Pacific Notes: Warriors, Young, White, Mitrovic
The Warriors have largely the same roster they did when they won the title in June, but with a handful of players entering the final season of their contracts and Steve Kerr on a health-related leave of absence, this year’s team has a different feel, as TNT’s David Aldridge writes in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com. Stephen Curry says it’s “weird” not having Kerr around and acknowledges the challenges of everyone coalescing once more, as Aldridge relays.
“We are, technically, the same team,” Curry said. “We have everybody minus David Lee back, and Jason Thompson. But we’re different in that regard. Because everybody’s in a different place in their careers. Maybe stuff’s going on off the court. You’ve got to kind of separate what we did last year from this year, even though it’s the same personalities in the locker room. Support each other, encourage each other, figure out how we can mesh all the different storylines together into one goal, which is doing what we did last year.”
See more from the Pacific Division:
- Nick Young calls the trade rumors that surrounded him this summer “confusing” and “motivating,” but the Lakers didn’t find a taker, and Young and coach Byron Scott are entering this season preaching optimism about their continued partnership, as Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News details. “Me and Byron are good, but I’m using it as motivation,” Young said. “I’m just trying to do my part and stay alive. I’m trying to do everything he tells me to do. Anything I got to do to stay out there on the court.”
- Suns camp cut Terrico White will play for Phoenix’s D-League affiliate, a source tells Adam Johnson of D-League Digest (Twitter link). White cleared waivers this weekend after the Suns released him Thursday. NBA teams can retain the D-League rights to as many as four players they waive, so White appears to be one of Phoenix’s four.
- Kings draft-and-stash prospect Luka Mitrovic is expected to miss several months because of a left knee injury, Sportando’s Orazio Cauchi tweets. Mitrovic, the last pick of this year’s draft, signed an extension with Crvena Zvezda of Serbia this summer. Sacramento holds his NBA rights as a result of the cap-clearing trade with the Sixers this summer.
Pacific Notes: Staten, Murray, Henderson, Kerr
Juwan Staten, who was waived by the Warriors earlier today, will sign with Golden State’s D-League affiliate in Santa Cruz, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports reports (Twitter link). Colin Bryant, Staten’s agent, confirmed the news to Adam Johnson of D-League Digest (on Twitter). NBA teams can retain the D-League rights to up to four players they waive. Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- The Lakers have officially signed Tracy Murray for the remainder of the season as the team’s shooting coach, Los Angeles announced. “I’ve known Tracy a long time, and he was one of the purest shooters I’ve ever seen,” said coach Byron Scott. “I think he’ll be a benefit to our players, especially our young guys, and I look forward to working with him as a member of our staff.” Murray appeared in 659 games during his 12 year NBA career.
- The Kings have offered point guard Marshall Henderson a spot on their D-League affiliate, the Reno Bighorns, Spears relays (via Twitter). The 24-year-old, who was waived by Sacramento on Thursday, is also garnering interest from teams overseas, the Yahoo scribe adds.
- Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who took a leave of absence from the team after experiencing complications related to back surgery he had undergone in July, is expected to return to the team soon, Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN.com relays. Of Kerr’s impending return, interim coach Luke Walton said, “I think it’s great. Obviously Steve’s one of those guys just having him around makes everything better, so he wouldn’t be coming down with us at all if he was still as bad as he was. So I think it shows signs of improvement. I don’t think it means he’ll be back within the next two days, but all we can ask for is that he keeps getting better.”
Warriors Cut Juwan Staten
Golden State waived point guard Juwan Staten at the end of their preseason win over the Rockets late Thursday, the Warriors announced. The undrafted rookie from West Virginia was in camp on a non-guaranteed deal and made his preseason debut in that game against the Rockets, scoring two points in 10 minutes of action. The move drops the Warriors roster to 17 players, 13 of whom have fully guaranteed pacts.
