Warriors Notes: Seth Curry, Injury Risks, Butler, Jackson-Davis, Podziemski
At a news conference following Thursday’s practice, Seth Curry explained why he decided to join the Warriors after resisting the idea of teaming up with older brother Stephen Curry throughout his career, writes Sam Gordon of The San Francisco Chronicle. Seth told reporters that he was trying to “create my own path” in the NBA, and playing in his brother’s shadow would have interfered with that.
Coach Steve Kerr agreed with that reasoning, saying it would have been awkward to have both brothers on the team earlier in their careers.
“I don’t know if the timing was right (for Seth to join us) over recent years,” Kerr said. “We probably didn’t have playing time for him. He was in a place where he was going to teams and playing a lot, making money. It just feels like (Stephen and Seth are) both at a point in their careers where this makes a ton of sense. I’m thrilled to have Seth.”
While Steph became a legend in the Bay Area, the younger Curry faced a different journey, working his way up through the G League and playing for nine teams over the past 11 years. He has been a deadly outside shooter wherever he has gone, and Gordon notes that his career percentage of 43.3% from beyond the arc is slightly better than his brother, who is considered possibly the greatest three-point shooter in NBA history.
Seth holds a non-guaranteed Exhibit 9 deal, and he’s expected to be waived before the start of the regular season. The plan is for him to rejoin the team at some point during the season on a pro-rated veteran’s minimum deal due to the Warriors’ hard-cap situation.
“Everybody’s excited about it,” he said. “Instead of watching more games, it should be just easier to watch my game, which is easier on everybody. Everybody is excited about it, except maybe my dad (Dell Curry). He didn’t want me to leave Charlotte.”
There’s more on the Warriors:
- Golden State will likely become the first team in NBA history with four starters who are at least 35 years old, so Kerr will have to be cognizant of playing time to minimize injuries, Gordon states in a separate story. Thirty-nine-year-old Al Horford joins Stephen Curry (37), Jimmy Butler (36) and Draymond Green (35), and the team has reserves Gary Payton II and Buddy Hield who will both turn 33 during the season. “We don’t want to be in a position where you’re chasing (a playoff berth) down the stretch of the season,” Curry said. “It felt like every game was a playoff game for two straight months and then you transition into a very tough seven-game series and then you’re 48 hours from a round two, Game 1. It was a very condensed high level of basketball.”
- Butler missed practice Friday and Saturday while recovering from a rolled ankle and Kerr considers him a “question mark” for Sunday’s preseason opener, according to Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area (Twitter link). Trayce Jackson-Davis has a taped right thumb and is also considered questionable.
- Brandin Podziemski was used as a starter at Thursday’s practice, but Kerr said nothing has been decided yet, per Anthony Slater of ESPN (Twitter link).
Nuggets Notes: Bench Squad, Valanciunas, Jokic, Hardaway
Heading into training camp with a set starting lineup, Nuggets coach David Adelman has been able to focus on figuring out his bench rotation, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. Bruce Brown, Tim Hardaway Jr., Julian Strawther, Peyton Watson and Jonas Valanciunas have been the main group scrimmaging against the starters, but Adelman said “that second unit will fluctuate” as he rotates in other players.
Brown, a reserve on Denver’s 2023 title team who returned as a free agent this summer, likes the way that group fits together. “I think we can do everything,” he said. “We’ve got shooters. We’ve got defenders.”
Durando notes that the current fivesome is heavy on wings, so Jalen Pickett, DaRon Holmes II, Zeke Nnaji or Hunter Tyson may be added to the mix. Cameron Johnson told Durando that Pickett has been outstanding in camp at running the second and third units.
There’s more on the Nuggets:
- Valanciunas, who was acquired in an offseason trade with Sacramento, has been orchestrating the offense for the second team much like Nikola Jokic does with the starters, Durando adds in the same story. Durando suggests that Adelman could decide to surround Valanciunas with four smaller players in a motion-based offense. “This has been good for him to get used to our system a little bit,” Adelman said. “He hasn’t done some of this stuff outside of a couple months in Sacramento, playing off the elbow and the top of the key. … So I have to do him a service. We’ve gotta get to some post-up plays and things that he’s used to.”
