Community Shootaround: Durant Returns To OKC
It’s been seven months since Kevin Durant decided to leave the only franchise he ever knew to sign with the Warriors and today the eight-time All-Star will make his much-anticipated return to Oklahoma City. Sure, for nine seasons Durant helped put the Thunder on the map, but don’t expect his reception at the Chesapeake Energy Arena to be anything less than hostile.
On one hand, Durant treated the franchise that drafted him with relatively unprecedented respect, on the other, well… sports fan logic. As Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News tweets, Durant didn’t force a trade out of Oklahoma City and he didn’t put up a stir mid-season and distract the Thunder from their 2015/16 campaign. He waited dutifully until the offseason before making a decision well within his rights as a player.
Still, though his decision is certainly defensible, it didn’t win over very many fans outside of the Bay Area. Shortly after Durant’s personal essay detailing his thought process regarding the move to Oakland was published, Stephen A. Smith of ESPN tweeted a sentiment to which skeptical fans could relate. Smith called Durant’s decision a “weak move”, lambasting the superstar for opting to sign with the team that just rallied to eliminate the Thunder in the 2016 Western Conference Finals.
Needless to say, when Durant takes the floor for the Warriors this evening, emotions will be at an all-time high. Earlier this morning Howard Beck of Bleacher Report tweeted that the ugliest sports scene he ever witnessed first-hand was LeBron James‘ first game back in Cleveland after signing with the Heat in the summer of 2010.
How do you think Durant’s return to Oklahoma City will go? Do fans have the right to boo an ex-star that did so much for the franchise? If so, how far is too far when fans react negatively?
Weigh in below!
Green Tries Reverse Psychology On Durant
Warriors teammates Kevin Durant and Draymond Green were once again seen in a verbal altercation Saturday night. According to Chris Haynes of ESPN, it was all part of a master plan by Green.
“Nothing in general” led to the altercation, the Warriors forward said Tuesday. “It was actually a tactic. But that’s for us to know and for everyone else to figure out.”
Green, Hayes writes, was trying to use reverse psychology to motivate his struggling teammate and supposedly followed it up by winking and smiling at some of the Warriors coaching staff.
Earlier this month Green and Durant were seen arguing with one another on the court when the Warriors lost to the Grizzlies.
Despite their interesting relationship, Green and Durant are said to have watched the Super Bowl together the day after the incident, suggesting that the altercation caused no hard feelings. With a 43-8 record, the Warriors have earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to locker room chemistry.
- The Warriors may need to compete with the Lakers if they want to convince 78-year-old executive Jerry West to stay with the team after his contract expires in July, writes Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News.
Zaza Pachulia Wants To Re-Sign With Warriors
The acquisition of Kevin Durant was certainly the bigger splash, but the Warriors’ offseason signing of Zaza Pachulia irritated rival executives nearly as much, due to the discount the big man took to join the Dubs. As many of his fellow veteran free agents landed massive multiyear deals, Pachulia signed with Golden State on a one-year, $2.9MM contract, and he hasn’t regretted that decision. As he tells Connor Letourneau of The San Francisco Chronicle, Pachulia hopes to extend his stay in the Bay Area beyond this season.
“I don’t want the season to end,” Pachulia said. “When people ask me about (free agency) this summer, I say, ‘I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying here.’ Even after June, I’m staying here.”
After recording a career-high 9.4 RPG to go along with 8.6 PPG in 76 games with Dallas last season, Pachulia has seen his role reduced a little in Golden State — he’s playing just 18.8 minutes per game, his lowest mark since 2010/11. Still, his field goal percentage is a career-best 52.7%, and he has started each of the 44 games he has played for the Warriors. And even if his raw numbers aren’t impressive, Pachulia is thrilled to be a member of the NBA’s top team.
“Winning means so much,” Pachulia said. “Being around this amazing group of guys, this coaching staff, front office, the fans, it means a lot. This is a huge, huge experience for me.”
