Knicks Sign Alex O’Connell To Exhibit 10 Deal
OCTOBER 2: O’Connell’s signing is now official, nearly three months after it was first reported, the Knicks announced (via Twitter).
JULY 3: The Knicks intend to sign former Duke and Creighton wing Alex O’Connell to an Exhibit 10 contract, reports Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link).
O’Connell, who went undrafted in 2022, spent his first professional season with the Stockton Kings, appearing in 48 G League games and averaging 9.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.7 assists in 21.7 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .476/.379/.769.
The Westchester Knicks acquired O’Connell’s rights from Stockton last September, but he ended up playing in Italy with Reyer Venezia in 2023/24, competing in the Lega Basket Serie A (Italy’s top league) and the EuroCup.
The 25-year-old impressed the Knicks at a recent free agent mini-camp and will be with the team for Summer League play, according to Begley. O’Connell appears likely to end up with the Westchester Knicks as a returning-rights player, though if he continues to impress this summer and fall, he could be a candidate to have his Exhibit 10 contract converted into a two-way deal.
An Exhibit 10 contract is a non-guaranteed minimum-salary deal that doesn’t count against a team’s cap unless the player makes the regular season roster. It can be converted to a two-way contract before the season begins or can put a player in line to earn a bonus of up to $77.5K if he’s waived and then spends at least 60 days with his team’s G League affiliate.
Pacers Notes: Mathurin, Turner, Walker, Wiseman, Furphy
Bennedict Mathurin had a hand in the Pacers‘ regular season success in 2023/24, but his season ended in early March due to a labrum tear, meaning he had to watch from the sidelines as his team won two playoff series and got within four wins of the NBA Finals.
“It was kind of tough to see that,” Mathurin said at the Pacers’ media day on Monday, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. “It was good for the team, and it was good because it puts me back to myself and it kind of humbled me a little bit because we had such success.”
Mathurin started the first 12 games of the ’23/24 campaign before moving to the bench for most of the rest of the season. Given that the Pacers played some of their best basketball with the former lottery pick in the second unit, he’ll likely come off the bench again this fall, which he says is just fine.
“I don’t think I have any expectations for a role,” Mathurin said. “I’m not going to be joining the team back and saying, ‘This is my role on the team.’ It’s pretty much, whatever I can do to help my team win, whatever it is, so be it. That’s the main thing for me, just help my team win.”
Whether Mathurin is part of the starting five or a key part of the second unit, star Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton is looking forward to having his teammate on the court again this fall.
“I’m so excited to get him back,” Haliburton said. “I think an interesting part of last year is it was presented as a lot of teams (in the playoffs) were hurt, as if our best bench scorer was not. I’m excited to get him back. I think seeing him get that success and knowing how competitive he is and he wasn’t playing lights a fire under one of the most hard-headed, motivated people I know.”
Here’s more out of Indiana:
- Pacers center Myles Turner has been involved in trade rumors off and on since arriving in Indiana and has never felt totally secure on the roster, so he’s not stressing about the fact that he’s entering a contract year without the ability to extend his contract prior to free agency in July, Dopirak writes for The Indianapolis Star (subscription required). “I can’t help but laugh,” Turner said. “I’m gonna keep it a stack. Every year at Indiana has been a contract year at this point, whether you’re fighting rumors or staying true to your grind and what not. I don’t really feel too much different.” General manager Chad Buchanan said last week that the Pacers are “big believers” in Turner and want to retain him beyond 2024/25.
- Noting that Jarace Walker showed up to camp slimmer and in better condition than a year ago, Gregg Doyel of The Indianapolis Star (subscription required) explores what last year’s eighth overall pick will have to do to earn playing time in his second NBA season. With Pascal Siakam and Obi Toppin at power forward, Walker’s best chance to earn minutes could come at small forward, barring injuries.
- Offseason addition James Wiseman has been limited during the early days of training camp due to a groin issue, while second-round pick Johnny Furphy tweaked both of his ankles, according to Dopirak (Twitter links). The Pacers will take a day off from practicing on Thursday to help allow some of the players with minor ailments to heal, per head coach Rick Carlisle.
Frank Vogel Joins Mavericks As Coaching Consultant
After being fired by the Suns in the spring, Frank Vogel is working with the Mavericks as a coaching consultant, head coach Jason Kidd said today, according to Marc Stein (Twitter link). Kidd referred to Vogel as “part of our coaching staff.”
