Warriors Likely To Decline Championship Visit To White House
It has not been a full day since the Warriors captured their second NBA title in three seasons but the attention has quickly steered to the team’s possible visit to the White House. Traditionally, American sports team that capture their respective league’s championship are extended an offer to visit the president in Washington — but the controversy surrounding the current Trump administration will likely prevent that.
There have been reports that the Warriors may unanimously reject an offer, citing issues with president Donald Trump and his administration. Sam Amick of USA TODAY spoke with Warriors sixth man Andre Iguodala about a potential visit and he provided an entertaining response.
“Maybe (Trump) doesn’t (invite us) and we don’t go, or we don’t say anything and make a big deal of it, and he doesn’t make a big deal of it and we go our separate ways,” Iguodala said. “Y’all might write about it. I might call him and say, ‘If they ask, just say our schedules conflicted.’ And then if y’all write something, we’ll say, ‘Fake News.’ ”
Aside from Iguodala, Warriors coach Steve Kerr, two-time MVP Stephen Curry, and several other Warriors have been critical of the president. However, issues with politics has not prevented other White House visits — Trump welcomed the 2017 Super Bowl champion Patriots earlier this year and just this week, welcomed the 2016 NCAA champion Clemson football team.
The Warriors previously visited the White House and then-president Barack Obama after winning the 2014/15 NBA championship. There has been no official word from the Warriors or the White House, and while a lot can change, it’s highly unlikely the Warriors will meet the current commander-in-chief.
Finals Roundup: Kerr, Warriors, Cavs, Barnes, West
An NBA general manager typically doesn’t need to confirm in the hours following a championship that his head coach will return for the following season, but in Steve Kerr‘s case, it wasn’t necessarily a sure thing — for health, rather than performance, reasons. However, despite Kerr’s back issues, Warriors general manager Bob Myers is confident that his head coach will be back on the bench for the 2017/18 season, as he tells Chris Haynes of ESPN.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that he will return as the coach of this team,” Myers said after Game 5. “I’m confident we’ll have him back. Steve will be our coach.”
Kerr expressed a similar sentiment in a recent interview with Tim Kawakami of The San Jose Mercury News, suggesting that even if he wasn’t able to make it back to coach the Warriors in this year’s Finals, he’d be ready for opening night in the fall. Ultimately, Kerr returned to the sidelines in time to lead the Warriors to their second title in three years.
Here are a few more Finals-related odds and ends worth passing along:
- Although it only took five games for the Warriors to dispatch of the Cavaliers, Cleveland head coach Tyronn Lue doesn’t believe there’s a “big gap” between the two teams, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com details.
- Within McMenamin’s piece, LeBron James acknowledged that the Warriors will “be around for a while,” but said he doesn’t think the Cavaliers are going anywhere either. “I know our front office is going to continue to try to put our franchise in a position where we can compete for a championship year in and year out,” James said. “Like I said, teams and franchises are going to be trying to figure out ways that they can put personnel together, the right group of guys together to be able to hopefully compete against [the Warriors].”
- The Warriors are already massive favorites to win the 2018 NBA Finals, according to professional oddsmakers. “They’re going to be the highest favorite we’ve ever had going into a season, any team in any sport,” Jeff Sherman of the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook tells David Purdum of ESPN.com.
- The Cavaliers need to find a way to get younger and more athletic, according to Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net, who writes that the club’s bench is “a mess.”
- After 14 NBA seasons, Matt Barnes finally has a championship under his belt, but he doesn’t plan to ride off into the sunset. According to Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter link), Barnes said that he has no plans to retire and hopes to return to the Warriors.
- Two years ago, David West left $11MM on the table by turning down his option with the Pacers to chase a ring. Dakota Crawford of The Indianapolis Star takes a look at the culmination of West’s hunt for a championship.
Lowe’s Latest: Warriors, Celtics, Heat, Hayward
In the wake of the Warriors‘ second championship in three years, Zach Lowe of ESPN.com details the scene in the team’s locker room a year ago, following Golden State’s Game 7 loss to the Cavaliers in the 2016 Finals. As Lowe describes it, Andre Iguodala told his teammates that if the Warriors responded the right way, they could put themselves in position to chase several titles.
