Frustration Builds Over Durant’s Playing Status
There’s “some internal optimism” in the Warriors‘ camp that Kevin Durant will be able to return for Game 5, but the day-to-day uncertainty regarding his status is frustrating his teammates, reports Sam Amick of The Athletic.
Sources tell Amick that many in the organization expected Durant to come back for Game 4 and play through the pain like Klay Thompson (hamstring), DeMarcus Cousins (quad), Andre Iguodala (calf) and Kevon Looney (collarbone fracture) are all doing. Amick points out that the decision isn’t Durant’s to make. His availability is determined by trainer Rick Celebrini, who hasn’t deemed him ready to play.
Two sources say that Game 5 has always been the earliest realistic date for Durant’s return. He still hasn’t been able to practice since straining his left calf May 8 in the conference semifinals.
Still, there was tension in the locker room Friday night among some players who didn’t understand why Durant didn’t try to take the court in such a pivotal game. The Warriors had a chance to tie the series on their home court, but now they head into tomorrow night with their season on the line.
Looney describes the difficulties Golden State has faced throughout the playoffs as a series of injuries repeatedly disrupted the rotations.
“It’s never knowing who’s going to play the next game, not knowing who’s going to be out there, what rotations we’re going to do,” he said. “That’s tough, but the character of our team is that whatever happens, whoever’s out on the court, we’re all accountable to get the job done. We’ve got great leaders in Steph, KD and Draymond (Green), and there ain’t no excuses. If we’re out there, we’re going to try to win.”
Looney insists the Warriors have remained united through all the trials, and said Green gave a strong rallying speech after the Game 4 loss.
“He made sure we had our heads up,” Looney said. “Said ‘Stay confident, know who we are. We didn’t get here by quitting and pouting or giving up. We always believe, and we’ve got a bunch of guys who have been underdogs and who have been counted out before.’ I think we’re going to embrace this challenge more. Everybody probably thinks we’re going to lose now. And being the underdog again, like we haven’t been in a long time, it’s fun. We’ll try to go out there and prove everybody wrong.”
Mike D’Antoni’s Agent Denies Progress Toward Extension
The Rockets and head coach Mike D’Antoni may not be as close to an extension agreement as yesterday’s report indicated, tweets Mark Berman of Fox 26 in Houston. Warren LeGarie, D’Antoni’s agent, confirms that owner Tilman Fertitta and GM Daryl Morey met with the coach at his West Virginia home, but paints a different picture of negotiations.
“It’s not exactly representing the situation,” LeGarie said. “When they met with Mike … they had presented essentially what they considered (was) a new offer, even though for us it’s the same, it’s the same one that we’re not willing to do. They’ve taken (out) the $2.5MM buyout and made that a $5MM deal. It’s still not Mike’s market (value).”
D’Antoni listened to the offer from Fertitta and Morey, but didn’t engage in negotiations, telling them to present the deal to his agent.
“They’re never talked to me since,” LeGarie said. “So it’s not moving. It’s a little bit disingenuous what is being reported. They believe by going there and bypassing (me) that will somehow get it done. It won’t. … We have not been talking and we’re not closer to a deal.”
D’Antoni has one year left on his contract at $4.5MM. He has been the Rockets’ coach for the past three seasons, compiling a 173-73 record.
Community Shootaround: Could Durant Save The Warriors?
With the Warriors facing a 3-1 deficit as the NBA Finals shift back to Toronto, many media members are theorizing that Golden State’s only hope is a return by Kevin Durant. Although Durant joined his team for the trip to Canada, his status remains uncertain. The MVP of the last two Finals hasn’t played or participated in a full practice since suffering a calf strain a month ago in the Western Conference semifinals.
There’s no question that a healthy Durant would make a difference. He was magnificent as usual before the injury, posting a 26.0/6.4/5.9 line in 78 regular season games and leading all playoff scorers at 34.2 points per game. Golden State hasn’t lost a postseason series since he joined the team three years ago.
