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Pacific Notes: Durant, Booker, Kings, Lakers, D. Green

March 11th, 2025 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

If the Suns trade Kevin Durant this offseason, the “most ideal” return would be three first-round picks and a young player, as well as enough salary relief to move below the second tax apron, sources tell Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic.

Rankin’s wording leaves some room for interpretation. It’s not clear if his sources believe that’s the sort of return the Suns would be seeking or what they could realistically expect to acquire — or if it’s simply their view of what a best-case scenario for the franchise would look like.

Although Durant continues to play at an extremely high level, his age (37 in the fall) and contract situation (he’ll be entering a contract year) will be factors working against the Suns as they try to extract the best possible package.

Within the same story, Rankin cites sources who suggest the Suns could probably acquire four first-round picks and a “rising star in his third or fourth year” in exchange for Devin Booker, who is eight years younger than Durant and is under team control through 2028. However, John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link) issues a reminder that Phoenix’s stance on Booker hasn’t changed — the team still has no intention of making him available.

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

  • Kings guard Malik Monk returned on Monday from a three-game absence due to a toe sprain and scored 21 points, writes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. It wasn’t nearly enough for the Kings, who suffered a 29-point home loss to the Knicks on the second end of a back-to-back and are now two games back of the No. 8 seed in the West. As Anderson details in a separate Sacramento Bee story, center Jonas Valanciunas referred to the loss as “embarrassing,” while interim head coach Doug Christie offered a similar assessment. “There are absolutely no excuses in this league,” Christie said. “The league does not care about back-to-backs, injuries, nothing. That was brutal from the physicality standpoint. They didn’t feel us at all, and our guys know that is totally unacceptable, whoever is out on the floor.”
  • Over on the other coast, Lakers head coach J.J. Redick wasn’t happy with the effort he saw from his team in a three-point loss to the Nets in Brooklyn. Redick referred to it as a “very low-level communication game” and told reporters that injuries to key players – including LeBron James – should be no excuse, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “I think it was just an overall mentality just to take shortcuts tonight,” Redick said. “Want to be a good team? You want to win in the NBA? You got to do the hard stuff. We couldn’t even pass to each other. We couldn’t enter our offense, running ball screens literally at half court. Yeah, that’s going to end up in a turnover. I don’t know what we’re doing.”
  • Trayce Jackson-Davis, Quinten Post, and Kevon Looney have combined to make 53 starts this season, but Draymond Green continues to play at the five during most end-game situations and has been the Warriors‘ starting center for eight of 11 games since the All-Star break. He’s OK with that. “I knew it would come down to this,” Green said, according to Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. “But I just didn’t have much interest in doing it for 82 games. Because it’s a lot. To anchor a defense. To play the five, you’re in every action. People downhill at you. It’s a different responsibility on the body. … But if you can’t do it for 29 games, it’s over, champ.”
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California Notes: Batum, Monk, Sabonis, Loucks, Curry

March 9th, 2025 at 1:39pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Clippers forward Nicolas Batum made just his fourth start this year on Friday and helped his club notch a 105-95 win over New York, writes Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. Typical starter Derrick Jones Jr. is still dealing with a groin injury, opening up an opportunity for the 36-year-old reserve.

Batum, whose season-high 17 points against the Knicks included 5-for-7 shooting from deep, noted that his gig as a backup under head coach Tyronn Lue has meant staying ready and adjusting to an irregular role.

“I mean that was the talk I had with Ty during the offseason after the Olympics and during training camp,” Batum said. “I mean some games I play 25 (minutes), some games five minutes, some games I won’t play… But I knew, like maybe like down the road, like the last 20 games, I might mean more like (in) a game tonight (with) some injury, so I need to be ready to step up.”

The 6’8″ vet is averaging just 17.4 minutes per game this year, his lowest in 17 NBA seasons. All told, Batum is logging 3.6 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 1.2 APG and 0.7 SPG during his time on the hardwood for the 34-29 Clippers.