Staten, 23, was one of many in Warriors camp with strong outside shooting capability, as he made three-pointers with 37% accuracy over the final two years of his college career. That covered a fairly small sample size of only 73 attempts, however. Many of his numbers fell from his junior season to his senior year. He put up 12.1 points, 5.8 assists and 2.1 turnovers in 37.3 minutes per game as a junior and 14.2 PPG, 4.6 APG and 2.0 TOPG in 31.3 MPG this past season.
The Warriors still have a few more decisions to make before opening night. They’re a taxpaying team and under no obligation to carry more than 13 players to start the season, though every team started last season with at least 14 players last year. Coach Steve Kerr likes James Michael McAdoo, who has a $100K partial guarantee, so he seems in strong position to stick. Ian Clark, Chris Babb and Jarell Eddie are the Warriors with non-guaranteed contracts.
Who do you think will get the last spot on the Warriors regular season roster, assuming they start the season with 15 players? Leave a comment to tell us.
Pacific Notes: Thompson, Cauley-Stein, Nance
- By contrast, Kings rookie Willie Cauley-Stein knows his role and is comfortable with being the team’s “junk man,” as he said to Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee. Just how the career of this year’s No. 6 overall pick will turn out depends largely on whether he can rebound consistently, Voisin believes.
- Larry Nance Jr. thinks the Lakers used this year’s No. 27 overall pick on him because of his jumping ability and his 6’9″, 230-pound frame, according to Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. “I think I’m just something different. I’m someone that’s long, lanky, lean,” Nance said. “I want to run the floor and be as athletic as I can and really change the pace of the game when I come in. When you put me on the court, don’t worry about me, I’ll find my own stuff on offense.”
- Lakers coach Byron Scott likes the poise he’s seen from Nance so far, but the power forward told Bresnahan for the same story that he still feels he’s only about 85-90% recovered from the torn right ACL he suffered in March 2014, even though he’s been medically cleared for almost a year.
Warriors Waive Ben Gordon
The Warriors have waived shooting guard Ben Gordon, the team announced via a press release. Gordon’s minimum salary deal was non-guaranteed, so Golden State won’t be on the hook for any money as a result of this move. The veteran’s pact would have become partially guaranteed for $749,493 if he remained on the team’s roster past October 27th.
It doesn’t come as a shock that Gordon didn’t stick with the Warriors given their backcourt depth. The 32-year-old didn’t do much to impress during his two preseason appearances for the team, averaging just 1.0 points and 1.0 assists in 8.3 minutes per contest. By waiving Gordon, Golden State reduces its preseason roster count to 18 players, including 13 with full guarantees on their deals.
Gordon has appeared in 744 regular season games over the course of his NBA career, averaging 14.9 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists to accompany a slash line of .432/.401/.857. He has played for the Magic, Bulls, Pistons, and Hornets since joining the league as the No. 3 overall pick back in 2004.
Pacific Notes: Kerr, Jackson, Price, West
Warriors coach Steve Kerr suffered a spinal fluid leak during his July 28th back surgery on a ruptured disk, which has led to his absence from the team during the preseason. Dr. Neel Anand, the director of spine trauma at Cedars-Sinai Spine Center in Los Angeles, believes that Kerr is likely to make a full recovery, though the exact timetable still remains unclear, Rusty Simmons of The San Francisco Chronicle relays. When discussing Kerr’s prognosis, Anand said, “The body forms spinal fluid constantly. As long as it doesn’t continue to leak, he’ll make a full recovery and be back to normal. It’s like 99.9% that he’ll probably make a full recovery.” That’s certainly encouraging news for Kerr and the Warriors, and now here’s more out of the Pacific Division:
- Warriors team consultant Jerry West, in an interview with Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN.com, noted that one reason Mark Jackson, who was Kerr’s predecessor as Golden State coach, was let go after the 2013/14 campaign was his inability to adapt the offense to better suit the team’s personnel. “Coaches who have been players in the league, they get so attuned to playing how they were successful, and who their coaches were,” said West. “Mark was a real pick-and-roll guy and very, very good at it. Steve played for two championship coaches, and I think the coach obviously he has replicated is [Gregg] Popovich. He liked his style of play, even if he had great success in Chicago. Moving the ball, moving your body, all the little things you do to get defenses to make mistakes and to try to be able to counter. I think that’s been his philosophy offensively.“
- While Ronnie Price may have been signed with designs on him being a mentor to the Suns‘ young backcourt duo of Brandon Knight and Eric Bledsoe, Price has found them to be more talented and prepared than he anticipated, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic writes. “They don’t need to learn anything from me,” Price said. “I’m just here to be a brother and a teammate and to help them get through the season with a clear mindset. These guys are gifted. You don’t often have a chance to compete against two All-Star caliber point guards in practice. It’s been a joy. I have a newfound respect for Bled and B-Knight. You don’t have a chance to know how talented people are until you play against them every day. I respect their games even more. I’m just happy they’re on my team.”