Still, it may be an overstatement to say the Warriors would be in control of the series if he were available. The Raptors might be the best team they have faced over the past three seasons and have already dispatched a talented Sixers team and this year’s probable MVP in Giannis Antetokounmpo. Kawhi Leonard has reminded everyone that he’s one of the league’s best players, and he’s surrounded by a talented supporting cast that is proficient on both ends of the floor.
Even if Durant returns for Game 5, there are questions about how effective he can be. The Warriors haven’t issued any progress reports on his condition, other than vague statements expressing hope that he’ll be back before the playoffs end. Timing would be a concern for someone who hasn’t been on the court for a month and is trying to return to the game at its highest level.
We want to get your opinion on whether Durant’s return can save the series for the Warriors. Would his natural talent be enough or would he just provide a distraction and an easy target for the Raptors to exploit on defense? Please leave your answers in the space below.
Raptors Notes: Leonard, Load Management, Gasol
Kawhi Leonard is becoming a destroyer of dynasties, writes Michael Lee of The Athletic. The Raptors star has a chance to end the Warriors’ run at the top of the NBA five years after doing the same thing to the Heat when they were led by LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
Leonard is also making a case to be called the league’s best player, although Lee notes it would be more impressive if he were dueling Kevin Durant instead of an injury-slowed Andre Iguodala and Alfonzo McKinnie. Still, Leonard has put himself in that conversation, even though he doesn’t fit the mold of a flashy superstar.
“I just want to play and just let people remember that I played hard at both ends of the floor, I was a winner and that’s basically it,” said Leonard, who will move on to an important free agency decision once the Finals are done. “I’m just here enjoying my dream, having fun. I mean, legacy is opinionated by each person, but I’m just playing right about myself really, and what I feel makes me happy.”
There’s more from Toronto:
- Leonard’s success after playing just nine games last season will lead more teams to practice “load management,” predicts Frank Isola of The Athletic. Leonard missed 22 games this year, with most pre-planned to reduce his regular season wear and tear. He wasn’t used on both ends of any of Toronto’s 13 back-to-backs and never played more than nine straight games. Although Leonard has seemed hobbled at times in the playoffs, he has taken on a full workload. “You do your warmup, get treatment before the game, off days and after the game whatever that can help speed your recovery up so you’re able to play the next day,” he said.
- Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN imagines the case the Raptors might make to Leonard when free agency arrives in 22 days. He expects management to focus on the talent already on hand, the success of Nick Nurse everywhere he has coached and the organization’s willingness to adjust Leonard’s regular season minutes to keep him fresh. Toronto may also have an NBA title by then as a selling point.
- Marc Gasol has adjusted his game to become a modern, 3-point shooting center in recent years, writes Jackie MacMullan of ESPN. She talks to Knicks coach David Fizdale, who recalls that his efforts to get Gasol to change was one of the reasons they clashed in Memphis.
Wolves Notes: Vanterpool, C. White, Doumbouya, Terrell
The Timberwolves hired David Vanterpool as associate coach to improve the defense and motivate Andrew Wiggins, which might be the toughest jobs in the organization, suggests Michael Rand of The Star-Tribune. Team president Gersson Rosas interviewed Vanterpool for the head coaching slot before deciding to stick with Ryan Saunders, so the former Trail Blazers assistant obviously made a good impression.
However, Rand points out that Vanterpool will be taking over a defense that has ranked in the bottom third of the league for the past five seasons and that even defensive specialist Tom Thibodeau couldn’t fix. Vanterpool has a solid relationship with Wiggins from coaching him with Team Canada in 2015, but raising his level of play has been a concern even before the club signed him to an extension two years ago.
There’s more news out of Minnesota:
- North Carolina guard Coby White held an individual workout for the Wolves Friday, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. White is listed at No. 8 in the list of top 100 prospects compiled by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, and Minnesota doesn’t pick until No. 11, so the Wolves may be thinking about trading up. The team held a separate six-player workout yesterday that included Rayjon Tucker (Arkansas-Little Rock), Amir Coffey (Minnesota), Dedric Lawson (Kansas) and Kris Wilkes (UCLA) (Twitter link).
