Warriors Notes: NBA Title, McCaw, Cook, Draft
Despite outside appearances, the Warriors didn’t have an easy time collecting their third NBA championship in four years, writes Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. Spears outlines injuries, complacency and other issues that affected Golden State during its title run and sheds more light on comments made by David West, who said after Game 4, “There were some things internally. … It’s a testament to the type of people these guys are, how tied we were as a group and then we were able to win it.”
Four key players, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Patrick McCaw and Andre Iguodala, had to overcome injuries at some point in the postseason, and Draymond Green said the team’s fragile physical condition provided incentive to sweep the Finals before anyone else got hurt. Spears notes that the team also had to deal with the distractions of a dispute with President Trump, a pre-season trip to China and focus issues that resulted in the league’s third-best record despite a wealth of talent.
“Maybe it looked easy to you, but it was hard,” GM Bob Myers said. “… We had never been a two seed. We had to win a Game 7 on the road. We had some injuries. Just the wear and tear of trying to do it four [straight] times in the Finals. But they stepped up at the end. The players got it done. It was a credit to them.”
There’s more Warriors news to pass along:
- This year’s championship was especially meaningful to McCaw and Quinn Cook, who were both in tears after Friday’s victory, Spears adds. There were concerns that McCaw might not walk again after a violent fall in a March 31 game that resulted in a lumbar spinal contusion. McCaw vowed to return and made it back for Game 6 of the conference semifinals. Cook, who was waived by the Hawks in training camp, signed a two-way contract with the Warriors and earned a full NBA deal just before the playoffs.
- Golden State isn’t concerned about keeping its core together, but the team would like to add some younger players during the offseason, relays Tim Kawakami of The Athletic. “We just have to be always moving forward to try to improve our team,” owner Joe Lacob said. “So I actually think this draft is a very important one for us. We need to get some youth on the team going forward. So we’re paying significant attention to it, and I am, too. Probably more than any other year.
- The Warriors were able to build an elite roster because players were willing to accept less than their market value, notes Scott Stinson of The National Post. Curry had a team-friendly contract for years before his latest extension, and Kevin Durant played for $25MM this season.
Warriors Plan Extension Offers For Thompson, Green
There have been concerns about the Warriors’ ability to afford Klay Thompson and Draymond Green when their free agency years arrive, but owner Joe Lacob plans to aggressively address the situation this summer, relays Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.
Shortly after wrapping up the team’s third title in four years Friday night, Lacob said he intends to submit extension offers to both players during the offseason.
“All good things cost a lot,” he explained. “We’re going to try to sign Klay and Draymond to extensions this summer. They’ve earned the right to do whatever they want; maybe they want to wait until free agency. I can’t control that. But we’ll do whatever we can to keep them.
“We’ve proven that if we think we’re competing for a championship, we’ll be in the luxury tax. No one wants to be, but we expect to be. All I can tell you is we’re going to sit down and do our planning on how we’re going to improve the team for the future and setting ourselves up in the future. And it could go a number of different ways.”
Thompson is entering the final year of a contract that will pay him $18,988,725 next season. He has spent seven years with the Warriors and is coming off his fourth straight All-Star appearance. Green has two seasons left on his current deal, worth $17,469,565 next season and $18,539,130 in 2019/20. He has been with Golden State for six years and is a three-time All-Star.
Extensions for Thompson and Green would come at the same time the Warriors have to spend big to re-sign Kevin Durant, who is virtually certain to opt out of a $26.25MM salary and enter free agency for the third straight summer. If all three players agree to new contracts, the Warriors would likely be headed for the largest luxury tax bill in NBA history.
Jerry Stackhouse To Join Grizzlies’ Staff
Former G League Coach of the Year Jerry Stackhouse has agreed to become an assistant in Memphis, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Stackhouse served as an assistant with the Raptors in 2015/16 before taking over as the head coach of the organization’s G League affiliate, Raptors 905, and leading it to the 2017 title. He has been mentioned as a candidate for numerous NBA head coaching positions and interviewed this year for vacancies in Charlotte, New York and Toronto.
He is the second new addition to the staff of J.B. Bickerstaff, who coached the Grizzlies for almost all of last season on an interim basis. Memphis also hired former Magic assistant Chad Forcier.
