Western Notes: Curry, Evans, Lakers
The four-year, $44MM contract extension that Stephen Curry signed with the Warriors back in 2012 is one of the most team-friendly deals in NBA history, something that Curry admits he had to make peace with, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports writes. “I had to make a conscious decision and remind myself over and over [to let it go],” Curry told Wojnarowski. “I could’ve had a different perspective and said, ‘I want to get everything that I could get, wait it out, test free agency that next year – and who knows what would’ve happened? But for me, a $44MM contract was plenty for me to be able to provide for my family. When I made a decision to sign an extension, I told myself that was the right decision for the moment. After three years, I’ve still got to remind myself every day. Number one, there’s nothing I can do about it. There’s no point to moaning and complaining and trying to change something that really can’t be changed.”
“I have thought about it occasionally, and understand that, for me, talking to the people in my camp, everything does happen for a reason,” Curry continued. “I’ve tried to just be appreciative of what I have. Obviously a lot of other things have happened off the court that have helped the situation, Under Armour, other sponsors. On the back end, when this is all said and done, things will come around the right way. It’s nice to know that I got a championship out of it, an MVP season out of it, and hopefully setting up for something better down the line.”
Here’s more from the West:
- Byron Scott says that the Lakers learned from their failed recruitment of LaMarcus Aldridge this past offseason, and will adjust the focus of their future free agent presentations, writes Baxter Holmes of ESPN.com. “I think we looked at it more as a business presentation. It wasn’t basketball, and that’s probably where we made our mistake,” Scott told Holmes regarding the team’s meeting with Aldridge. “Most of these guys want to know the basketball part of it,” Scott continued. “We’ll change that part as far as most of the meeting, 75 percent of it or more, will be about the basketball part and then the other part will be a little bit about the business part. I think we found from a great player that he was more interested in the basketball on-the-court stuff than anything else.“
- The Mavericks recalled Justin Anderson, Jeremy Evans and Salah Mejri from the Texas Legends today, the team announced via a press release. Both Anderson and Mejri were re-assigned to Dallas’ affiliate after practicing with the team, the Mavs relayed via a second release.
- Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said that Evans requested to be assigned to the D-League to aid him in getting more comfortable playing on the perimeter, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com relays (via Twitter). The Mavs needed the consent of Evans and the players union to send him to the D-League since he has more than two years of experience.
Warriors Notes: Rush, Barnes, Mitchell
Despite Harrison Barnes and the Warriors not coming to terms on an extension prior to the deadline, Andrew Bogut believes the forward will remain with the team for the long-term, and thinks that the franchise values keeping its core together, Sam Amick of USA Today relays. Discussing Barnes’ contract situation, Bogut told Amick, “Within our group, it hasn’t been a huge distraction. Obviously you want every player to get their max worth. A career is very short, and obviously you want to make it while you can. Harrison is going to be a very rich man regardless of what direction that all goes.”
“These situations [with this kind of collective group] don’t come up very often, so when they’re available you want to milk them for as long as you can,” Bogut continued. “I think our owners and our GM [Bob Myers] understand that, that if you can keep this team together for another four or five years you try everything in your power to do that, rather than trying to all of a sudden put on an ‘I’m smarter than everyone and we’re going to make this big move,’ when it’s really not needed…I don’t think Harrison is going to go anywhere. I think he’s just obviously going to lift his value a little bit more with the new [salary] cap and all that going in.”
Here’s more from Golden State:
- Brandon Rush said he didn’t really feel a part of last season’s championship team, as he averaged only 8.2 minutes per game across 33 appearances, but his minutes are up this year and he’s one of several on the Warriors bench playing about as efficiently as they ever have, observes Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. Rush, who’s already made seven starts this season, is in the last season of his contract.
- Former Warriors coach Mark Jackson says there’s no reason for him to be upset, even as the Warriors team he coached as recently as 2013/14 reaches new heights, notes Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group. Still, he remains proud of what he accomplished. “I took over a job in Golden State with a bad culture, guys that said they wanted to win, but didn’t want to win,” Jackson said, according to Leung.
