JaMychal Green Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pacific Notes: Baldwin, Wiseman, Sabonis, LeBron, Bryant

December 24th, 2022 at 8:06pm CST by Arthur Hill

As the Warriors‘ nightmarish road trip wrapped up Wednesday in Brooklyn, there were encouraging signs from two players who spent much of the season in the G League, writes C.J. Holmes of The San Francisco Chronicle. Given extended minutes in the blowout loss, rookie forward Patrick Baldwin Jr. posted career highs with 17 points and five three-pointers and he got to experience his first matchup with Kevin Durant.

“I mean, KD is going to be KD,” Baldwin said. “He’s going to hit his tough shots. He’s going to get to his spots and I thought a lot of guys stepped up and accepted that challenge.”

Also setting a career high was third-year center James Wiseman, who made 12-of-14 shots from the field and scored 30 points. Holmes notes that he showed a soft touch around the basket and sank his first three-pointer of the season.

“James did a great job tonight,” coach Steve Kerr said. “It’s fun to kind of see him let loose and get some minutes and make the most of it. He did a lot of good things offensively.”

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After missing two games with an illness, Donte DiVincenzo should be able to return for the Warriors on Sunday against Memphis, tweets Kendra Andrews of ESPN. However, Andrew Wiggins (right adductor strain) and JaMychal Green (health and safety protocols) have both been ruled out.
X-rays confirmed that Kings big man Domantas Sabonis suffered an injury to his right hand Friday night, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Further testing will determine the extent of the damage, and Sabonis’ pain tolerance could factor into how much time he will miss. Sabonis leads the NBA with 23 double-doubles, and is one of three players averaging 10 rebounds and five assists per game, along with Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
With Anthony Davis injured, the Lakers need more from LeBron James than he’s capable of providing at nearly age 38, per Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports. Goodwill points out that James is taking the second-most shots of his career, while his efficiency is at the lowest point since 2015. He’s also attempting more three-pointers and fewer free throws this season and doesn’t appear capable of leading L.A. to the playoffs without another star on the court.
Thomas Bryant, who left Friday’s game with a shoulder injury, isn’t on the Lakers’ injury report for Sunday, tweets Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register.

Western Notes: Clippers, Gilgeous-Alexander, Lillard, Green

December 20th, 2022 at 8:21pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Clippers were able to practice at full strength on Tuesday, a rarity for a team that has dealt with numerous injuries, Andrew Grief of the Los Angeles Times notes. That includes Paul George, Norman Powell, Ivica Zubac and Reggie Jackson, who have missed games this month due a variety of ailments.

“It’s exciting to finally actually have our whole team almost complete, be ready to play and just try to get rotations down and see what guys plays good with who,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “And so we’re starting all over again, but it’s a good feeling to have your whole team back.”

We have more from around the Western Conference:

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hit a game-winning shot for the Thunder in a two-point victory over the Trail Blazers on Monday. Gilgeous-Alexander says he’s “super comfortable” in those situations, according to The Oklahoman’s Joe Mussatto. His teammates concur. “The ball had to end up in our best player’s hand,” guard Luguenz Dort said.
Damian Lillard became the Trail Blazers’ all-time leading scorer on Monday, surpassing Clyde Drexler. Center Jusuf Nurkic already considered his teammate the franchise’s greatest player, Jason Quick of The Athletic writes. “No disrespect to Clyde — he’s one of the all-time greats — but even if Dame didn’t pass him, I feel like Dame is still the greatest Blazer ever,” he said. “When you put everything together — the way he plays the game, what he does off the court, everything — he’s a one of a kind player. Hopefully he retires here.”
Warriors forward JaMychal Green has entered the league’s health and safety protocols, Kendra Andrews of ESPN tweets. Green, who missed Wednesday’s game against the Knicks, had one of his best outings for Golden State on Sunday. He contributed 15 points and seven rebounds in 17 minutes during a victory over Toronto.

NBA Fines JaMychal Green

November 17th, 2022 at 8:19pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The NBA has fined Warriors power forward JaMychal Green $20K for shouting expletives at a referee near the end of Wednesday’s 130-119 loss to the Suns in Phoenix, the league announced in a statement (Twitter link).

Green has been somewhat underwhelming for the somewhat underwhelming 6-9 reigning champs this season, averaging 4.8 PPG on .411/.227/.857 shooting splits and 4.5 RPG across 17.0 MPG. He was signed to a veteran’s minimum deal to help replace reserve forward Otto Porter Jr., who left Golden State over the summer to ink a two-year, $12.4MM deal with the Raptors.