- French standout Sekou Doumbouya held a pro day today and will pay a visit to Minnesota for a workout early next week, according to Wolfson (Twitter link). The 6’9″ forward comes in ninth on Givony’s list .
- Aaron Brooks, who ended his playing career with the Wolves during the 2017/18 season, attended a free agent camp with the team this week as a coach, Wolfson adds. At age 34, Brooks is hoping to make the transition into coaching. He played for seven teams in an 11-year career.
- Two-way player Jared Terrell did well in the G League, but didn’t get much of a chance to showcase his skills at the NBA level in his rookie season, writes Kyle Ratke of NBA.com. Terrell, who averaged 7.9 minutes in 14 games with the Wolves, will now wait for an invitation to be part of Minnesota’s Summer League team.
Warriors Notes: Durant, Thompson, Gay, Lopez
Kevin Durant‘s return appears to be the only thing that can save the Warriors in the NBA Finals, writes Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. Golden State’s hopes for a three-peat are fragile as they head to Toronto with a 3-1 deficit. Injuries have hampered the Warriors throughout the playoffs, but the Raptors are the first team to fully take advantage.
There’s no guarantee Durant will return in time to make a difference and there’s not much evidence his condition has improved significantly since he suffered what was called a “mild” calf strain in the conference semifinals. Coach Steve Kerr told reporters last night that he will no longer provide daily updates on Durant’s condition.
“We’re hoping he can play Game 5 or 6,” Kerr said. “And everything in between I’ve decided I’m not sharing because it’s just gone haywire. There’s so much going on, and so it doesn’t make sense to continue to talk about it. He’s either going to play or he’s not.”
There’s more news on the two-time defending champs:
- Since the injury occurred, the Warriors haven’t put a timeline on Durant’s return other than to say they’re optimistic he will be back, notes Mark Medina of The San Jose Mercury News. Kerr is leaving all decisions to the medical staff, which has determined that Durant isn’t in condition to play. Medina observes that a mild calf strain would be considered Grade 1, which have a seven- to 10-day recovery time. It’s more likely Durant has a Grade 2 condition, which would sideline him for four to six weeks. He suffered the injury exactly a month ago.
- Medina identifies Rudy Gay and Brook Lopez as upcoming free agents who might be willing to take the Warriors’ $5.3MM taxpayer mid-level exception for next season. He adds that Golden State will re-sign Klay Thompson “for sure” and will take advantage of Kevon Looney‘s Bird Rights to keep him.
- Problems at center are among the reasons for the 3-1 deficit, contends Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo Sports. He calls DeMarcus Cousins “a disaster” in Game 4, unable to keep up with the Raptors after returning from a first-round quad injury. Looney, playing with a costal cartilage fracture, didn’t contribute much after halftime, leaving 34-year-old Andrew Bogut as the best choice in the middle.
Lakers Notes: Rondo, A. Davis, McGee, Buss
Rajon Rondo confirms to Ric Bucher of Bleacher Report that the Anthony Davis trade rumors just before the February deadline had a negative effect on the Lakers. Nearly all the team’s young players heard their names in rumored offers that were leaked to the press as L.A. tried to lock up Davis before the market becomes more competitive this summer.
There were numerous stories about how the Davis saga affected the mindset in the locker room, and the Lakers weren’t nearly as competitive after the deadline passed. Although he doesn’t name names, Rondo says a few veteran players were affected as well, but he denies being one of them.
“Me, I’m kind of numb to it,” he said. “I was in trade rumors every year in Boston. Eight straight years. You can’t really relate to it until you’ve gone through it. Not knowing the future, waking up every day — and now you’re on the phone reading stuff. When I was going through it, there wasn’t so much social media; it was just on TV. You’d hear it, or someone would text you about it, but it wasn’t so much in your face, with eight different blockbuster or proposed trades and your name in every one of them. Every Instagram scroll, you’re in it. So, psychologically, it probably took a toll. …
“Guys may have felt like, ‘Oh, I need to prove myself so I won’t be traded’ or ‘They’re going to trade me anyway.’ Each game you didn’t know what the mentality was for those guys: ‘Should I give my all to this organization that is about to trade me in two days?'”
