Andre Iguodala Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pacific Notes: Ham, Lakers, Kings, Warriors

May 29th, 2022 at 1:52pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Newly-hired Lakers head coach Darvin Ham is earning high praise from those who know him, according to Broderick Turner and Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times.

Ham, who was a Lakers assistant coach from 2011-13 and won a title against L.A. as a player on the Pistons in 2004, has served as an assistant under head coach Mike Budenholzer with the Hawks and Bucks for the past nine seasons. The Bucks won the 2021 NBA championship with Ham on Budenholzer’s staff.

“His work ethic in practice and when we put him in the game, he always seemed to deliver,” former Knicks head coach and current Indiana University coach Mike Woodson said of Ham. “So, you knew that the fact he got into coaching, I knew it would work because that’s a big part of being a good coach. You got to work.”

Metta Sandiford-Artest, who played on the Lakers teams where Ham first cut his coaching teeth as a development assistant under Mike Brown, also had high praise for Ham. “He definitely understands modern basketball,” Sandiford-Artest said. “He also is capable of communicating in a way where you can receive it the right way.”

There’s more out of the Pacific Division:

The Lakers held workouts on Saturday for six NBA hopefuls, per Matthew Barrero of Lakers.com. Baylor guard James Akinjo, Connecticut guard Tyrese Martin, Syracuse forward Cole Swider, USC guard Drew Peterson, Texas A&M guard Quenton Jackson, and Alabama guard Keon Ellis all got a look from the L.A. front office brass. Though Los Angeles does not possess a draft pick this season, the team could trade into the second round or sign an undrafted rookie as a free agent. “There is a good side to it if you’re able to choose your team,” Ellis said. “Even if it happens to be myself, you can’t get too down on it or overthink it. There’s been guys who have gone undrafted and come back with great stories.”
The Kings, who possess the fourth pick in the 2022 draft, had at least two key representatives take a look at several high-level prospects during recent pro day workouts in Southern California, writes Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee. Team owner Vivek Ranadive and GM Monte McNair attended a CAA pro day workout for Purdue shooting guard Jaden Ivey and Duke small forward AJ Griffin. McNair attended an additional pro day with another top-10-level player, Arizona shooting guard Bennedict Mathurin, Anderson notes, examining the potential fit of each player.
Injured Warriors role players Gary Payton II, Otto Porter Jr. and Andre Iguodala will be gradually included in team practices ahead of the 2022 NBA Finals this week as they continue to recuperate from their respective ailments, per Kendra Andrews of ESPN (Twitter link). The club has leaned on 2021 lottery picks Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody for help in the absence of Payton, Porter and Iguodala.

Pacific Notes: Looney, Payton, Iguodala, Ham, Stotts

May 21st, 2022 at 8:31am CST by Dana Gauruder

Warriors center Kevon Looney, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, continues to pump up his value. Looney, who grabbed 22 rebounds in the clinching win over Memphis, delivered one of the top performances of his career during Golden State’s Game 2 comeback against Dallas on Friday night.

He had 21 points, 12 rebounds and no turnovers in 32 minutes while holding whoever he was guarding, including Luka Doncic, to 1-for-11 shooting, ESPN’s Kendra Andrews notes.

“Playing center for the Warriors, it’s a different type of job from other teams,” Looney said. “A lot of the scoring and stuff, we don’t really need us to do. It’s a lot of screen setting and a lot of play-making and doing different things. For me to have a game like that is cool.”

We have more from the Pacific Division:

It doesn’t seem as if the Warriors’ Gary Payton II or Andre Iguodala will play in the Western Conference Finals, though both are making “progress,” the team’s PR department tweets. Recovering from a left elbow fracture, Payton has started to do light individual on-court activities and will be reevaluated in one week. Iguodala, who has missed nine games due to a disc injury in his neck, is also doing light individual on-court activities along with physical therapy and weight room training. His status will be updated when he rejoins team practices.
An Athletic report on Friday suggested that Bucks assistant Darvin Ham has emerged as the top candidate for the Lakers’ head coaching job. The Athletic’s Jovan Buha believes Ham is the right choice, stating Ham is long overdue for an opportunity to be a head coach. He also has ties to the organization as a former assistant coach there, a championship pedigree and is well-respected by players, Buha adds.
The Orange County Register’s Kyle Goon takes a look at the three reported finalists for the Lakers’ job, a list that also includes Kenny Atkinson and Terry Stotts. Goon believes Stotts is the most likely to find ways to make Russell Westbrook more effective but also notes that Stotts’ teams often flamed out early in the postseason.

Warriors’ Bob Myers Talks Poole, Centers, Iguodala

May 17th, 2022 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Given the extent to which the Warriors‘ stars have been plagued by injuries since 2019, president of basketball operations Bob Myers admitted in a conversation with Mark Medina of NBA.com that he kept his expectations for this season in check, even though he liked the roster the team put together.

