Stephen Curry Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pacific Notes: Hachimura, Irving, Durant, Fox

February 5th, 2023 at 3:59pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Lakers combo forward Rui Hachimura is comfortably slotting in to his new role with the club, writes Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register. The athletic 6’8″ forward has become a solid fast-breaking force for Los Angeles so far.

His length, size and speed are massive attributes for a team desperately bereft of those components.

“[Russell Westbrook and LeBron James] get all the defensive attention so I have a lot of easy looks, in either transition of the half court,” Hachimura said. “So, yeah, I love playing with those guys.”

There’s more out of the Pacific Division:

Prior to his eventual move to the Mavericks, the Lakers had conversations with the Nets about a framework for a Kyrie Irving trade, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Woj reveals that Brooklyn prioritized the Dallas trade offer because it gave them better role-player depth than Los Angeles could offer, in addition to similar future draft equity.
Now that Irving is off the Brooklyn roster, the Suns are hoping to make a legitimate trade offer for the Nets’ lone remaining All-Star, power forward Kevin Durant, sources inform Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report (Twitter link). There’s no indication that Brooklyn is willing to listen on Durant at this point — if that changes, plenty of other suitors figure to join the Suns.
With Warriors All-Star guard Stephen Curry likely to be sidelined for multiple weeks due to a leg injury, commissioner Adam Silver may have to select an injury replacement for the All-Star Game. Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee tweets that Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox deserves to receive serious consideration for that spot.

Stephen Curry Out Several Weeks With Partially Torn Ligaments In Leg

February 5th, 2023 at 2:29pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

2:35pm: Imaging on Curry’s left leg on Saturday night revealed that he partially tore his superior tibiofibular ligaments and interosseous membrane, in addition to incurring a lower leg contusion, the Warriors have announced in a press statement (Twitter link). The team intends to establish a recovery timeline for Curry in the coming days.

12:36pm: Warriors All-Star point guard Stephen Curry will be sidelined for several weeks with a left leg injury, sources inform Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Curry departed Golden State’s victory over the Mavericks on Saturday night in the third quarter after incurring the injury. He underwent imaging subsequently that determined the ailment was more serious than his club had hoped.

This is naturally a huge blow for Golden State, currently the seventh seed in the West at 27-26. There are just 29 games left in the 2022/23 regular season and only two-and-a-half games separate the Warriors and the No. 13 seeded-Lakers. If Golden State cannot at least tread water in the absence of Curry, the team could quickly fall out of the play-in tournament bracket.

As Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweets, Curry’s injury means he will likely be sidelined through at least the 2023 All-Star Weekend, so an injury replacement figures to be selected. Slater cautions that the Warriors are continuing to determine exactly how severe the injury is and exactly how long Curry will be shelved.

Per Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area (Twitter link), Golden State is hopeful Curry could come back soon after the All-Star break. The regular season resumes on February 23.

The reigning Finals MVP is having another great individual season, despite his team’s middling record. Curry is averaging 29.4 PPG on .495/.427/.922 shooting splits, along with 6.4 APG, 6.3 RPG and 1.0 SPG across 38 games.

This could also further complicate the Warriors’ approach to the impending league trade deadline, as the club will have to determine what young assets it is willing to surrender – if any – in order to make a playoff push.

Stephen Curry Undergoing MRI On Injured Knee

February 5th, 2023 at 11:46am CST by Luke Adams

11:46am: Curry will miss Monday’s game vs. Oklahoma City as the Warriors continue to evaluate his injury, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic, who tweets that it might take a couple days for the team to officially announce a diagnosis and timeline for the All-Star guard.

8:35am: The Warriors got a win over Dallas on Saturday night, but lost their star player along the way, as Stephen Curry exited in the third quarter due to an apparent left knee injury.

According to Kendra Andrews of ESPN, X-rays on Curry’s knee were negative, but he’s undergoing an MRI to determine the severity of the injury.

The injury occurred when Curry was defending Mavericks guard McKinley Wright IV with just over two minutes left in the third quarter. The two players’ knees appeared to collide on Wright’s drive and Curry immediately came up limping (video link). The two-time MVP, who was called for a foul on the play, checked out of the game, was briefly examined on the bench, then made his way to the locker room.

The Warriors won’t have a clear sense of whether Curry will have to miss time – and how long an absence might last – until they get the results of the MRI.

“Any time a guy gets an MRI, there’s a concern level,” head coach Steve Kerr said, per Andrews. “We’ll just have to wait and see the results. … This has happened many, many times over the years. So fingers crossed he’s OK.”