The 32-year-old Green is a career 36.4% three-point shooter, though he has made just 26.0% during the last two seasons. Against the Suns on Wednesday, Green scored two points on 1-of-7 shooting and pulled down two boards in 17 minutes of action.

The 6’8″ reserve will next suit up for Golden State on Friday against the Knicks.

Warriors Notes: Looney, Wiseman, J. Green, Poole, Thompson

November 15th, 2022 at 1:48pm CST by Luke Adams

While Jordan Poole is the most obvious recent example of a Warriors player who benefited from a stint in the G League before breaking out at the NBA level, Anthony Slater of The Athletic believes Kevon Looney may be a better point of comparison for James Wiseman, who is headed to the Santa Cruz Warriors on Tuesday.

As Slater writes, Looney spent time in the G League in each of his first three NBA seasons, including a stint in his second year after he had been pulled from the team’s rotation. Looney has since evolved into one of Golden State’s most dependable and trusted veterans, but admits he wasn’t thrilled by the assignment at the time, and he knows it may not be easy for Wiseman to take his own G League assignment in stride.

“It’s really difficult,” Looney said. “Especially when you’re a high pick. You got all these expectations. You’re coming off injury. You want to prove yourself to all the doubters. You see all your peers doing well, everyone talking about how good they are and you feel like you’re just as good and things aren’t coming as fast. It makes it frustrating.”

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According to Slater, JaMychal Green, Jonathan Kuminga, and Anthony Lamb are likely to remain in Golden State’s rotation with Wiseman in Santa Cruz. Head coach Steve Kerr said after Monday’s win that he hasn’t done Green “any favors” by how he has used him so far (video link via Slater). Kerr now believes Green is best suited to be a backup center, rather than a power forward, and believes Green’s ability to space the floor will help create room for Poole to operate.
After pouring in 36 points on Monday, Poole is now averaging 28.7 PPG on .475/.394/.944 shooting in three starts this season, compared to 13.9 PPG (.421/.323/.765 shooting) in 11 games off the bench. Kerr said on Monday that things come easier for Poole when an opponent’s top defender is focused on Stephen Curry and he can utilize screens set by Looney and Draymond Green (Twitter link via Kendra Andrews of ESPN). However, as he said last week, Kerr stressed that he’s not considering moving Poole into the starting five on a full-time basis.
In a conversation with Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report, Klay Thompson expressed some frustration that helping lead the Warriors to four titles and returning from two major leg injuries hasn’t earned him more leeway from critics as he works through an extended slump. The veteran sharpshooter remains confident that he both he and the Warriors will find their stride sooner or later. “I’m happy to go through this now compared to a few months from now,” Thompson said. “No need to panic. We’re like 14 games in. It’s a long season. We face a challenge of going back-to-back, which is incredibly difficult. And then trying to integrate the new guys. It’s going to take time but we’ll figure it out.”

Warriors Notes: Young Players, J. Green, DiVincenzo, Thompson

November 14th, 2022 at 12:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Warriors‘ two-timeline plan of mixing young players with their established stars isn’t working, writes Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. The latest example came Sunday against the Kings when coach Steve Kerr had to pull his reserves midway through the fourth quarter and reinsert Stephen Curry and Draymond Green.

“We’re not a team right now where we can afford to let guys make mistakes,” Kerr said after the loss, which dropped Golden State to 0-7 on the road. “We’re not good enough to withstand a lot of mistakes.”

Third-year center James Wiseman, whom the Warriors valued highly enough to take with the second pick in the 2020 draft, has already fallen out of the rotation. Moses Moody hasn’t played at all the past two games, and his fellow 2021 lottery pick, Jonathan Kuminga, is seeing minimal time, usually early in the game. Even Jordan Poole, who received a lucrative long-term contract extension last month, sat out nearly the entire fourth quarter against Sacramento.

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Another problem for Golden State is that offseason additions JaMychal Green and Donte DiVincenzo haven’t replaced the production lost when Otto Porter Jr., Gary Payton II and Nemanja Bjelica all departed, Thompson adds. Green has lost his rotation spot, while DiVincenzo is coming off an injury and hasn’t been as productive as the front office was hoping. Thompson notes that Damion Lee and Juan Toscano-Anderson would both be seeing regular playing time if they hadn’t also left in free agency.
Draymond Green believes the Warriors are still adjusting to their reserves (video link from Anthony Slater of The Athletic). The second unit used to present opponents with a different look on offense, Green said, but now the first man off the bench is usually Poole, who is similar to Stephen Curry in his style of play.
Klay Thompson has been struggling with his shot so far, but he promises things are going to change, writes Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. After Sunday’s loss, Thompson posted a message on Instagram that read, “My belief is stronger than your doubt. I PROMISE you it’s coming. And when it does, the floodgates will open.” His shooting percentage currently sits at a career-low 35.1%.