- Tony Mitchell, who was with the Warriors during the preseason, has signed with the Venezuelan team Cocodrilos de Caracas, the club announced (hat tip to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). Mitchell was with the Pistons for a season and a half until a trade last December sent to the Suns, who waived him shortly thereafter.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Andrew Bogut Plans Extension Talk With Warriors
A discussion about an extension between the Warriors and Andrew Bogut will take place in the offseason ahead, Bogut said to USA Today’s Sam Amick in his NBA A-to-Z podcast. The client of Relativity Sports agent David Bauman isn’t eligible to sign an extension until October 25th next year, the three-year anniversary of his last extension with the Warriors and a date that’s close to the October 31st deadline for players eligible to receive rookie scale extensions. The 31-year-old former No. 1 overall pick is making $13.8MM this season and is scheduled for a salary of $12.681MM next season, though bonus clauses tied to the number of games he plays could affect those numbers.
“Look, we’ll definitely have the discussion,” Bogut said to Amick. “There’s no doubt about it. I’m not a greedy guy. … I know at what point in my career I am, and I definitely want some stability and to remain in the same place if I can. Obviously this is a great team we have going, and I want to remain here. There’s no doubt about that. But we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. I’d love to stay. I’d love to never be a free agent. … I’m happy to stay here if it’s good for both parties, and we’ll see where we’re at.”
Bogut signed a three-year extension in the fall of 2013 with a base salary of $36MM. He already triggered a 15% bonus for last season when he played 65 games and made the NBA’s All-Defensive Second Team. His cap figure for this season reflects the money he’d make if he earns that bonus again, so the oft-injured Bogut, who’s already missed seven games this year, could end up making less than $13.8MM for 2015/16. He has to pull off the double of hitting the games-played mark and receiving the defensive honor to cash in.
His ability to trigger the bonus next season will have an effect on how much he can see in an extension. Veteran extensions can’t contain starting salaries of more than 7.5% of the value of the final season of the existing pact, unless the team is under the cap. Bogut can’t tack any more than three seasons onto his contract, either, but if he were to hit free agency, he could re-sign with the Warriors for five years and up to the maximum salary. However, it’s unlikely he could command max money, and Golden State would probably be reluctant to commit more than three years to a player of his age and injury history.
Bogut told Amick he believes backup center Festus Ezeli, who’s set for restricted free agency this summer, will eventually become a starter and displace him from that role. Harrison Barnes will join Ezeli in 2016 restricted free agency, but the Warriors otherwise have most of their core together through next season. The Warriors only have about $34MM committed for the season in which an extension for Bogut would kick in, but that doesn’t include any money for Stephen Curry, whose contract expires in 2017.
What would a fair extension for Bogut look like? Leave a comment to share your thoughts?
Pacific Notes: Mbah a Moute, Scott, Warriors
It appears a mere formality that the Clippers will retain Luc Mbah a Moute past the date next month when his non-guaranteed contract would become fully guaranteed, writes Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times. He made his sixth straight start in Wednesday’s victory over the Bucks, and while Doc Rivers indicated that he’ll probably move him in and out of the starting lineup, the Clippers coach/executive is nonetheless impressed, as Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel relays. He’s not the only one.
“He does all the different things that don’t show up on the stat sheet,” Chris Paul said, according to Bolch. “He makes the cuts, he does the box outs, and that’s why he’s so valuable for us.”
Still, not everyone is a fan. The Clippers won’t win the title if Mbah a Moute remains the starting three man, posits Zach Lowe of ESPN.com, who calls on the team to bench the “safe, known commodity” of Mbah a Moute in favor of the higher risk-reward proposition of either Lance Stephenson or Wesley Johnson. See more from the Pacific Division:
- The voiding of the contract Mbah a Moute signed with the Kings in July led to uncertainty about his future that didn’t end until he signed with the Clippers in late September, and he called the past summer a difficult one, according to Gardner. “I like to usually go into the summer knowing where I’m going to be, training at the facility. All that stuff was out the window,” Mbah a Moute said. “God works in mysterious ways. I’m here now and trying to make the best out of it, trying to help the team.”
- Lakers executives Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss still support Byron Scott and plan to keep him through at least the end of the season, though Kupchak, Buss or both will likely meet with Scott next week to get a read on his plan for player development, reports Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. The execs understand the difficulty of the position Scott finds himself in — a “no-win situation,” as a team source described it to Medina — as Kobe Bryant‘s farewell season chafes against the need to foster young talent.
