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Warriors Notes: Wiggins, Kuminga, Green, Myers

January 8th, 2024 at 8:04am CST by Arthur Hill

The Warriors haven’t been effective with Andrew Wiggins and Jonathan Kuminga on the court together, but their athletic potential is so tantalizing that coach Steve Kerr tried the combination again Sunday night, writes Anthony Slater of The Athletic.

Kerr employed his 13th different starting lineup of the season, using Wiggins and Kuminga as the forwards, but the results were disappointing again as Toronto jumped to an early 24-12 lead that Golden State was never able to overcome.

“We’ve talked about trying to get (Wiggins and Kuminga) together,” Kerr said. “Theoretically our two longest, most athletic players. We have not been a good defensive team this year, so we wanted to try it. It hasn’t connected, really. But we’re experimenting. We’re trying to find a two-way lineup that can help us. But obviously that lineup didn’t click.”

Kerr pulled the plug on the experiment by intermission, as the Raptors scored 76 first-half points and held a 27-point lead. He replaced Wiggins, Kuminga and Trayce Jackson-Davis with Brandin Podziemski, Dario Saric and Kevon Looney to start the third quarter.

“I didn’t want to go back to the same lineup,” Kerr said. “The only thing I was interested in in the second half was just competing. What that means — you can say compete, but what does that mean? It means talking on defense. I didn’t hear anything. It was silent in the first half. We needed to have some talk, some chatter. So I went with that lineup because I felt they would give us that.”

There’s more on the Warriors:

Kerr will have to juggle his rotation even more when Draymond Green returns, Slater adds. Green, whose suspension was lifted Saturday after 12 games, was in the arena with his teammates Sunday night. Green is expected to miss at least one more game while working on his conditioning, according to Slater, but he should be back on the court by the end of the week.
With the trade deadline now just a month away, the front office is facing a crucial decision on Kuminga, who likely has the highest value of any of the Warriors’ available players, notes Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. Kuminga’s athleticism makes him an intriguing prospect for rival teams, and he’s only 21 with another year remaining on his rookie contract. There are no signs that management will consider breaking up the long-standing trio of Green, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, Poole adds.
The NFL’s Washington Commanders have hired former Warriors general manager Bob Myers as part of their search team for a new head of football operations and head coach, per Adrian Wojnarowski and Adam Schefter of ESPN. Myers, who left Golden State when his contract expired last summer, will be part of an advisory committee that also includes former NBA star Magic Johnson. Myers will continue his studio work with ESPN on NBA games.

Pacific Notes: Klay, Plumlee, Theis, N. Powell, Bol

January 3rd, 2024 at 9:05am CST by Luke Adams

It has been a disappointing first half of the season for Warriors wing Klay Thompson, whose average of 16.7 points per game is well below his career mark. His 42.0% shooting percentage on field goal attempts and 37.7% rate from beyond the three-point line would be career lows.

While Thompson’s slow start has affected his demeanor on and off the court, he said on Tuesday that a recent conversation with head coach Steve Kerr has helped him “relax a lot” and adjust his mindset, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic.

“Sometimes I forget just how successful and how lucky I’ve been to be part of a championship team, All-Star games, gold medals,” Thompson said. “You want to get back to that level so badly you can kind of get in your own way. Rather than forcing it, we had a conversation about enjoying the last chapter of my career, how lucky I truly am to still be playing this game, doing it at a high level, being a better mentor for these young guys, leading by example, having my energy right every game.

“He helped me realize if I do have negative energy how that affects the team in a poor manner. So we had a great conversation that helped me change my whole mindset and forget about shooting splits or points per game or All-Star games and just to enjoy being in this Warriors uniform and appreciate what we’ve built. Because it’s such a rare opportunity for a professional athlete to be a part of so much success and to pass that torch to the young guys and keep this thing going.”

