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Pacific Notes: Warriors, Green, Sabonis, Clippers

April 29th, 2023 at 11:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

The player development effort that the Warriors launched four years ago didn’t offer much help in Game 6, leaving them in a must-win situation Sunday in Sacramento, writes Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic.

Thompson notes that Golden State has already given up on the two-timeline plan that was supposed to enable the team to remain title contenders without heavy minutes from the veteran core. He adds that seven veterans are likely to see the bulk of the playing time on Sunday, but the team could use a contribution from at least one of its young players.

Thompson points to a decision the Warriors made to focus on young talent after losing in the 2019 NBA Finals. They’ve had five first-round picks since then — and 11 draft choices overall — and they’ve hired five coaches to handle player development, but the payoff wasn’t there when they needed it most. Thompson notes that Jordan Poole had a terrible game on Friday, Gary Payton II played less than 11 minutes and Jonathan Kuminga was barely used at all. James Wiseman, the other hoped-for gem of the development program, was traded to the Pistons in February.

The Warriors’ offseason moves haven’t worked out either, Thompson adds, creating the need for a young player or two to step up. He states that Donte DiVincenzo hasn’t matched his regular season production in the playoffs, JaMychal Green doesn’t have a rotation role and coach Steve Kerr doesn’t seem to trust Anthony Lamb, whose two-way contract was converted to a standard deal so he could be playoff-eligible.

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

Warriors forward Draymond Green often finds himself cast as an antagonist, but it’s not a role he seeks out, per Ron Kroichick of The San Francisco Chronicle. “I just be myself,” he said after Game 5. “I don’t go chasing after some villain title. Being the villain is no fun, it’s not enjoyable. But I’m also never ducking any smoke, whether that’s with a player or a fan or a fan base.”
Kings center Domantas Sabonis doesn’t expect to be hampered by a left eye injury he suffered when he was hit by Kevon Looney during a jump ball on Friday night. Sabonis displayed the damage during a session with reporters at Saturday’s practice (video link from James Ham of ESPN 1320). He said there’s no damage to the orbital bone, but there’s not a treatment that can improve the eye before Sunday’s game.
Following their first-round playoff exit, the Clippers have to decide whether they want to shake up their roster again just months after trading Reggie Jackson, John Wall and Luke Kennard, notes Janis Carr of The Orange County Register.

Warriors Notes: Wiggins, Green, Looney, Thompson

April 25th, 2023 at 1:39pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Warriors small forward Andrew Wiggins has been a surprisingly excellent two-way contributor in the team’s 2-2 series against the Kings, writes Anthony Slater of The Athletic. The 6’7″ swingman had been away from the team since February 13 tending to personal issues, but hasn’t missed a beat in his return — he has played a total of 139 minutes in the series, a total just below those of De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. He’s averaging 19.3 PPG, 5.8 RPG, and 2.3 BPG across the first four games of the series.

There’s more out of Golden State:

Following his very public physical training camp altercation with teammate Jordan Poole, Warriors power forward Draymond Green felt he had to work to regain his standing in the locker room, he tells Shams Charania of The Athletic. “We all know the situation,” Green said. “And I felt like I had to earn my voice. A voice isn’t given. For me, I wanted to do things to earn that back… I needed to earn respect and I needed to earn a voice. And not just because you’re Draymond… you’ve done this, you’ve done that in this organization and everyone’s just supposed to listen.”
Starting Warriors center Kevon Looney, who once again has emerged as a major figure in these playoffs, recently detailed how a rigorous yoga routine keeps him, well, centered, per Scott Cacciola of The New York Times. Looney, who has struggled with injuries in the past, has not missed a single game over the past two season, a fact he credits to “Jana Joga,”
Though Golden State shooting guard Klay Thompson has yet to submit a massive offensive showing through four playoff games against Sacramento, history suggests that one is forthcoming, writes Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. “He’s in that weight room every day, training room every day,” Green said. “As far as him competing and looking like Klay? It’s April. That is who Klay Thompson is. He is one of the biggest and best winners I’ve been around, and that’s what matters most to him.”