- A group opposing the Warriors‘ plan for a new arena will file suit to block construction in the wake of the project having cleared its final political hurdle Tuesday, when the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to green-light the new building, reports J.K. Dineen of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Atlantic Notes: Colangelo, Okafor, Lee, Ross
The Sixers decided to hire Jerry Colangelo because they felt GM Sam Hinkie mishandled negative publicity surrounding Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor in recent months, Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher says in a video. Owners with minority stakes in the Sixers pressured primary owner Josh Harris to make the move, Bucher adds. It’s inaccurate to say that the hiring came about in part because of pressure from owners who complained to the league about the Sixers’ rebuilding and its negative financial ripple effects, league sources told Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, who writes at the bottom of a larger piece. Still, commissioner Adam Silver was indeed involved in the move, Pompey adds. See more from the Atlantic Division:
- The NBA continues to investigate the recent incidents involving Okafor and it hasn’t decided whether it will mete out punishment on top of the two-game suspension the Sixers issued last week, league officials told TMZ Sports. Colangelo has a strong relationship with agent Bill Duffy, who represents Okafor, as Bucher points out in his video. “Based on what we currently know, we support the 76ers’ approach in this matter,” an NBA spokesperson said to TMZ Sports. “The league office is continuing to investigate the events of that night.”
- David Lee doesn’t regret the trade that brought him to the Celtics and ended his time with the Warriors, even as Golden State has embarked on a 23-0 start, as Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group relays. Lee’s representatives reportedly cooperated with the Warriors as they sought a new home for him this summer. “This is a business, and because of the salary cap and things like that, it was time for me to move on, and that’s what I did,” Lee said. “It couldn’t have ended any better.”
- Terrence Ross is much the same player he was a few weeks after the Rudy Gay trade two years ago, and that’s perhaps the glaring issue for the swingman who signed a three-year, $31MM extension with the Raptors last month, writes Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. His game grew more in the immediate wake of the trade than it has since, and inconsistency has plagued him, Lewenberg asserts.
The Beat: Monte Poole On The Warriors
Nobody knows NBA teams better than beat writers, save for those who draw paychecks with an NBA owner’s signature on them. The reporters who are with the teams they cover every day gain an intimate knowledge of the players, coaches and executives they write about and develop sources who help them break news and stay on top of rumors.
We at Hoops Rumors will be chatting with beat writers from around the league and sharing their responses to give you a better perspective on how and why teams make some of their most significant moves. Last time, we spoke with Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times about the Bucks. Click here to see all the previous editions of this series.
Today, we gain insight on the Warriors from Monte Poole of CSN Bay Area. You can follow Monte on Twitter at @MontePooleCSN, and check out his stories right here.
Hoops Rumors: It’s stunning, really. No team had ever won more than 15 games in a row to start the season, and now here are the Warriors at 22-0. [We talked to Poole before Golden State’s win over the Pacers on Tuesday that sent the team to 23-0] What sets this team apart from everyone else?
Monte Poole: I think it’s a couple of things. One, the system that they put in last year really did two things. It made their offense open up a little bit, and it showed them the value of defense leading to offense. They really did a great job of it last year. This year, I think their defense has fallen off a little bit, but they know that they can find that defense in spurts, four of five minutes here, five or six minutes there, and turn games around. So, you have that, plus the fact that you have Steph Curry, the most creative scorer and distributor in the game today, and you’ve got a pretty good recipe. You have a deep team, and several guys who are pretty unique around the NBA in terms of what they can do, leading off again with Steph and Draymond Green.
Hoops Rumors: It’s early, but has Green already proven that the five-year, $82MM deal he signed in the offseason is a bargain for the Warriors?
Monte Poole: Well, it’s already proven that they didn’t overpay the guy, that he’s not going to rest on his laurels, because that’s not his makeup. He’s had to fight for everything he’s gotten. He came into the league as a second-round draft pick, and he will be the first to tell you that he heard a lot of rejection from other scouts, and teams told him he wasn’t good enough. They pointed to things that he couldn’t do and didn’t focus on the things that he can do. So, he came into the league believing that he had to prove to people that he deserved to be picked higher, he deserved to be more respected, and I would say that he’s gotten that. I like to say three years ago teams were looking at Draymond Green and saying, “Nah, we don’t think so,” and “No, we don’t think so,” “He can’t do this,” “He can’t do that,” and now, guess what they’re doing. They’re looking for the next Draymond Green.