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

Clippers center Mason Plumlee was active on Monday for the first time since going down with an MCL sprain on November 6, but he didn’t see any action, as Janis Carr of The Orange County Register writes. “He is available, but we still want to make sure we are doing the right thing and making sure that we’re taking the slow (road) and ease him back in,” head coach Tyronn Lue explained. Fellow reserve center Daniel Theis said he hasn’t been told by the coaching staff how his role will be affected by Plumlee’s return.
With the Clippers healthier this year than in recent seasons, Norman Powell is averaging just 25.6 minutes per game off the bench, his lowest mark since 2018/19. However, the veteran wing says he’s willing to sacrifice some playing time and accept a reduced role if it’s the right move for the team as a whole, per Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. “This year with the way the team is constructed and the moves that we made, I’ve been taking a step back and not being so upset that my role isn’t going to be where I would like it to be, or where I want it to be or how I view myself, and accepting how the team is built, what the team is looking for and what we have to do to win,” Powell said.
Bol Bol made just eight appearances and logged only 19 total minutes in his first 32 games with the Suns, but he finally got an extended opportunity in Monday’s win over Portland and took advantage of it, putting up 11 points and nine rebounds in 20 minutes. “I haven’t been able to show it, but I still have all the same confidence,” Bol said before the game, according to Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. “I know what I’m capable of doing when given a chance.” Head coach Frank Vogel told reporters after the victory that the team was “really happy” with Bol’s performance and hinted that his opportunities to play non-garbage-time minutes may be more frequent going forward.

Latest On Draymond Green

December 14th, 2023 at 9:04am CST by Arthur Hill

The players union wouldn’t have been on board with an indefinite suspension for Draymond Green if he wasn’t willing to accept it himself, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said on a SportsCenter appearance (video link).

Green and his agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, will meet today with Warriors general manager Mike Dunlevy Jr. to determine what kind of help Green will need to deal with the issues that are leading to his repeated suspensions, and sources tell Wojnarowski that Green has a desire to get counseling.

“I’m told he wants to get help to keep this from happening again,” Wojnarowski said, “to handle whatever issues he might have and whatever challenges he might have in his life.”

Woj adds that by making the suspension indefinite, commissioner Adam Silver is “trying to get to the root of the problem” rather than placing a number of games on Green’s latest act, which involved striking Phoenix center Jusuf Nurkic in the head in Tuesday’s game. Sources tell Wojnarowski that Green is looking to deal with the underlying causes of his behavior, maybe for the first time in his career.

There’s more on the Green suspension:

The NBA office is sending a message to the Warriors that it’s tired of dealing with Green’s frequent transgressions and their effect on the league’s image, according to Tim Kawakami of The Athletic. Kawakami points out that Green has already missed five games this season due to suspension and has been ejected from three others. If his current ban lasts for 10 games, he will have been either suspended or ejected from 18 of the team’s first 33 contests. He’s also just two more flagrant fouls away from another automatic one-game suspension. Green seems incapable of controlling his behavior, adds Kawakami, who speculates that the league’s response to a future incident would be “swift and thunderous” and may result in a suspension for the remainder of the season. If that happens, Kawakami notes that the Warriors’ could either try to get out of the remainder of the four-year, $100MM contract that Green signed this summer, trade him for little or nothing in return, or release him and take the financial hit.
Green’s latest incident could spark much-needed roster changes, suggests Sam Amick of The Athletic. The Warriors have lost 12 of their last 17 games and aren’t doing enough to justify a payroll that hovers around $400MM with luxury taxes. With Green unable to stay on the court and Klay Thompson‘s dramatic drop in production ahead of free agency, Amick sees a reduced chance that they and Stephen Curry will all get to retire with Golden State.
Green’s suspension will result in a financial benefit for the Warriors because it was imposed by the league instead of the team. Scott Allen of Spotrac looks at how much the organization might save depending on how long Green is out of action.

Warriors Reportedly Offered Klay Thompson Two-Year Extension

December 13th, 2023 at 10:50am CST by Luke Adams

Before the regular season began, the Warriors offered Klay Thompson a two-year extension worth in the neighborhood of $48MM, Shams Charania of The Athletic said today on FanDuel’s Run it Back show (Twitter video link).