Before launching his coaching career, Stackhouse played 18 seasons in the NBA and twice made the All-Star team.
Sixers Notes: Colangelo, Fultz, Brown, Bayless
Bryan Colangelo probably had no way to save his job as president of basketball operations, even if he had blamed the Twitter incident on his wife from the start, suggests Marcus Hayes of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Colangelo resigned Thursday after the completion of an investigation into burner accounts on Twitter that released sensitive information and made critical comments of Sixers players and opponents.
The law firm that investigated the matter concluded that Colangelo acted in a “reckless” and “careless” manner, even though the accounts belonged to his wife, Barbara Bottini. Investigators said they couldn’t prove Colangelo knew about the accounts, but there also isn’t strong evidence that he wasn’t aware of them.
Regardless, Hayes concludes that Colangelo had already lost trust among management and the players and that a change was necessary for the Sixers to move past the incident.
There’s more today out of Philadelphia:
- Colangelo didn’t turn in a remarkable performance during his time with the Sixers, writes Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer. O’Connor states his best moves were the decision to retain coach Brett Brown and to add J.J. Redick in free agency last summer. However, Colangelo got little value when he shipped off Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor, and he didn’t have any other significant signings or notable draft picks outside the lottery.
- Colangelo ignored other voices in the organization who wanted to consider Jayson Tatum or Lonzo Ball after Markelle Fultz turned in a disappointing performance at last year’s pre-draft workout, O’Connor adds. Colangelo reportedly insisted on drafting Fultz after completing a deal with the Celtics that cost Philadelphia the rights to a future first-rounder from the Kings.
- Brown won’t have much time to relax this summer with his new roles as GM and president of basketball operations in addition to his coaching responsibilities, notes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Brown will hold the front office positions until replacements can be found, but that might not happen until after the draft and the start of free agency. “My role in all of this is simply to provide a level of leadership with people I trust and respect and do the best I can while I’m here moving us forward,” Brown said.
- One of Brown’s first major decisions will involve guard Jerryd Bayless, Pompey notes in the same piece. As they try to maximize cap space for a run at LeBron James or other elite free agents, the Sixers could be tempted to waive Bayless and stretch his $8.6 million salary over three seasons.
Draft Updates: Porter, Young, Simons, Sexton
Michael Porter Jr. was impressive at Friday’s pro day in Chicago, tweets Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. Although there’s no question about his talent, several teams are concerned about Porter’s physical condition in the wake of back surgery that cost him nearly his entire freshman season at Missouri. Porter’s representatives will decide over the next few days which teams they plan to hold meetings with and who will receive his medical records.
Kyler adds that most scouts view Porter as a top three to five talent in the draft (Twitter link), but the back problems may scare some teams away. Even so, Kyler speculates that he won’t fall lower than the Bulls at No. 7 (Twitter link).
There’s more news as the draft draws closer:
- The Knicks are among several lottery teams that will travel to Chicago next week to meet with Porter, a league source tells Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog (Twitter link).
- The Suns are trying to arrange a workout with Oklahoma’s Trae Young, tweets Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report. Team officials are expected to meet with Young before the draft, but scheduling conflicts may prevent the Suns from working him out. Because Phoenix holds the No. 1 pick and Young is unlikely to be taken that high, Wasserman cites the report as evidence that the team is trying to acquire a second top 10 selection.
- Anfernee Simons, who worked out today for the Magic, has been among the most active pre-draft prospects, tweets Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel. Simons has already been to sessions with the Bulls, Suns, Trail Blazers, Lakers and Jazz and has upcoming workouts scheduled with the Knicks, Cavaliers, Grizzlies and Bucks.
- The Cavaliers brought in Alabama’s Collin Sexton for a workout today, tweets ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
- The Nuggets have six players scheduled for a session on Monday, according to a story on the team’s website. Expected to attend are Idaho’s Brayon Blake, Georgetown’s Marcus Derrickson, UNLV’s Brandon McCoy, USC’s Jordan McLaughlin, Wake Forest’s Doral Moore and Northern Colorado’s Andre Spight.
- Seton Hall’s Desi Rodriguez will work out tomorrow for the Spurs, Zagoria writes. The Mavericks will see him Tuesday, followed by the Raptors, then then Lakers on June 20. Rodriguez has also worked out for the Knicks, Nets, Suns, Thunder, Celtics, Bucks and Kings.
