Warriors Plan To Extend Steve Kerr In 2018
While the Warriors and Steve Kerr haven’t prioritized getting a contract extension done right away, the two sides have had preliminary talks about a new deal. As he tells Tim Kawakami of The Athletic, Kerr opted to table those discussions until next summer, when he can be sure that his health will allow him to make a long-term commitment to the franchise.
Kerr and GM Bob Myers, who held the initial extension talks, are both confident that – health permitting – the two sides will finalize a new contract in 2018, according to Kawakami. Warriors owner Joe Lacob also conveyed optimism about getting something done next summer with his club’s coach.
Kerr, who signed a five-year, $25MM contract in 2014, still has one more year left on that deal after 2017/18, so there’s no rush to hammer something out immediately. Kerr has been plagued by back issues in recent years, which forced him to take a leave of absence on multiple occasions. If he can make it through the ’17/18 campaign without any complications, Kerr will be in good position to commit to a few more years with Golden State.
“We just agreed we’d wait,” Kerr said, per Kawakami. “I’ve got two years left on my deal and wanted to make sure that everything went well this year health-wise. And I don’t anticipate any issues going forward. … I don’t have any desire to be anywhere else. So I’m sure when we get down to it, we’ll come to an agreement pretty quickly.”
Although it remains to be seen what Kerr’s next contract would look like, he joked that he’s given up his leverage by publicly stating on multiple occasions that he has no desire to coach anywhere else. Nonetheless, Kerr tells Kawakami that, when the time comes, he’s confident Myers and Lacob will give him a “great offer.”
NBA Fines Beal, Green, Oubre; Suspends Two Wizards Players
The NBA announced on Sunday that Wizards players Carrick Felix and Markieff Morris have each been suspended one game without pay for leaving the bench during Friday’s on-court confrontation between Warriors forward Draymond Green and guard Bradley Beal.
Felix and Morris will serve their suspensions the next game each player is active and physically able to play.
Green ($25,000) and Beal ($50,000) were issued hefty fines for their roles in the skirmish. Beal’s fine is higher than Green’s because he initiated the fight. Green was issued a fine for failing to disengage from Beal, the league noted in the press release.
Wizards’ forward Kelly Oubre Jr. was also fined $15,000 for aggressively entering the confrontation.
It was a tumultuous week for the Warriors as Stephen Curry was fined $50,000 on Monday for throwing his mouthpiece at a referee in the fourth quarter of Golden State’s 111-101 loss to the Grizzlies last Saturday. Andre Iguodala was also fined $15,000 for abusive language toward a referee during the sequence.
JaVale McGee's Sees Reduced Role
- Despite his emergence as a valued rotation piece for the Warriors last season, JaVale McGee has been used sparingly thus far in 2017/18. Anthony Slater of The Athletic caught up with the center about his usage. “I don’t feel like I’ve been struggling the first few games,” McGee said. “I haven’t really played a lot, so there’s really no room to struggle. But even from last year, I don’t play a lot during games that go small. All I can really do is work on the things that keep me from playing a lot.“
Stephen Curry, Andre Iguodala Fined By NBA
Stephen Curry and Andre Iguodala were both fined for their behavior during the Warriors‘ 111-101 loss to the Grizzlies on October 21st. Curry was docked $50K for flinging his mouthpiece at an official. Iguodala’s fine was less severe — $15K for verbally abusing an official.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr was not too rattled by Curry’s antics, sarcastically offering, “I think he should be suspended eight, maybe 10 games. It was egregious. It was awful.”
Draymond Green's MRI Comes Back Negative
The results from Draymond Green‘s MRI have come back negative, Chris Haynes of ESPN writes. The Warriors forward injured his knee in Tuesday’s season opener, missing the entire fourth quarter.
While it’s likely Green misses time as a result of the injury that had him limping in the team’s first game, the good news for the Warriors is that there was no structural damage that would necessitate a longer absence.
In 76 games for the Warriors last season, Green averaged 10.2 points, 7.9 rebounds and 7.0 assists. If Golden State is going to survive an even stronger Western Conference than last year’s they’ll need to do it at full health.
Bulls Sold Jordan Bell Pick To Build Equity With Ownership
- The Bulls have gotten flak for, among other things, selling second-round pick Jordan Bell to the Warriors. Cody Westerlund of 670 The Score tweets that VP of basketball operations John Paxson said that he was “building up equity” with ownership when he sold the No. 38 pick to Golden State for $3.5MM.
Draymond Green Has MRI On Left Knee
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich admits it was a mistake trying to change LaMarcus Aldridge, relays Melissa Rohlin of The San Antonio Express News. After five straight seasons of topping 20 points per game in Portland, Aldridge dropped to 18.0 and 17.3 in his first two years in San Antonio.