Kings Notes: Barnes, Brown, Reserves, Sabonis

April 19th, 2023 at 10:06pm CST by Arthur Hill

Now a member of a Kings team enjoying being a brash, young squad ready to make a statement in the playoffs, Harrison Barnes can remember when he went through the same experience with the Warriors. Barnes was part of the early days of the Golden State dynasty, spending the first four years of his career with the team before signing with Dallas in 2016 when the Warriors targeted Kevin Durant.

In an interview with Sam Amick of The Athletic, Barnes said he doesn’t have any bitterness related to the Warriors or the way his time with the franchise ended.

“I have nothing but fond memories of my time with Golden State,” he said. “Obviously, I think losing the Finals is always going to leave a black eye in terms of how things went, and obviously they’ve gone on to have success since. But I don’t have any ill feelings towards anybody in that organization.”

Barnes covers a wide range of topics in the interview, including his decision to turn down an extension from the Warriors, his long absence from the playoffs after leaving and how he’ll handle his upcoming free agency. Barnes also addresses hearing his name mentioned as a trade candidate as the Kings tried to build a playoff-worthy roster.

“The trade rumors in the past, I think you fully accept those because of (the struggles) of the team,” he said. “You look at it, and you say ‘OK, having three years of being here, three rounds of lottery picks, disappointment, where every trade deadline, you’re revamping the team.’ You know what I mean? It makes sense. Two front offices. (Coach Dave) Joerger leaves. Alvin (Gentry). Mike (Brown). There’s so much turnover that at that point, you’re just like, ‘I can’t expect to not be in those (trade) discussions.’”

There’s more from Sacramento:

Brown turned around the Kings and earned Coach of the Year honors by focusing on interpersonal relationships, Amick writes in a separate piece for The Athletic. Right after being hired, Brown started getting to know his players, Amick adds, including a trip to Germany to see Domantas Sabonis play for Lithuania during EuroBasket.
General manager Monte McNair deserves credit for building a bench that has helped Sacramento grab a 2-0 lead over the defending champs, states Marcos Breton of The Sacramento Bee. Malik Monk, Trey Lyles, Davion Mitchell and Alex Len have all played important roles in the early part of the series.
Brown expects Sabonis to be ready for Thursday’s Game 3, tweets Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. X-rays on Sabonis’ sternum were negative after he was stepped on by Draymond Green.

NBA VP Dumars Explains Thinking Behind Draymond Suspension

April 19th, 2023 at 1:00pm CST by Luke Adams

After the NBA announced late on Tuesday night that Warriors forward Draymond Green would be suspended for Game 3 against Sacramento for stepping on Domantas Sabonis in Game 2, NBA vice president and head of basketball operations Joe Dumars has done the media rounds on Wednesday to explain the thinking behind the controversial decision.

Speaking to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press, Dumars stressed that league officials spent much of Tuesday deliberating their response, noting that it was “not some snap-of-the-finger decision.” In a phone interview with ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Dumars said there were three primary factors that went into the ruling to suspend Green for one game.

“Here’s what it came down to: Excessive and over-the-top actions, conduct detrimental (to the league), and a repeat offender,” Dumars said. “That’s what separates this where you end up with a suspension.”

As Dumars notes – and as the NBA mentioned in its initial announcement – the league weighed Green’s history of unsportsmanlike acts in its decision. He has racked up 162 career technical fouls, 17 ejections, and now four suspensions, per Wojnarowski. Asked if someone with a cleaner record might have received a lesser punishment, Dumars didn’t offer a definitive answer.

“It may have been, but the act itself still would have been looked at in a serious way — stomping on a guy’s chest,” he told ESPN. “On the back end of this act, you add repeat offender and that’s how you end up getting to a suspension.”

During the moments when the play was being reviewed on the court in the fourth quarter of Monday’s game, Green responded to the vitriol he was receiving from fans in Sacramento by standing on a chair, egging them on, and taunting them back. Although that wasn’t a primary reason for the suspension, Dumars acknowledged to both Reynolds and Wojnarowski that it was a factor, referring to Green’s behavior as “not helpful.”

