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Warriors Showing Patience In Pursuit Of Lauri Markkanen

July 9th, 2024 at 6:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Warriors haven’t given up in their pursuit to acquire Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen but they’re willing to wait and see how the process plays out, Anthony Slater of The Athletic reports.

Markkanen, who has an expiring $18MM contract, becomes extension-eligible on Aug. 6. From what Slater is hearing, the Jazz plan to renegotiate-and-extend Markkanen by using their remaining cap space.

If Markkanen signs that type of contract on that date, he would still be eligible to be traded at the February deadline. However, if he signs any time after that (beginning on Aug. 7), he’d be ineligible to be dealt during the season due to the league’s six-month trade restriction on renegotiated contracts. That provides some extra leverage for Markkanen, which could dictate whether he gets moved this offseason to the Warriors or another suitor.

The Kings made a strong push to acquire Markkanen last week but they were unwilling to give up Keegan Murray in a proposed deal. Instead, they made a substantial picks-based offer. They put a deadline on pursuing a trade with Utah and the Jazz didn’t meet it, so Sacramento pivoted to a sign-and-trade for DeMar DeRozan.

The Warriors don’t feel that type of urgency, Slater continues. They’re comfortable with the 14-man roster they current have with the free agent additions of De’Anthony Melton, Kyle Anderson and Buddy Hield. There’s no room financially under the hard cap to fill the 15th spot.

Golden State appears, on paper, to need one more impact player to be a legitimate contender again. But Slater’s sources tell him that the front office and ownership don’t feel compelled to make that type of move right away unless the right opportunity comes along. It’s also noted that the front office is increasingly willing to add future first-round picks and make pick swaps in trade offers.

The Warriors are currently below the tax aprons but above the tax line. Owner Joe Lacob is still willing to spend to remain competitive.

Lindy Waters III and Gui Santos have non-guaranteed deals but the Warriors currently plan to keep both of those reserves. Second-round pick Quinten Post is expected to sign a two-way contract, Slater adds.

And-Ones: Nunn, Hield, Harris, Westbrook, Wagner, Brazil Roster

May 19th, 2024 at 8:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Former NBA guard Kendrick Nunn signed a two-year contract extension with Panathinaikos in Greece earlier this month, but he’s not ruling out an NBA return, he told Vangelis Papadimitriou of Eurohoops.net. The contract includes NBA out clauses, under specific conditions.

“I’ll be honored to go back. You never know,” he said.

In the meantime, he hopes to bring multiple EuroLeague titles to his current team. Nunn was named to the All-EuroLeague First Team in his first season with the club.

“To play here with one of the biggest clubs in Europe. Playing at a high level. With great guys in the locker room that I enjoy playing with and bonding. It wasn’t hard. I love Panathinaikos and Greece,” he said.

We have more from around the basketball world:

Which impending free agents hurt their stock during the postseason? HoopsHype’s Frank Urbina identifies four players — Buddy Hield, Tobias Harris, Russell Westbrook and Moritz Wagner — who fall in that category. Westbrook has the ability to exercise a player option for next season, while Wagner’s deal includes a team option.
Brazil has announced a roster of 17 players for its Olympic qualifier tournament in Riga, Latvia. The roster will eventually be pared to 12 players. Gui Santos, who played 23 games with the Warriors as a rookie this season, made the list. Raul Neto, Cristiano Felicio, Didi Louzada and Bruno Caboclo are among former NBA players who are also on the preliminary roster, Sportando relays.
In case you missed it, Taylor Jenkins, Willie Green and Chauncey Billups top the list of coaches on the hot seat next season.

Olympic Notes: France, Australia, Germany, Brazil

May 17th, 2024 at 1:08pm CST by Luke Adams

Ahead of the 2024 Olympics in Paris, the host nation has announced its preliminary 19-man roster (Twitter link). As Eurohoops relays, the headliners on France’s squad are big men Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert, the top two finishers in this year’s Defensive Player of the Year vote.

However, there are several more notable NBA names on the list, including Nicolas Batum, Evan Fournier, Bilal Coulibaly, and Ousmane Dieng. Other recent NBAers who didn’t finish the 2023/24 season on a roster include Killian Hayes, Frank Ntilikina, and Theo Maledon.