There’s more Lakers news to pass along:
- Rondo also believes the team splintered because it had six players on one-year contracts, including himself. After the Lakers were unable to find a second star to pair with LeBron James last summer, they rounded up veterans on short-term deals to preserve their future cap space. “If the organization doesn’t give a guy a multiyear deal, how much can that guy really invest in the team?” Rondo asked. “His thinking is: ‘You don’t really believe in me. You’re just trying to fill a void. I’m just a plug-in.’ You can say you’re playing for a contract; on mediocre teams, OK, but on championship-caliber teams, it doesn’t work that way. Guys aren’t willing to make sacrifices.”
- JaVale McGee, another of those one-year veterans, is open to coming back to L.A. for another season, according to a tweet from the Fox show “Undisputed.” “I love L.A., it was beautiful for me,” he said. “I had my best averages, I had my best season playing alongside LeBron.”
- Mavericks owner Mark Cuban defended Lakers owner Jeanie Buss this week, telling Dave McMenamin of ESPN that after her father’s death she had to balance family concerns with the pressures of running an organization.
Six Key Stories: 6/1/19 – 6/8/19
If you missed any of this past week’s biggest headlines from around the NBA, we’ve got you covered with our Week in Review. Here are some of the most noteworthy stories from the last seven days:
The Nets and Hawks agreed to a trade which will occur after the new league year begins. The deal will send Allen Crabbe, the player picked at No. 17 in this month’s draft, and a lottery-protected 2020 first-round pick to Atlanta in exchange
for Taurean Prince and a 2021 second-round pick. It allows the Nets to clear enough cap space to go after two maximum-salary free agents this offseason, assuming they renounce D’Angelo Russell‘s $21.1MM cap hold. As a result, Kyrie Irving is now being strongly linked to Brooklyn. The Hawks continue to acquire assets as a part of their rebuild, likely gaining two additional first-round picks in back-to-back years.
The Bucks signed general manager Jon Horst to a contract extension that will keep the executive in Milwaukee through the 2022/23 season. A frontrunner for this season’s executive of the year award, Horst has improved the Bucks from a middle-of-the-pack team to a legit championship contender. Financial details of the new deal aren’t yet known, but it should all but assuredly come with a significant raise, as Horst was the NBA’s lowest-paid general manager during his first two years on the job.
Mavericks’ big man Dwight Powell plans to pick up his player option for next season and sign a contract extension to stay in Dallas. An earlier report indicated that Powell would turn down his player option, but multiple outlets have since confirmed Powell’s plans to opt in and sign an extension. Exercising the option will earn Powell just short of $10.3MM next season, and the extension is reportedly planned for 2 or 3 additional seasons after next.
League executives largely expect the Sixers to make a maximum-salary offer to Jimmy Butler upon the opening of free agency on June 30. Butler is all but assured to turn down his player option for next season, making himself one of the more sought after players on the market. The Sixers can offer Butler a deal worth as much as $189.7MM over five years.
The Suns, long in pursuit of a higher caliber starting point guard to play alongside franchise cornerstone Devin Booker, are interested in free-agent point guards Cory Joseph, Patrick Beverley, Darren Collison, and T.J. McConnell. Phoenix is also reportedly open to trading the No. 6 overall pick in this month’s draft for the “right” veteran point guard. It’s unclear who that specific player or players may be, or if they even exist, but Mike Conley is a possibility if the Suns agree able to put together enough salary-matching pieces and other assets to interest the Grizzlies.
Veteran guard Vince Carter recently confirmed that he will be calling it quits after next season, his twenty-second in the NBA. A free-agent this summer, Carter found himself to be a production rotational piece for the Hawks this past season. For his illustrious career, Carter has averaged 17.2 PPG, 4.4 RPG, and 3.2 APG with a .437/.374/.798 shooting line in 1,481 games.
Here are 10 more noteworthy headlines from the past week:
- While he’s sure to have interest from other suitors, the Hornets remain the “first priority” for Kemba Walker during free agency this summer.