“It took a lot of begging,” the Mavs’ head coach joked, “but he was talked into it and I’m happy he said yes.”
It’s a reversal of roles for Kidd and Vogel, who previously worked together in Los Angeles. Kidd was an assistant on Vogel’s staff with the Lakers for two years from 2019-21 before accepting Dallas’ job three years ago. The two men won a title together with the Lakers in 2020.
Vogel still had four seasons left on the five-year contract worth a reported $31MM that he received from Phoenix in 2023, so he’s still getting pay checks from the Suns and didn’t have to rush into another job. Still, consulting for the Mavs will give him a chance to work with a colleague he’s comfortable with and to have a role with the reigning Western Conference champions.
In addition to having coached the Suns and Lakers, Vogel also had previous head coaching stints in Orlando and Indiana. Before that, he worked as an assistant for the Pacers, Sixers, and Celtics.
Knicks Officially Acquire Karl-Anthony Towns In Three-Team Trade With Wolves, Hornets
The Karl-Anthony Towns blockbuster involving the Knicks, Timberwolves, and Hornets is now official, according to press releases from each of the three teams involved in the deal.
Word first broke last Friday night that an agreement had been reached, with more details reported on Tuesday. The full terms of the trade are as follows:
- Knicks acquire Towns and the draft rights to James Nnaji.
- Timberwolves acquire Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, Keita Bates-Diop, and the Pistons’ 2025 first-round pick (top-13 protected; from Knicks).
- Hornets acquire DaQuan Jeffries (sign-and-trade), Charlie Brown Jr. (sign-and-trade), Duane Washington (sign-and-trade), either the Nuggets’ or Sixers’ 2025 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable; from Timberwolves), the Warriors’ 2026 second-round pick (from Knicks), the Knicks’ 2031 second-round pick, and cash ($7.2MM; from Knicks).
“We are beyond excited to welcome Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks family,” Knicks president of basketball operations Leon Rose said in a statement. “Karl-Anthony brings a skillset that is unique to the game of basketball. He possesses a blend of playmaking, shooting, rebounding and defending that in combination with his size allows him to compete at a level that is rare in this league. Karl-Anthony has demonstrated throughout his career to be a high caliber player and person on and off the court who will complement the type of team and culture we continue to build in New York.”
Minnesota waived camp invitee Jaedon LeDee in order to accommodate the one-for-three swap, while Charlotte cut guards Marcus Garrett and guard Caleb McConnell to make room on its roster for the three incoming players.
Both the Wolves and Hornets are now at their 21-man preseason limits, while the Knicks have five open spots on their 21-man squad. They’ll reportedly fill one of those spots by re-signing Chuma Okeke.
Our original report on the trade includes more details on the on-court implications of the move for the Knicks and Timberwolves. We also discussed how it will affect New York’s ability to fill out the rest of its regular season roster.
Here are a few more additional notes on the transaction:
- Randle received his full 15% trade bonus as part of the transaction, confirms ESPN’s Bobby Marks (via Twitter). That bumps the forward’s cap hit for 2024/25 from $28,939,680 to $33,073,920. The cap charge for Randle’s ’25/26 player option ($30,935,520) remains unchanged, since the trade bonus doesn’t affect option years.
- Towns also had a trade kicker in his contract, but it’s voided because he’s already earning his maximum salary, Marks adds (via Twitter).
- The three players the Knicks signed-and-traded to the Hornets will each earn exactly $1 more than their respective minimum salaries, per Marks. That works out to $2,425,404 for Jeffries, $2,237,692 for Brown, and $2,162,607 for Washington. Teams aren’t permitted to aggregate multiple minimum-salary contracts for matching purposes in offseason trades, and since Bates-Diop is on a minimum deal, Jeffries, Brown, and Washington couldn’t be. Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link) has heard that the NBA “isn’t thrilled” about the way in which the Knicks circumvented that rule, but it’s technically legal.
- The Hornets used their $7,983,000 room exception to accommodate those three incoming salaries, becoming the first team to take advantage of the new rule allowing clubs to use their non-taxpayer mid-level exception, room exception, or bi-annual exception to acquire a player via trade. Charlotte now has just $1,157,297 left on that exception.