One player not on France’s roster is veteran guard Mike James. The 2023/24 EuroLeague MVP is an American, but according to a report from L’Equipe (hat tip to BasketNews.com), the French Basketball Federation explored the possibility of getting a French passport for James, who has played for AS Monaco in France’s LNB Pro A since 2021. That effort didn’t make any real headway, however.

“We do not have the culture of other nations which use naturalized players in a systematic way,” an unnamed executive told L’Equipe. “But we have a duty to explore all possibilities. In this case, we were asked, we looked at it and quickly established that it was not a question.”

The French national team will have to make seven cuts and set a 12-man roster for this July’s event.

Here are a few more updates related to the 2024 Olympics:

The Australian national team has trimmed its preliminary Olympic roster from 22 players to 17, the Boomers announced in a press release. None of the NBA players on the roster – including Josh Giddey, Joe Ingles, Patty Mills, Dante Exum, Matisse Thybulle, and Dyson Daniels, among others – were among the cuts, but potential 2024 first-round pick Johnny Furphy was. The plan is for those 17 Australian players to attend training camp this summer before setting the final 12-man roster.
The German national team announced this week that head coach Gordon Herbert won’t continue on in that role after the conclusion of the Paris Olympics (hat tip to Sportando). The two sides are going their separate ways after a fruitful partnership that included a gold medal at the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
The Brazilian national team has announced its preliminary roster for this summer’s Olympic qualifying tournament in Latvia. The notable names include veteran point guard Raul Neto, former first-round pick Bruno Caboclo, Warriors rookie Gui Santos, and former NBA guard Didi Louzada. The Brazilians will need to win the six-team qualifier to earn a spot in the Olympic men’s basketball tournament.

Injury Notes: Paul, Santos, Simmons, Isaac, Sasser

February 26th, 2024 at 1:57pm CST by Rory Maher

Future Hall-of-Famer Chris Paul is not listed on the Warriors‘ injury report for Tuesday’s contest vs. the Wizards, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. That means the 38-year-old will be active for tomorrow’s game, which will be his first contest since January 5.

Paul has been sidelined for most of the past two months after fracturing his left hand, which required surgery. While he was mentioned in several rumors leading up to the trade deadline, the Warriors decided to keep him for the home stretch of the 2023/24 season.

In his first season with Golden State, the 11-time All-NBA point guard has averaged 8.9 PPG, 7.2 APG, 3.8 RPG and 1.1 SPG on .424/.361/.833 shooting in 32 games (27.6 MPG), mostly off the bench (11 starts).

Here are a few more injury notes from around the NBA:

The lone member of the Warriors who is on tomorrow’s injury report is rookie Gui Santos, who is out with right knee inflammation. According to Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area (Twitter link), the Brazilian forward had an MRI, which showed no structural damage. Santos thinks he could return at some point next week, Poole adds.
Nets guard Ben Simmons injured his leg in Saturday’s loss to Minnesota, which saw him exit the game in the third quarter. However, the issue seems to be a minor one, as he’s questionable for Monday’s contest vs. Memphis with left leg soreness, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Simmons has only played 14 games in 2023/24, mostly due to a nerve impingement in his lower back. It’s worth noting that he missed one game last month with a left knee injury, though it’s unclear if the two issues are related.
Another oft-injured player, Magic big man Jonathan Isaac, underwent an MRI on his left knee/leg, but it revealed “no significant injuries,” the team announced (via Twitter). The defensive stalwart is questionable for Tuesday’s contest vs. Brooklyn with a left knee strain. Isaac was limited to two minutes of action in Sunday’s loss to Atlanta due to the injury.
Pistons guard Marcus Sasser will be reevaluated in one week after sustaining a knee contusion, tweets Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. The former Houston Cougar has had an impressive rookie season for Detroit, averaging 7.7 PPG and 3.0 APG on .468/.424/.850 shooting in 50 games off the bench (16.3 MPG). Sasser was the 25th overall pick of last year’s draft.

Klay Thompson Discusses Latest Fourth Quarter Benching

February 6th, 2024 at 11:26am CST by Luke Adams

Longtime Warriors star Klay Thompson sat out the final 7:19 of Golden State’s victory over Brooklyn on Monday, marking the second time in the past three games that he has been on the bench down the stretch in non-garbage-time minutes.