With Durant and Stephen Curry both up for new contracts this summer, and the salary cap not expected to jump as substantially as it did in 2016, the Warriors may find it tricky to retain all their complementary players. If the club does want to re-sign Pachulia, he may need to accept another modest, short-term deal.
Warriors Cut Anderson Varejao, Sign Briante Weber
FEBRUARY 4th, 12:50pm: The Warriors have signed Weber to a 10-day contract, Anthony Slater of the San Jose Mercury News tweets.
FEBRUARY 3rd, 2:14pm: The Warriors have issued a press release officially confirming that they’ve waived Varejao.
Weber’s signing is not yet official, but he’s on track to join the Warriors after also receiving offers from the Heat and Hornets, tweets Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel.
1:46pm: The Warriors’ frontcourt has been plagued by injuries lately, but the team doesn’t seem to be worried about its depth up front, having decided to part ways with one of its healthy big men. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, Golden State is waiving Anderson Varejao, opening up a roster spot to sign Briante Weber to a 10-day contract.
Varejao, 34, re-signed with the Warriors last summer on a one-year, minimum-salary deal, but has played sparingly. The veteran center has averaged 1.3 PPG and 1.9 RPG in just 14 games (6.6 MPG) in 2016/17. Even with Draymond Green, David West, and Zaza Pachulia out of the lineup on Thursday, Varejao saw only eight minutes of action.
In addition to Green, West, and Pachulia, the Warriors are also carrying JaVale McGee, Damian Jones, Kevon Looney, and James Michael McAdoo at the four or five. As such, the team could afford to part with Varejao, particularly since the injury bug has spread to the backcourt — Shaun Livingston has missed the Warriors’ last two games with a back strain, so Weber will provide depth at guard.
Despite receiving a substantial guarantee ($328K) from the Heat, Weber didn’t make Miami’s regular season roster this past fall, and landed with the team’s D-League affiliate instead. Weber has made a strong case for a call-up, averaging 16.5 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 7.2 APG, and 3.0 SPG in 29 games for the Sioux Falls Skyforce. He was recently named the NBADL’s Player of the Month for January.
The Heat didn’t currently have the roster flexibility to bring Weber back, but were believed to be eyeing him for a potential call-up, as we heard yesterday. Miami is out of luck for now, though it remains to be seen if Weber will stick with the Warriors — Golden State could sign him to up to two 10-day deals, then lock him up for the rest of the season. However, with the trade deadline and buyout season approaching, the Dubs may want to use their 15th roster spot on someone else in the coming weeks.
As for Varejao, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent if he clears waivers on Sunday. Denver is one team that may have interest in adding the vet, per Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net (Twitter link). The Nuggets would move closer to the salary floor by claiming Varejao and could save some money in the process, in the same way they did by acquiring Mo Williams.
Injury Updates On Zaza Pachulia, David West
- The Warriors‘ frontcourt remains banged up, with Zaza Pachulia joining David West on the injury report. According to Anthony Slater of The Bay Area News Group (Twitter link), Pachulia will miss at least a week due to a right rotator cuff strain. Meanwhile, West will miss at least two more games with a thumb injury, and is expected to be re-evaluated next week, tweets Monte Poole of CSNBayArea.com.
Durant To Curry: Don't Worry About Me
- Kevin Durant told Stephen Curry to stop trying so hard to incorporate him in the Warriors‘ offense, as Chris Haynes of ESPN.com relays. “I just said to [Curry], ‘Don’t worry about me,'” Durant told Haynes. “I’ll figure it out around you. You’re the engine of this team, and I know that. I’m not trying to come over and feel like everything just revolves around me. Just do you, man. I’m going to play around you. I’ve played this game long enough. I know how to score. I know how to find the ball. Just go out there and play your game.’ And that’s what he’s been doing.”