- The Timberwolves will create a $4,686,880 trade exception in the deal, which they’d be allowed to use this season despite being a second-apron team. Teams operating above either tax apron are prohibited from using trade exceptions that were generated during the previous season, but can use newly created TPEs.
- Because they sent approximately $7.2MM to the Hornets in the deal, were responsible for paying Randle’s $4.13MM trade bonus, and will reportedly pay Partizan Belgrade an estimated $850K for Washington’s buyout, the Knicks are on the hook for more than $12MM in cash, separate from player salaries, as a result of the deal.
Mavs’ Doncic Sidelined With Calf Contusion
All-NBA guard Luka Doncic has been diagnosed with a left calf contusion, the Mavericks announced today (via Twitter). According to the team, Doncic will be reevaluated in approximately one week.
Doncic has a history of left calf issues, though in the past he has dealt with primarily non-contact injuries (strains), whereas his latest ailment is the result of the calf taking a hit during a weekend workout in Dallas, per NBA reporter Marc Stein (Twitter link).
While it doesn’t sound as if the injury a serious one, it’s worth noting that the one-week timeline provided by the Mavericks doesn’t necessarily mean that Doncic will be recovered by that point — just that he’ll be evaluated then.
Still, there’s no reason to believe at this point that the superstar’s availability for the Mavs’ regular season opener on October 24 vs. San Antonio is in jeopardy, as Tim MacMahon of ESPN confirms (via Twitter).
Doncic was an MVP finalist last season after leading the NBA with 33.9 points per game to go along with 9.2 rebounds and a career-high 9.8 assists per contest. He also set new career bests in three-point percentage (38.2%) and three-pointers per game (4.1), then led Dallas to the first NBA Finals appearance of his career.
Wizards Hire Ish Smith As Scout
The Wizards have hired veteran NBA point guard Ish Smith as a pro scout, team officials said on Wednesday, per Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Smith, 36, appeared in 43 games for the Hornets last season and was on Charlotte’s roster until being waived at the trade deadline in February. However, after not catching on with a new team during the final two months of 2023/24 and not signing a new contract this offseason, it appears he’s moving onto the next stage of his career.
An undrafted free agent out of Wake Forest, Smith never stuck in one NBA city for long, but played in an impressive 805 regular season contests and 23 playoff games over 14 seasons from 2010-24. The six-foot point guard set an NBA record by suiting up for 13 different teams and had two separate stints with the Wizards, first from 2019-21 and then again at the end of the ’21/22 season.
In total, Smith averaged 7.1 points, 3.8 assists, and 2.4 rebounds in 19.2 minutes per game over the course of his career for the Wizards, Rockets, Grizzlies, Warriors, Magic, Bucks, Suns, Thunder, Sixers, Pelicans, Pistons, Hornets, and Nuggets.
And-Ones: 2025 Draft, Snell, G League, Garuba, Parker
The 2025 draft class is stronger at the top than 2024’s class was, according to Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Insider link), but there still isn’t a clear-cut No. 1 pick in this group like there was in 2023 with Victor Wembanyama.
Cooper Flagg has long been viewed as the best bet to be next year’s top pick, but that’s not yet a lock, Givony writes, putting the odds of the Duke forward coming off the board first at just slightly above 50%. Rutgers wing Ace Bailey is Flagg’s top competition at this point, per Givony, who has Bailey’s odds of going No. 1 at 25%. Rutgers guard Dylan Harper, Baylor guard VJ Edgecombe, and French guard Nolan Traore are also in the mix for the first overall spot, Givony adds.
“I’m going into this year with an open mind about who the No. 1 pick might be,” one NBA executive told ESPN. “This is how mistakes are made: getting anchored to an opinion and then closing yourself off to new, much more important information that we’ll be receiving in the coming months seeing how the season plays out.
“I need to see if Cooper Flagg is indeed a No. 1-type offensive option who can be expected to carry a team at some point in his career, or if he’s more of a superstar role player who is better suited as your second- or third-best player. Every year there are surprises, new players pop up and others take an unexpected leap.”
Mock drafts from last fall illustrate that potential for in-season surprises. ESPN’s November 2023 mock had Isaiah Collier first overall, Ja’Kobe Walter fourth, and Reed Sheppard 25th — they were eventually drafted 29th, 19th, and third, respectively.