Now that the Warriors are once again in the Western Conference Finals and are just four wins away from appearing in the NBA Finals for the sixth time in eight years, Myers feels a sense of satisfaction about how far the team has come since its 15-50 season in 2019/20.

“What makes it most gratifying is how hard it is,” Myers told Medina. “Having a couple of years out of the playoffs was not fun. But I have a better appreciation for being here and where we are now.”

Myers’ discussion with Medina touched on a wide variety of topics, including Jordan Poole‘s emergence, the Warriors’ approach to the trade deadline, and Andre Iguodala‘s health. Here are a few highlights from the Q&A, which is worth checking out in full:

Myers on Poole’s breakout season and success in the playoffs:

“We saw the potential. But when we draft players (late in the first round), realistically it’s really hard to know where it’s going to go. We thought it was possible, but we didn’t know he would reach it. But credit to him and the coaching staff that put the time in to perfect his craft. I’m happy for him that he’s showcasing this on a big stage, showing his skill set and fitting in with guys that are leading him. He’s been great, and I don’t know if we’d be where we are without him. It’ll be interesting to see where it all keeps going.”

On the Warriors’ decision not to add another center prior to the trade deadline in February:

“The league is realizing that size is really important, but it’s more about positional size than size at the center spot. We didn’t have a great option available to us. Secondly, I was under the impression we would have James Wiseman. He was trending well. We thought he’d be back, ready to go and help us with that vertical space. That didn’t happen and his rehab hit a bump in the road post-deadline. That put us in a tough spot, and the (buyout) market was pretty dry. We had to march forward.

“Size still matters. But (Kevon) Looney’s been an unbelievable, steadfast guy that often gets overlooked. When we need to go bigger, Draymond (Green) and Looney have shown they can do it. They’re capable. They’re not seven feet tall, but they’re versatile, switchable and very smart. We found a way. We’ll see if it keeps working and if we continue to win.”

On Iguodala’s ongoing recovery from a neck injury:

“He’s frustrated. He wants to play. Frankly, he could help us. He’s trying to get back. Because he hasn’t been able to play, he’s used his voice and has been very vocal. He’s one of the most respected players in the league and is very, very bright. He communicates on the bench, whether it’s with our coaches, young players and our older players. That matters, especially as you go deeper in the playoffs.”

Iguodala Out At Least One More Week; Porter Jr. Questionable

May 12th, 2022 at 6:36pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Warriors have ruled out Andre Iguodala for the remainder of the series against the Grizzlies due to his neck injury, Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweets.

Iguodala will be reevaluated in a week, which means he’d also miss the start of the conference finals if the Warriors advance.

The veteran swingman, who only appeared in 31 regular season games due to injuries, hasn’t played since Game 4 of the opening round series against Denver.

Iguodala, 38, is on a veteran’s minimum contract and will be a free agent again at the end of the season.

Otto Porter Jr. is listed as questionable for Game 6 on Friday due to right foot soreness, Slater adds in another tweet. Porter played just 12 minutes in Game 5 after contributing double-digit points in the previous two games.

Warriors’ Andre Iguodala Out At Least One More Week

May 5th, 2022 at 1:25pm CST by Rory Maher

Warriors veteran Andre Iguodala will miss at least one more week due to his cervical disc (neck) injury, the team announced (via Twitter).

Iguodala, who hasn’t played since Game 4 of Golden State’s first-round matchup against Denver on April 24, “is making good progress in his recovery and will be reevaluated again in one week.”

After Gary Payton II suffered a fractured left elbow in the Warriors’ Game 2 loss to the Grizzlies on Tuesday, head coach Steve Kerr said the club was hopeful Iguodala would be available for Game 3 in an effort to slow down Ja Morant, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic.

Morant, exploded for 47 points, eight rebounds and eight assists in Game 2 — including his team’s final 15 points. Obviously, having Iguodala available to defend Morant is off the table for now, as the veteran is still hampered by his neck injury.

Once a crucial part of Golden State’s lineup and an NBA Finals MVP in 2015, Iguodala battled injuries this season and was limited to 31 regular season appearances. However, the 38-year-old had been a part of Kerr’s playoff rotation when healthy, logging at least 12 minutes in three of the team’s first four playoff games. He missed Game 2 vs. the Nuggets due to a bilateral neck spasm.

As Slater notes (Twitter link), Iguodala will be sidelined for at least Games 3, 4 and 5 against Memphis.