- Jokic will have the freedom to determine how far he wants to venture away from the rim on defense, Durando states in a separate story. Adelman trusts his veteran center to recognize what level of drop coverage is appropriate based on the opponent. “There’s so many levels of drops,” Adelman said. “He won’t be just at the rim like he’s (Rudy) Gobert. But it’s just looking for maybe a little more of (him defending) down the floor, a couple steps down the floor. And more so, I think what we’re trying to create with him — he’s so high-IQ — is the Marc Gasol model, where he’s choosing his levels depending on the quality of player or what the player does well. We all know his IQ is so high, but we have to work on that and allow him to work on it in practice.”
- Hardway said the team’s style of play led him to join the Nuggets in free agency, relays Jared Koch of Sports Illustrated. “Everybody’s moving without the ball nonstop, basically sharing the wealth,” he said. “All you’ve got to do is just make the right play time after time after time again, and great things will happen.”
Southeast Notes: J. Johnson, Daniels, T. Jones, Mann
Hawks forward Jalen Johnson may have been headed for his first All-Star appearance before a torn labrum in his left shoulder ended his season in January. Now that he’s fully recovered, he’s eager to start competing again after nine months away from the game, writes Bill Trocchi of The Associated Press.
“I’m just excited for a basketball game,” Johnson said. “It’s been a long time since January, so I’m excited to get out on the court, preseason, training camp. I’m excited to be full go and fully healthy going into the season.”
The Hawks made several important additions during Johnson’s absence, bringing in Kristaps Porzingis, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Luke Kennard, and Johnson said he’s been spending training camp learning how to play alongside them. Coach Quin Snyder told Trocchi that Johnson will handle the ball more often this season and will create easier opportunities for his teammates.
“Other guys on the team benefit from Jalen because of his play-making ability,” Snyder said. “Jalen is such a good passer and willing passer that he’s ready to play-make even more. … (With the new lineup), he will be in spacing situations where he can just catch and shoot. We want him to do that, just to let it fly. We trust him in that regard.”
There’s more from the Southeast Division:
- After capturing Most Improved Player honors last season, Dyson Daniels spent the summer trying to raise his game even further, per Lauren L. Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (subscription required). The Hawks guard is making an effort to become a more versatile offensive player. “I was able to go and make improvements in a lot of ways,” Daniels said. “I worked a lot on my midrange game, being able to get to spots, different pickups, different footwork, getting good shots, trying to develop that offensive bag. And I think that’s been the main focus for me this summer.”
- Point guard Tyus Jones seems like an ideal addition for a Magic team that has experienced difficulty with holding onto the ball in recent years, observes Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. Jones, who led the NBA in assists-to-turnover ratio for six straight seasons, said he considered joining Orlando for a while before signing as a free agent this summer. “This has been a place where I’ve kind of had my eye on and thought the fit was there the last few years,” he said. “It eventually played itself out and the time is right now. I’m excited to be here. I plan on making those fans happy and look forward to playing in front of them.”
- Hornets guard Tre Mann is happy to be able to play again after a back injury derailed last season after 13 games, relays Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer. Mann admitted going through a “dark time” during the long recovery process, but now says he’s grateful for “just being in the NBA, being healthy and putting on the NBA jersey.”
Knicks Notes: Brogdon, Brown, Hart, Brunson
Malcolm Brogdon got first-half minutes Saturday in Abu Dhabi as part of the competition for a Knicks‘ roster spot, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. Coach Mike Brown is giving all three veterans with non-guaranteed contracts a chance to be on the floor with rotation players. Landry Shamet got his opportunity on Thursday, and Garrison Mathews is expected to be in that role during Friday’s game against Minnesota.
“Trying to see different guys we’ve signed with different combinations,” Brown said. “And putting them in at different — I may throw a guy in for three minutes. And if I throw him in for three minutes, part of that is I may use him that way in the regular season or I may use him that way if he makes the team in the regular season. So how does he respond? So I’m experimenting right now.”
Brogdon posted five points, four rebounds and two steals in 13 minutes as New York wrapped up a sweep of Philadelphia in their two overseas games. Playing in the second half, Shamet went scoreless in nine minutes and Mathews finished with six points while shooting 1-of-5 from the field.
There’s more on the Knicks:
- Josh Hart was held out of action today after suffering a back injury that a team representative is calling “spasms,” Bondy adds in the same piece. Hart fell to the court in pain in the second quarter of Thursday’s game and was holding his lower back as he walked to the locker room. “It’s preseason and we’re going to err on the side of caution,” the representative told Bondy. “We’ll see where he is when (we get home).”