Curry has only missed one extended stretch of games so far this season — he sat out 11 contests in December and January due to a left shoulder subluxation. He was unavailable for four other games over the course of the season, but three of those were rest nights on the second halves of back-to-back sets.

The 34-year-old has been playing at his usual All-NBA level so far this season, averaging 29.4 points, 6.4 assists, and 6.3 rebounds in 38 games (34.6 MPG), with an eye-popping shooting line of .495/.427/.922.

Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid Each Fined $25K By NBA

January 27th, 2023 at 9:26pm CST by Rory Maher

Warriors guard Stephen Curry and Sixers center Joel Embiid have each been fined $25K by the NBA for separate incidents, the league announced (Twitter links).

Curry, the reigning Finals MVP, was given a technical foul and ejected for tossing his mouthpiece with 1:14 remaining in Wednesday’s two-point victory over Memphis. As Kendra Andrews of ESPN writes, Curry was frustrated by an “ill-advised” three-point attempt by teammate Jordan Poole.

According to Andrews, the mouthpiece “ricocheted off the court and landed near the courtside seats” and Curry received his third career ejection (second in the regular season). The NBA’s press release states that he was fined for “throwing his mouthpiece into the spectator stands” (video link).

“It was a crucial time in the game, and the way that our season has gone, questions about a heightened sense of urgency … when you want something really bad … I reacted in a way that put myself out of the game and put the team in a tough place,” said Curry, who disagreed with the immediate ejection because his mouthpiece didn’t come in contact with anyone.

Embiid, meanwhile, was fined for “making an obscene gesture on the playing court” in the third quarter of Wednesday’s victory over Brooklyn. He was not penalized during the game for his D-Generation X-inspired celebration.

Antetokounmpo, James Head All-Star Starters; Embiid Falls Short

January 26th, 2023 at 6:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Lakers forward LeBron James tied Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on Thursday with his 19th NBA All-Star selection. James, who currently shares the record with Abdul-Jabbar for most All-Star Games played with 18, was chosen as a starter, according to a league press release.

All of the starters were revealed on Thursday night.

Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, Pelicans forward Zion Williamson, Warriors guard Stephen Curry and Mavericks guard Luka Doncic were the other starters chosen out of the Western Conference. James will serve as a team captain for the sixth straight year, since he received the most votes.

Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, named a team captain for the third time, heads the list of starters out of the Eastern Conference. Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, Nets forward Kevin Durant, Nets guard Kyrie Irving, and Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell will join him, but the league’s second-leading scorer, Sixers center Joel Embiid (33.4 PPG), didn’t garner enough votes.

The starters are selected by a weighted voting process with the fan vote accounting for half of the final outcome. The player and media portions of the vote each counted for 25 percent. Three frontcourt players and two guards were selected from each conference.

Embiid finished third in the player and media voting among Eastern Conference frontcourt players but fourth in the fan voting. All voting results can be found here.

The game will be played Feb. 19 in Salt Lake City. James and Antetokounmpo will choose their teams shortly before the game begins. James will set the league record for most All-Star appearances if he plays, since Abdul-Jabbar did not play in the 1973 game after being chosen.

The reserves, which are chosen by the league’s coaches, will be announced Feb. 2.

Injury Notes: Haliburton, Davis, Warriors, K. Porter

January 20th, 2023 at 2:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Appearing on JJ Redick’s Old Man and The Three podcast, Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton provided an update on his recovery from the elbow and knee injuries he sustained earlier this month. The team announced on January 12 that Haliburton would be reevaluated in two weeks, and he’s hoping that he won’t be out much longer than that.

“Starting to get stronger every day, feeling better every day,” he said (hat tip to Tony East of SI.com). “Got my second opinion, so things are going well. Hopefully in the next 11, 12 days, I feel better and can get back to start February. That’s the goal.”

A strong candidate to earn his first All-Star nod, Haliburton had been averaging 20.2 points and 10.2 assists per game for the surprisingly competitive Pacers, with shooting averages of 48.0% from the floor and 39.9% on threes, before he went down.

Indiana had a 23-18 record entering the game in which Haliburton got injured, but lost that night and have dropped four more contests since then to fall to .500 (23-23). While they won’t rush back their star player, the slumping Pacers would certainly be happy if he’s able to make it back sooner rather than later.