Popovich talked to Aldridge several times during the offseason and realized that he should have let the power forward play his game. “I thought back to Timmy [Duncan], and people said, ‘Oh, what are you going to do with Tim Duncan,’” the coach said. “And I said, ‘Nothing, I’m just going to watch him for six months and see what he does. He’s a pretty good player. And if there’s something that I think I can add, then I’ll do it.’ With LaMarcus, he got here and on day one I said, ‘Okay, we’re going to do this. And [Jack] Sikma did this. And you’re going to do this pump fake.’ I tried to change him. I tried to make him a different player.’”
NBA Teams With Most, Least Roster Continuity
As usual, the 2017 NBA offseason featured a ton of player movement, with new rookies entering the league, free agents changing teams, and a total of 40 trades being completed between the end of the 2016/17 season and 2017/18’s opening night.
Some teams were more involved in that summer carousel than others. The Celtics, for instance, will enter the season carrying only four players – Al Horford, Terry Rozier, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart – who finished last season with the team. The Clippers are another team whose roster underwent significant turnover this offseason, with only five players returning from last year’s squad.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, teams like the Warriors, Bucks, and Trail Blazers made minimal changes, bringing back 12 players from last year’s rosters. That was especially impressive in Golden State’s case, since the club entered the summer with players like Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, David West, Andre Iguodala, Zaza Pachulia, Shaun Livingston, and JaVale McGee eligible for free agency — all of those players re-signed with the Dubs.
As a point of comparison, the Clippers took on more new players in their Chris Paul trade alone than clubs like the Warriors, Bucks, and Blazers added all summer.
After taking a closer look earlier today at the NBA’s youngest and oldest opening night rosters, we’ll turn our attention to the clubs with the most and least roster continuity to open the season. Listed below are the number of returning players for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, from most to fewest. Two-way players aren’t included in this list.
Bringing back a significant number of players doesn’t necessarily lead to regular season success, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a few of the teams near the top of this list enjoy fast starts due to their players’ familiarity with each other, while teams near the bottom of the list may take some time to get used to their changes.
Here’s the returning-player count for each team:
- Golden State Warriors: 12
- Milwaukee Bucks: 12
- Portland Trail Blazers: 12
- Denver Nuggets: 12
- Note: Nuggets’ figure set to dip to 11 once the team officially signs Richard Jefferson and waives Jameer Nelson, as is expected.
- Dallas Mavericks: 11
- Miami Heat: 11
- Philadelphia 76ers: 11
- Phoenix Suns: 11
- San Antonio Spurs: 11
- Toronto Raptors: 11
- Washington Wizards: 11
- Memphis Grizzlies: 10
- New Orleans Pelicans: 10
- Brooklyn Nets: 9
- Charlotte Hornets: 9
- Detroit Pistons: 9
- Houston Rockets: 9
- Chicago Bulls: 8
- Los Angeles Lakers: 8
- New York Knicks: 8
- Note: The Knicks are the only team carrying 16 players to open the season.
- Oklahoma City Thunder: 8
- Orlando Magic: 8
- Utah Jazz: 8
- Atlanta Hawks: 7
- Cleveland Cavaliers: 7
- Minnesota Timberwolves: 7
- Sacramento Kings: 7
- Indiana Pacers: 6
- Los Angeles Clippers: 5
- Boston Celtics: 4
Warriors Sign Quinn Cook To Two-Way Contract
2:55pm: Cook has officially signed a two-way contract with the Warriors, the team confirmed today in a press release.
8:10am: The Warriors will fill the open two-way slot on their roster by signing free agent guard Quinn Cook, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical, who reports (via Twitter) that Cook has agreed to a two-way contract with the defending champions.
Cook, 24, went undrafted in 2015 and spent training camp with the Cavaliers that season, then with the Pelicans in 2016. He finally earned a shot in the NBA regular season earlier this year, when he signed a 10-day contract with the Mavericks, then two 10-days and a rest-of-season deal with New Orleans. Appearing in 14 total games, Cook averaged 5.6 PPG and 1.9 APG for the Mavs and Pelicans.
Having been waived by the Pelicans in July, Cook spent training camp and the preseason with the Hawks before being cut on Friday. Now, he’ll have an opportunity to return to the G League, where he excelled last season, averaging 26.0 PPG and 6.7 APG in 39 games for the Canton Charge. He’ll suit up for the Santa Cruz Warriors this year, and will be eligible to spend some time with Golden State.
Once Cook makes it official with the Warriors, there will be just 10 two-way slots still open around the NBA.
Club, Kerr Haven't Talked Extension
- The Warriors have not discussed a contract extension with coach Steve Kerr because of his health issues, Monte Poole of NBCSports.com reports. Neither side has prioritized an extension because Kerr is focused on finding ways to eliminate the headaches and dizziness he’s suffered after undergoing back surgeries, Poole continues. Kerr is in the fourth season of a five-year deal worth $25MM. “I’m just not ready to look that far ahead,” Kerr told Poole and other media members.