- The Nets have already held sessions with about 60 players, roughly the same amount the team saw through the entire pre-draft process last year, according to a story on NetsDaily.
Latest On LeBron James
LeBron James would still like to finish his career in Cleveland, but the events of the past year have him wondering if he can ever win another title there, writes Brian Windhorst of ESPN.
A second straight lopsided Finals is only part of the picture, Windhorst notes, as the past 12 months have seen the loss of GM David Griffin, the trade of Kyrie Irving, a health scare for coach Tyronn Lue and two extreme roster makeovers. Mental mistakes from teammates in the Finals, highlighted by J.R. Smith‘s error at the end of Game 1, led to James wonder this week, “How do you put together a group of talent but also a group of minds to be able to compete” with the Warriors.
Cleveland enters this summer with no cap room and a once-promising draft pick that landed in the middle of the lottery. The Celtics and Sixers both took huge steps forward this season and appear to be the powers in the Eastern Conference for years to come, presenting a significant obstacle for James to ever reach the Finals again if he stays in Cleveland.
On top of that, Windhorst notes, there’s a trust issue with owner Dan Gilbert and a limited relationship with GM Koby Altman, who is barley older than James. In theory, the Cavs have the advantage of being able to offer a longer and richer contract than anyone else — five years at more than $200MM. However, James hasn’t inked a deal longer than two years since returning to Cleveland and seems to prefer the power he holds with short-term arrangements.
There’s more on LeBron as free agent speculation heats up:
- Expect the Cavaliers to see what they can get for a package of Kevin Love and the No. 8 pick in an attempt to convince James to stay, reports ESPN’s Zach Lowe. The team passed on chances to deal Love at close to maximum value and will have a hard time obtaining even half of that at this point, Lowe adds.
- Matt Goul of Cleveland.com is running through several potential scenarios involving James and the team’s future. His first story involves James staying in Cleveland and the Cavs trying to improve by drafting a starter at No. 8 and adding a free agent with their $5.4MM mid-level exception. Goul identifies several unrestricted free agents 30 or younger who may be available at that price: Celtics center Greg Monroe, Nets center Jahlil Okafor, Suns center Alex Len, Mavericks center Nerlens Noel, Nuggets guard Will Barton and Grizzlies guard Tyreke Evans.
- Frank Urbina of Hoops Hype examines eight potential free agent destinations for James: the Clippers, Heat, Spurs, Warriors, Rockets, Lakers, Sixers and Celtics, as well as a potential future with the Cavaliers.
Heat Notes: LeBron, T. Johnson, Draft Picks, Leonard
The Heat are sometimes listed as a potential free agency destination for LeBron James, but team officials don’t believe there’s any chance he will return to Miami, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Among the entities that could see James back on South Beach is the WestGate Las Vegas sports book, which recently gave the Heat the fifth-best odds of winning next year’s title because of that possibility.
While Miami wouldn’t turn James away, there are too many obstacles to make the move realistic, Jackson notes. The Heat enter this summer with no cap space, so they would have to clear more than $55MM in salary while taking none in return to create the room to offer James a max contract. Cleveland could theoretically agree to a trade, but it’s hard to picture Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert working out a deal to ship James back to Miami.
Here are a few more Heat tidbits, courtesy of Jackson:
- Tyler Johnson‘s contract will escalate to $19.2MM in each of the next two seasons, and the Heat are probably stuck with that deal. Jackson states that there is little optimism in the organization about moving Johnson, whose contract includes a 15% trade kicker that would be worth an extra $2.9MM. Miami matched a back-loaded offer sheet from the Nets in 2016 that was structured to make Johnson much more expensive in the final two years.
- Also holding a trade kicker is Kelly Olynyk, who has a 5% bonus that would pay him $1.1MM if he’s traded. That money would be split over the next two seasons.
- The Heat, who don’t have a pick in either round of this year’s draft, are trying to acquire a second-rounder, according to a Western Conference executive whose team has spoken to Miami about a potential deal. This year’s first-round choice was sent to the Suns in the Goran Dragic trade, and the second-rounder was shipped to Memphis in a 2016 deal to clear cap room.
- Miami continues to monitor the Kawhi Leonard situation in San Antonio in hopes of pouncing if the Spurs decide a trade is necessary.