- The Knicks were more successful in implementing Brown’s up-tempo offense in their second game under their new head coach, Bondy states in a separate story. Brown wants his team to push the ball in transition, and Jalen Brunson said the guards ran to the corners every time Philadelphia missed a shot. “Pace doesn’t necessarily mean fast,” Brunson said. “Obviously we want to get the ball across half-court in a certain time frame. But it’s about playing smart, seeing what the defense does and just reading that. We weren’t really trying to leak out, but we were trying to sprint to corners and we were getting behind the defense and we were able to get layups. So as long as we come away with a stop, that allows us to run.”
- Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News assesses the players who saw court time in Abu Dhabi and examines how their games are changing with Brown in charge.
Celtics Notes: Brown, Mazzulla, Gonzalez, Horford
Jayson Tatum‘s injury and the departure of several veteran players forced Celtics star Jaylen Brown to take on a larger leadership role, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Brown typically travels during the summer, Washburn notes, but he spent more time in Boston this year in an effort to bond with his new teammates.
“It’s a little bit sad, a lot of the guys I spent a lot of time with, we had such a great group over the last couple of years,” he said. “To see them not be around anymore obviously is going to have an effect on our team, but we have five new players we’ve got to get on board and acclimated into the system. And I’m trying to expedite that chemistry building, that trust building so you guys can see a good product when we get to the floor. But some of that stuff takes time — it doesn’t happen overnight — but I’m looking forward to it.”
Mentoring may not seem like a natural role to anyone who watched Brown closely during his first nine NBA seasons, Washburn adds. Brown often projected a hard exterior, but he said he’s found “a different level of peace” at this point in his career, and Washburn observes that he seems to be smiling and enjoying himself more than in the past.
“I would say a lot of times I felt like I had to operate a certain way to protect myself, and it was kind of the way I felt like I had to be in order not to lose my mind a little bit,” Brown said. “But I feel like I’ve gotten to a point in my life where I’m at peace, and I feel like I can express more of myself to the world in a sense where I just haven’t opened up in the last (several) years. More so showing the world who Jaylen Brown is.”
There’s more from Boston:
- Assistant coach Sam Cassell said the start of training camp has been the most difficult he’s seen since he entered the NBA 34 years ago, but head coach Joe Mazzulla disputes that description, Washburn states in a separate story. “Everything in this world today is recency bias,” Mazzulla said. “Every time is this is the best ever. We don’t remember the way we felt last year or two years ago or three years ago. That’s just a classic recency bias of whatever you’re going through right now is the biggest, the best, the most important, the hardest, the easiest. None of that really matters. It depends on where you’re at in the moment.”
- Picking up team concepts and strategy has been difficult for first-round pick Hugo Gonzalez because he speaks limited English, per Souichi Terada of MassLive. The former Real Madrid guard said the coaches have been patient as he tries to learn the language. “We’re going really, really deep now in these practices and also in the training camp that we’ve got,” Gonzalez said. “We’re going deep in the details. I think that apart from the basics, they are the most important thing. We’re going into detail on every single situation so that when we are in the game and we’ve got that situation, we can handle it in the best way possible so we can succeed on defense.”
- In a mailbag column, Brian Robb of The Boston Globe examines whether the Celtics should have tried harder to keep Al Horford, who will only make about $5.7MM this season with Golden State. Robb points out that Boston was disadvantaged by its need to avoid the repeater tax, which would cause a $5MM contract to cost close to $20MM with penalties factored in.
Lakers Notes: Ayton, LeBron, Vanderbilt, Bronny
Deandre Ayton only scored one point in 18 minutes on Friday night in his first game with the Lakers, but he preferred to focus on his two blocked shots, which he said are an indication of his commitment to defense, writes Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. Ayton, who signed with L.A. this summer after reaching a buyout in Portland, said his primary focus is providing a defensive presence in the middle.
“I wanted to show the team I’m more committed on the defensive end more than the offense in a way,” Ayton said. “Like I say from the get-go, I’m not really here for numbers. I’m just here for whatever the Lakers really want me to do. And the main objective is really protecting that rim and closing out our possessions. And I had fun man, just blocking some shots, just being that anchor and seeing how the guys responded to me.”
Ayton, who missed both his field goal attempts, added that he’s not expecting to take a certain number of shots each night and is willing to let Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves determine his role in the offense.
“(Coach JJ Redick) is trusting these dudes to be our main primary ball handlers and me being the big man in the paint,” Ayton said. “I’m absorbing all of that. It (will) probably be hard not to touch the ball with them great play-makers, to be honest.”