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 10/12/15
Every season seems to have at least one team that exceeds all expectations and challenges for the top spot in its conference. Last season, we saw that occur in both conferences.
The Warriors were considered a team on the upswing entering last season but there were still serious doubts about their ability to contend. They had a first-year head coach, Steve Kerr, who had no previous experience running an NBA club. The core of the team was young and talented but had yet to make a deep playoff run. Everyone knew their backcourt of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson could shoot but would a perimeter-oriented team thrive throughout an 82-game schedule? Could Andrew Bogut stay healthy for most of the season and carry their interior defense? And just how much more could Draymond Green, a second-round pick, expand his game?
The Warriors answered all the questions with an exclamation point and carried that success over to the postseason during their dream season.
Don’t forget that a similar story unfolded in the Eastern Conference. While the Hawks had a disappointing playoff run, they enjoyed a regular-season run that nearly matched the Warriors’ dominance. The Hawks won 60 games, seven more than the much-heralded Cavaliers.
What made it even more impressive was that the Hawks did it with a core group that even today, most casual fans would have trouble naming. Who considered DeMarre Carroll to be one of the better small forwards in the league prior to last season? How many people thought Jeff Teague and aging gunner Kyle Korver would form one of the league’s most potent backcourt duos? Who thought center Al Horford could make it through a season without another significant injury?
Atlanta’s sudden rise was an eye opener. But that was last year. Somewhere out on the NBA landscape, another team without much hype is about to make a charge toward the top spot.
That brings us to today’s question: Which team will be the league’s biggest surprise and emerge as a contender this season?
Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the matter. Also, be sure to check back later on, as we’ll be responding to readers throughout the evening. We look forward to what you have to say!
Cavs Lead With 16 Free Agent Signings
The Cavaliers have drawn plenty of attention the past few months for a free agent they haven’t signed, but even though Tristan Thompson lingers in free agency, Cleveland has taken care of more free agent business than any other team in the league during the 2015 offseason. They signed 16 free agents, three more than the Spurs, the team that recorded the next most free agent signings. The Cavs just made their latest signing this weekend, replacing Michael Dunigan with Dionte Christmas on the camp roster.
It might be easy to presume a direct correlation between free agent activity and success, given the teams at the very top and bottom of the list below. The Cavs and Spurs are strong bets to win their respective conferences this season, while the Jazz, Timberwolves and Sixers are nowhere near the title picture. The presence of the Warriors and Thunder on the bottom half of the list and the Kings and Nets close to the top debunk that theory, however. It has more to do with the fact that the Cavs had only four players signed for 2015/16 when they ended last season, while the Jazz had 13. Cleveland simply had more jobs to hand out.
Still, other factors are at play, since free agent signings don’t encompass draft picks, draft-and-stash signings, trades or waiver claims. The Trail Blazers made significant changes to their roster, but they did much of their work via trade instead of free agency. The Rockets had 10 players under contract on July 1st, but they still wound up making 11 free agent signings.
Here’s a look at the number of free agent signings for each team. Click the team’s name to see the names of each of their signees via our 2015 Free Agent Tracker.
