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Pre-Camp Roster Snapshot: Pacific Division

August 31st, 2022 at 9:41am CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors is in the process of taking a closer look at each NBA team’s current roster situation, evaluating which clubs still have some moves to make and which ones seem most prepared for training camp to begin.

This series is meant to provide a snapshot of each team’s roster at this time, so these articles won’t be updated in the coming weeks as more signings, trades, and cuts are made. You can follow our roster counts page to keep tabs on teams’ open spots as opening night nears.

We’re continuing our pre-camp Roster Snapshot series today with the Pacific Division. Let’s dive in…

Golden State Warriors

Players on guaranteed standard contracts: 13
- Patrick Baldwin, Stephen Curry, Donte DiVincenzo, Draymond Green, JaMychal Green, Jonathan Kuminga, Kevon Looney, Moses Moody, Jordan Poole, Ryan Rollins, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, James Wiseman
Players on non-guaranteed standard contracts: 1
- Mac McClung
Players on Exhibit 10 contracts: 2
- Pat Spencer, Trevion Williams
Players on two-way contracts: 2
- Lester Quinones, Quinndary Weatherspoon

Andre Iguodala‘s decision on whether to play for another season or retire looks like the only major domino left to fall for the Warriors this offseason. If Iguodala returns, he’ll fill Golden State’s 14th roster spot. If not, the team might be in the market for another veteran free agent addition.

Even if Iguodala re-signs, there would be one open spot on the Warriors’ 15-man roster. The club could keep that spot open to start the season in order to maintain flexibility and to avoid pushing its astronomical tax bill even higher, but if there’s a player who shows he deserves a place on the roster – like Gary Payton II did a year ago – Golden State would likely be willing to sacrifice that flexibility and to pay the associated costs to keep him.

Los Angeles Clippers

Players on guaranteed standard contracts: 14
- Nicolas Batum, Brandon Boston Jr., Amir Coffey, Robert Covington, Paul George, Reggie Jackson, Luke Kennard, Kawhi Leonard, Terance Mann, Marcus Morris, Norman Powell, Jason Preston, John Wall, Ivica Zubac
Players on Exhibit 10 contracts: 2
- Moses Brown, Xavier Moon
Players on two-way contracts: 1
- Moussa Diabate
Players who have reportedly reached contract agreements: 3
- Justin Bean (Exhibit 10), Michael Devoe (Exhibit 10), Lucas Williamson (Exhibit 10)

Like the Warriors, the Clippers are far beyond the luxury tax line and may not feel compelled to fill their 15th roster spot at the start of the season. But Los Angeles does still have a two-way slot available. Brown, Moon, and other training camp invitees could find themselves in vying for that second two-way contract.

Los Angeles Lakers

Players on guaranteed standard contracts: 11
- Patrick Beverley, Troy Brown, Thomas Bryant, Max Christie, Anthony Davis, LeBron James, Damian Jones, Kendrick Nunn, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Lonnie Walker, Russell Westbrook
Players on non-guaranteed standard contracts: 2
- Wenyen Gabriel, Austin Reaves
Players on Exhibit 10 contracts: 3
- Jay Huff, Javante McCoy, Fabian White
Players on two-way contracts: 2
- Scotty Pippen Jr., Cole Swider

The Lakers’ roster remains very much in flux, with Westbrook a prime candidate to be traded before opening night. Most permutations of a Westbrook deal would require L.A. to take back two or three players, and the team currently has the roster flexibility to do so.

If the Lakers can’t find a trade they like involving Westbrook, they could sign another free agent or two to fill out their 15-man regular season roster.

Phoenix Suns

Players on guaranteed standard contracts: 13
- Deandre Ayton, Bismack Biyombo, Devin Booker, Mikal Bridges, Torrey Craig, Jae Crowder, Cameron Johnson, Damion Lee, Josh Okogie, Chris Paul, Cameron Payne, Dario Saric, Landry Shamet
Players on non-guaranteed standard contracts: 1
- Jock Landale (partial guarantee)
Players on two-way contracts: 2
- Ish Wainright, Duane Washington Jr.

One of several taxpaying teams in the division, the Suns are another candidate to open the season with 14 players on standard contracts instead of 15. For now, Landale holds the 14th roster spot, but his partial guarantee is only worth about $46K, so he probably doesn’t have a firm grip on that spot. The Suns reportedly remain in the market for another frontcourt piece and if they find one they like, it’s unclear whether Landale will stick with the team.