There’s more out of California:

  • Kings starters Malik Monk (sprained toe) and Domantas Sabonis (hamstring strain) have both been given the green light to resume on-court activity this weekend, per Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. Both will miss Sunday’s clash against the Clippers, and Sabonis has been ruled out for Monday’s matchup with the Knicks as well. Jonas Valanciunas has served as Sabonis’ replacement, while Keon Ellis has been starting in place of Monk.
  • Kings assistant coach Luke Loucks is set to start his reported new gig as the head coach at Florida State immediately. According to Sean Cunningham of Fox 40 KTXL Sacramento (Twitter link), the 34-year-old Loucks logged his last game on interim coach Doug Christie‘s staff on Friday in a 127-109 win over San Antonio. Loucks played under 23-year now-former FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton in college.
  • Warriors guard Stephen Curry scored his 25,000th career point against Detroit during a 115-110 win Saturday, Golden State announced in a press statement (via Twitter). Curry, 36, is now just the 10th player in the history of the league to have reached that tally for a single team. Across 55 healthy bouts so far this season, the two-time MVP and 11-time All-Star is averaging 24.5 points, 6.2 assists, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per night. He’s the best player on an ascendant Golden State squad, which has won nine of its past 10 contests and is currently the West’s No. 6 seed at 36-28 overall.
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Injury Notes: Martin, Gobert, Jackson, Monk, Thompson, Heat

March 6th, 2025 at 10:06pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Caleb Martin is close to making his Mavericks debut. He was upgraded to questionable for Dallas’ Friday game against the Grizzlies, according to The Dallas Morning News’ Mike Curtis (Twitter link). Martin hasn’t played since Jan. 10, when he was a member of the Sixers.

The Mavericks acquired Martin at the trade deadline in exchange for Quentin Grimes. It was an interesting move in the wake of the Luka Doncic trade, as the Mavs sent out the younger Grimes – set to hit restricted free agency this summer – and acquired the 29-year-old Martin in the first of a four-year, $35MM deal.

However, Martin hasn’t played for the shorthanded Mavericks as he works his way back from a hip strain. In 31 games with Philadelphia, he averaged 9.1 points and 4.4 rebounds while shooting 43.5% from the floor and 37.9% from three.

The return of Martin would be more than welcome news for the Mavericks. Heading into its matchup with Memphis, Dallas only has eight players fully available.

We have more injury notes from around the league:

  • Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert has missed the last nine games due to a lower back injury. He was upgraded to questionable for the team’s Friday game against the Heat, according to team PR (Twitter link). Gobert is averaging 11.0 points and 10.4 rebounds this season.
  • Jaren Jackson Jr., who is currently week-to-week with an ankle sprain, wasn’t in a walking boot and was moving around well on the Grizzlies‘ bench, according to Michael Wallace of Grizzlies.com (Twitter link). While nothing is confirmed, those are good signs for the star big man to be back on the shorter end of that timetable.
  • Kings guard Malik Monk is day-to-day with a right toe sprain, according to the Kings (Twitter link via Andscape’s Marc J. Spears). He’s out for at least Sacramento’s game against the Spurs on Friday and will be evaluated on a daily basis afterward.
  • J.B. Bickerstaff said Ausar Thompson is no longer on a minutes restriction, according to Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). The young Pistons forward has improved his conditioning in recent weeks. “(Monday’s game vs.) Utah was the first time he reached 30 minutes in a game, and doing it in a high altitude shows how far he’s come,” Bickerstaff said.
  • The Heat have been down multiple starters and rotation players during the past two games due to injuries and illnesses. However, according to Barry Jackson and Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald, they should be getting reinforcements soon. Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Andrew Wiggins were all upgraded to questionable for Friday’s matchup against the Wolves. Kel’el Ware remains out and Alec Burks was downgraded to questionable. The Heat have assigned Josh Christopher to the G League, which may be a sign that the team expects to have more players available on Friday.
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Kings’ Christie Meets With Starters After ‘Unacceptable’ Loss

February 22nd, 2025 at 1:53pm CST by Luke Adams

The Kings‘ post-All-Star push for a playoff spot got off to a rocky start on Friday, as they lost at home by 24 points to a Golden State team that entered the day tied with Sacramento in the Western Conference standings.

Within his recap of the game, Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee noted that Doug Christie took over an hour to come out for his post-game media session, writing that the Kings’ interim head coach had “delivered an impassioned message to his team” during that time. According to NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter video link), Christie met with Sacramento’s starters – Domantas Sabonis, DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, Malik Monk, and Keegan Murray – during that time.