“The stuff that happened afterward, that doesn’t help the situation,” Dumars told The Associated Press. “But if it was just that alone, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. I focused on the act itself, the fact that it’s a repeat offense, those were the two main things.”

Within an hour of the NBA’s announcement on Tuesday night, the Kings made an announcement of their own, issuing a press release to say that Sabonis had been diagnosed with a sternum contusion and would be listed as questionable for Game 3 (Twitter link via Sean Cunningham of FOX 40 Sacramento).

The league was aware of that diagnosis before announcing Green’s suspension, according to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. Sabonis’ injury wasn’t a major factor in the decision, though Dumars did tell Wojnarowski that “you don’t ignore that.”

As for why Sabonis didn’t face any additional penalty of his own for grabbing Green’s leg just before being stepped on, Dumars said the NBA determined that the game’s referees made the correct ruling on the court and felt that no further punishment was warranted for the Kings center.

“Sabonis was penalized in the game with a technical foul and Golden State gets the free throw,” Dumars told ESPN. “It wasn’t like (Sabonis) didn’t get off without any punishment, but we didn’t think that rose to the level of excessive and over-the-top, conduct detrimental and repeat offender. That’s why you separate those two and deal with one act on the court — and then another act.”

Sabonis’ X-Rays Negative Following Draymond Stomp, Ejection

April 18th, 2023 at 7:20am CST by Luke Adams

With just over seven minutes left in the fourth quarter of Game 2 in the Kings/Warriors series on Monday, Draymond Green was assessed with a flagrant foul 2 and was ejected from the game for stomping on Domantas Sabonis‘ chest after the two players got tangled up following a missed Sacramento shot (NBA.com video link).

Sabonis fell to the ground while battling for rebounding position and appeared to grab Green’s leg as he went down. The Kings center was given a technical foul for the play, but remained in the game, which Sacramento won to take a 2-0 series lead.

Sabonis underwent X-rays on his sternum after the game, which came back negative, so he appears to have avoided any major injuries, though he’ll undergo more tests on Tuesday as a precaution, according to ESPN’s Kendra Andrews and Adrian Wojnarowski.

“When I fell, I was protecting myself, and then the incident happened,” Sabonis said. “There is no room for that in our game today.”

For his part, Green told reporters that having his leg held by Sabonis made it impossible not to come down on the Kings All-Star.

“My leg got grabbed — the second time in two nights — and the referee is just watching,” Green said, per ESPN. “I got to land my foot somewhere, and I’m not the most flexible person, so it’s not stretching that far. … I can only step so far with someone pulling my leg away … I guess ankle grabbing is OK.”

A source tells Marc J. Spears of Andscape (Twitter link) that Green also requested an X-ray after Game 2 after feeling soreness in his right ankle.

According to Spears, Green believes he hurt his ankle when he got grabbed by Sabonis, though he showed no ill effects in the immediate aftermath of the play as he stood on a chair while the call was being reviewed and egged on Kings fans, who were chanting “Draymond sucks” (Twitter video link via Sean Cunningham of FOX 40 Sacramento).

The NBA figures to take a closer look at the fourth-quarter sequence to determine whether any additional punishment – such as a fine or suspension – is warranted. Kings coach Mike Brown said on Monday night that he was “curious” about the outcome of that review, as Andrews notes in ESPN’s story.

Pacific Notes: Westbrook, Durant, Hyland, Plumlee, Ranadive

April 13th, 2023 at 4:01pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant were teammates with the Thunder for eight seasons. Heading into the Clippers’ first round series against Durant and the Suns, Westbrook addressed the notion that they have a strained relationship, suggesting that’s a false assumption, according to ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk.

“I think people still think like there’s some beef or something. There’s no beef of any [kind], so I think that’s the good narrative for media, for people to talk about,” Westbrook said. “But there’s no beef. I got nothing but respect for him and things he’s done with his career and having to see him back from injury. There’s no beef at all. But he knows I’m going to compete and I know he’s going to compete and that’s all it is.”