Thompson was part of the Warriors’ closing lineup on Saturday in Atlanta, but didn’t play the final 7:40 of Friday’s win over Memphis and was benched on Monday in favor of rookie Gui Santos, who had his best game as a pro in logging a career-high 18 minutes.

Asked after Monday’s win about his changing role and the fact that he’s no longer on a lock to be part of Golden State’s crunch-time lineup, Thompson said that winning is the most important thing, but admitted the adjustment hasn’t been easy, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN and Anthony Slater of The Athletic.

“Yeah, you kidding me?” Thompson said. “To go from, you know, one of the best players … it’s hard for anybody. I’ll be honest with you. It’s very hard.”

A five-time All-Star who led the NBA in three-pointers last season, Thompson is making 37.1% of his attempts from beyond the arc in 2023/24. That’s a solid rate for many players, but for Thompson, it represents a career low. Additionally, his 17.1 points per game are the fewest he has averaged since 2012/13.

“He’s fine,” head coach Steve Kerr said on Monday, according to Bontemps. “This is a season where he’s had a lot of ups and downs. It’s not easy for a guy who’s been so good and a Hall of Fame player to deal with the injuries and … it’s never easy for any player, getting older. (But) he’s mentally tough.”

Kerr added that, while there’s a “spotlight” on Thompson because of his career résumé, the story on Monday should be about how well role players like Santos, Moses Moody, and Lester Quinones performed off the bench to help the Warriors secure a road win. Thompson highlighted those performances by his teammates in explaining why he’s trying not to let his late-game benching bother him.

“I’ve accepted it,” Thompson said. “You can be mad. But I’m not going to be mad. I’m happy for these young guys. Yeah, we won. It’s hard to get wins in this league. … It’s all good. These guys played great. Gui played great. BP (Brandin Podziemski). Jonathan (Kuminga). At the end of the day, winning trumps all.”

Thompson is on an expiring contract and his name has popped up occasionally in the rumor mill leading up to Thursday’s trade deadline, but ESPN’s Brian Windhorst recently reported the Warriors have no interest in moving the veteran sharpshooter.

Slater expressed a belief last month that Golden State will ultimately work out a new contract with Thompson, who reportedly turned down a two-year extension offer from the team prior to the season.

Warriors Notes: Curry, Wiggins, Thompson, Santos

November 13th, 2023 at 7:38pm CST by Dana Gauruder

While Stephen Curry has produced like a Most Valuable Player, his teammates haven’t been contributing at their usual levels, ESPN’s Kendra Andrews notes. Curry has delivered six 30-point games, but the Warriors have gotten just one 20-point performance from anyone else.

“No question, we need some scoring and some play-making elsewhere,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.

Golden State has lost three straight and Curry expects some tweaks to be made.

“Everything is on the table for us for adjustments,” Curry said. “When you’ve lost three straight, you have to make adjustments.”

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Andrew Wiggins is one of those players who is looking to regain his offensive rhythm. Wiggins had just six points in 25 minutes against Minnesota and hasn’t scored more than 17 in any contest this season. He hasn’t been part of the closing unit, either. “It’s tough,” Wiggins told Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. “I’ve just got to do what I can to give them a reason to keep me in. Whether it’s crashing the glass harder, defensively picking up. … If your shot is off, you’ve got to do other stuff to stay on the floor. Or someone else will come in.”
Along the same lines, Klay Thompson is searching for answers to his shooting slump, as Anthony Slater of The Athletic details. Thompson, who is headed to free agency unless he signs an extension, is averaging 16.1 points per game — his lowest output since his rookie year. He’s shooting a career low 34.7% on 3-point attempts. Thompson says there’s nothing wrong with him physically and he hasn’t lost any confidence. “If history shows us anything, it’s most definitely coming. What’s the point of panicking and pressing? I’ve been through this more than a decade,” he said. “It’s hard. Basketball is hard. I’m not going to lose faith or confidence. One thing I’ve proved is the resiliency within me. I’ll come back and have a great month.”
The Warriors had financial motives to add 2022 second-round pick Gui Santos on a three-year contract, as John Hollinger of The Athletic explains. Santos is considered a “draft rookie” and thus his minimum salary for luxury-tax purposes is just $1.03MM instead the $2.02MM for a veteran on a minimum contract. Factoring in the luxury and repeater taxes, the Warriors would have been out another $8MM if they had used the 14th roster spot on a veteran. Due to the non-guaranteed status of Santos’ contract, the Warriors could waive Santos just before the Jan. 10 guarantee date, go two weeks with a 13-player roster and then add another player prior to the trade deadline.