There’s more on the Lakers:
- James missed Friday’s game while recovering from a glute issue, and Redick said the Lakers are taking a “little bit longer of a ramp-up” with their 40-year-old star as they try to get him ready for opening night, Price adds. “For him, it’s different in Year 23,” Redick said. “A normal return-to-play protocol, we try to get 1-on-1, 2-on-2, 3-on-3 exposures versus coaches. And that eventually gets to 3-on-3 live. He knows his body. And so we’ll work with him. We’ll work with (James’ longtime trainer) Mike (Mancias) on making sure he gets a point of comfort where he can sort of be a full participant. But he’s been on the court every day. He’s been in the weight room, continuing to get his body ready.”
- Jarred Vanderbilt made an impact on defense on Friday, displaying why Lakers officials have been raving about him in training camp, observes Law Murray of The Athletic. Injuries have limited Vanderbilt to 29 and 36 games the past two seasons, but Murray suggests he could challenge Rui Hachimura for the starting power forward spot if he can improve his outside shooting.
- Bronny James suffered through a rough shooting night on Friday, going 1-of-12 from the field, but Redick gave him a vote of confidence and cited his improvement over the past year, per Greg Beacham of The Associated Press. “He is so much more comfortable and confident as a player,” Redick said. “Skill-wise, read-wise, all of those things have improved, but there’s a big difference between improving those things in individual workouts and small group settings, and doing it 5-on-5. … He’s a totally different player than he was a year ago. I thought the stuff that he did down in the G League last year was huge for him in developing a comfort level in playing at this level.”
Heat Sign Nikola Jovic To Four-Year Extension
Oct. 3: Jovic’s four-year extension with the Heat is now official, per the team’s Twitter account.
Oct 1: Nikola Jovic has agreed to a four-year, $62.4MM rookie scale extension with the Heat, agents Jeff Schwartz, Sean Kennedy and Jared Mucha of Excel Sports Management tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). It’s a straight four-year deal with no option for either the team or the player, a source informs Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel (Twitter link).
The 22-year-old power forward is coming off his best statistical season — averaging 10.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game while shooting 45.6% from the field and 37.1% from three-point range — but he was limited to 46 appearances after breaking a bone in his right hand in February. He was able to return for the playoff series against Cleveland and scored 24 points in Game 4, Charania states in a full story.
Jovic was primarily used off the bench last season, starting just 10 games after making 38 starts the year before. He said at Monday’s media day that he hopes to have a chance to compete for a starting role in training camp.
Jovic will make $4.4MM this season in the final year of his rookie contract. The extension will run through the 2029/30 season, and Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald notes that he’s currently the team’s only player who’s under contract past ’28/29.
The Heat selected Jovic with the 27th pick in the 2022 draft, but he battled injuries as a rookie and only appeared in 15 games. His role has expanded over the past two seasons, and the extension appears to cement his status as part of the team’s foundation moving forward.
Jovic is the fifth member of the 2022 draft class to receive an extension, joining Paolo Banchero, Chet Holmgren, Jabari Smith Jr. and Jalen Williams, as our tracker shows. Teams have until October 20, the day before the start of the regular season, to finalize rookie scale extensions. Players who don’t receive them will become restricted free agents next summer if their teams extend qualifying offers.
As Winderman recently noted, Miami also has important extension decisions upcoming with Tyler Herro and Norman Powell that will determine the team’s financial flexibility for at least the rest of the decade.
Warriors Notes: Horford, Kuminga, Melton, Dunleavy
Now that his contract with the Warriors is finally official, Al Horford was able to shed some light on his free agency decision during an introductory news conference on Wednesday, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Horford told reporters that he didn’t feel ready to retire and that Golden State seemed like the obvious place to go if he had to find a new team.
“It’s a great opportunity to compete and to win at a high level,” he said. “When I think about the Warriors, I think about (Stephen Curry) and Draymond (Green) and Steve Kerr and seeing Jimmy Butler here. What he did in that second half of the season last year after the trade and how they’re playing. It wasn’t an easy decision for me to leave Boston, but if there was the place, that was this one, and it happened and I happened to give this opportunity, so I jumped at it.”
When free agency began at the end of June, Horford never imagined that his next contract wouldn’t be signed until October. He reportedly committed to the Warriors early on, but nothing could be completed until the team resolved its standoff with restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga.
“It was definitely a very odd offseason, just kind of waiting and waiting and seeing what’s going to happen, seeing what’s going to take place,” Horford said. “So just my whole focus was on my training and preparing myself and making sure that I was in the best place for when the season started.”