Grizzlies/Warriors Notes: Morant, Iguodala, Brooks, Green

May 4th, 2022 at 9:05am CST by Luke Adams

Despite having his vision affected after he was poked in the eye in the third quarter, star guard Ja Morant had one of the most impressive performances of his career on Tuesday, scoring 47 points – including the Grizzlies‘ final 15 points – to lead the team to a Game 2 victory over Golden State. Morant told reporters after the game that he was having trouble seeing out of his left eye in the fourth quarter, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.

“I can see on the middle. I can’t see on the outside. I got punched trying to get the rebound,” Morant said. “I got another good eye over here (on the right side) — 20-20 vision right here. Thank God for my right eye.”

As Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer details, the Warriors had no answer for Morant after Gary Payton II left Tuesday’s game due to a fractured elbow, and will have to reassess their game plan for defending the electric 22-year-old prior to Game 3 on Saturday.

When asked after Tuesday’s game about the Warriors’ plan for Morant, head coach Steve Kerr said the club hopes Andre Iguodala (neck) will be available for Game 3, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic. However, Iguodala is 38 years old and has battled injuries for much of the season, so Golden State can’t realistically expect him to shut down one of the league’s top scorers.

Here’s more on the Grizzlies/Warriors series:

Kerr was upset by the flagrant foul that injured Payton and earned Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks an ejection, as Kendra Andrews of ESPN writes. “I don’t know if it was intentional, but it was dirty,” Kerr said. “There is a code. This code that players follow where you never put a guy’s season [or] career in jeopardy by taking somebody out in midair and clubbing him across the head, ultimately fracturing Gary’s elbow … He broke the code. Dillon Brooks broke the code.”
The NBA is expected to further evaluate Brooks’ foul to see if it warrants a suspension, Andrews writes. Since there will be three off days before Game 3 tips off on Saturday, an announcement from the league shouldn’t necessarily be expected today.
Draymond Green, who briefly returned to the locker room after taking a hit to the right eye, had no regrets about flipping his middle fingers to the crowd on his way off the court, Andrews notes. “You gonna boo someone who was elbowed in the eye and face is running with blood, you should get flipped off,” Green said. “I’ll take the fine. I’ll do an appearance and make up the money. It felt really good to flip them off. … If they are going to be that nasty, I will be nasty too. I’m assuming the cheers were because they know I’ll be fined. Great — I make $25 million a year. I should be just fine.” Green got back in the game after receiving stitches for a right eye laceration, but Kerr said the former Defensive Player of the Year “was struggling” with the injury.

Pacific Notes: Paul, Booker, Bazemore, Iguodala

May 1st, 2022 at 1:24pm CST by Arthur Hill

As a Hall-of-Fame point guard, Mavericks coach Jason Kidd understands the challenge that Chris Paul presents, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Paul, who will turn 37 this week, is coming off one of the best playoff games of his career, making all 14 of his shots from the field and scoring 33 points Thursday as the Suns closed out the Pelicans.

“He’s perfected the point guard position,” Kidd said. “As you get more reps and you see different defenses, you start to understand what you have to do, and he knows how to move the pieces to get that advantage. When you talk about IQ, it’s off the charts and his competitiveness is off the charts and his will is off the charts. All the things that are off the charts, you’ve just got to make it tough on him.”

Dallas will counter with All-Star point guard Luka Doncic, who was also dominant in the first round after returning from a strained calf. Doncic indicated that the Mavs will try to be physical with Paul, but there’s no set way to contain him.

“It’s hard to slow him down,” Doncic said. “Like you saw in the last game, he didn’t miss. That was pretty crazy.”

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

The Suns were fined $25K for not disclosing Devin Booker‘s status for Game 6 against New Orleans in “an accurate and timely manner,” according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Booker missed three games in the series with a strained right hamstring before returning on Thursday.
In an interview with TMZ Sports, Lakers swingman Kent Bazemore defended LeBron James against his critics and said he would like to re-sign with the team in free agency. Bazemore only played 39 games after signing with L.A. last summer, but he said there’s something special about playing for the team. “What I’ll say is nothing ain’t much better than being a Laker, right?” Bazemore said. “So, getting to see (Kobe Bryant‘s) numbers on the wall every day I went to practice was good inspiration for me. … There’s nothing like it, man. It’s a storied franchise.”
Warriors forward Andre Iguodala has been ruled out of the first two games of the team’s second-round series vs. Memphis, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Iguodala is dealing with a cervical disc injury in his neck.

Andre Iguodala Out At Least One Week

April 27th, 2022 at 1:29pm CST by Luke Adams

Warriors forward Andre Iguodala has been ruled out for Game 5 on Wednesday due to left cervical disc (neck) injury, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic.

According to Kendra Andrews of ESPN (Twitter link), Iguodala will be reevaluated in one week, which means he’ll also be unavailable for Games 6 and 7 of the first round, if they’re necessary. He would also miss at least Game 1 in the second round, assuming the Warriors advance.