Thompson obviously passed on that offer, with multiple reports at the time suggesting that he and the Warriors were far apart on both years and money. He remains extension-eligible and could sign a new deal with Golden State at any time before he reaches free agency on July 1, but both Charania and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski have indicated there’s a very real possibility he reaches the open market next summer.

Thompson is in the final season of a five-year, $190MM contract that is paying him $43.2MM in 2023/24. He missed two full seasons due to knee and Achilles injuries at the start of the contract and appeared in just 32 regular season games in 2021/22.

After a solid showing in ’22/23, Thompson’s numbers are down across the board in the first couple months of this season — he’s averaging 15.4 points per game on .397/.343/.889 shooting and has recorded roughly the same number of assists (44) and turnovers (43). His field goal percentage, three-point percentage, and turnover rate are career worsts and that scoring average is his lowest since his rookie season in 2011/12.

There has been a sense that Thompson’s contract situation may be weighing on him and factoring into his slow start to the season. Head coach Steve Kerr has been patient with the veteran sharpshooter, keeping him in the starting lineup for all 22 games he has played so far this fall. However, Kerr did hold Thompson – and fellow slumping veteran Andrew Wiggins – out of Tuesday’s closing lineup, as we detailed earlier today.

“I deserved to be benched tonight. I played like crap,” Thompson said after the game, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic. “If you’ve ever played basketball before, you know what you’re capable of. You always want to be out there competing. That’s just facts. Whatever though. It happens. I deserved to be benched. I’ve been playing like crap. Twenty games in. I haven’t caught a good rhythm.”

Another long-term, maximum-salary contract for Thompson was never a realistic expectation, but teammate Draymond Green – who, like Thompson, is 33 years old – received a four-year, $100MM commitment from Golden State over the summer. With that in mind, it’s perhaps not surprising that the five-time All-Star would view a two-year, $48MM offer as insufficient after averaging 21.9 PPG with a .412 3PT% last season.

Still, unless he’s able to turn things around this season and bust out of his slump, it’s hard to imagine the Warriors adding any more years or money to the preseason offer they made to Thompson.

For what it’s worth, Thompson has said he “absolutely” wants to spend the rest of his playing career in Golden State.

Draymond Green Likely Facing Another Suspension Following Tuesday Ejection

December 13th, 2023 at 7:15am CST by Luke Adams

Warriors forward Draymond Green was ejected from a game for the third time this season on Tuesday, earning a flagrant 2 foul for striking Suns center Jusuf Nurkic in the head during the third quarter of Phoenix’s win (Twitter video link via TSN Sports).

The NBA is expected to review the incident before the Warriors’ game against the Clippers on Thursday and will likely suspend Green for a second time this fall, according to Anthony Slater and Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. The former Defensive Player of the Year was previously suspended five games for putting Rudy Gobert in a headlock, with the league citing Green’s “history of unsportsmanlike acts” when announcing that penalty.

“I am not one to apologize for things I mean to do, but I do apologize to Jusuf because I didn’t intend to hit him,” Green said after the game, per Kendra Andrews of ESPN. “I sell calls with my arms … so I was selling the call … and I swung and unfortunately I hit him.

“… You guys have known me long enough, if I intended to do something, I am not apologizing. But I did make contact with him, so I do apologize. … It’s a hard hit.”

Although the blow sent Nurkic to the floor, the big man was able to finish the game. After the victory, he told reporters that the play had “nothing to do with basketball,” while Suns head coach Frank Vogel referred to it as “reckless (and) dangerous,” according to Andrews.

“I’m sensitive to our guys getting hit on plays like that,” Vogel said. “I didn’t like it. The refs did what they had to do. The league will do what they have to do.”

Another suspension for Green could result in more playing time for young players like Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, and perhaps Trayce Jackson-Davis, as well as veterans Dario Saric and Kevon Looney.