Sacramento Kings

Players on guaranteed standard contracts: 12
- Harrison Barnes, Terence Davis, De’Aaron Fox, Richaun Holmes, Kevin Huerter, Alex Len, Trey Lyles, Chimezie Metu, Davion Mitchell, Malik Monk, Keegan Murray, Domantas Sabonis
Players on non-guaranteed standard contracts: 3
- Matthew Dellavedova, Sam Merrill (partial guarantee), Chima Moneke (partial guarantee)
Players on two-way contracts: 2
- Keon Ellis, Neemias Queta
Players who have reportedly reached contract agreements: 4
- Kent Bazemore, Quinn Cook, Jeriah Horne, KZ Okpala

The Kings appear set to hold a training camp competition for the three open spots on their projected regular season roster, with Dellavedova, Merrill, Moneke, Bazemore, Cook, and Okpala all potentially in the mix. While there’s only room for three of them for now, Sacramento could keep a fourth by trading or releasing one of their 12 players with guaranteed salaries.

Warriors Hire Noel Hightower As Player Development Coach

August 28th, 2022 at 8:19pm CST by JD Shaw

The Warriors have hired Noel Hightower as a player development coach, as relayed by Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files. Hightower will also serve as an assistant coach with the team’s G League affiliate. He worked with the Pacers as a basketball assistant last season.

Warriors Notes: Wiseman, J. Green, Kuminga, Baldwin

August 27th, 2022 at 10:58pm CST by Arthur Hill

After missing all of last season because of injuries, Warriors center James Wiseman is “really starting to make some headway” since his return to action at the Las Vegas Summer League, a source tells C.J. Holmes of The San Francisco Chronicle. Wiseman averaged 10.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in four games while shooting 48.6% from the field, an encouraging performance following his long layoff.

Wiseman is focused on the aspects of his game that he needs to improve, Holmes’ source adds. The Warriors don’t know how much Wiseman will play this season or what lineups he will work best with, but they’re confident that he will eventually reach the potential that made him the No. 2 pick in the 2020 draft.

Kevon Looney‘s improvement takes some of the pressure of Wiseman to contribute immediately, Holmes notes, and whenever he’s on the court he will offer assets that are unique to Golden State’s big men, such as rim protection, floor spacing and his 6’11” size. Coach Steve Kerr counts on his centers to serve as the “control tower” for the defense, and Holmes points out that Wiseman has a long way to go to be ready for that duty.

Holmes offers some more inside information on the Warriors:

Management believes JaMychal Green, who signed with Golden State following a buyout with the Thunder, is a good fit because he has many of the same qualities as Draymond Green. The Warriors see his skill set as perfect for the team’s read-and-react style of play and believe he’s a better shooter than he gets credit for.
Golden State put Jonathan Kuminga in the unfamiliar role of running the offense and handling the ball on pick-and-rolls during Summer League. The coaches are trying to expand what he can do on offense to make him a more complete player. Kuminga is viewed as one of the team’s top perimeter defenders, and there is hope that he can eventually be effective as a center in small-ball lineups.
First-round pick Patrick Baldwin Jr. has been impressive in the brief time he has spent with the Warriors as he recovers from an ankle injury he suffered in college. Baldwin has displayed significant confidence and professionalism, and one staff member tells Holmes that he’s “shocked by what I’ve seen in an exciting way.”

California Notes: Curry, Baldwin, Murray, L.A. Rivalry

August 25th, 2022 at 11:06pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Coming off his first Finals MVP award and his fourth title since 2015, Warriors All-NBA point guard Stephen Curry clearly remains one of the league’s elite players, and obviously its single-best shooter. Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area makes the case that it’s time to officially anoint the eight-time All-Star as the elite of the elites — the NBA’s current best player.

Johnson notes that Curry vanquished a series of All-NBA foes in his postseason run through the West, besting Nikola Jokic, Ja Morant, and Luka Doncic in plus-minus by an absurd margin in each case. In six Finals games, Curry posted averages of 31.2 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 5.0 APG and 2.0 SPG. He connected on 48.2% of his field goals and 43.7% of his long-range looks.

Johnson also discusses Curry’s astronomical on/off-court impact on the Warriors — Golden State’s offense rating was 27.2 points higher when he took the floor during the team’s Finals series against the Celtics, one of the league’s best defenses.