Warriors Sign Gui Santos To Three-Year Deal

November 7th, 2023 at 11:39am CST by Rory Maher

NOVEMBER 7: The Warriors have officially signed Santos, per NBA.com’s transaction log. His contract is worth the minimum across all three seasons, including a prorated $1,029,483 salary for the rest of the 2023/24 season.

Only $75K of that money is guaranteed, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link), who adds that the second and third seasons are non-guaranteed. The deal includes a third-year team option.

NOVEMBER 6: The Warriors are finalizing a three-year contract with 2022 second-round pick Gui Santos, report Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN (Twitter link).

Golden State will use the second-round pick exception to sign Santos, notes ESPN’s Bobby Marks (via Twitter). Due to their tax situation, the Warriors can only offer free agents a minimum-salary contract, which can only run for up to two years. Using the second-round exception will allow the Warriors to give Santos a three-year deal.

Santos, 21, was selected No. 55 overall last year. He signed a G League contract with Santa Cruz (Golden State’s affiliate) in 2022/23 and was essentially a draft-and-stash prospect because the Warriors still held his NBA rights.

A 6’8″ forward from Brazil, Santos averaged 12.7 PPG, 6.0 RPG and 2.2 APG on .500/.333/.813 shooting in 26 regular season games with Santa Cruz last season. He had a strong Summer League showing for the Warriors this offseason and also played for the Brazilian national team at the World Cup.

A report at the end of August indicated that Santos was unlikely to play for the Warriors this season, in part because they would have to buy out his contract from Brazilian club Minas. That deal reportedly expires at the end of ’23/24. Evidently there was a change of plans, however, and now Golden State will be giving the young wing a three-year standard contract.

The Warriors only have 13 players on standard contracts after waiving several training camp invitees before the ’23/24 season started. Instead of signing an external free agent, they’ll be adding Santos for their 14th spot, which they were required to fill within 14 days.

Golden State will still have a standard roster opening even after signing Santos, but it seems unlikely that the team will sign a player to fill that 15th spot until later in the season in order to maintain roster and financial flexibility.

Pacific Notes: Harden, Plumlee, Davis, Santos

November 7th, 2023 at 8:02am CST by Luke Adams

James Harden‘s debut with the Clippers was spoiled by the Knicks, who pulled out a 111-97 win on Monday in New York. But Harden said after the game that he sees “unlimited possibilities” for what he, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and Russell Westbrook can do together, writes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.

Harden, who admitted that he felt “kind of weird out there” playing in his first game since the spring after not having a training camp with his new team, scored 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting and handed out six assists in 31 minutes of action.

As Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports writes, it looks like Harden will defer primary play-making duties to Westbrook to open games, then sub out early before returning to spearhead the team’s second unit. Despite Monday’s loss, head coach Tyronn Lue was pleased with what he saw from his club’s newest guard.

“He did a good job his first game in a while,” Leonard said, per Youngmisuk. “And it takes time to get his legs under him as far as conditioning. But he did a great job to me, got everybody involved running pick-and-roll very well.”

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

Clippers reserve center Mason Plumlee had to be carried off the court by a pair of team staffers following a collision with Julius Randle on Monday, Youngmisuk notes. The original diagnosis for Plumlee is a left knee sprain, but he’ll undergo further evaluation on Tuesday before the team officially announces a recovery timeline.
Lakers big man Anthony Davis dealt with spasms in his left hip on Monday and had to leave the team’s loss to Miami late in the first half. However, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN writes, Davis said he’s “very optimistic” that the hip issue won’t force him to miss additional time. “Everything’s going to be fine,” Davis said. “I’ll be ready to go for Wednesday, for sure.”
Although he’s getting a three-year deal and a spot on the Warriors‘ standard roster, forward Gui Santos is expected to continue spending much of his time in the G League with Santa Cruz, according to Kendra Andrews of ESPN, who says Santos will split his team between the NBA and NBAGL squads.

International Notes: Sneed, Parker, Gobert, Nembhard, Prospects

September 9th, 2023 at 8:38am CST by Tristan Tucker

Former Hornets wing Xavier Sneed signed with Italian club Happy Casa Brandisi, the team announced in a release. This will be Sneed’s first professional experience in Europe.