Both Kuminga and Saric, as well as rookie Brandin Podziemski, were part of Golden State’s closing lineup on Tuesday, alongside Stephen Curry and Chris Paul, with Green unavailable and starters Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, and Looney on the bench.

Thompson, whose scoring and shooting numbers this season are well below his career norms, told reporters after the game that it was “strange” to be benched down the stretch, but he didn’t question head coach Steve Kerr‘s decision.

“I played like crap,” Thompson said, per Andrews. “If you’ve ever played basketball before, you know what you are capable of. You always want to be out there competing. That’s just facts … but I deserved to be benched. I’ve been playing like crap. Twenty games in, I haven’t found a rhythm.”

Pacific Notes: Beal, Durant, Paul, Thompson, Tucker, Lakers

December 11th, 2023 at 9:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Suns wing Bradley Beal will be in action for just the fourth time this season when Phoenix faces Golden State on Tuesday. He hasn’t played since Nov. 12 due to a back injury.

“I’m excited,” Beal told Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic after Monday’s practice. “It’s been a process for sure. It’s been a game of patience, but definitely ready.”

However, it’s not a given that the team’s big three will all be in action at the same time. Kevin Durant is listed as questionable with a left ankle sprain. Beal will be playing with Devin Booker for the first time.

“I’m beyond excited (to play with Booker),” Beal said. “He’s playing at an elite level right now. It was tough the last couple of games just seeing him double teamed, triple teamed.”

Grayson Allen is listed as out due to a groin injury.

We have more from the Pacific Division:

The Warriors’ Chris Paul and Klay Thompson are expected to play on Tuesday, Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweets. Paul missed the last game with an illness and Thompson sat out Sunday’s practice because he was under the weather. Both practiced on Monday in Phoenix.
P.J. Tucker has seen his playing time evaporate with the Clippers and it might be tough for him to break into the rotation again, Law Murray of The Athletic opines. Murray notes that Tucker lacks the height to deal with most big men, the athleticism to deal with most guards, and the offensive punch to be a helpful wing at this stage of his career. The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported on Monday that numerous contenders are looking at potentially acquiring Tucker.
The Lakers will hang an in-season tournament championship banner from the rafters. It will be unveiled Dec. 18 and will feature a different shape and color than the team’s 17 NBA championship banners, Marc Stein tweets.

Warriors Notes: Starting Five, CP3, Kuminga, Klay, Haliburton

December 9th, 2023 at 1:26pm CST by Luke Adams

There was an expectation heading into the Warriors‘ game on Friday in Oklahoma City that head coach Steve Kerr might make a change to a starting lineup that has struggled this season after being one of the NBA’s best in 2022/23. Entering Friday’s action, the five-man group of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, and Kevon Looney had posted a minus-13.0 net rating in 113 minutes.

However, as Kendra Andrews of ESPN tweets, Kerr stuck with that lineup on Friday and it was relatively effective, outscoring the Thunder by three points in nearly 16 minutes of action. Still, it wasn’t enough. After taking a 14-point lead in the first half, the Warriors watched it slip away and eventually lost in overtime in OKC.

“It’s a pattern right now,” Kerr said after the game, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic. “I watched this same group win a championship a year and a half ago. They’re champions. But they’re not playing like it. I’m not coaching like it. We have to figure this out.”

Here’s more on the Warriors:

Veteran point guard Chris Paul was a late scratch on Friday due to an illness, tweets Slater. The Warriors announced their starters before ruling out Paul, so the starting five presumably would have been the same even if he had been available.
Golden State committed 29 turnovers in Friday’s loss, which is the most in any game in the Kerr era and the most by any Warriors team since 2002, writes Slater. Kerr referred to it as an “obscene” amount of turnovers and said he plans to hold a film session to try to address the issue. “You want me to go through them?” Kerr said when asked if there were any in particular they needed to eliminate. “We will watch all 29 as a team. I can tell you that. We will watch all 29 turnovers.”
Klay Thompson praised Jonathan Kuminga for his recent play, referring to him as “the future,” according to Slater. Thompson also said he’ll “never, ever lose faith in this group” and shrugged off Charles Barkley likening the 10-12 Warriors to the Titanic on TNT’s Thursday broadcast.“The only frustration with that is will this guy ever give us any credit?” Thompson said when informed of Barkley’s comments. “You know how hard this is to do? Annually? You’d think Charles would understand how hard it is to win a championship. To do that annually? And we’re still here. What are we — 10 and 12? There’s 60 freaking regular season games left. But he’s been hating on us since 2015. So this is no surprise.”
During that same TNT broadcast, former Warriors president of basketball operations Bob Myers spoke about bringing Tyrese Haliburton in for a workout prior to the 2020 draft and ultimately passing on him (Twitter video link). “What bothers me more than anything was — his workout was good (but) when we met with him after, I should have known then because of who he is as a person and a leader,” Myers said. “… That conversation left a mark because of how smart he is and how confident. It’s not fake, it’s not arrogant, it’s confidence. When you talk about players wanting to play with him, that’s real. … There’s a lot of great players in the NBA that people do not want to play with. (If) you are a great player and a great person, then people want to play with you.” Haliburton said at the time that he thought he’d be a “really good fit” in Golden State — he wasn’t really in the conversation for the No. 2 overall pick, but there was a sense that he could be one of the Warriors’ targets if they traded down.

Pacific Notes: Thompson, Paul, Wiggins, Harden, Westbrook, Beal

December 3rd, 2023 at 11:57am CST by Arthur Hill

Extension talks between the Warriors and Klay Thompson have been “dormant” since training camp and likely won’t get serious until after the season, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said on NBA Countdown (video link).

That means there’s a decent chance Thompson will become a free agent on June 30, but Wojnarowski notes that’s typical of the way Golden State handles its most prized assets. Draymond Green was allowed to reach free agency before he signed his latest deal, the team didn’t come to an agreement with former general manager Bob Myers before his contract expired, and there hasn’t been an extension yet with head coach Steve Kerr.

Thompson is earning $43.2MM in the final year of his current contract and will be eligible for a four-year extension worth up to $220MM. The Warriors will almost certainly be unwilling to offer him anything close to the full amount because of his age and declining production. Thompson will turn 34 in February and is averaging just 15.7 PPG this season while shooting 40.6% from the field and 36.1% from three-point range.

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

Chris Paul and Andrew Wiggins missed the Warriors‘ game on Saturday, but they’re both expected to return soon. Paul, who suffered a lower left leg nerve contusion earlier this week, was able to go through his normal pre-game shooting routine, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Wiggins, who hurt his right index finger in a car door, also warmed up before the game and expects to be able to play in a couple of days, Slater adds (Twitter link).
James Harden offered words of encouragement to Russell Westbrook during the Clippers‘ game on Saturday, per Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. Westbrook has shifted to a sixth-man role and has seen his playing time decline since Harden was acquired in a trade last month. Westbrook played just 19 minutes Saturday, and Harden could sense that he was getting upset. “I told him to just stay with it. It’s a long season and I know it’s probably frustrating for him because his minutes are fluctuating,” Harden said. “But I think all of us are trying to figure out how we want to play our different lineups and see who works better with who and things like that.”
Suns coach Frank Vogel said Bradley Beal is in a “workload and then see how his back responds type of phase” as he rehabs his low back strain, tweets Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports. Beal, who has only played three games this season, is scheduled to have his condition reevaluated this week.

Warriors Notes: Moody, Thompson, Green, Paul, Payton

November 29th, 2023 at 5:19pm CST by Arthur Hill

Moses Moody hit several big shots in the fourth quarter Tuesday night, but he wasn’t on the floor for the closing minutes as the Warriors fell to the Kings. That’s something coach Steve Kerr may have to change if the third-year guard remains productive, writes Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic.

Moody scored 11 points in the first seven minutes of the quarter, making all four of his shot attempts. However, Kerr opted to replace him with Andrew Wiggins with 4:26 remaining.