Warriors Notes: Myers, Trade Market, Green, Wiseman

November 9th, 2022 at 9:08am CST by Luke Adams

Speaking to Tim Kawakami of The Athletic about the Warriors‘ underwhelming 4-7 start to the season, head of basketball operations Bob Myers repeatedly stated that he’s not worried about the team’s ability to turn things around and dismissed the idea that Draymond Green punching Jordan Poole during a training camp practice has messed up the club’s chemistry.

“I don’t think anybody’s playing at their best, maybe besides (Stephen) Curry,” Myers said. “Draymond’s been pretty good. But everybody else has a lot more upside than they’ve shown, whether it’s the bench or Poole or obviously Klay (Thompson)‘s going to be better. So there’s that part. And there’s the combinations of the bench and kind of revitalizing the energy to get back on track. (Monday) was the beginning of it, and hopefully, we can continue. But yeah, rough start for sure. Sometimes it’s tough to get out of those.”

Asked about James Wiseman‘s early struggles and the fact that the Warriors’ two-way players are seeing more action than former lottery picks like Wiseman, Moses Moody, and Jonathan Kuminga, Myers stressed that it’s a “really long season” and that the rotations now won’t necessarily look like the ones the club is using in a few months or even a few weeks. He also spoke specifically about why he’s not concerned about Wiseman.

“I would say that James needs to play. And (head coach) Steve (Kerr)‘s trying to figure out how to do that,” Myers said. “We’ve seen the growth over the last few months, preseason, start of the season, then he hit a little rut the last few games. But we’re not ready to get super-concerned. We just think he needs to play. Steve believes in him; we believe in him.

“… I think a lot of people want to rush it. I’m sure James wants to rush it. We all want it to happen right away. But he has the talent, he has the desire, he has the work ethic. He’s a good kid. I would be more concerned if I thought he wasn’t putting in the work outside of the games. But he is. And he cares. And it’s just going to have to run its course.”

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Within a look at Golden State’s slow start, Tim Bontemps of ESPN wonders if the team might ultimately pivot to the trade market at some point in an effort to upgrade its bench. However, Bontemps admits it’s hard to envision the Warriors moving away from young players like Wiseman, Moody, and Kuminga this season, given how much time and energy they’ve spent developing them.
For what it’s worth, Myers was asked about possible trades during his conversation with Kawakami and said the Warriors are “always open to anything,” but that there’s no urgency to make any roster changes. “We’re not going to overreact to this start,” Myers said. “We’re going to see how we move through it. But we view ourselves as contenders. There’s no secret there. And we’ll look at the roster as we move ahead. But at this point, it’s way too early to kind of make any proclamations about what we’re going to do.”
After JaMychal Green and Wiseman were DNP-CDs in Monday’s victory over Sacramento, Kerr said both players will get the opportunity to work their way back into the rotation, per Kendra Andrews of ESPN. However, for now, Kerr intends to lean on smaller lineups, with Draymond Green and Kuminga serving as backup centers for Kevon Looney.
Curry, who practically single-handedly led the Warriors to Monday’s win with 47 points, said he’s prepared for some ups and downs this season as the team gets its young prospects the necessary reps. “We have to understand that (the young players) are all going to get an opportunity to perform, and there are going to be some struggles — some real high highs, and some real low lows,” Curry said, according to Andrews. “That’s the story of this team. As vets, you understand every year is a little different and you are ready for that challenge. For these young guys to try to find themselves in this league and also a specific role, it’s challenging.”

Warriors Notes: Losing Streak, Kuminga, Kerr, Howard

November 7th, 2022 at 11:58am CST by Arthur Hill

The Warriors are thankful to return to home after going 0-5 on what Klay Thompson called a “road trip from hell,” writes Kendra Andrews of ESPN. The defending champs are frustrated to be 3-7 — and winless on the road at 0-6 — but they believe they’re close to a turnaround. Coach Steve Kerr pointed to a 2-9 stretch last February and March, noting that even the league’s best teams run into adversity.

“There are times in the NBA season when things can go off the rails a little bit,” Kerr said. “A big part of being a great team, being a solid organization, is just understanding how to work through that.”

