaluated later this week, per the team.

The Warriors also announced that JaMychal Green (right lower leg infection), Jonathan Kuminga (right foot sprain) and James Wiseman (left ankle sprain) will all be out at least one more week — that’s when they’ll be reevaluated.

Here’s more from the Pacific:

Klay Thompson missed two-plus seasons after a couple of major injuries, first a torn ACL in the 2019 NBA Finals, followed by a torn Achilles tendon. On Monday, he scored a season-high 54 points in the Warriors‘ double-overtime victory over the Hawks, a performance he doesn’t take for granted. “It’s a huge accomplishment for me,” Thompson said, per Kendra Andrews of ESPN. “There were some hard days for me when I didn’t know that this would be possible in real time. I am just going to embrace the heck out of it.”
After missing Monday’s loss to Miami with a non-COVID illness, Kawhi Leonard is no longer on the Clippers‘ injury report for Thursday’s contest in Denver, tweets Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Paul George, who tweaked his hamstring on Monday, is listed as questionable, while Nicolas Batum is out with a left ankle sprain.
Can Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue find lineups that work whether or not Leonard and/or George are in the lineup? Law Murray of The Athletic explores that topic, writing that if Lue is unable to optimize the current group, trades could be in order for a team that hopes to compete for a championship.
The Kings have three players — Matthew Dellavedova, Chima Moneke and KZ Okpala — on partially guaranteed deals, and none are locks to have their salaries guaranteed for the rest of the season, writes James Ham of TheKingsBeat.com. It’s possible one or more might be released in the next few days (the deadline to waive partially and non-guaranteed deals before they become fully guaranteed is January 7) in order to create roster flexibility ahead of the trade deadline, according to Ham, who says the Kings figure to be aggressive in their push to break their lengthy playoff drought.

Illness, Injuries Leave Warriors Short-Handed

January 2nd, 2023 at 11:00am CST by Arthur Hill

The news isn’t as good for the Warriors, who will be without four frontcourt players for Monday’s game against the Hawks, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Andrew Wiggins remains sidelined with an illness and will miss his 14th straight game since suffering an adductor strain. Also inactive are Jonathan Kuminga (sprained right foot), James Wiseman (sprained left ankle) and JaMychal Green (lower right leg infection).

Warriors Notes: DiVincenzo, Poole, Payton, Jerome, Wiggins

December 31st, 2022 at 8:40pm CST by Arthur Hill

In Friday’s win over Portland, Donte DiVincenzo had his most impactful performance since signing with the Warriors during the offseason, writes Anthony Slater of The Athletic. With 45 seconds left and Golden State leading by two points, DiVincenzo stole the ball from Damian Lillard and followed that with a three-pointer to put the game out of reach.

DiVincenzo got off to an uneven start with his new team, but he has moved into the starting lineup in the wake of injuries to Stephen Curry and Andrew Wiggins. He has helped to stabilize the team’s perimeter defense and recorded four steals on Friday night.

“He’s a winner,” coach Steve Kerr said. “I mean, two-time NCAA champion. NBA champion with the Bucks. Competes every second of every play. Great rebounds. Just constantly moving toward the ball. Plays with so much energy and activity, and then he’s fearless. He knocks down that big 3. He was 0-for-3 from 3 going into that shot, and it didn’t phase him at all.”

There’s more on the Warriors:

Jordan Poole had a game-high 41 points Friday as he continues to fill the scoring void left by Curry’s absence, Slater adds. Poole has produced hefty point totals in the team’s last five wins, and Slater believes his ability to fill in for Curry influenced Warriors management to give him a contract extension.
Gary Payton II still hasn’t played this season, but the Trail Blazers guard picked up his championship ring during Friday’s visit to Golden State, per Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area. Draymond Green was excited to make the official presentation to his former teammate. “To understand GP’s journey, to see him go and get his money, but most importantly to see what he was able to contribute to a championship — I’m extremely excited and honored to be the person that’s presenting him something that will matter and that nobody can take for the rest of your life,” Green said.
Ty Jerome was flattered to be called “a poor man’s Steve Nash” during an interview on Warriors Postgame Live (video link). Jerome signed with Golden State after being waived by the Rockets in October, and he says the team’s style of play is a perfect fit for his skills.
Wiggins was able to take part in a 3-on-3 session Friday morning and Kerr is “hopeful” that he’ll be able to play Monday, Johnson tweets.

Donte DiVincenzo A "Middle Child" In Golden State

December 29th, 2022 at 10:58am CST by Luke Adams

Donte DiVincenzo has a championship ring, is in his fifth NBA season, and is respected by the Warriors‘ young players, but he’s also just 25 years old and feels like he’s still developing, according to Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. As Thompson writes, that makes DiVincenzo something like a “middle child” in Golden State, falling between the team’s older veteran generation and its younger prospects.