According to Lowe, Kevin Durant‘s name wasn’t mentioned, and Iguodala never said anything about free agency, but there were some glances at Harrison Barnes and Andrew Bogut, who would be the expendable pieces if Durant came to Golden State. A couple weeks later, Durant was a Warrior, and a year later, he has captured the first title of his career, as well as being named Finals MVP.
Here’s more from Lowe’s latest piece for ESPN.com:
- There are some team executives around the NBA who believe the league should have pushed harder to avoid last year’s cap spike after the union rejected the NBA’s cap-smoothing proposal, according to Lowe. That spike helped make the Warriors‘ signing of Durant possible.
- While some executives who have talked to Lowe believe there may be fewer “win-now” transactions made by teams looking to knock off the Warriors and Cavaliers, several teams won’t change their approach to roster-building, including the Rockets and Spurs. “They are not unbeatable,” Rockets GM Daryl Morey said of the Warriors. “There have been bigger upsets in sports history. We are going to keep improving our roster.”
- Celtics GM Danny Ainge expressed a similar sentiment, though he acknowledged that his club isn’t looking to give up key assets for small improvements either. “We are definitely not in punt mode,” Ainge said. “But trading away picks and promising young players for a veteran who might be 5 percent better is not in our plans, either.”
- The Heat aren’t shying away from win-now moves either. League sources confirm to Lowe that Miami is “loading up” to pursue Gordon Hayward in free agency.
- The Warriors have traded their first- and second-round picks for 2017, but are trying to buy their way back into this year’s draft, according to Lowe.
Poll: Which Team Will Win Game 5?
The Cavaliers held off the Warriors on Friday night, thwarting Golden State’s chances of sweeping the entire postseason, and delaying the end of the 2016/17 NBA season by at least one more game. However, the Cavs will have their work cut out for them in Game 5 as they try to steal a game in Oakland and send the series back to Cleveland for Game 6.
As dominant as the Warriors have been overall in the postseason, they’ve been even better at home. Outside of a Game 1 blip against the Spurs, when Golden State had to battle back to win a close 113-111 game, each of the Dubs’ home victories in the playoffs have been by double-digit margins. In their last three home games, the Warriors have defeated the Spurs by 36, and the Cavs by 22 and 19.
The Cavaliers showed in Game 4 that they have the offensive firepower necessary to hang with the Warriors, but Cleveland really came out firing on all cylinders in that contest, setting a new NBA Finals record for most points in a half. If the Cavs need to have a performance like that again to send the series back to Cleveland, they’re probably in trouble.
What do you think? Was Cleveland’s Game 4 win just delaying the inevitable until tonight, or can the Cavs win another game and head back to Cleveland down 3-2?
Place your vote below and jump into the comments section to share your thoughts on tonight’s game.
Which team will win Game 5?
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Golden State Warriors 65% (1,042)
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Cleveland Cavaliers 35% (551)
Total votes: 1,593
Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.
$90K Tickets; Tech Confusion; Green Agitates Clevelanders
- A pair of tickets for Game 5 of the NBA Finals has sold for $90K, Darren Rovell of ESPN writes. The Warriors and Cavaliers will tip off in the Bay Area tomorrow. The price point, however, falls just shy of last year’s finale, when two seats to Game 7 went for $99K.
- Confusion arose in Game 4 of the NBA Finals when officials appeared to retroactively change the recipient of a technical foul. Adi Joseph of USA Today compiled an oral history of the incident. Officials say that the technical foul had always been awarded to Warriors coach Steve Kerr and that there had simply been a miscommunication.