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Nine-year NBA veteran Tony Snell, who last played in the NBA during the 2021/22 season, will join the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the G League this fall, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. The Heat‘s affiliate will need to acquire Snell’s returning rights from the Maine Celtics, the team he played for last season. Snell won’t be signed to Miami’s preseason roster at all, notes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter link).
- The Rio Grande Valley Vipers (Rockets) traded Jarrett Culver‘s G League returning rights to the Osceola Magic in exchange for Jared Butler‘s rights, per the Vipers (Twitter link). Culver is with Orlando on an Exhibit 10 contract, so it appears he’ll play for the Magic’s G League team this season. Butler remains under contract with the Wizards and would need to be waived and sign an NBAGL contract for Houston’s affiliate to take advantage of his rights.
- Speaking to Eurohoops’ Javier Molero and Alex Molina, respectively, former NBAers Usman Garuba and Jabari Parker expressed that they’re comfortable no longer playing in the league. Garuba, who returned to Real Madrid this summer after three seasons with Houston and Golden State, said his NBA experience wasn’t quite what he expected and that he’d be “more selfish” if he were doing it all over again. “I left as a kid and grew up,” said Garuba, the 23rd overall pick in the 2021 draft. “I had a lot of ups and downs and learned a lot of lessons over there. I got traded, I got cut, I saw a lot of things, the dark side of the business. I think that made me mature a lot as a player.”
Pelicans Notes: Ingram, Centers, Williamson, Alvarado
It has become increasingly rare for a star player on an NBA team to go through the offseason prior to his contract year without being extended or traded, but that’s the situation that Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram finds himself in this fall.
As Christian Clark of NOLA.com writes, Ingram – who will become an unrestricted free agent in 2025 if he doesn’t sign a new contract before July – was asked this week about the possibility of signing a preseason extension. The former All-Star said he doesn’t “expect anything” and that he’s happy to focus on basketball.
“Me and (Pelicans head of basketball operations David Griffin) have had some conversations, a few conversations,” Ingram said on Monday at media day. “But at the end of the day, it’s a business. As long as I do the basketball part, the business is going to handle itself — whether it’s here or somewhere else. I just have to continue to put the work in.”
Griffin acknowledged that the situation has the potential to get awkward, but he expressed confidence that it won’t be a distraction for Ingram or the Pelicans due to the trust the two sides have in one another.
“The reason people don’t get into this situation is there is not a level of trust between the two parties that he could enter the year and perform at a high level and be about the right things and we would honor our commitment to him,” Griffin said, per Clark. “Neither party has that fear. It’s going to be a unique situation. I know what it’s supposed to look like is one thing or another. We’re not worried about that. He’s a really unique guy with a unique skill set.”
Here’s more on the Pelicans:
- Although Ingram returned at the end of last season from the knee injury that sidelined him for 12 games, he admitted he wasn’t at full strength during the playoffs and that it took a while for him to get back to 100%. “Gone through some ups and downs trying to get the knee back healthy,” Ingram said, according to Clark. “It actually was a long summer trying to get the knee back healthy. I’ve been working out hard. Working out at 100%. I’m ready to go.” Griffin explained Ingram’s absence from a voluntary mini-camp in August by telling reporters, “(He) wasn’t ready for that physically, and he knew it.”
- With Jonas Valanciunas and Larry Nance Jr. no longer on the roster, the Pelicans’ new group of centers is made up of journeyman Daniel Theis and rookies Yves Missi and Karlo Matkovic. There will be plenty of instances during the season when none of those bigs are on the floor for New Orleans, according to head coach Willie Green. “I’m not dead set on (starting a true center). I’m pretty undecided,” Green said (story via Will Guillory of The Athletic). “When we get to camp, I think your team helps you make those decisions. … There are going to be a ton of games when we don’t have a traditional center on the floor.”
- While Zion Williamson will be the biggest player on the court in certain Pelicans lineups, Griffin pushed back against labeling the former Duke star a small-ball center, per Guillory. “Zion grew up a point guard. He grew up with the ball in his hands. He literally identifies the game by facing the basket and handling the ball,” Griffin said. “He’s never been traditional as a big in any way, shape or form. And yet, because he’s large, people want to make him a ‘big.’ He’s really not that.”