Here are a few more injury-related notes from around the NBA:

Although Shams Charania has repeatedly stated that Anthony Davis is on track to return in early February, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin (Twitter video link) suggested in a TV appearance that the Lakers star could be back before then. “If everything continues to go the right way, he will be back playing for the Lakers next week at Crypto.com Arena and be with them for that entire road trip,” McMenamin said. Los Angeles plays home games next Tuesday and Wednesday before embarking on a five-game road trip that begins on January 28.
Stephen Curry (hip tightness), Draymond Green (toe soreness), Andrew Wiggins (foot soreness), Klay Thompson (Achilles injury management), and Andre Iguodala (hip soreness) will all miss Friday’s game in Cleveland, but the Warriors could have reserves Jonathan Kuminga (foot sprain) and JaMychal Green (leg infection) back, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Kuminga, out since December 30, and Green, out since Dec. 18, are both listed as probable.
Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr. visited a specialist on Friday to further evaluate the left foot contusion that has caused him to miss the last four games, tweets Kelly Iko of The Athletic. Porter and rookie forward Jabari Smith Jr., who sprained his right ankle on Wednesday, have both already been ruled out for Saturday’s game in Minnesota, notes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).

Pacific Notes: Warriors, Curry, Holmes, C. Johnson

January 20th, 2023 at 12:05pm CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors tried out a new starting and closing lineup on Thursday in a Finals rematch again Boston, subbing in Jordan Poole for Kevon Looney. The five-man unit of Poole, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Andrew Wiggins was less stout defensively, but was more dynamic on offense — it’s a look head coach Steve Kerr suggested he plans to stick with for now, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic.

“Just wanted to open up the floor,” Kerr said. “Give us a little different look. Maybe get a spark. We’re past the halfway point and we’re .500. Like, let’s try something different. … It’s a lineup we know can be explosive. Against Boston, in particular, you have to open up the floor. I think I’ll keep doing it.”

Following Thursday’s loss, the defending champions are now 22-23, a game below .500. It makes sense that Kerr would be looking to generate a spark with a lineup shake-up, and his players are on board with giving the new starting group a shot.

“There’s strength and weaknesses to it,” Curry said after Thursday’s game. “But we got great shots with it tonight. Came out with a lot of juice. We gotta be better at rebounding. If we give up size, we gotta be more physical, prepared to rebound. But it gives us great space and gets us great shots, and you gotta like the way we can play fast and put pressure on defenses.”

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

In a Substack conversation with Marc Stein, Curry expressed interest in joining Kerr and Team USA in Paris for the 2024 Olympics and discussed how much longer he might want to play in the NBA. As the Warriors star explained, his hope when he entered the league was to match the 16 seasons his father Dell Curry played, but once he gets beyond that figure, he has no specific target in mind. “I don’t have any (longevity) goals other than maintaining the feeling that I have right now in my body and the night-in, night-out expectation of how I play and having that energy and joy and being able to recover from game to game,” Stephen Curry said.
With Domantas Sabonis out on Wednesday due to a non-COVID illness, Kings center Richaun Holmes got his first start since last February and played a season-high 31 minutes, registering 16 points (on 7-of-7 shooting) and 11 rebounds. As Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee outlines, it was a major achievement for a player who has gone through both professional and personal hardships in the last year. “It’s a testament to his character, his professionalism and his ability to play the game at a high level,” head coach Mike Brown said of Holmes. Sabonis is listed as questionable to play on Friday vs. Oklahoma City.
Cameron Johnson‘s return to action on Thursday – which saw him score 19 points in 22 minutes – provided a huge lift for a Suns team that has been mired in a lengthy slump, perhaps giving them a glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel, writes Doug Haller of The Arizona Republic. Head coach Monty Williams said Johnson “brought a level of juice to the arena that we haven’t felt in a while,” while Deandre Ayton said his teammate “definitely gave us a breath of fresh air.”

Pacific Notes: Clippers, Powell, Kawhi, Warriors, Metu

January 11th, 2023 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Last week, with the Clippers in the midst of a six-game losing streak that dropped their overall record to 21-21, veteran swingman Norman Powell spoke to his teammates to reiterate his confidence in the group and to remind them what they’re capable of, writes Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. Powell, along with Kawhi Leonard, was a member of the Raptors team that won a championship in 2019 and believes this year’s Clippers have a similar ceiling.

“I talked to the team. I told them: ‘This team is deeper than the Raptors team I was on. It’s all about identity and who we are and how we’re going to play,'” Powell said. “I feel like every team goes through it. If you look back at championship teams and top teams, there’s always a point in the season where you get here. And we’ve been here a couple times for whatever reason it is, and it’s just gutting up and taking it and coming out of it.”

The 2018/19 Raptors were far more consistent than this year’s Clippers have been, but Powell pointed to a stretch in January 2019 when Toronto lost three of four games (the third at home to Milwaukee on national TV) as a turning point for that club. There’s hope that the Clippers’ recent slide can galvanize this team in the same way and compel them to play with more urgency in the second half.