And it’s heart. He’s got a tremendous competitive heart. He’s one of those guys that really sort of personifies the underdog, and actually Steph has some of that, too. Both of these guys know what it’s like to be told, “You’re not good enough.” You think about Steph, and how both of his parents went to Virginia Tech. And Virginia Tech [said to Steph], “Nah, we don’t think so. Thanks, but no thanks.” Now, generally speaking, when both your parents went to a school, you can kind of get in there without a problem, but they weren’t swayed. And Coach K at Duke [Mike Krzyzewski] never looked twice at him. And he says now, “Big mistake,” but if you’re Steph Curry, it doesn’t help you out to hear that. And so, you look at those two guys, the two leaders of this team, and both of them came into the league believing that they had to prove to people that they could play. And they take that attitude into each and every game, every night. And that’s what you see. You see a team that, really, they don’t just want to beat you. They want to kind of annihilate you. They want to show you that they can, despite being told that they can’t.
Hoops Rumors: What has interim coach Luke Walton done, or not done, that’s helped the team to its historic start?
Monte Poole: Luke will be the first to tell you that he is basically a product of the system installed by Steve Kerr. He’s a little bit different guy, of course, but what he’s been able to do is keep the system alive, keep it going, and he hasn’t lost the respect of the players. There was some concern going into the season that, “OK, Steve Kerr won’t be around, so will they treat Luke Walton like a substitute teacher?” And there are very little traces of that. For the most part, they understand him, they listen to him, they talk to him, they respect him — that’s huge. So, he has been able to get these guys most of the time at the level they can play at.
Now, I would say there may be one or two things that I think would be different if Steve were around, and one of those things is turnovers. That’s Steve Kerr’s pet peeve. And there have been games this year where the Warriors went over the 20 mark in turnovers, and that would drive Steve nuts. Luke is a little more willing to take it in stride because they’re winning, and he doesn’t want to change anything dramatically because it’s not his team to change. So, he’s going to let them get away with that a little bit as long as they’re winning, and they’ve done that. The other thing is that they don’t play as great a defense as they can for as long as they can. They were better on defense early last year than they are right now. I don’t think it’s a big deal, because, again, they know that they can play it, and that if it’s a close game, and they play their type of defense for five or six minutes, that they’ll a double-digit lead. So, you could say maybe that’s something that Luke is kind of letting slide a little bit, but, hell, he’s 22-0, so it’s kind of hard to criticize the guy.
Hoops Rumors: Harrison Barnes is taking more shots and scoring more points than ever before, and Andre Iguodala said that the team is trying to give him a boost, cognizant that it’s his contract year. Have you noticed Barnes’ teammates looking out for him more often on the court?
Monte Poole: I mean, it’s always been sporadic. Last year, same way. There were times when Harrison would be a focal point for a few minutes of the game. There were times when he would disappear. And I don’t think it’s been that much different this year. There have been times when he’s barely there, and there have been times when you say, “OK, my God, this guy is going full-flight right now.” So, I don’t think it’s a dramatic difference. I do think Andre, he talked last year about getting Klay Thompson paid, and now he wants to get Harrison paid. I think Harrison’s going to get paid no matter what. He will get paid. I don’t see, quote-on-quote, a conscious effort, because, let’s face it, Harrison is like the fourth option in their offense. He doesn’t do a lot of dribbling, a lot of ball-handling. He’s basically a stand-up shooter and occasionally gets to go one-on-one with somebody and tries to go to the hoop, and he’s good in transition. So, he’ll get most of his points off transition baskets and just catch-and-shoot. I don’t think that’s changed a whole lot.
I asked Bob Myers, the general manager, before the season started, and I asked Luke this, too: “Are you concerned at all that maybe Harrison, being in a contract year, might go out of his game a little bit and try to do a little too much?” And Luke said, “I’ve seen guys do that, but I don’t think that’s Harrison’s personality, I don’t think that’s our team’s personality. I’d be surprised if it happens.” I’ve got to say that I don’t think it’s really happened. Any more shots that he’s gotten that he wouldn’t have gotten last year I think are just a product of the team getting deeper into its offense, because last year they were probably at 60% of it, and now they’re probably at 70 or 80% of it.
[Myers] said exactly that. He looked at his roster, and said, “That’s one of the things that I can honestly say about this roster is that I don’t think there’s a guy in the locker room that would say, ‘It’s about me, it’s about what I need and what I’m going to do.'” I think he’s right. It’s a quality team with quality players that have positive attitudes. They’re not all the same, they’re not cookie-cutter, but at the same time, you don’t sense that anybody is ready to make his agenda bigger than that of the team. Harrison certainly falls into that category. He doesn’t do that. He keeps within the team. It’s only in spurts when he gets really aggressive, and they want to see that. They want to see the aggressive Harrison Barnes because he’s effective. So, Bob believes the same thing that Luke does, that it’s not a problem in terms of Harrison going too far and getting outside of his normal game.