Kerr is placing an emphasis on boxing out and defending without fouling, two areas of concern that have cost the team in close games. Transition defense, where Golden State led the league last season, also needs improvement as the Warriors are 25th in points per shot allowed in transition and 23rd in field goal percentage allowed in transition.

“We just need to bring more of a sense of urgency,” Thompson said. “We had a long run last year, but 2022 is over. It’s time to kick into high gear and play that championship level of basketball that we’re used to. I fully expect us to do that. We know how good we are in this building. So I think we’re going to be off to a fresh start.”

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Jonathan Kuminga has been promoted to a rotation role after scoring 18 points in 38 minutes Friday night, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Kerr has been giving frontcourt minutes to James Wiseman and newcomer JaMychal Green, but it appears Kuminga is now the priority.
The Warriors are in the unusual position of trying to develop several young players while defending a title, Slater adds. Kerr talked about the difficult adjustment to the NBA now that players are spending less time in college. “What’s changed is we are now doing the work that college coaches were doing back then,” Kerr said. “But you don’t have the advantage of allowing a guy’s confidence to grow playing against inferior competition. You’re throwing him right into the deep end. It’s sink or swim for a lot of these guys. I don’t blame anyone for taking the money. It’s a lot of money. If a guy doesn’t come out and gets injured and has thrown $10 or $15 million away, how do you reconcile that? So it’s a really difficult situation. But I’d say for the league now and these players coming in, it’s not at all an ideal setup for success.”
Free agent center Dwight Howard said he would be a perfect fit for the Warriors during a recent appearance on Shannon Sharpe’s podcast. Howard said Golden State needs another center and he would welcome the opportunity to serve as a mentor for Wiseman.

Warriors Notes: Wiggins, Williams, Green, Brown, Kerr, Wiseman

October 24th, 2022 at 10:57pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Andrew Wiggins, who signed a four-year, $109MM extension before the season, is playing like a star in the early going. He’s averaging 22.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.3 blocks through the first three games. Warriors coach Steve Kerr believes Wiggins is playing at the top of his game, according to Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area.

“This is the best I’ve ever seen Wiggs,” Kerr said. “He was an All-Star last year, he helped us win a championship and I think he’s used that momentum that he gained a year ago to kind of springboard into this season.”

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Suns coach Monty Williams was “quietly upset” that JaMychal Green joined the Warriors on a one-year, veteran’s minimum contract, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic tweets. “Why did he go there?” Williams said.
The Warriors topped the Kings 130-125 on Sunday in a coaching matchup featuring Kerr and his former top assistant, Mike Brown. Kerr is thrilled that Brown got another head coaching job, Anthony Slater of The Athletic writes. “He’d always talk about how much he loved this job,” Kerr said. “That’s always what we’d lean on if he didn’t get an interview somewhere. Like, ‘You’ve got a pretty good gig. I’ve got it good. You’ve got it good. We’ll just keep it going.’ But we both felt like he was too talented and too young not to get another chance.”
In a subscriber-only story, Howard Beck of Sports Illustrated speaks to James Wiseman about his comeback from a knee injury that kept him out of action last season. Wiseman is averaging 11 points and six rebounds in 17.7 minutes per game.

Pacific Notes: Suns, Sarver, Lakers, Davis, J. Green, Ballmer

September 28th, 2022 at 4:02pm CST by Luke Adams

After handing Robert Sarver a one-year suspension and a $10MM fine following the investigation into the Suns owner’s workplace misconduct, NBA commissioner Adam Silver told some concerned players that he considered having the league’s Board of Governors vote on Sarver’s fate, but had some legal concerns about the process, report Baxter Holmes and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN (Insider link). Instead, Silver repeatedly spoke directly to Sarver in an effort to encourage him to sell the franchise.

As Holmes and Shelburne outline, Sarver was upset by his punishment and questioned why it was more severe than the one Mark Cuban received following an investigation into the Mavericks’ front office in 2018. Silver explained that the differences stemmed from the fact that Cuban wasn’t accused of misconduct himself.

While persistent nudging from Silver may not have been enough on its own to convince Sarver to sell, the Suns were facing the prospect of losing several key sponsors if he remained on as the team’s owner. Sources tell Holmes and Shelburne that nearly 30 sponsors are up for renewal after the coming season, including PayPal, which issued a statement calling for Sarver’s removal. There were indications that many companies would follow PayPal’s lead and put out similar statements.