- Taking more jump shots will be a priority for Zion this season, Griffin told reporters, including Clark. Williamson is on board with that plan, though he stressed that he’s not just focused on continuing to develop his offensive game and wants to make a real impact on defense too. “Whenever I’m in great condition, I feel like my play on both ends of the floor is at a high level,” Williamson said. “Not just one.”
- In case you missed it, Jose Alvarado‘s two-year, $9MM contract extension with the Pelicans is now official. It features a flat structure, with a $4.5MM guaranteed salary in 2025/26 and a $4.5MM player option for ’26/27, Hoops Rumors has confirmed.
NBA Roster, Contract Deadlines To Watch In October
After a couple quiet months around the NBA, October is full of important deadlines for roster and contract decisions. Here’s our round-up of the dates to keep an eye on this month:
Regular season roster decisions
The 2024/25 regular season tips off on Tuesday, October 22, which means teams must set their rosters for the season by 4:00 pm Central time on Monday, October 21. To be in accordance with regular season roster limits, a team must be carrying no more than 15 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals.
While teams have until Oct. 23 to set their their regular season rosters, many clubs will make their final cuts on or before Saturday, October 19. That’s the final day that a team can waive a player on a non-guaranteed contract and avoid paying any of his salary.
[RELATED: 2024/25 Non-Guaranteed Contracts By Team]
Because a player gets paid for the time he spends on waivers, a player who is cut on Monday, Oct. 21 wouldn’t clear waivers until Wednesday, Oct. 23, the second day of the regular season. That means that even if his contract is non-guaranteed, he’d earn two days’ worth of his salary.
Teams who intend to waive players with partially or fully guaranteed salaries are in better position to wait until the Monday before the regular season begins. For instance, if the Pacers decide to cut James Johnson, who has a $750K partial guarantee, it wouldn’t matter if they do so on October 19 or 21 — he’d receive his $750K either way.
However, if the Pacers want to waive Cole Swider, whose salary is entirely non-guaranteed, they’d likely do so on the Saturday. Waiting until the Monday would mean paying him $23,994 (2/174ths of his $2,087,519 salary).
Two-way contract conversions
A player on an Exhibit 10 contract can have his deal converted into a two-way contract, but only up until Monday, October 21, the day before the regular season begins.
If a player on an Exhibit 10 contract remains on his team’s roster through that Monday without being converted to a two-way, his Exhibit 10 deal would become a standard non-guaranteed contract.
Since most players on Exhibit 10 contracts will be waived on or before October 19, it’s worth keeping tabs on which of them hang onto their roster spots through that Saturday — those players will be good bets to have their deals converted into two-ways or perhaps even to claim a 15-man roster spot.
Contract extensions
The deadline for a player to sign a rookie scale extension is Monday, October 21 at 5:00 pm Central time.
As of today, four of the 24 players who were eligible for a rookie scale extension entering the offseason have signed one, leaving 20 players who still may be seeking new deals that would keep them off the 2024 free agent market.
Rockets center Alperen Sengun, Pelicans wing Trey Murphy, Hawks forward Jalen Johnson, and Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga are a few of the notable rookie scale extension candidates to keep an eye on in the coming weeks.
It’s a safe bet that several players eligible for rookie scale extensions will sign them — in each of the past four offseasons (2020 through 2023), at least 10 players have done so, with a record-setting 14 rookie scale extensions signed a year ago.
As for veteran extension candidates, a player who is extension-eligible and who is in the final year of his current contract can sign an extension at any time before or after the regular season begins, all the way up until June 30, 2025.
However, a player who is eligible for a veteran extension but who is not in a contract year will only be eligible to sign a new deal up until Monday, October 21.
For instance, Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram will remain eligible to sign a veteran extension even after the regular season begins, since he’s in the last year of his current contract. But Suns forward Kevin Durant, who has two guaranteed years left, can only sign an extension up until Oct. 21. After that, he’ll become ineligible to sign a new deal until next summer.
An extension-eligible veteran who holds an option for 2025/26 will remain extension-eligible after the season begins as long as his option is declined as part of any extension agreement, with his new contract beginning in ’25/26. A player like Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon would fit this bill.
Salary guarantee dates
The league-wide salary guarantee date to watch is January 7, 2025. A player on a non-guaranteed contract who isn’t waived by that date and doesn’t clear waivers before January 10 will have his 2024/25 salary become fully guaranteed.