“First and foremost, in that meeting, I was told that Christie reiterated how he’s in the fight with them,” Haynes said. “But there were some issues he wanted to address, such as making sure that everyone understood the gravity of the situation right now. He addressed ball security. He talked about how they’ve been compromising on defense. He wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page. He spoke on learning how to communicate with each other, and he challenged his players to challenge each other in a positive way to yield some positive results.”

Speaking to reporters after Friday’s loss, Christie didn’t specifically mention meeting with the starters, but he referred to his team’s effort vs. Golden State as “totally unacceptable.” According to Monk, the Kings’ coach made it clear that “we can’t get punked like that at home” again.

“I get down in a certain way and I expect you guys to represent that,” Christie said of his message to the team, per Anderson. “I know what these fans appreciate and what they want, and I know what our organization wants, and that ain’t it. That ain’t ever going to be it.”

The Kings are still adjusting after making some major roster changes at the trade deadline. De’Aaron Fox, Kevin Huerter, Colby Jones, Alex Len, and Jordan McLaughlin were all dealt during the first week of February, with LaVine, Jonas Valanciunas, and Jake LaRavia added via trade, while Markelle Fultz later signed as a free agent. As Anderson writes, the new-look roster showed some growing pains on Friday by turning the ball over a season-high 24 times and being outscored 38-5 in points off turnovers.

“Twenty-four (turnovers) for 38 points won’t win you a game, I don’t think, anywhere in the world,” Christie said. “… We can keep saying we have a lot of new guys and we’re trying to find our way, but that excuse, no one checks for you in this league like that. People will just run through you and beat the hell out of you, so it doesn’t matter what the excuse is.

“Take care of the basketball, play together, move the rock, and if we do that at a high level, we give ourselves the opportunity to win. We’re not even giving ourselves the opportunity with 24 turnovers for 38 points. It’s just not acceptable. It will never be acceptable. I said that to them man for man.”

The Kings are still in a play-in position in the West — at 28-28, they hold the No. 10 seed in the conference, with a 1.5-game lead over the No. 11 Suns. But after winning one play-in game last season and losing the second, they know how challenging it is to earn a playoff berth from that position and would like to move up in the standings before the end of the season. They have the fifth-hardest remaining schedule, per Tankathon.

“The bottom line is we have to come out and play with a sense of urgency, aggressiveness and physicality,” Christie said. “We have to want to win more than we want to breathe.”

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Pacific Notes: LaVine, Monk, Booker, Mills, Eubanks, Lue

February 6th, 2025 at 9:18am CST by Dana Gauruder

Zach LaVine expressed excitement about playing in Sacramento after the Bulls dealt him to the Kings, Antonio Ray Harvey of The Associated Press writes. LaVine nearly played in Sacramento earlier in his career — he signed a four-year, $78MM offer sheet with the Kings in 2018, but Chicago matched it.

“I’ve been a fan of (the Kings) for a long time,” LaVine said. “I thought I was going to sign here six years ago. I’ve had a good relationship with a lot of guys who played here and I understand the culture here from me being from the West Coast.”

LaVine was held to 13 points in 31 minutes during a loss to Orlando in his Sacramento debut on Wednesday.

We have more from the Pacific Division:

  • Former sixth man Malik Monk has moved into the role of starting point guard for the Kings in the aftermath of the De’Aaron Fox trade. Monk has struggled in his first two starts with almost as many turnovers (seven) as assists (eight). “Oh, yeah, it’s definitely a new opportunity and stage,” Monk told Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee. “Starting at point guard is a big opportunity, and it’s a big thing to feel in this league for sure, especially what Fox did for the organization, for the city of Sac, so I’m just trying to pick up where he left off.”
  • Devin Booker was humbled when he became the Suns’ all-time leading scorer. He surpassed Walter Davis on Monday. “It means everything,” Booker told Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic. “Just being drafted to a franchise that believed in me, taking a chance on me as an 18-year-old kid and going through a rebuild phase and just sticking with it. Keeping my head down. The love and support has always been there. I don’t take it from granted. I take it seriously putting Phoenix across my chest.”
  • New Clippers Patty Mills and Drew Eubanks, acquired in a weekend trade with Utah, are looking forward to contributing to their playoff push, Janis Carr of the Orange County Register writes. Eubanks, in particular, could play a key role as the backup center. “There’s a lot of familiar faces around this team and locker room and staff that I think will give me the confidence to be the veteran leader that I am and be vocal in that standpoint as well,” Mills said. “But as I said, once I get a feel for how things work and how I can make an impact, that will be it.”
  • The Lakers blew out the Clippers by 25 points on Tuesday, infuriating head coach Tyronn Lue, according to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. The Clippers lost to Toronto and narrowly earned a win against the woeful Hornets in their previous two contests. “We’ve got to be better. We’ve got to look at ourselves in the mirror and think about do we want to win or not,” Lue said. “That’s got to be our mentality. And so three games in a row we come out with not a great defensive performance and it’s just not putting enough into the game. Even on the offensive end, not putting a lot into the game. And so when that happens you get blown out like we did.”
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Eighteen More Players Become Trade-Eligible

January 15th, 2025 at 7:00am CST by Luke Adams

Today is Wednesday, January 15, which means that a total of 18 players who signed free agent contracts meeting specific criteria this past offseason are now eligible to be traded.

Most offseason signees became trade-eligible on December 15, but players who met the following criteria were ineligible to be moved for an extra month:

  1. The player re-signed with his previous team.
  2. He got a raise of at least 20%.
  3. His salary is above the minimum.
  4. His team was over the cap and used Bird or Early Bird rights to sign him.

The following players met that criteria and are eligible to be traded as of Wednesday:

Most of the players on NBA rosters are now eligible to be moved, though a small handful still can’t be dealt.

That group includes Kings forward Doug McDermott, who becomes trade-eligible on Thursday, Celtics sharpshooter Sam Hauser (trade-eligible on January 23), Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard (Jan. 26), Grizzlies big man Jay Huff (Jan. 28), Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen (Feb. 2), and Knicks center Ariel Hukporti (Feb. 5).

Additionally, there are several players who won’t become trade-eligible at all prior to this season’s February 6 deadline, including stars like Joel Embiid, Lauri Markkanen, and Jamal Murray.

Players on 10-day contracts are also ineligible to be dealt.

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Pacific Notes: Payton II, Green, Monk, Wildfire Donations

January 13th, 2025 at 9:51pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Warriors guard Gary Payton II is on track to return to action on Wednesday. Payton, who hasn’t played since Christmas Day due to a calf strain, scrimmaged on Sunday and worked out on Monday, Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweets. He has appeared in 28 games this season, including four starts.

We have more from the Pacific Division:

  • Draymond Green sat out the Warriors‘ three-point loss to Toronto on Monday. He participated in the team’s practice on Sunday but was not at Monday morning’s shootaround due to an illness, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. He has been listed on the injury report due to a back injury. Coach Steve Kerr doesn’t think Green’s back issue is a major concern. “I remember a couple of years ago, I think ’22 season, he missed 15-20 games when the back flared up, so we just have to stay on top of it,” Kerr said. “Training staff is doing a great job with him, and Draymond has done a great job of just doing his rehab and making sure he’s keeping himself in good shape. I think he should be fine going forward.”
  • The streaking Kings may not have Malik Monk on Tuesday. He’s listed as questionable against Milwaukee due to right groin soreness, Kings radio reporter Sean Cunningham tweets. Monk has been a huge part of Sacramento’s seven-game winning streak. He’s averaging 23.3 points and 7.8 assists per game so far this month.
  • Los Angeles’ 12 pro sports teams — including the Lakers and Clippers — have pledged to donate more than $8MM to those affected by the state’s wildfires as well as those fighting the fires, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin tweets. The contributions will be donated to a variety of organizations.
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Kings Notes: DeRozan, Carter, Monk, Fox

January 6th, 2025 at 11:00am CST by Arthur Hill

Mike Brown‘s firing was surprising and controversial, but the Kings are looking like a different team since Doug Christie took over as head coach, writes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. Playing Sunday without De’Aaron Fox, they won by 30 points at Golden State as the players displayed a renewed enthusiasm for the game.