- Cavaliers, 16
- Mavericks, 13
- Spurs, 13
- Kings, 12
- Knicks, 12
- Nets, 12
- Pelicans, 12
- Rockets, 11
- Clippers, 10
- Grizzlies, 10
- Suns, 10
- Heat, 9
- Pacers, 9
- Raptors, 9
- Bulls, 8
- Hawks, 8
- Magic, 8
- Wizards, 8
- Bucks, 7
- Celtics, 7
- Hornets, 7
- Lakers, 7
- Nuggets, 7
- Warriors, 7
- Pistons, 6
- Thunder, 6
- Trail Blazers, 6
- 76ers, 5
- Timberwolves, 5
- Jazz, 4
Warriors Waive Tony Mitchell
The Warriors have waived power forward Tony Mitchell, the team announced. The subtraction of his non-guaranteed deal leaves Golden State with 19 players, 13 of whom have full guarantees, as our roster count shows. Mitchell was the only Warriors camp invitee who didn’t pose much of a threat from beyond the arc, as I noted earlier today, so it’s not entirely surprising that he’s the first cut, given the team’s desire for more shooting.
The former Piston who was the 37th overall pick out of North Texas in 2013 is not to be confused with the ex-Bucks small forward of the same name. Mitchell, who didn’t see any preseason action for the Warriors, has expressed interest in playing for Golden State’s D-League affiliate, notes Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group (Twitter link). Still, the 23-year-old had been giving it a go in Warriors camp to see if he could return to the NBA after a 2014/15 season in which he didn’t appear in a single regular season game for the Pistons even though he was on their roster for nearly two months. Detroit traded him to Phoenix in late December, but he didn’t see any playing time there either before the Suns waived him in conjunction with the Brandan Wright trade.
James Michael McAdoo appears to have a line on the 14th regular season spot for the Warriors, leaving Chris Babb, Ian Clark, Ben Gordon, Jarell Eddie and rookie Juwan Staten to battle over spot No. 15, assuming the taxpaying Warriors carry a full roster on opening night.
How would you handicap the battle for the last regular season spots on the Warriors? Leave a comment to tell us.
California Notes: Stephenson, Hibbert, Warriors
Many around the league believe the Lakers can quickly return to the NBA elite, with one executive telling Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com that they’re just “one big deal” from a favorable position. Still, Holmes heard pessimism from many others, including an agent who called them “hopeless” and “the West Coast Knicks,” and those who had pointed criticism for Mitch Kupchak, Nick Young and especially Byron Scott. Legendary Laker Shaquille O’Neal, now a Kings part-owner, pointed to the roster as a whole.
“They need to do the same thing Sacramento did — get new players,” O’Neal said to Holmes.
Little can be done about the top of the roster this time of the year, but the Lakers and other Pacific rivals face multiple decisions about how to fill out their bench, as I examined earlier. See more from California’s NBA teams:
- Clippers trade acquisition Lance Stephenson believes Doc Rivers and the Clippers are giving him a better chance at success than he had in Charlotte, where he didn’t feel the team used him properly last season, as he tells Dan Woike of The Orange County Register. “I was just sitting in the corner. That’s not trying to be a star. A star normally gets the ball,” Stephenson said.
- Roy Hibbert, set for free agency at season’s end, has impressed in his first action since the offseason trade that took him to the Lakers, observes fellow Orange County Register scribe Bill Oram. “He’s been absolutely solid,” Kobe Bryant said of Hibbert. “Defensively he’s been great. Offensively he’s been great and he’s another great passer on this team. We look forward to playing off him a lot.”
- The Warriors purchased the land for their new privately funded arena in San Francisco, the team announced. The purchase price wasn’t disclosed, but team indicated the entire project will cost in excess of $1 billion. “We’ve been the Bay Area’s team for more than 50 years, and this plan keeps us in the Bay Area for the next 50 and beyond,” Warriors president and COO Rick Welts said. “If there were any lingering doubts about our commitment to Mission Bay, purchasing this land should put them to rest. We love this neighborhood – nobody else is getting this land.”