Once a crucial part of Golden State’s lineup and an NBA Finals MVP, Iguodala battled injuries this season and was limited to 31 regular season appearances. However, the 38-year-old has been a part of the playoff rotation when he’s healthy, logging at least 12 minutes in three of the team’s first four playoff games. He missed Game 2 due to a bilateral neck spasm.

“It’s a huge loss,” head coach Steve Kerr said of Iguodala’s latest injury, per Andrews.

With Iguodala unavailable, reserves like Gary Payton II or Nemanja Bjelica will likely play slightly larger roles for the Warriors. The team could also consider inserting rookie Jonathan Kuminga into its rotation.

Pacific Notes: Poole, Thompson, S. Johnson, Kawhi, Kaminsky

April 9th, 2022 at 12:10pm CST by Rory Maher

Warriors veteran Andre Iguodala recently compared two third-year players, former teammate Tyler Herro and current teammate Jordan Poole, and thinks both players could be in for big paydays on their next contracts.

“It’s funny. I’m hearing Tyler is looking at a max contract. I’m laughing at Jordan, like, it’s the same thing,” Iguodala said (video link via Anthony Slater of The Athletic).

As third-year former first-round pick, Poole is eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer, though Golden State might opt to wait until after the 2022/23 season to offer him a new deal in order to maintain financial flexibility. He’d be a restricted free agent at that point.

Poole is having a breakout season for the Warriors, averaging 18.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists on .454/.368/.920 shooting (.602 true) through 74 games (30 minutes per night). He’s been outstanding since the beginning of March, averaging 25.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists on .492/.437/.910 shooting in the past 19 games.

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

Warriors guard Klay Thompson will miss Saturday’s game at San Antonio for precautionary reasons, writes Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area. Thompson has typically been held out of the second game of back-to-backs, but coach Steve Kerr decided to switch things up and rest him on the first night this time instead. Thompson has been red-hot lately, scoring a combined 69 points over his past two games.
After Friday’s win over the Thunder, forward Stanley Johnson said he hopes the Lakers exercise their team option to retain him for next season, according to team beat reporter Mike Trudell (Twitter link). “Hopefully I’ve played well enough that they would take me back,” Johnson said.
Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue said on Friday that Kawhi Leonard hasn’t advanced past individual workouts yet, as Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times relays (via Twitter). Leonard has missed the entire season after suffering a torn ACL last June.
Suns head coach Monty Williams said “it was tough decision for us” to part with Frank Kaminsky, who was released on Thursday. “He meant a lot to us, and me personally, I’m grateful for everything he did for us. I just wish he could’ve gone on with us, but these are tough decisions that we have to make. The cool part was, he totally understood and it just says a lot about who he is as a person,” Williams said (video link from Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic).

And-Ones: Jerebko, Canaan, China, Teammate Award, Future Rankings

March 31st, 2022 at 7:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

While some former NBA players have left Russian teams following the invasion into Ukraine, Jonas Jerebko is resuming his career there. The ex-NBA big man signed with CSKA Moscow, the team tweets. That didn’t sit well with the Swedish National Team, who suspended him, according to Johnny Askounis of EuroHoops.net. “Unfortunately, we are forced to state that there are no conditions for Jonas Jerebko to play for the Sweden basketball national team,” a Swedish Basketball Federation press release stated in part. Jerebko played for four NBA teams.

We have more from around the basketball world:

Another Russian team, Unics Kazan, has mutually parted ways with guard Isaiah Canaan, according to a EuroHoops.net story. Canaan is joining Turkey’s Galatasaray, EuroHoops tweets. Canaan appeared in 235 NBA games, most recently during the 2018/19 campaign.
Chinese TV has resumed broadcasts of NBA games, Sopan Deb of the New York Times reports. China had boycotted NBA broadcasts since 2019, when former Houston executive Daryl Morey tweeted support for pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong. China Central Television, its state-run TV network, broadcasted Tuesday night’s matchup between the Clippers and Jazz, which kicked off a full return of the league to China’s airwaves.
The 12 finalists for the league’s Teammate of the Year award have been announced, the NBA announced (via Twitter). DeMar DeRozan, Rudy Gay, Jeff Green , Udonis Haslem, Jrue Holiday, Andre Iguodala, Jaren Jackson Jr., Kevin Love, Boban Marjanovic, Chris Paul, Fred VanVleet and Grant Williams are the contenders. The annual honor recognizes the player deemed the best teammate based on selfless play, on- and off-court leadership as a mentor and role model to other NBA players, and commitment and dedication to team.
The Grizzlies top the list on ESPN’s Future Power Rankings, according to Kevin Pelton, Bobby Marks, Andre’ Snellings, and Tim Bontemps (Insider link). They’re followed by the Heat and Suns. The Kings sit at the bottom of the pile.