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On a similar topic, Clippers guard Bones Hyland said he has no issues with teammate Mason Plumlee in the aftermath of their dustup on Sunday, Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times writes. “Me and him talked on the plane. It’s nothing. It’s quashed,” Hyland said. “People create their own narratives of what’s going on, but me and Mason know what’s going on, the team knows what’s going on. We deaded it literally in Phoenix. It’s nothing to worry about. We’re focused on Phoenix right now and trying to win the series.”
Durant played 41 minutes against Denver last week and says he expects to log a similar workload throughout the playoffs, according to Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic. “Forty is the number I love,” the Suns‘ star said. “I like hovering around that number.”
In a wide-ranging interview with Andscape’s Marc Spears, Kings owner Vivek Ranadive said the blockbuster trade with Indiana last season involving Tyrese Haliburton and Domantas Sabonis worked to the benefit of both organizations. “If we didn’t have Tyrese, we couldn’t have gotten Domantas. It ended up being a win-win trade for everybody,” he said. “It’s one of those rare trades where it created three All-Stars. And so, Tyrese was an All-Star. De’Aaron (Fox) an All-Star. Domas an All-Star. So, it took a lot of courage on the part of my front office to pull the trigger and make that trade, but I applauded them for doing that.”

California Notes: Powell, Thompson, Kings, Lakers

April 7th, 2023 at 4:04pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Clippers reserve guard Norman Powell appears to be rediscovering his fighting form of late. In his most recent contest, a 125-118 win over the Lakers Wednesday, Powell notched a team-high 27 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the floor, per Janis Carr of The Orange County Register.

“I think it’s like my fourth game back coming off injury after missing 11 games so it was just being prepared and just staying mentally locked in and as (head coach Tyronn) Lue says, not playing so angry,” Powell said. “It just shows how much I love the game and how much I commit to it, and my preparation every single day.”

Playing in his first full season with the Clippers, the 6’3″ swingman is averaging 16.7 PPG on .476/.404/.815 shooting splits. All but eight of his 58 healthy contests have come off the team’s bench.

There’s more out of California:

Starting Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson has been dealing with a sore back of late, but head coach Steve Kerr said on Friday that the 6’7″ vet is feeling better and was a full practice participant today, Kendra Andrews of ESPN tweets.
The 48-32 Kings could be without several notable players against the Warriors tonight, Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee tweets. All-Stars De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis are both questionable with ankle injuries. Shooting guard Kevin Huerter is managing his own injury, while rookie power forward Keegan Murray has a foot ailment. The statuses of forward Trey Lyles and guards Davion Mitchell and Malik Monk are also up-in-the-air. If Sacramento wins out and the Grizzlies lose out, the Kings would be able to secure the West’s second seed by benefit of a tiebreaker, but it appears the team is happy with its current No. 3 seed.
Despite a clean injury sheet, the healthy Lakers‘ loss against a Clippers team missing All-Star forward Paul George exposes the club as being less than title-caliber, opines Bill Plaschke of The Los Angeles Times. Plaschke notes that stars Anthony Davis and LeBron James were clearly playing through ailments, and the rest of the team failed to step up to meet the moment.

Pacific Notes: Thompson, Bradley, Leonard, Collins, Sabonis

March 21st, 2023 at 8:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Centers Tristan Thompson and Tony Bradley worked out for the Lakers on Monday, Darvin Ham confirmed, but the head coach said there’s no “imminent” plan to sign either to the team’s final roster spot, Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register tweets.

The Lakers wanted to make sure that if they feel the need to sign another player, they’ve already worked him out, Ham explained. Los Angeles could have a need for another big since Mohamed Bamba may miss the rest of the regular season with a high left ankle sprain.

We have more from the Pacific Division:

The Clippers have won five of their last six games, moving up to fifth place in the Western Conference. Kawhi Leonard believes the club could have a special playoff run, Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times writes. “It’s a feeling when you know you have a great team,” he said. “It’s not always [leading] to a championship, it’s just about you knowing that everybody’s on the same page. It’s just a continuous motion. It’s hard to explain. Yeah, there’s something special. You got to feel it, and then you’ll know.”
The Kings added Kevin Huerter last summer as a shooter to play off of De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis but the team pursued another Hawks player before they acquired Sabonis from Indiana, Zach Lowe of ESPN reports. They were interested in power forward John Collins and nearly closed a deal with the Hawks that would have sent Harrison Barnes and a protected 2022 first-round pick to Atlanta for Collins. That deal fell apart as the Sabonis one emerged.
Speaking of the Sabonis deal with the Pacers, Fox told Michael Scotto of HoopsHype that the versatile big man was just what the team needed to take the next step, even though they had gave up Tyrese Haliburton. “It shocked everybody,” Fox said. “Not only fans and media. It shocked the team as well. Seeing the player we were getting back is obviously big. Someone who’s that big, skilled – a very unique skillset – I felt like he was going to make us better.”