“The identity of who we are every single night that we’re on the floor is the biggest thing that we have to figure out, and that doesn’t matter who’s suiting up that night,” Powell said. “It’s just, we’re going to be a hard-nosed, tough-playing defense. We’re going to be an offense that moves the ball, attacks you, puts pressure on the rim and generates open shots. And that’s not — PG (Paul George) doesn’t have to play for that, Kawhi doesn’t have to play for that. That’s just an identity and style of basketball we have to start really locking into now.”

The Clippers snapped their losing streak and got back over .500 with a victory over Dallas on Tuesday.

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

After leading the Clippers past Luka Doncic and the Mavs on Tuesday by scoring a season-high 33 points in 36 minutes, Kawhi Leonard acknowledged that he’s relieved to no longer be on the minutes limit that he faced earlier in the season. “If you’re basing it on minute restriction, it is frustrating,” Leonard said, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. “Because I’m not going in there jacking shots, so I’m trying to play team basketball. It was frustrating (with the restriction). We were losing games. From a minute restriction, I’m not the only one either that was on it. Guys have been in and out the lineup all year, getting injured.”
The Warriors had their full starting lineup available on Tuesday for the first time since December 3, but lost at home to the shorthanded Suns in a game that showed Stephen Curry and the rest of the rotation still have dust to shake off, writes Kendra Andrews of ESPN. Curry, who scored 16 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, said he “felt like myself again” by the end of the game. “I’m hoping that fourth quarter was the team that I have come to know and love and recognize,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “But we have to show in the first quarter, not in the fourth quarter.”
Chimezie Metu rejoined the Kings‘ rotation as the backup center on Monday for the first time since early December and had his best game of the season, with 11 points and nine rebounds in 14 minutes. The performance went a long way toward rebuilding head coach Mike Brown‘s trust in Metu, according to Chris Biderman of The Sacramento Bee. Brown said he thought the big man “relaxed just a little bit” before losing his spot in the rotation last month.

Pacific Notes: Clippers, Morris Sr., Green, Looney, Curry

January 10th, 2023 at 9:33pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Clippers headed into Tuesday’s game against Dallas on a six-game losing streak. However, coach Tyronn Lue drew some positives from the way the team competed in a four-point loss to Atlanta on Sunday, Janis Carr of the Orange County Register writes. “We had a conscious effort of playing the right way and so I could live with the results,” Lue said. “We have to keep working. Nobody’s going to feel sorry for us. But I’m encouraged.”

We have more from the Pacific Division:

Clippers forward Marcus Morris has been fined $15K for directing inappropriate language toward a game official, the league’s PR department tweets. The incident occurred at the conclusion of the Clippers’ 128-115 loss to the Timberwolves on Friday.
The Warriors are active in the trade market, looking to add size and shooting, according to Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. However, coach Steve Kerr’s main concern right now is giving players who have logged heavy minutes recently, such as Draymond Green and Kevon Looney, some down time. “I’m really proud of them, of that whole group, but of Loon and Draymond in particular, given the circumstances,” Kerr said. “What they’ve done for us the last couple weeks, keeping us afloat, has been really impressive. But, yes, it would be nice to give them a little rest.”
Stephen Curry returned to action on Tuesday from a shoulder injury and the Warriors desperately need his offense after losses to Detroit and Orlando, Poole writes in a separate story. “We’re having a lot of possessions where we’re going stagnant,” Kerr said. “We’re not getting a ‘dive man.’ Or we’re ‘five out’ on the perimeter. And just pass, pass, pass, without anybody setting a screen and diving to the rim and pulling the defense in.”

Stephen Curry Set To Return On Tuesday

January 10th, 2023 at 2:27pm CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors‘ lineup will get a major upgrade on Tuesday night, according to Kendra Andrews of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that Stephen Curry will return and start as Golden State hosts the Suns.

Curry’s minutes limit is still being determined, Andrews adds.

Curry suffered a left shoulder subluxation in the Warriors’ loss to Indiana on December 14 and has missed the last 11 games as a result of the injury. President of basketball operations Bob Myers said last week that the club was hoping Curry would be able to return this Friday — the former MVP will be back on the court even earlier than that.

Golden State has had an up-and-down run since Curry went down. The team lost three of its first four games without him, including a pair of blowouts, then reeled off a five-game winning streak before losing its last two contests at home to Detroit and Orlando. The Warriors will take a 20-20 record into Tuesday’s home game vs. Phoenix before departing for a five-game road trip.

Curry is the third Warrior to return from an injury absence in the past week. Andrew Wiggins was back on Saturday after missing 15 games due to an adductor strain and illness, while Andre Iguodala made his season debut in the same game after being sidelined for most of the first half with a hip issue.