Here’s more from California’s four NBA teams:

In a Dubs Talk podcast interview with Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area, Warriors rookie Patrick Baldwin Jr. discussed the various contemporary players whose diverse approach to the game he hopes to replicate. “I like to watch [Kevin Durant], I like to watch Khris Middleton, I like to watch [Jayson Tatum],” Baldwin told Johnson. “I’m watching Otto Porter Jr., Michael Porter Jr. — guys that I think have roles that I can fill some day… It’s just important to be multifaceted and learn from everybody.”
With Thunder lottery pick Chet Holmgren now out for the 2022/23 season, Kings rookie forward Keegan Murray has seen his chances of earning Rookie of the Year honors improve significantly, writes Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee. Murray’s odds moved from 9-to-1 to 5-to-1 following Holmgren’s injury, per Anderson. Sacramento selected the 2022 consensus All-American out of Iowa with the fourth pick in this year’s draft.
The Clippers are hoping their expensive new Inglewood arena, Intuit Dome, will help improve their standing in the Los Angeles NBA pecking order with regards to the Lakers, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. “I think this’ll be so cool,” Clippers team owner Steve Ballmer said of the team getting its own home arena, separate from the downtown Crypto.com Arena, which they share with the Lakers, Kings and Sparks. “And it needs to be. You said this is a Laker town. No. [It’s a] Laker-Clipper [town]… And someday I want to be able to say Clipper-Laker [town].”

Why Curry Is Underpaid Despite Being NBA's Highest Paid Player

August 24th, 2022 at 5:46pm CST by Rory Maher

Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area details why Warriors star Stephen Curry, the reigning Finals MVP, is underpaid despite having the largest salary in the league in ’22/23 ($48.1MM). Golden State’s franchise valuation has increased a little more than 12-fold over the past 12 years ($450MM to $5.6 billion), the team is immensely popular both locally and nationally, and the Warriors have won the championship four times in the past eight years largely due to Curry’s impact, making him worth more than double his current contract, according to Poole.

Green Only Big 3 Member Who Might Depart

August 22nd, 2022 at 10:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Which member of the Warriors’ big three will leave? In a mailbag post, Heavy.com’s Steve Bulpett speculates that Draymond Green is the only one who might depart in the near future. Stephen Curry has four years left on his deal and is the face of the franchise, while Klay Thompson has two years left on his contract and will likely sign another with Golden State. Green can opt out of his contract after next season and the heavily taxed Warriors may pin their hopes on one of their young frontcourt players emerging at a lower cost, Bulpett writes.

Pacific Notes: Wiggins, Westbrook, Kyrie, LeBron

August 18th, 2022 at 5:52pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Fresh off his first NBA title and All-Star selection in 2021/22, Warriors starting small forward Andrew Wiggins is hoping to prove his mettle as one of the NBA’s best defensive players, as he told Vince Carter on the retired eight-time All-Star’s podcast, The VC Show with Vince Carter (h/t to Andrei de Guzman of TalkBasket).

“One thing I’m really gonna strive for this upcoming season is being on the [All-]Defensive Team,” Wiggins said. “That’s a big goal of mine, and hopefully I opened some eyes in the playoffs and I can be on the radar. I ain’t get not one vote this year! I took it personal in the playoffs!”

There’s more out of the Pacific Division:

With Lakers All-Star forward LeBron James newly signed to a lucrative extension that will at least keep him in Los Angeles through 2024, it’s possible that L.A. will be more receptive to including draft capital in a trade to get off the contract of embattled point guard Russell Westbrook, opines Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report. Pincus suspects that Westbrook could be moved to the Nets, Pacers or Spurs, should the Lakers indeed be willing to part with their 2027 and 2029 first-round draft picks. Pincus notes that the Jazz also have the assets to possibly pique the interest of the Lakers’ front office in a deal. During his first season with his hometown team, the 33-year-old veteran proved to be an awkward on-court fit alongside James as a ball-dominant guard without a jump shot or much defensive effort.
Prior to his inking the aforementioned extension with the Lakers, James was “privately adamant” about wanting the Lakers trade for his former Cavaliers teammate Kyrie Irving, writes Jovan Buha of The Athletic. Whether such a transaction for the seven-time All-Star, currently with the Nets, comes to pass remains to be seen.
The new two-year, $97.1MM contract extension James signed with the Lakers can benefit both James and Los Angeles, opines Dave McMenamin of ESPN (YouTube video link). By opting to commit to the Lakers at this juncture (the extension could have been signed as late as next summer), James has given the team the green light to make moves around him in order to hopefully resume deep playoff runs. In turn, the 17-time championship-winning Lakers want to showcase themselves as a desirable landing place for marquee free agents in the years to come. McMenamin adds that, should L.A. prove unable to compete at a championship level within the next two seasons, James is able to retain some of his future flexibility to an extent by making the second year of the deal, the 2024/25 season, a player option.