“I would say it’s that more than anything, just going out there and playing freely with joy and for one another,” DeMar DeRozan responded when asked to explain the change. DeRozan clarified that he didn’t mean to imply there wasn’t freedom and joy with Brown in charge, but the team has responded to the challenge of an in-season coaching shakeup.

“Whenever you’re going through any type of ups and downs, when the downs come, everything just feels extremely bad,” he added. “Everything is just heightened to another level. I think with so much going on, it kind of hit the fan with having a coaching change in the middle of the season. So much was going on that we could just sit there and kind of sob in our sorrows and let things get worse. I think we just pulled together and pulled ourselves out of that more so than anything.”

Sacramento lost its first game after Christie took over, but has since won four in a row against pretty good competition, defeating the Mavericks, Sixers, Grizzlies and Warriors. One difference has been the addition of first-round pick Devin Carter, who posted 13 points and seven rebounds Sunday in his second game since returning from offseason surgery on his left shoulder. The positive energy he and Christie have provided seems to have changed the team’s outlook.

“I think it’s contagious,” Carter said. “Once one person sees somebody else doing it, then the next person, the next person, and it just trickles down the line, so I just think it’s contagious. Obviously, we want to keep on winning. Wins are contagious. Good vibes in the locker room, good vibes in practice, and just go from there.”

There’s more on the Kings:

  • Malik Monk took on a larger role Sunday with Fox sidelined, finishing with 26 points, 12 assists and four steals, Anderson adds. Christie said during his time as an assistant, he often encouraged Monk to be more fearless in his approach to the game. “Before I was sitting in this seat, we’ve had multiple conversations just about everything, and I’ve always told him, ‘Believe in yourself. I believe in you. You are a tremendous, fantastic player, and play through your mistakes.’” Christie said. “… He is just about as free as I’ve ever seen him. We’ll live with some of the things he does and his greatness will continue to shine because the kid is great.”
  • Carter had a memorable NBA debut, with his father, former NBA player Anthony Carter, on the opponent’s bench as a Grizzlies assistant coach, Anderson states in a separate story. “It’s just a blessing, especially to play my first NBA game in front of him,” Devin Carter told reporters before the game. “It’s something you dream of as a kid, and the moment is here, so I’m not going to shy away from the moment.”
  • The Kings haven’t determined if Fox will be available for Monday’s game against Miami, Anderson notes in another piece. He was ruled out Sunday with a right glute contusion after being undercut on a dunk attempt late in Friday’s contest.
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Kings Players React To Sudden Coaching Change

December 28th, 2024 at 7:53pm CST by Arthur Hill

Interim Kings coach Doug Christie stressed the need for unity as he addressed the team following Friday’s surprise firing of Mike Brown, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Christie, who served as an assistant to Brown, will be in charge of trying to salvage a season that is spiraling out of control after an 0-5 homestand. Sacramento is 12th in West at 13-18 and needs a quick turnaround to climb back into the playoff race.

Christie spoke to his players before their flight departed Friday for tonight’s game against the Lakers and again at this morning’s shootaround, according to McMenamin.

“To come out and stick together, fight and just be us, be who we are and turn this thing around,” Domantas Sabonis said in sharing his new head coach’s message.

Malik Monk said “all the vibes were high” at the shootaround, as the team feels a renewed energy from the sudden coaching change. Sabonis exhibited that by arranging for his own travel to Los Angeles. He was considered questionable to play because of an illness that forced him to miss Thursday’s game, but he wanted to be there to display his commitment to Christie.

“I got here and went right onto the court,” Sabonis said. “We’re all focused on winning the game. But we obviously know we haven’t been performing at our best. And we have to do a better job. Me, as one of the leaders of the team, I got to make sure that that happens. We got to win all the games that we can.”

Brown appeared to have a long future in Sacramento after leading the team to the playoffs in 2023 and narrowly missing another playoff appearance in last season’s play-in tournament. He was rewarded with an offseason extension that runs through 2026/27 and gives him an extra $20MM in guaranteed money, but management quickly lost patience with the slow start. The offseason addition of DeMar DeRozan hasn’t work out as planned, and there was skepticism that the Kings could move up the standings with Brown in charge.