- Potential Grizzlies head-coaching target Sarunas Jasikevicius may elect to stay in Lithuania over accepting an NBA-coaching gig.
- Jazz point guard Ricky Rubio does not expect to be back in Utah next season, saying that the Jazz have not made him a priority among other free agent pursuits.
- Former NBA guard Nando De Colo is considering leaving CSKA Moscow to return to the NBA next season.
- It’s still not a foregone conclusion that Anthony Davis will be traded, but new Pelicans head of basketball operations David Griffin has begun listening to inquiries on the perennial All-Star.
- Veteran free agents Marcus Morris (Knicks, Lakers, Kings, Clippers, and Bulls) (link) and All-Star D’Angelo Russell (Jazz, Magic, Wolves, and Pacers) (link) already have a list of potential suitors this offseason.
- Rockets forward P.J. Tucker is interesting in discussing a contract extension this offseason.
- The Wizards delay in hiring a new head of basketball operations may be linked to the team’s reported interest in Raptors president Masai Ujiri.
- Warriors’ minority owner Mark Stevens has been banned from the NBA for one year and fined $500K for pushing and directing obscenities toward Raptors’ point guard Kyle Lowry in Game 3 of the NBA Finals.
- The Sixers are hiring longtime Spurs assistant coach Ime Udoka as head coach Brett Brown‘s lead assistant in Philadelphia.
Kings Notes: Cauley-Stein, Workouts, Team USA
The Kings are known to be looking for a starting center when free agency begins on June 30, but does that mean that it’s time for Sacramento and former No. 6 overall pick Willie Cauley-Stein to part ways?
Jason Jones of The Athletic opines that even though the Kings have the ability to make Cauley-Stein a restricted free agent with a qualifying offer of just under $6.3MM, it might be best after four seasons for both sides to see what else is out there, especially if the Kings can pick up someone like Nikola Vucevic.
The 25-year-old big man had some bright spots during the 2018/19 campaign, including a hot start that helped make the Kings one of the NBA’s surprise teams to start the season. But, the Kings still feel that Cauley-Stein is an average to below-average rebounder for a big man, and his blocks per game this past season were the lowest of his career.
Perhaps more importantly, the Kings really like what they already have from young, cheaper big men like Marvin Bagley and Harry Giles, and questions still remain, fairly or not, about Cauley-Stein’s desire and focus, which the Kings aren’t sure will now suddenly change after four seasons in the NBA.
There’s more out of Sacramento this weekend:
- The Kings brought in six prospects for workouts on Thursday, per the team’s website. The players are: guard Jordan Bone (Tennessee), guard Terence Davis (Mississippi), swingman Brian Bowen (Australia), forward Zylan Cheatham (Arizona State), forward Trey Mourning (Georgetown), and big man Chris Silva (South Carolina).
- Six more more NBA hopefuls will work out for the Kings on Monday, per a report on the team’s website. The prospects are: guard Kyle Guy (Virginia), guard B.J. Taylor (UCF), guard John Konchar (IPFW), guard Jaren Lewis (Abilene Christian), swingman Jakeenan Gant (UL Lafayette), and forward Nick Mayo (Eastern Kentucky).
- As we relayed earlier this week, two Kings’ players will be participating in USA Basketball this summer. Harrison Barnes will be at USA Basketball’s August training camp ahead of the FIBA World Cup in China this fall, while the aforementioned Bagley will be part of the 10-man select team that will scrimmage against the 18-man FIBA World Cup roster.
Hoops Rumors Originals: 6/1/19 – 6/8/19
Every week, the Hoops Rumors writing team creates original content to complement our news feed. Here are our segments and features from the past seven days:
- Our 2018/19 Salary Cap Digest series analyzed the Bucks.
- Luke Adams took a look at five players with Non-Bird rights whose current teams may have difficulty re-signing.
- Our Five Key Offseason Questions series focused on the following teams this week:
- Our lone Community Shootaround discussion post this week addressed whether the NBA should swap the order for free agency and the NBA Draft.