- Never one to shy away from controversy, Warriors forward Draymond Green riled the feathers of Cavaliers fans after Game 4. In the same Joseph article Green is quoted as saying “I really don’t pay much attention to anyone in Cleveland, honestly. They don’t seem to be the sharpest people around.“
David West Gave Up Money For Ring; Team Hopes To Keep Jerry West
No one gave up more to be part of this year’s NBA Finals than the Warriors‘ David West, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet. The 37-year-old turned down a $12MM player option with the Pacers in 2015 to pursue a ring, signing veteran’s minimum contracts with San Antonio and Golden State. Grange estimates West could have earned about $20MM over the past two seasons if he had sought a long-term deal instead of a championship. “I’m 36 and I’ve been playing basketball for 30 years of my life and you get to a point where [The Finals] is the only environment, the only stage I haven’t been in,” West explained. “I’ve been in high school championships, played collegiately at a high level, but you want to get this final stage and it was an opportunity where personally I felt I had to jump at.”
- The Warriors plan to meet with consultant Jerry West after the playoffs are finished to discuss his future with the team, according to Tim Kawakami of The San Jose Mercury News. West recently met with the Clippers to discuss a similar role in their organization and confirmed he received an offer. West has been with Golden State for six seasons and GM Bob Myers and owner Joe Lacob have said they want him to stay. However, West said isn’t sure if the team still needs his input now that it has risen to the top of the league.
Community Shootaround: Draymond Green
The Cavaliers and Warriors are in the middle of a competitive Game 4 with the NBA title hanging in the balance (for one of them). If Cleveland can’t eke out a victory by the end of the night, they’ll be on the losing end of Golden State’s historic 16-0 playoff run and the offseason will have officially begun.
Such an impressive run, just one season removed from their historic 73-win 2015/16 campaign would put the already legendary Warriors club in even more impressive territory.
This isn’t a post about the Warriors winning the 2017 NBA title, however, as we at Hoops Rumors remain dutifully impartial and simply hopeful that the series will continue and hoops fans the world over get several more games of NBA action.
This is a post about last year.
Earlier this week, notoriously emotional Draymond Green told Zach Lowe of ESPN that he believes his suspension in Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals cost his team the title. Green, of course, was sidelined after an incident in which he appeared to take a swipe at LeBron James‘ groin.
Whether or not you agree that the suspension was warranted, the question we’d like to propose is whether or not you think having Green in the lineup for Game 5 last year would have changed the outcome of the best-of-seven series.
If the Dubs had pulled off the 2016 title, they’d be within a game from a threepeat here tonight, which comes with its own place among the league’s greatest dynasties.
The question is, if Golden State were reigning two-time defending champions, would they be perceived any different than they are? Would Kevin Durant still have signed? Would James’ legacy be impacted?
It’ll be a long 15 minutes as we await the third quarter of this fourth game of the 2017 NBA Finals, so join us on a hypothetical journey back to last year.
2017 Offseason Salary Cap Digest: Golden State Warriors
After blowing a 3-1 series lead in last year’s Finals, the Warriors were the punchline in a bevy of offseason jokes. They responded by adding Kevin Durant to a 73-win roster, racking up 67 more regular season wins, and opening the playoffs on a 15-0 run. Golden State’s current roster looks virtually unstoppable, and while the team may not re-sign all its complementary players this summer, it should have no problem locking up Durant and Stephen Curry to new deals.
Here’s where things currently stand for the Warriors financially, as we conclude our Offseason Salary Cap Digest series for 2017:
Guaranteed Salary
- Klay Thompson ($17,826,150)
- Draymond Green ($16,400,000)
- Kevon Looney ($1,471,382)
- Damian Jones ($1,312,611)
- Patrick McCaw ($1,312,611)
- Jason Thompson ($945,126) — Waived via stretch provision.
- Total: $39,267,880
Player Options
- Kevin Durant ($27,734,405)
- Total: $27,734,405
Team Options
- None
Non-Guaranteed Salary
- None
Restricted Free Agents
- James Michael McAdoo ($1,724,305 qualifying offer / $1,724,305 cap hold)
- Total: $1,724,305
Cap Holds
- Kevin Durant ($31,848,120) — If player option is declined.