Curry Downplays Free Agency When Asked In Hometown
- Like any star that returns to their hometown, Stephen Curry was asked about the possibility of him signing with the Hornets via free agency, writes Anthony Slater of The Mercury News. “I’ve gotten that since I’ve been in the league,” the Warriors guard said. “This is my home. So there’s obviously going to be an attachment to the city and that kind of chatter is something I’ve been asked about and dealt with since the first time I came back my rookie year. It’s fun. You know you have that support here. It just kind of is what it is.”
"Big Four" Will Play At Same Time In All-Star Game
Tickets at the Oracle Arena have long been the hottest commodity in town, which has now resulted in an embarrassing story for the Warriors. The team has been issued a fraud alert, AJ Neuharth-Keusch of USA Today reports, as 650+ fans have been sold counterfeit tickets from third-party sources. To avoid being turned away at the door, the team issued a news release encouraging fans to avoid non-verified vendors.
- Warriors head coach Steve Kerr will play Draymond Green, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Kevin Durant at the same time during the All-Star Game in New Orleans. “It’s a great honor for those guys individually and for us as an organization,” Kerr told Chris Haynes of ESPN. “It’s pretty remarkable to have this group together right now and to see them all playing so well together along with the rest of our guys. It doesn’t always work that way — where you put a group together, a group of stars — and it doesn’t always click. But it’s clicked because our guys are unselfish and they enjoy playing with one another, so we’re really happy for all four of them.”
Kings Rumors: Ranadive, Cousins, Gay, Westbrook
Sources with “intimate knowledge” of the Kings insist that team owner Vivek Ranadive won’t entertain the prospect of trading DeMarcus Cousins, Kevin Arnovitz writes in a lengthy and entertaining feature piece for ESPN.com. That’s something we’ve heard before, and comes as little surprise, considering the Kings and Cousins are reportedly on track for an offseason contract extension.
Arnovitz’s piece features many more fascinating tidbits about Cousins and about the Kings’ franchise though, many of which we haven’t heard before. The entire story is worth checking out, but we’ll round up a few of the highlights right here:
- Although Ranadive insists that the only major player personnel decisions he has made were the ones to trade for Rudy Gay and to not hang onto Cousins, Arnovitz writes that “not a single league source for this story outside of Sacramento said that ultimate authority resides anywhere but with Ranadive.”
- Arnovitz hears from one NBA insider that Ranadive told him “some months back” that he’d like to assemble a big three in Sacramento, with Russell Westbrook joining Cousins and Gay. It’s not clear if that declaration was made prior to Westbrook signing his extension with the Thunder, but either way, it seems extremely unlikely that the OKC star would end up with the Kings. Gay also seems likely to depart in free agency this summer, though Ranadive remains unconvinced of that, per Arnovitz.
- Members of front offices that have dealt with the Kings say that Sacramento’s front office structure is confusing to navigate, according to Arnovitz. “There’s just so much ambiguity about how the decision-making process works [in Sacramento] and what information actually gets back to whom,” said one rival executive. By way of example, Arnovitz cites one Kings source who says that during the 2015 draft, there were as many as five team owners in the draft room, including one who was trying to make a side deal for a second-round pick.
- One league source tells Arnovitz that Ranadive has an “unhealthy fixation on the Warriors,” having previously been a part of Golden State’s ownership group.
- According to Arnovitz, communication between Cousins and Kings’ executives has sometimes created problems. Sources tell Arnovitz that Cousins was assured that George Karl wouldn’t be hired as the team’s head coach in 2015. Cousins was later told in February 2016 that the team was going to fire Karl that day, but it ultimately didn’t happen until two months later.
- Be sure to check out Arnovitz’s full story for many more tidbits about Cousins and the Kings.
Warriors Using Seven Players At Center
- Warriors coach Steve Kerr is using seven low-salaried big men in a rotation at center, writes Anthony Slater of The San Jose Mercury News. Zaza Pachulia, David West, JaVale McGee, Kevon Looney, James Michael McAdoo, Anderson Varejao and Damian Jones are all getting minutes at the position, depending on the matchup.