Sabonis and Monk expressed shock over the sudden move, while De’Aaron Fox told McMenamin that he was notified “a minute before everybody else.” Fox also pondered the players’ role in the coaching change when he was asked if he felt any “pressure or guilt” over Brown’s fate.

“Any pressure or guilt? I mean, obviously we all know the job that we have,” Fox responded. “You can be traded at any point. Released. Cut. Fired. Whatever it may be. I mean, I wouldn’t use the word ‘guilt.’ But that’s the nature of the job that we have. But I mean, obviously him signing his extension this summer, we felt like we would be together a whole lot longer but that’s the decision that they made. But at the end of the day, too, he’s still being paid. A great part of being an NBA player, being an NBA coach, is those things can happen, but these contracts are guaranteed.”

Although Brown’s dismissal seemed to come out of nowhere, there were already rumors about “waning confidence” from ownership even before he was given the extension, Jake Fischer states in his latest Substack story. Sources tell Fischer there were “internal disagreements” regarding the team’s starting lineup and the tradeoff in playing time between Keon Ellis and Kevin Huerter.

Fischer reported in 2022 that Mark Jackson was the preferred candidate of owner Vivek Ranadive before Brown was hired. Jackson was head coach of the Warriors when Ranadive became a minority owner of that team, and several NBA sources have told Fischer that Ranadive seems to prefer having a former player in that role. That may explain why Christie was chosen to run the team, although it’s not clear if there’s any commitment to him beyond the end of the season.

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Pacific Notes: Monk, Allen, Budenholzer, Durant, Kuminga

December 22nd, 2024 at 9:36am CST by Luke Adams

The Kings are expected to make Kevin Huerter, Trey Lyles, and draft capital available as they go shopping for help on the trade market ahead of the February 6 trade deadline. However, given the fact that Sacramento is off to a 13-16 start this season and is currently out of the play-in picture, teams around the NBA are curious about whether the Kings will consider becoming in-season sellers, according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report (video link).

“I’m not reporting that Malik Monk is available,” Fischer said. “However, rival teams certainly want to know if Malik Monk will be someone that the Kings are willing to part with.”

In discussing Monk, Fischer acknowledged it would be “tricky” to move last season’s Sixth Man of the Year runner-up, who signed a new four-year, $78MM contract with the Kings over the summer.

“He’s so crucial to what the Kings have done,” Fischer said. “… He’s best friends with De’Aaron Fox dating back to Kentucky. If you’re curious about the long-term ramifications of keeping De’Aaron Fox in Sacramento, you’re probably not wanting to move his best friend, who he recruited to join the Kings.”

Of course, Fox’s own long-term future in Sacramento isn’t certain either, so the Kings are a team worth watching closely in the coming weeks.

We have more items from around the Pacific:

  • The Suns are monitoring swingman Grayson Allen for a possible concussion, head coach Mike Budenholzer said after Saturday’s loss to Detroit (Twitter link via Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports). “We’ll see how he is in the morning,” Budenholzer said of Allen, who took a Simone Fontecchio elbow to the head while battling the Pistons forward under the basket in the third quarter (video link).
  • Budenholzer and Kevin Durant engaged in a heated discussion during a timeout in the third quarter of Saturday’s loss, with the head coach appearing to call out Durant for a defensive mistake and the Suns star firing back. Both men downplayed the dispute after the game. “We know we got the microscope on us, so any little spat like that may be taken the wrong way, but coach respects my perspective,” Durant said (Twitter video link via PHNX Sports). “… When you look at it from the outside, the chemistry may look off, but I just think that’s part of great chemistry actually, when you can have those conversations in the heat of the moment and move on.” Budenholzer agreed with Durant’s assessment, as Bourguet relays (Twitter video link). “He’s a pro, he’s coachable,” Budenholzer said. “If you don’t have a few of those, there’s probably something wrong with your team. KD’s the best. He wants to be coached, and I love being around him.”
  • After starting six games in a row, Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga came off the bench on Thursday in Memphis and Saturday in Minnesota. However, head coach Steve Kerr said that the experiment of having Kuminga in the starting five isn’t over, explaining that he started Kyle Anderson on Saturday because he liked how the former Timberwolf matched up against his old team (Twitter link via Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN). It was Anderson’s first start of the season.
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