Before Rodney McGruder signed an Exhibit 9 contract with the Warriors, his closest connection with Draymond Green came through an expletive-filled tirade that Green delivered three years ago, writes Connor Letourneau of The San Francisco Chronicle. After McGruder had a verbal confrontation with Juan Toscano-Anderson, Green went on a two-minute postgame rant asking when McGruder became his team’s “tough guy.”
“Draymond and I talked it out before I got here,” McGruder said. “It’s all love. It’s just the competitive nature of the game. You say things, you do things, then you move on.”
Green has become one of McGruder’s top supporters, Letourneau adds, because he can identify with the work the 32-year-old guard had to put in to carve out a role in the NBA. McGruder went undrafted out of Kansas State in 2013, then spent time in Hungary and the G League before earning a contract with Miami. He finds himself trying to earn another roster spot late in his career, which Letourneau notes involves the challenge of beating out veteran forward Rudy Gay.
There’s more on the Warriors:
- Dario Saric had offers in free agency from several teams that needed frontcourt depth, but he opted for a veteran’s minimum deal with Golden State because he saw a good fit with the roster, per C.J. Holmes of The San Francisco Chronicle. “I looked (around at different opportunities) a little bit those couple days,” Saric said. “I looked a little bit at the Warriors, how they run stuff, how I can fit there. Obviously I think I can. … I hope I’ll prove to fans that I deserve to be part of this team.” Saric’s decision reunites him with former Suns teammate Chris Paul, and he’s confident they can duplicate the pick-and-roll chemistry they had in Phoenix.
- Paul’s priority will be to keep the offense flowing when Stephen Curry isn’t on the court, states Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. At media day, coach Steve Kerr said the team has always struggled to get points without its star in the game. “Even when we had Kevin (Durant) and that group that won back-to-back titles, our whole goal for the non-Steph minutes was to just put a great defensive team on the floor and win those minutes with defense,” Kerr said. “We’ve never really generated great offense with Steph on the bench. Chris will help us do that.”
- Kerr plans to continue the practice of having Klay Thompson guard some power forwards, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Kerr wants to have Curry, Paul and Thompson on the floor together frequently, and Andrew Wiggins is needed to match up with high-scoring small forwards.
Saric might be the juice that makes the drink work…
Still one of the riskiest teams to bet on…
How bout Klay saying that McGruder would be out of the league soon? Seems like an interesting signing based on his past spats with the Warriors.
Pretty hard for Rodney to find time to beef when he is, in fact, trying to stay in the league.
He still has value, but there’s a few reasons why it took until like, last week for him to get a deal.
Maybe Mcgruder would take a bullet for Klay in they turn into Best Friends
I honestly feel like the Warriors are going to have to do the Clippers/Lakers thing and focus primarily on getting to the playoffs/avoiding the play-in while trying to stay healthy and have enough stamina for a run. Their defense is very high-effort with lots of switches and requiring guys to guard out of their normal weight class. Offense comes easy to their system, but not necessarily defense. Even with Draymond and Looney at full strength it’s a big ask. They’re just older and shallower now.
Any playoff squad with Steph is scary, obviously, but they should focus on getting there rather than trying to compete for the highest possible seed.
I agree with what you are saying…
But are they good enough to do that without falling into the play in?
Are they even good enough to challenge for a top 4 spot if they are healthy?
Chemistry issues might make the first half of the season a struggle…
I’m not as worried about chemistry. It’s not like the Poole situation last year. CP3 is a pro, and he’s not going to kick up a Harden-esque tantrum because he knows his options are limited.
And as for being capable of challenging for a top 4 seed… yeah, they are. You have Steph, you have everything you need. Sometimes players just carry the team even if there are issues, and Steph can. I just don’t necessarily think they should.
Besides, it’s not like they’re going to tank games or anything. Just play with something in reserve when they can. They won’t have the abject inconsistency of last year. Their depth and chemistry are both better than that. So while their absolute ceiling might not be the highest, their floor is higher than last season for sure. (and what they did last season wasn’t quite the floor, but it was close).
Every team is about staying healthy. In the west you better now have you best player get hurt for a long time or you fall down in the standings. Most people forget the warriors were without Payton and Wiggins for almost the whole year.