Hoops Rumors: Festus Ezeli‘s minutes are up, but it’s clear that the Warriors are at their best when they don’t have a true center on the floor. What do the results of this season say about Ezeli’s value to the team?
He’s actually got pretty good numbers. The metrics on him are pretty good, and [the Warriors] tell him all the time, the message is that, “You play defense, you anchor the back line, you take care of the paint, and anything else you do for us is gravy.” Well, he’s been actually giving them a little bit of gravy this year. They know that Andrew Bogut is prone to injury. He may be 31, but you know, Bogut’s probably going to be playing three to four more years, and they know he’s not going to be around a whole lot longer. So, I think they do value Festus. They understand his value to the team. I think they want to keep him. He runs the floor very well. He’s still got upside, and you’re seeing it every day and every month. He’s better each year because he’s working at it. And assistant coach Ron Adams — who by the way was voted the top assistant coach in the NBA in a poll of general managers — has sort of taken Festus as his personal pet project. And both after practices and before games, you’ll see Ron and Festus off in the corner sometimes by themselves going over video, or going over post moves, or going over defensive tactics and so forth.
So, they are investing in him, and I think they mean to have him around for a long time. He’s the big that can actually run the court like the smalls, and there’s value in that, because there are certain teams that you will need a guy like him on the floor [against], guys that Bogut can’t keep up with maybe. And Festus does a better job of being a big who can run the floor. Yeah, the small team is their most effective team most of the time, but they can’t always rely on that, and there are going to be times when they know they need Festus — and Bogut, too — but Festus is a guy who’s younger, and a little more agile, and a guy who they believe can be a quality starting center in the league for years to come.
And-Ones: NBPA, Ennis, Warriors Arena
The league and the NBPA held preliminary talks today regarding the next collective bargaining agreement, NBA.com’s David Aldridge relays (via TwitLonger). The two parties issued a joint statement regarding the meeting, which read, “Earlier today the NBA and NBPA met to discuss the Collective Bargaining Agreement [CBA]. Meeting participants included NBPA Executive Director Michele Roberts, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and representatives of the NBA Labor Relations Committee and NBPA Executive Committee as well as league and union staff. It was a preliminary meeting that included constructive dialogue, and we agreed to continue our discussions.”
Here’s more from around the league:
- New Sixers chairman of basketball operations Jerry Colangelo has said that for this year, he’ll work in less of an active role and more of advisory capacity with Sixers management, sources tell Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders.
- According to a recent poll commissioned by the Mission Bay Alliance and conducted by EDC Research, public opposition to the Warriors‘ proposed stadium in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood is growing, NBCBayArea.com relays. The proposal is currently garnering 49% voter support, a 12% decline in support since a Warriors-commissioned poll released in July showed approximately 61% support for the new development, the article notes.
- The league has formed a committee to examine the increase in injuries related to tendon inflammation and pain, Tom Haberstroh of ESPN.com writes. “Player health and wellness is our top priority, and the NBA’s research partnership with GE Healthcare is a significant step toward understanding injuries that affect NBA players,” Silver said in the NBA’s official statement. “Both everyday athletes and elite professionals will benefit from our collaboration, and I’d like to thank [GE Healthcare U.S. and Canada President] Marcelo [Mosci] and his team for bold vision and hard work.“
- The Grizzlies have assigned James Ennis to the Iowa Energy, their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be Ennis’ second sojourn of the season to Iowa.
Pacific Rumors: Lakers, Walton, Dukan
Power forward Julius Randle and point guard D’Angelo Russell were not happy with Lakers coach Byron Scott’s decision on Monday to remove them from the starting lineup, according to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. Scott made the surprising announcement that Randle, the team’s lottery pick last year, and Russell, the No. 2 overall pick this season, would be replaced in the lineup by another rookie, power forward Larry Nance Jr., and veteran point guard Lou Williams. “You’re never going to be thrilled about it as a competitor,” Randle told the team’s traveling media. “But it’s out of your control. What I can control is go out there and play hard like we’ve been doing.” Russell felt he was developing better chemistry with his teammates, Medina continues. “I started to figure it out and this happened,” Russell said. “I don’t feel like this will get in the way of my growth.” Scott did not tell either player his thought process for the lineup changes but he could alter it again during the next five to 10 games, Medina adds.