“Moses was awesome tonight,” Kerr said. “We needed (Wiggins) on the floor for defense against (De’Aaron) Fox, and we decided to go with Klay (Thompson) and our vets. We thought about keeping him out there. But we made the move that we made.”

Kerr’s loyalty to his veterans cost the Warriors an important division game and a possibly a chance to reach the in-season tournament quarterfinals, according to Marcus Thompson. With Moody and rookie Brandin Podziemski both playing well, Thompson believes Kerr will eventually have to trust them with a game on the line.

There’s more on the Warriors:

Stephen Curry remains as productive as ever, but Klay Thompson and Draymond Green are no longer playing at a championship level, contends Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer. He notes that Thompson has been forcing shots and can’t stay in front of quicker players on defense, while Green’s intensity has been out of control lately, resulting in a five-game suspension for an incident with Rudy Gobert and a near ejection for mocking the officials in Tuesday’s game. O’Connor’s recommendation is for the Warriors to shake up their roster with a trade, using Chris Paul‘s salary and some of their young talent. He suggests targets such as the Raptors‘ Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby, the Bulls‘ Alex Caruso, the Wizards‘ Kyle Kuzma, or possibly Lauri Markkanen from the Jazz or Kawhi Leonard or Paul George from the Clippers if those teams continue to struggle.
Golden State could be heading toward a difficult place with Thompson if he can’t shake his early-season slump, observes Connor Letourneau of The San Francisco Chronicle. Thompson has an expiring contract, and if he can’t prove that he’s worth the four-year, $220MM extension that he reportedly expects, his only choices next summer will be to either leave the Warriors or re-sign for significantly less.
A pair of injuries added to the team’s woes in Tuesday’s loss, notes Kendra Andrews of ESPN. Paul was ruled out with lower left leg soreness shortly after halftime, and Gary Payton II hobbled to the locker room with a right calf injury late in the third quarter.

Warriors Notes: Thompson, Wiggins, Green

November 28th, 2023 at 12:52pm CST by Luke Adams

Asked on Monday about comments that Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has made about having patience with struggling stars like Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins, Thompson responded with “some bite,” according to Tim Kawakami of The Athletic.

“What, do you want him to bench me?” Thompson said. “Or bench Wigs?

“I mean, you can suggest it, that’s fine. But thank Steve, I guess, I don’t know. Sometimes you earn these things, like patience and time to find yourself. I think history is on our side when it comes to that stuff.”

Thompson’s 40.2% field goal percentage so far this season would be a personal career worst, as would Wiggins’ 41.7% mark. The Warriors’ five-man starting lineup that was so dominant last season hasn’t hit its stride so far this fall — Thompson, Wiggins, Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Kevon Looney have a minus-14.4 net rating in 87 minutes. Still, Kerr reiterated earlier in the day on Monday that he has faith in his veterans.

“Having been a player myself, I always wanted my coaches to show confidence in me through a slump,” Kerr said, per Kawakami. “So I know how much that means to a player, when a coach stands by you. And then we just won a championship a year and a half ago with Wigs and Klay playing a huge role.”

Here’s more on the Warriors:

Thompson’s contract negotiations – he’s on an expiring deal and is extension-eligible – are weighing on him, sources tell Kendra Andrews of ESPN. That may be one factor contributing to his slow start to the season.
Andrews also hears from sources that Wiggins didn’t take the time necessary during the offseason to get back into game shape for the start of the 2023/24 campaign. That lack of physical conditioning annoyed some people within the organization, one team source tells ESPN.
The Warriors figure to back Draymond Green, who will be returning on Tuesday from his five-game suspension, no matter what he does, a league source tells Andrews. A team source suggests to ESPN that the club lost leverage to discipline the volatile forward when it let him off relatively easy for punching Jordan Poole last fall.
As Andrews explains, the Warriors’ tolerance for Green’s occasional antics may run out once he’s no longer an effective player, but that won’t happen this season, as he’s still the anchor of their defense.