Sneed, 25, finished last season with Charlotte on a two-way deal before being waived in early August. He appeared in just four games last year, putting up a total of 17 points during that time. Sneed also spent time with the Grizzlies and the Jazz in 2021/22. In total, he has 13 NBA appearances under his belt.

The Kansas State product has spent more time in the G League, mostly with Charlotte’s affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm. In 60 regular season career G League games split between Greensboro and Utah’s affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars, Sneed averaged 12.2 points and 4.8 rebounds.

We have more International Notes:

France had a rough go in the 2023 FIBA World Cup, failing to reach the second round despite having NBA players like Rudy Gobert, Evan Fournier and Nicolas Batum. France gets an automatic bid for the 2024 Olympics due to being the host country, but was still looking to make an impact in the World Cup. Hall of Famer and French national team legend Tony Parker spoke on the loss, calling it “disappointing,” per Sarah Todd of Deseret News. Parker didn’t specifically call out any players but hinted that big names, including possibly Gobert, could be on the way out, Todd writes. “They are going to have big choices to make,” Parker said. “If you bring back big players like Joel Embiid and [Victor Wembanyama], it has to be complementary with the rest, because it could mean the departure of certain cornerstones, which can make headlines.“
RJ Nembhard, who spent the 2021/22 season with the Cavaliers, is signing with Belgium’s Filou Oostende, Eurohoops reports. Nembhard, 24, is being added to offset the loss of fellow former NBAer Patrick McCaw, whose visa issues are preventing him from joining Oostende, according to Eurohoops. Nembhard has 14 games of NBA experience, mostly while playing on a two-way deal with Cleveland, and totaled 15 points and 12 assists in those games.
The 2023 World Cup was a great opportunity for younger players across the world to get competitive, meaningful minutes early in their career. HoopsHype’s Alberto De Roa takes a look at some of the top prospects from the event, including NBA draftees Rokas Jokubaitis and Gui Santos. Both Jokubaitis and Santos, whose draft rights are held by the Knicks and Warriors, respectively, looked like future NBA rotation pieces, according to De Roa.

Warriors Notes: Thompson, Santos, Staudt

August 31st, 2023 at 2:18pm CST by Rory Maher

Former NBA player Mychal Thompson says his son, Klay Thompson, is in great shape ahead of the 2023/24 season, he tells Mark Medina of Sportskeeda.

“He’ll be back hungrier than ever,” Mychal said of Klay. “He’s two years removed from his serious injuries. He’s been working out like crazy. He looks good, lean and ready to go. I expect him to be at a high All-Star level again. It’s possible. But the West is so loaded with guards. You’re going to have to be hooping out of your mind because all of these guards in the West could make the All-Star team.”

The longtime Warriors guard is entering the final year of his contract, which will pay him $43.2MM this season. Will that be a distraction for Klay?

“He’s not worried about that,” Mychal Thompson told Medina. “He knows he has a job to do with coming into camp in the best shape and having a great year. Everything else will take care of itself.”

The elder Thompson also talked to Medina about Klay’s future with the Warriors, the possibility of his son representing either Team USA or the Bahamas ahead of next year’s Olympics, and other topics. The interview is worth checking out in full if you’re a Golden State fan.

Here’s more on the Warriors:

Brazilian forward Gui Santos, who is currently competing at the 2023 World Cup, was the No. 55 overall pick last year by the Warriors. He wound up signing an NBA G League contract in 2022/23 and spent his first season in the U.S. playing for the team’s affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors. The 21-year-old added 15 pounds of muscle in the offseason and had a strong Summer League showing, but he’s expected to once again play for Santa Cruz in ’23/24, reports Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area.
According to Johnson, Santos is currently ineligible for a two-way deal with Golden State because he’s still under contract with Brazilian team Minas. The Warriors could buy out his current deal — which ends after ’23/24 — in order to give him a standard contract, but that isn’t expected to occur, Johnson writes. In other words, Santos likely won’t be making his NBA debut until at least ’24/25.
The Warriors are hiring Wizards scout Jason Staudt to join their front office, league sources tell veteran reporter Marc Stein (Twitter link). Staudt has worked in various roles with several NBA organizations, including the Magic, Blazers, Rockets and Suns.