However, certain players have contracts that call for them to receive partial or full guarantees at the start of the regular season. Our list of early salary guarantee dates shows which players fall into that boat on Tuesday, October 22, including Raptors center Bruno Fernando and Trail Blazers guard Dalano Banton, among others.
Rookie scale team option decisions
A team that wants to exercise its 2025/26 third- or fourth-year option on a player on a rookie contract must do so on or before Tuesday, October 31.
As our tracker shows, the Bulls and Heat have already made their option decisions, while the Celtics, Cavaliers, Timberwolves, Knicks, Sixers, and Suns don’t have any to make. But the NBA’s other 22 teams will have to pick up or turn down those rookie scale team options for ’25/26 in the coming weeks.
A team that retains a player without exercising his 2025/26 option would put that player on track for unrestricted free agency next offseason. At that point, his team wouldn’t be able to offer him a salary higher than what his option would have been worth, though rival suitors could offer him more than that.
Warriors Notes: Offseason Moves, Curry, Kuminga, Starters
After being linked to big-name trade targets like Paul George and Lauri Markkanen during the offseason, the Warriors ended up not making a major deal and focused instead on bringing in a handful of role players at mid-level prices, including De’Anthony Melton, Buddy Hield, and Kyle Anderson. The team’s defensive anchor, Draymond Green, told reporters this week that he was on board with that decision, as Kendra Andrews of ESPN relays.
“One move in this league, it can pretty much set you up for how the next 10 years of your organization is going to go. Sometimes the best deal you can make is to not make a deal, and I think we did a great job in going out and getting pieces that are going to help this team grow,” Green said. “… Championships are won six through 10. Championships aren’t won one through five.”
Green compared the summer additions to the ones the Warriors made in 2021 when they brought in Otto Porter Jr., Gary Payton II, and Nemanja Bjelica to bolster their depth ahead of a championship season. That doesn’t mean that Golden State will be a title team in 2024/25, but Stephen Curry believes the newcomers can help the club move toward that goal.
“All three guys we brought in all are veterans,” Curry said, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic. “Established veterans that know how to play the game. Good pieces that you need to be a championship-type team. Does that mean we’re there? I don’t know.”
Here’s more on the Warriors:
- After a disappointing 2023/24 season that saw Golden State finish 10th in the West and bow out of the postseason in the first play-in game, Curry said he’s coming into training camp with an “open mind of how we’re supposed to play” and that he’s embracing the idea of “evolving and pivoting” to figure out what works best for the current group. “I know there’s a Warriors mentality and culture of how we do things, there’s a system that we ran for a decade plus that has worked,” Curry said, according to Andrews. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that’s how this team needs to play. We have to have kind of antennas up and an openness to accept what this team’s strengths are, what our weaknesses are, and kind of lean into those.”
- Jonathan Kuminga, who is eligible for a rookie scale extension until October 21, said he will “hopefully” reach a deal with the Warriors but that he won’t be worried if it doesn’t get done this fall, Slater writes. Kuminga would be a restricted free agent in 2025 if he doesn’t sign a new deal before the season begins. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. That’s not my concern,” he said. “I’m just happy to be here, happy to start a new season. Fourth year. I’d love to have it, but I’m not really concerned about it. If I get it, if I don’t, it’s cool. I’m still going to be me. I’ll just go out there and perform.”
- In a separate story for The Athletic, Slater evaluates the candidates for the starting shooting guard position, noting that the Warriors could go the defensive route with Melton, the floor-spacing route with Hield, or the long-term route with Brandin Podziemski.
- Warriors head coach Steve Kerr stressed on Tuesday that shooting guard isn’t the only opening in the Warriors’ starting lineup, telling reporters that there’s an open competition for basically every spot besides point guard, where Curry will start. “There is competition across the board,” Kerr said (story via Andrews at ESPN). “It’s not as simple as, ‘Who is going to be the two?’ It’s got to be — ‘Who is going to be the five? Who’s the four?’ We know that Steph is the one. But what’s the combination? … The starting lineup is going to have to be dependent not only on the first five fitting, but the second fitting as well. We’ve got a lot of work to do to figure out lineups. All the guys can do is compete, play their ass off.”