Pacific Notes: KD, Klay, Brooks, Fox, Sabonis, AD

March 20th, 2023 at 6:16pm CST by Rory Maher

Suns forward Kevin Durant has been able to do more on-court work lately, Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium said on FanDuel TV’s Run It Back show, adding that he believes there could be an update on the star’s status later this week (Twitter video link).

According to Charania, the Suns are “hopeful” that Durant will return to action before the end of month, or possibly in early April, though he does say the team will be cautious.

Durant has been out since March 8 after sustaining a left ankle sprain during a pregame workout routine. Charania reported the next day that he’d be reevaluated in two weeks, but the Suns said three. Either way, it’s a positive sign that the 34-year-old has been making progress in his recovery.

Here’s more from the Pacific:

Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks continues to rankle members of the Warriors. He repeatedly shouted “you suck” at the defending champions from the bench in the closing minutes of Saturday’s victory over Golden State, with Klay Thompson responding by counting off four on his fingers, representing his championship rings (Twitter video link via NBC Sports Bay Area). “I don’t care about Dillon Brooks,” Thompson told Evan Barnes of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. “When he retires, I don’t think anyone will ever talk about Dillon Brooks ever again. I promise you. It’s sweet right now, but wait 10 years.” According to Barnes, Brooks commended the Warriors’ accomplishments, but slipped in a dig as well. “He’s got four rings. That’s all he was saying. It’s motivation to us,” Brooks said. “We want a ring as well. Being able to go through the process of steps that we did last year, we keep going and learning from it all. It’s friendly trash talk, but I just hold a lot of real estate over there in San Francisco.”
Charania recently interviewed Kings All-Stars De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis (Twitter video link). They covered a number of topics, including head coach Mike Brown, last year’s trade that brought Sabonis to Sacramento, Sabonis’ thumb injury, and their respective All-NBA cases, among others.
Lakers star Anthony Davis is expected to play in both games of the team’s final back-to-back set in early April, Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report said on his #thisleague UNCUT podcast with Marc Stein (Twitter link via Fox Sports Radio). According to Haynes, Davis was given the option of either playing last week’s back-to-back at New Orleans (a win with Davis) and at Houston (a loss without him), or the back-to-back set on April 4th and 5th at Utah and at the Clippers. He obviously chose the latter.

Joel Embiid, Domantas Sabonis Named Players Of The Week

March 20th, 2023 at 2:40pm CST by Luke Adams

For a second consecutive week, Sixers center Joel Embiid and Kings center Domantas Sabonis have been named the NBA’s players of the week for the Eastern and Western Conference, respectively, the league announced today (via Twitter).

Embiid continued to make a strong case for Most Valuable Player consideration in the last seven days, averaging 35.0 points, 12.7 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 3.3 blocks in three road games (32.3 MPG). The Sixers won all three contests by an average margin of 22.7 points.

Sabonis, meanwhile, led the Kings to a 3-1 week that included road victories in Chicago, Brooklyn, and Washington. He averaged a triple-double (22.8 PPG, 16.0 RPG, and 10.0 APG) and shot 59.3% from the field in those four games (37.8 MPG).

Embiid has now matched Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo with four Eastern Conference player of the week nods this season. Sabonis and Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard lead the West with three player of the week awards apiece.

Antetokounmpo, Jimmy Butler, DeMar DeRozan, and Evan Mobley were this week’s other Eastern Conference nominees, per the NBA (Twitter link). Sabonis’ teammate De’Aaron Fox was a nominee in the West, along with Jalen Green, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Austin Reaves.