Latest On Raptors’ Coaching Search
The Raptors plan to trim their group of coaching candidates down to three finalists in the next seven to 10 days, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet.
Spurs assistant Ettore Messina is expected to be on the list, along with longtime Raptors assistant Nick Nurse, according to Grange. He expects the other finalist to be Sarunas Jasikevicius, who briefly played in the NBA and has become one of Europe’s top coaching propects.
Jasikevicius, who serves as head coach of EuroLeague team Zalgiris Kaunas in Lithuania, interviewed with Raptors president Masai Ujiri over the weekend at the NBA Global Camp in Italy.
Spurs assistant Ime Udoka, who is among the finalists for the Pistons’ head coaching vacancy, may also get consideration from the Raptors, Grange adds.
Toronto hopes to hire a new coach by the end of the month, and Nurse should be considered the front-runner, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports, who adds that several outside candidates are still being considered. Nurse is viewed highly by the front office after revamping the Raptors’ offense heading into this season.
The organization may talk to some more candidates before a final decision is made, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Kings, Grizzlies Reportedly Interested In Porter
Teams hoping to see Michael Porter Jr. slip in the draft may be in for a disappointment. A pair of reports indicate the Kings, who hold the second pick, and the Grizzlies, who have No. 4, plan to take a long look at the Missouri star.
Both teams will have representatives on hand Friday when Porter participates in Priority Sports’ pro day in Chicago. It will be his first time playing in a public setting since declaring for the draft, and it will allow teams to judge the condition of his surgically repaired back.
Sacramento has shown “significant interest” in Porter over the past year, league sources tell Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated. A strong workout could move him up the Kings’ draft board, but maybe not all the way to No. 2. Woo speculates that Sacramento could be willing to trade down in hopes of landing Porter with a later pick.
Memphis was among several teams that met with Porter at last month’s Draft Combine, and the organization believes he can provide scoring and versatility, writes Michael Wallace of NBA.com. Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace looks forward to receiving Porter’s medical records and seeing him in action.
“He’ll be evaluated, and I’ll be up there in Chicago – several of us will – to see his pro day,” Wallace said. “And we’ll go from there.”
Southwest Notes: Pelicans, Grizzlies, Rockets, Mavericks
The Pelicans may have put themselves in position to be competitive on their free agent market, but GM Dell Demps hasn’t indicated if that’s the strategy he plans to pursue, writes Scott Kushner for The Advocate. New Orleans earned the sixth seed and swept its way into the conference semifinals, giving the team a reputation that it didn’t have last year when P.J. Tucker passed on an offer and signed with the Rockets for $3MM less.
Demps will have to decide whether to chase free agents or devote his resources to re-signing DeMarcus Cousins and Rajon Rondo. Backup point guard Ian Clark will also be seeking a raise from the minimum salary he agreed to last summer. Kushner notes that when the Pelicans last made the playoffs, Demps opted to keep the core of the team together.
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
- The Grizzlies need to guess right with this year’s No. 4 pick to help make up for past draft mistakes, claims Peter Edmiston of the Commercial Appeal. Memphis has just two of its first-rounders still on the roster, Mike Conley from 2007 and Jarell Martin from 2015. The Grizzlies have helped themselves by getting players such as Dillon Brooks, Ivan Rabb, Andrew Harrison, Deyonta Davis and Wayne Selden in the second round, but they need a first-round star to help build their future.
- After falling a game short of the NBA Finals, the Rockets are confident they can land a top free agent this summer, relays Stefano Fusaro of ESPN. Houston has its own concerns with Chris Paul, Clint Capela, Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute all headed for free agency, but owner Tilman Fertita has expressed a willingness to pay the luxury tax to compete for a title. “With our winning and the stories around the league about our locker room, our players and our coaches, we are going to have our pick of plenty of free agents out there,” said GM Daryl Morey.
- The Mavericks‘ front office scandal shouldn’t affect the team’s pursuit of free agents, writes Matt Mosley of The Dallas Morning News. A bigger factor will be the lack of competitiveness, he adds, as top free agents don’t view the Mavs as a team that can win soon. Mosley expects the organization to make a play for Cousins and Julius Randle, but states that neither addresses the need for outside shooting.