There’s more on the Warriors:
- Kerr isn’t concerned that Kuminga might create a distraction in the locker room after having to accept a team option in his new two-year contract, per Nick Friedell of The Athletic. Kerr said he contacted Kuminga “quite a bit” during the summer, and they’ll have a conversation about how things worked out when he reports to camp. “I’ve known JK for four years now,” Kerr said. “He’s not that guy to come in and tear a team down.”
- De’Anthony Melton isn’t upset that the Warriors traded him to Brooklyn last December after he suffered an ACL tear early in the season, relays Anthony Slater of ESPN (Twitter video link). “Business is business,” he said. “I probably would have traded myself too.” Melton added that he decided to return because he enjoyed his brief experience with the team and he likes the medical staff.
- It took a long time to assemble, but general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. is gleeful about his current roster, notes Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. “We’ve got everything signed, sealed, delivered roster-wise and (we’re) pretty excited about this group, about this season,” he said. “(We) feel like we made some really good additions and obviously have some really good key returning players as well as some young guys that we think will be able to take a step. The main thing here is the team we put together, we feel like will be in the mix this season.”
Lakers Notes: Smart, Vanderbilt, Kleber, Backcourt Rotation, Koloko
Head coach JJ Redick is hoping the offseason addition of Marcus Smart and better health from Jarred Vanderbilt will improve the Lakers‘ perimeter defense, writes Khobi Price of the Orange County Register. Smart is a former Defensive Player of the Year and Vanderbilt has also been a highly regarded defender, but they’ve both been slowed by injuries over the past two seasons.
“With a healthy Vando and hopefully a healthy Marcus, our ability to put more pressure on the basketball earlier in the defensive possession will be a real thing,” Redick said.
Smart has been limited in camp due to Achilles tendinopathy, but Redick told reporters that he should be fully recovered by the end of the week. He has only played 54 combined games the past two seasons, and the Lakers are counting on him to be an anchor for their defense.
“I’ve talked with JJ and what he expects from me on both ends, especially the defensive end,” Smart said. “It’s everything I’ve been doing my whole career. It’s nothing new and I remember the first thing he told me was, ‘Hey, if we’re going to get the Celtics’ Marcus Smart, that’s who we want, that’s who we need. And we need you to be that person and be who you are.’ So for me, it’s just coming out and giving everything I got on this court and leaving it out there every night.”
Vanderbilt had surgery on both feet last summer and didn’t make his season debut until January 25. He said he’s feeling much better in training camp after being able to train during the offseason.
“It feels great being able to have a full summer under my belt. I was able to really work on my game, work on my body, and just having that confidence going into the year instead of playing catch up,” Vanderbilt said. “Being able to be a part of training camp early, and it’s a different level of approach and preparation when you already put the work in and being able to start fresh.”
There’s more on the Lakers:
- Maxi Kleber was set to undergo an MRI on Wednesday after tweaking his quad on the second day of camp, according to Lakers reporter Jovan Buha (Twitter link). Redick said the injury doesn’t appear to be serious, Buha adds.
- Redick listed Smart, Gabe Vincent and Jake LaRavia as locks for the backcourt rotation along with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, Buha tweets.
- Christian Koloko believes this year’s version of the Lakers is more driven to succeed (Twitter video link from ESPN’s Dave McMenamin). “You can just see that everybody is like more hungry,” K0loko said. “We knew what we did last year, we could have done better. We want to do better. We want to win the championship. Everybody knows what it takes to get to that next level.”
Daniel Gafford To Miss 2-3 Weeks With Ankle Injury
Mavericks center Daniel Gafford is expected to be sidelined for two to three weeks after rolling his ankle, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link). Head coach Jason Kidd said the injury occurred Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
Dallas is set to open the season October 22 against San Antonio, so Gafford’s availability is in question if he takes the full three weeks to recover. He will likely miss the team’s entire preseason schedule, which starts Monday and ends October 15.
Gafford averaged a career-high 12.3 points per game last season, along with 6.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks, but injuries limited him to 57 games. He sat out 21 straight contests with a sprained knee late in the season, but was able to return in early April.
His offseason was highlighted by a three-year, $54MM extension that runs through the 2028/29 season. He had been considered a potential trade candidate before coming to terms on the new deal, and he remains trade-eligible without a six-month waiting period.
The Mavs are well stocked in the frontcourt if Gafford isn’t available for the season opener. Dereck Lively II would probably start at center alongside Anthony Davis and Cooper Flagg.