Pacific Notes: Wiggins, LeBron Extension, Kings

August 17th, 2022 at 11:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Appearing with Taylor Rooks on her Bleacher Report show, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban cited Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins as the difference in the Western Conference Finals. Wiggins was outstanding in the five-game series, averaging 18.6 points and 7.2 rebounds per night while shooting 46.2% from the field.

“It was just guys who knew their roles, like an Andrew Wiggins,” Cuban said. “I think he was the one who beat us. And I told him that after the series, you know? We knew what to expect from Klay (Thompson), from (Stephen Curry) and from Draymond (Green). We didn’t know what to expect or how Wiggs would step up, and he did.”

Cuban doesn’t believe there’s a huge talent disparity between his team and the eventual NBA champions, but he said Golden State benefited from having its core together for so many years.

“I think the Warriors deserve a lot of credit because they had played together so long, their execution was phenomenal,” he said. “… That wasn’t as much talent as it was corporate knowledge, the experience of having played together for all those years and been in crunch situations knowing what to do.”

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

Now that LeBron James has agreed to an extension, the Lakers‘ best strategy may be to commit to trying to win a championship this season instead of targeting 2024 or 2025, contends Jovan Buha of The Athletic. Buha believes James’ decision on the extension was tied to a promise from management to be aggressive about improving the roster. Sources around the team had been confident that James would eventually commit to a longer stay with the Lakers, Buha adds.
The Lakers may have doomed themselves to more years of mediocrity with the James extension, writes Bill Plaschke of The Los Angeles Times. He argues that James isn’t good enough to carry a team to a title anymore, while Anthony Davis is too injury-prone and James’ deal ensures that the franchise won’t have enough cap room to add another star while he’s still around.
Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee examines the Kings‘ schedule to see whether it will help or hurt their effort to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2006.

Warriors, Grizzlies To Meet On Christmas Day

August 13th, 2022 at 5:24pm CST by Arthur Hill

More details are emerging about the NBA schedule, including a Christmas Day contest with the Warriors hosting the Grizzlies, tweets league insider Marc Stein.

It will be a rematch of their hotly contested Western Conference semifinals series that Golden State won 4-2 on its way to the championship. That intense series is remembered for an ejection and a one-game suspension for Memphis’ Dillon Brooks for a hard foul that left Gary Payton II with a fractured elbow.

It will mark the first Christmas Day appearance for the Grizzlies in their 27-year history, dating back to their days in Vancouver. The team’s popularity has increased with last season’s playoff run and the emergence of Ja Morant as one of the league’s most exciting players. The Warriors are a perennial part of the Christmas schedule and defeated the Suns in Phoenix last December 25.

Stein reported earlier today that the Lakers will travel to Dallas for another Christmas Day matchup. The NBA typically schedules five games on the holiday, which is the first major national showcase of the new season.

League sources tell Stein that the full schedule for the 2022/23 season is expected to be released this week (Twitter link).

Warriors To Host Lakers On Opening Night

August 13th, 2022 at 1:46pm CST by JD Shaw

The Warriors will open their title defense season by hosting the Lakers on the first night of the 2022/23 campaign, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). As Charania notes, Golden State will also give championship rings to those who were with the team last season. The ring ceremony and game are scheduled to be televised by TNT.

The Warriors are coming off their fourth title victory in the past eight seasons. They finished with the third-best record in the Western Conference last season (53-29), trailing only the Grizzlies (56-26) and Suns (64-18). The team lost a handful of players, including Gary Payton II and Otto Porter Jr., in free agency, but still has its core group.

The Lakers had a disappointing campaign last season. The team dealt with several injuries to key players, preventing the star trio of Russell Westbrook, LeBron James and Anthony Davis – along with the supporting group – from developing chemistry. At 33-49, they finished 11th in the West.

The full NBA schedule is expected to be released in the near future. The only other schedule-related news also involves the Lakers, as veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein reported (via Twitter) they’re likely to visit the Mavericks on Christmas Day this year.