- Stephen Curry ($18,168,539)
- Andre Iguodala ($16,697,052)
- Shaun Livingston ($10,986,655)
- Zaza Pachulia ($3,477,600)
- Matt Barnes ($1,471,382)
- Ian Clark ($1,471,382)
- JaVale McGee ($1,471,382)
- David West ($1,471,382)
- Total: $87,063,494
Projected Salary Cap: $101,000,000
Maximum Cap Room: $39,485,506
- Our max cap room scenario for the Warriors assumes that Durant turns down his player option and the Warriors renounce all their free agents except for Curry. Five guaranteed salaries, along with cap holds for Curry and six empty roster rosters, would bring team salary to $61,514,494. In that scenario, the team could afford a max contract for Durant, but wouldn’t have much cap room left to sign other players. The more likely outcome – which would give the team a better chance to re-sign Iguodala and Livingston – involves staying over the cap and Durant accepting a 20% raise rather than a true max salary.
Salary information from Basketball Insiders and The Vertical was used in the creation of this post.
Hoops Links Vol. 8: Rick Carlisle Fan Fiction, Emojis, More
We’re back with a fresh batch of the best content from around the NBA blogosphere. This is where we take a break from the typical news cycle to shine a light on original, entertaining content from bloggers just like you. Yes, you.
Be sure to nominate the best article you read this week (even if you wrote it yourself) by dropping me a line on Twitter (@AustinKent), emailing HoopsRumorsTips@Sports.ws or simply yelling into your router loud enough that it makes it all the way to Canada.
If hoops fans weren’t too busy trying to pinpoint the last remaining Thon Maker birth certificate joke that hasn’t been made yet, they’d have seen just how scary the 7’1″ Bucks rookie really was. In the playoffs in particular, Maker’s surprising fluidity and absurd length were on full display. In a full feature at Behind The Buck Pass, Paul Headley broke down just what makes the 20-year-old such a tantalizing piece of Milwaukee’s future.
Rating: 9 out 10 Stale Reddit Memes
Author: Paul Headley – @PaulHeadleyNBA
Link: Thon Maker’s future
While he may not be the biggest name, the Hawks landed a gem in new general manager Travis Schlenk. Jack O’Donnell of Soaring Down South recently rallied support for the new shot caller, citing Schlenk’s breadth of experience, including 12 years behind the scenes with the most dominant franchise in the league, most recently as the Warriors‘ assistant general manager.
Rating: 8 out of 10 More Agonizing Weeks of Paul Millsap Speculation
Author: Jack O’Donnell – @SoaringDwnSouth
Link: Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk
If what you’re looking for is an elaborate fan fiction account of Rick Carlisle‘s secret side mission as an espionage agent with a pilot’s license, you’ve come to the right place. Doyle Rader of Mavs Moneyball put together an explanation for why the Mavs head coach was really at Game 2 of the NBA Finals. (Can you tell these guys aren’t used to missing the playoffs?).
Rating: 8 out of 10 Long Offseasons
Author: Doyle Rader – @TheKobeBeef
Link: Why was Rick Carlisle at Game 2?
It would be unwise for the Nuggets to sign Danilo Gallinari to a max contract, Matthew Huff of Nugg Love says. The scoring forward doesn’t do enough on the defensive end, clogs Denver’s depth chart and would limit the team’s financial flexibility. At the right price, bringing the Rooster back could be worth exploring, but he figures to have plenty of suitors when free agency begins.
Rating: 8 out of 10 Next Chapters
Author: Matthew Huff – @Huff_Melo7
Link: Danilo Gallinari max contract
It’s no secret that Spencer Dinwiddie is a low-key guy and a natural when it comes to social media, but a recent feature published by Jorge Sierra over at HoopsHype raises the bar altogether. Read through a transcript of text messages Sierra and the Nets guard sent each other throughout Game 2 of the NBA Finals for a candid look into a conversation that ranged from GOATs to Iron Man.
Rating: 9 out of 10 Grown Adults Using Emojis
Author: Jorge Sierra – @HoopsHype
Link: Spencer Dinwiddie texting
A quick look at Jayson Tatum‘s highlight reel reveals an eerie similarity to Paul Pierce, Adam Miller says at Hardwood Houdini. Miller collect video showcasing the forward’s skill set, including a heavily used mid-range game, but stops short of saying that the Duke product will go on to piece together a career as successful as the Celtics legend.