In other news around the Pacific Division:
- Nick Young admits that exasperation over his team’s 3-17 start led to his ejection against the Pistons on Sunday night, Baxter Holmes of ESPN.com writes. The Lakers’ backup shooting guard was tossed in the fourth quarter of a 111-91 loss when he shoved Detroit forward Anthony Tolliver in the neck after a hard foul. Young was not suspended by the league. “It’s tough,” he said to Holmes and other members of the media. “There’s a lot of frustration. It’s a struggle and it’s building up.”
- Luke Walton credits his former Lakers coach, Phil Jackson, with showing him how to comport himself in his current job, Ken Berger of CBSSports.com reports. The interim Warriors coach discovered the value of staying grounded through Jackson. “Phil was the first coach I had — well, I shouldn’t say the first coach that I had, but the first one who made me recognize it as a bigger picture,” Walton told Berger. “He never got too upset; he never got too excited. He was just even-keel all the time. His beliefs as a teacher, that you’re at your most dangerous when you’re level-headed and can make decisions … I believe wholeheartedly in that.”
- The Kings recalled rookie forward Duje Dukan from their D-League affiliate, the Reno Bighorns, the team announced on its website. Dukan, an undrafted 24-year-old power forward, averaged 13 points and 3.8 rebounds in four games with the Bighorns. He has not made his NBA debut.
And-Ones: Morris, Begić, Jack
The Markieff Morris saga is “reheating,” Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic writes, after Suns coach Jeff Hornacek gave Morris his first benching by coach’s decision since 2011/12, the power forward’s rookie year. Hornacek, according to Coro, spoke with Morris before the team warmed up for Sunday’s game. Morris issued a trade demand in August after his brother, Marcus, was shipped to the Pistons. When training camp started, however, Morris declared he wanted to be in Phoenix. Morris, Coro notes, did not speak with reporters Sunday.
Here’s more from around the basketball world:
- Mirza Begić, whom the Pelicans waived in October, is close to signing with Spain’s Bilbao, according to elcorreo.com (h/t Emiliano Carchia of Sportando).
- The relationship between Nets guard Jarrett Jack and Stephen Curry extends beyond basketball, Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com details. Curry mentioned the influence Jack (when he was with the Warriors) had on his career during his MVP speech. “I look at Steph like a little brother, but he’s somebody that I look up to and try to be like in a lot of ways,” Jack said, per Mazzeo. “What he said at his MVP speech — to take time out to acknowledge me during a moment where he deserved all of the [recognition] — it was amazing.”
- Kobe Bryant has hinted at a desire to take a front office job with the Lakers, but he’s since clarified that if he sticks around the NBA after he’s done playing, he wants to be an owner, notes Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. “If I’m involved in basketball from a league perspective,” Bryant said, “it would be from an ownership perspective.”
Warriors Notes: Barnes, Green, Curry
With the salary cap’s expected rise, a maximum contract for Harrison Barnes could begin with a first year salary in the range of $22MM and there will be plenty of teams competing for his services based on his potential, Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders writes. Barnes is set to be a restricted free agent this summer. Hamilton compares Barnes’ situation to that of Reggie Jackson, who was viewed as an expendable piece of the Thunder and then became a cornerstone for the Pistons, who re-signed him to a five-year, $80MM maximum contract. Hamilton’s point is that several teams will pay to find out just how good Barnes can be.
Here’s more on the Warriors:
- There is no debating Stephen Curry‘s worth to Golden State, but Draymond Green has elevated the Warriors from a championship team to a potentially all-time great team, Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group argues. Green is not a big-time scorer, but he is effective because of his wide-ranging his abilities, Thompson writes, and he is a key part of the team’s small-ball defensive philosophy. The Warriors re-signed Green to a five-year, $85MM deal in the summer and he has rewarded them by significantly improving his game, Thompson adds.
- Curry’s offseason workout regimen with trainer Brandon Payne has paid dividends this season, Diamond Leung of The Bay Area News Group details. Of course, Curry has long since moved past the ankle issues that influenced the negotiations when he inked a four-year $44MM extension in the fall of 2012. Curry has been able to produce better numbers this season with improved strength, balance and speed, Leung writes.