“The walls were closing in on (Sarver),” a source close to the process told ESPN. “A group of sponsors were all moving towards this common position.”

After Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic reported last week that a “high-end estimate” for the sale price of the Suns could be $3 billion or more, ESPN’s duo is hearing the same thing. Multiple sources who spoke to Holmes and Shelburne, noting that the NBA has rebounded well from the impact of COVID-19 and has a new TV deal around the corner, predicted that the franchise could sell for more than $3 billion.

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As he preaches defensive effort and intensity to his new team, Lakers head coach Darvin Ham said on Tuesday that he likes the fact that multiple starting lineup spots are for grabs in training camp, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. LeBron James and Anthony Davis are locked in as starters and Russell Westbrook will “absolutely” join them if he shows the effort Ham is looking for on defense, but that would still leave two spots open. “I think it adds a little spice to camp, and LeBron and AD, they are who they are, as well as Russ, those guys are going to go at them,” Ham said. “That’s only going to make everybody better. It’s a controlled competitive environment.”
Davis told reporters on Wednesday that he was affected last season by a wrist injury that he suffered in January, tweets Jovan Buha of The Athletic. The Lakers‘ big man added that it’s not an excuse for his poor three-point shooting (18.6%), but that it affected the follow-through on his shot.
According to head coach Steve Kerr, the Warriors viewed JaMychal Green as a “critical” offseason addition because he adds some much-needed veteran experience to a young bench. Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area has the story.
Steve Ballmer of the Clippers remains the richest owner in sports, according to a report from Forbes, which estimates Ballmer’s net worth at $83 billion. Robert Pera of the Grizzlies ($17.6 billion) and Dan Gilbert of the Cavaliers ($17.3 billion) are the other NBA owners who rank in Forbes’ top 10.

Warriors Notes: Kerr, Kuminga, Iguodala, Roster Questions, J. Green

September 23rd, 2022 at 9:42pm CST by Rory Maher

Speaking to Tim Kawakami of The Athletic on his podcast earlier this week, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr noted that Golden State is in a unique position as a title-defending team that has question marks in the rotation beyond its top six players (Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, Kevon Looney and Jordan Poole). He said he’s looking forward to players having to earn their minutes.

“The beauty of it is everything has to be earned,” Kerr said on Wednesday. “I talk about how unique each season is — that’s what makes this season unique. The first three times we came back from winning championships, the rotations were really set. We had a deep roster, we had veteran rosters, we kind of knew exactly who was going to play and what combinations would form.

“This is very different. It’s rare, I think, for a championship team to come back with a lot of young talent that has a chance to compete for playing time. I like that dynamic. I think competition is good. It brings the best out of everybody. I don’t even really have a rotation. I just look at it as we’ve got six guys who played integral roles in us winning the title. We know who they are. We know what they do. And then everybody else is ‘go’ time. It’s right there for you; you’ve just gotta go earn it.”

Kerr also touched on several other topics with Kawakami, including Jonathan Kuminga, James Wiseman, rookies Ryan Rollins and Patrick Baldwin Jr., tweaks to the coaching staff, and more. Regarding Kuminga, Kerr said the organization is pleased with his progress entering year two.

“JK’s had a really good summer, he’s done everything we’ve asked of him. He’s traveled some, he played for his national team this summer. He’s been working really hard,” Kerr said. “I know there was that weird report that came out, I think Stephen A. Smith said something about JK. And honestly, Bob (Myers) and I, when that came out, we called each other and asked, ‘Where did that come from?’ Because it made no sense. JK’s been great, he’s done everything we’ve asked of him. He’s working hard. I enjoy coaching him. He’s right where he needs to be, and just gotta keep getting better every day.”

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Anthony Slater of The Athletic explores what Andre Iguodala‘s return means for the Warriors. Iguodala announced he was returning for his 19th and final season earlier today. In addition to being a locker room mentor for young players like Poole, Kuminga and Moses Moody, Iguodala also showed that he can still provide a lot of on-court value, even his minutes were limited due to nagging injuries. As Slater notes, Golden State was plus-114 in Iguodala’s 603 minutes last season.
In a separate story for The Athletic, Slater poses four roster questions entering training camp, including how Wiseman and Kuminga will work together. While both Wiseman and Kuminga have tantalizing potential, spacing might be an issue when they share the court, Slater writes.
If free agent addition JaMychal Green can fill the void left by Otto Porter Jr.‘s departure, that would be ideal for the Warriors, according to Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area, who breaks down what fans can expect from JaMychal in 2022/23.