Rating: 8 out of 10 Dopplegangers
Author: Adam Miller – @AMillerSports
Link: Jayson Tatum, Paul Pierce similarities
Basketball fans have had a tough time processing Kevin Durant‘s decision to join the Warriors, but that wasn’t the case for one 16 Wins a Ring scribe. Dylan Hughes has heard all the flak that Durant has had to endure his first year in Golden State, but still elects to openly root for him anyway. Hughes may be right when he says that we shouldn’t hate on the guy for doing something that makes him happy… but we probably will anyway.
Rating: 7 out of 10 Lifelong Grudges
Author: Dylan Hughes – @16WinsARing
Link: Don’t hate on Kevin Durant
Are we overthinking the changes that we’ve seen in the NBA over the course of the past half decade? Ben McLemore suggests as much. In an interview with Kimani Okearah of Sactown Royalty, the veteran downplays the notion that the league is heading in a new direction. Come for the chance to get in a few low-hanging-fruit Kings jokes, stay for the original photography.
Rating: 8 out of 10 Triple Threats
Author: Kimani Okearah – @TheKimansta
Link: Ben McLemore interview
It seems likely that Zhou Qi will arrive with the Rockets next season so Darren Yuvan of The Dream Shake took a look at what that might entail. While it’s hard not to be intrigued by the 7’2″ prospect, it’s not clear whether he’ll have a big enough frame to make much of a difference at the next level.
Rating: 7 out of 10 Tall Men
Author: Darren Yuvan – @DarrenYuvan
Link: Zhou Qi Rockets 2017-18
With free agency right around the corner, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will get his fair share of attention. It’s about time, then, that we get a better understanding of the path that’s led him from Greenville, Georgia to the Pistons. David Ramil’s comprehensive long-read published at The Step Back will answer any questions you may have about the potential $20MM man.
Rating: 9 out of 10 Hometown Heroes
Author: David Ramil – @DRamil13
Link: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope biography
And-Ones: James, 2003 Draft, Wanamaker
Many have compared Kevin Durant‘s decision to join Golden State to LeBron James‘ move to Miami back in 2010, but LBJ doesn’t see it as the same situation, as Steven Ruiz of USA Today relays.
“I don’t think our careers are the same, as far as changing teams,” James said. “Their team was already kind of put together. And you just implement a guy who’s ready to sacrifice – a great talent, a guy who’s willing to do whatever it takes to help the team win. But that team, they already knew what they were all about, and he just had to come in and do what he had to do. And that’s what he’s been doing.
“For me, when I left [Cleveland] to go to Miami, we had to build something. We brought in eight or nine guys, and we had to build something. And when I came back [to Cleveland] we had to build something again.”
Ten players were already on the Warriors roster when Durant arrived in town compared to just two—Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem—on the Heat when James came to South Beach.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Former Cavaliers GM Jim Paxson admits that he made moves during the 2002/03 season with the 2003 draft in mind, as he tells Sam Smith of NBA.com. “That season before [in 2002] we traded Andre Miller to the Clippers because he was up for that rookie extension for Darius Miles and some parts,” Paxson recalled. “I told ownership even though there is no guarantee [for the top pick], we need to take one more step back because this [2003] draft is going to be special [Paxson said their draft order was LeBron, Carmelo and then Bosh]. Andre was good enough to keep us in the 27 to 31-win range, which would take you out of that top three to four picks. We tied with Denver [for the most lottery balls] when we won the last game of the season. Then we got lucky to get the No. 1.”
- Paxson added that he knew right away he had to surround James with shooting, Smith passes along in the same piece. The Cavaliers took Jason Kapono in the second-round of the 2003 draft.
- Dan Fegan denies any ties to the new Dynasty Sports Group agency that was founded by former ISE agent Aylton Tesch, according to Liz Mullen of Sports Business Daily. Tesch left ISE shortly after the company fired Fegan.
- CSKA Moscow plans to pursue Brad Wanamaker, who played collegiate ball at the University of Pittsburgh before flourishing in Europe, in the event that Milos Teodosic leaves for the NBA, international journalist David Pick reports (Twitter link).