Warriors HoopsHype

Are the Knicks building something or just biding time before a blow-up?

Russell Westbrook searches for an encore to an overwhelming season

Kobe Bryant takes on what could be the last of his many battles

Will Kevin Love 'fit in' better in Year 2 in Cleveland?

Is DeAndre Jordan and Chris Paul's relationship built to last?

Anthony Davis, nascent destroyer of worlds

How, exactly, will LaMarcus Aldridge fit in with the Spurs?

The rise of Brad Stevens and his starless Celtics

- - - - - - -

Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops

Vegas sportsbook: Warriors to have most NBA wins in 2015-16---(9/30/2015 http://www.csnbayarea.com)

Wed, 30 Sep 2015 18:46:47 +0000

Vegas did not give the Warriors the best odds at a repeat, but Sin City's biggest sportsbook is forecasting another league-leading win total...

New LA Clippers Face Same Old Pressures and Expectations---(9/30/2015 http://bleacherreport.com)

Josh Martin — Wed, 30 Sep 2015 18:16:26 +0000

The more things change, the more they stay the same for the Los Angeles Clippers.

Of the 17 players wearing the team's new threads in training camp, 10 are fresh faces—as Clippers, that is. Pablo Prigioni, 38, and Paul Pierce, 37, are the fifth- and ninth-oldest players in the NBA, respectively. Nikoloz Tskitishvili might as well be that seasoned, after spending close to a decade overseas between stints in the Association.

For the work he and his front office put in to beef up L.A.'s roster, Doc Rivers, once derided for his curious personnel moves, has seemingly earned his stripes as a general manager.

There have even been shifts among the incumbents—some subtle, some not.

At Clippers media day, Chris Paul, a stern leader since his arrival in L.A. in 2011, provided more levity than usual. Blake Griffin, often quieter despite what his comedic TV persona would suggest, took control of the conversation at times without prompting. All the while, it was DeAndre Jordan, previously the third wheel of L.A.'s Big Three, who fielded the lion's share of questions during his time on the dais, following a summer unwittingly spent in the headlines.

But for all of those changes, the Clippers still face the same hump they've failed to conquer, with Sisyphean consistency, since their recent era of prosperity began nearly four years ago.

"None of us have won a championship," Paul said while sharing the stage with Griffin and Jordan, "so [the lesson from not winning a championship] is probably about the same thing every year. But you just continue to learn."

The Clippers have learned quite a bit about themselves since Rivers left Boston for L.A. in June 2013. In their first postseason foray under Rivers, they gave away a crucial Game 5 in Oklahoma City before falling short to the Thunder in six. This past spring, the Clippers squandered a 3-1 series edge against the Houston Rockets after blowing a 19-point third-quarter lead in Game 6.

Thus, the strongest campaigns in franchise history will be remembered not for win totals approaching 60 but for the playoff collapses that followed.

From the ashes of those teams, though, could soon rise an even stronger outfit, one better equipped—in terms of talent, experience, determination and general constitution—to finally hang a banner of its own at Staples Center.

"I think anything worth having is worth working for," said Jamal Crawford. "We went through two devastating losses in the playoffs the last two years, but I think once we get to where we want to go, it’ll be that much sweeter because of what we went through.

"It definitely bothered all of us for the first few weeks [of the summer]. Then after that, you have to kind of get out of that depression and keep in the back of your mind how you can improve and get better, but know that you don’t want to experience that again," he continued.

That bitter taste could serve the Clippers' returnees well. The core of this club (i.e. Paul, Griffin and Jordan) is preparing for its fifth season together. Crawford survived a summer of trade rumors, like this from Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, to see his fourth in a Clippers uniform. J.J. Redick will be suiting up for his third.

In today's NBA, that kind of continuity is increasingly rare, given the frequency and fluidity of player movement. It can also be problematic if the team in question, such as the Clippers, fails to take that all-important next step time and again.

Losing leads to frustration, which, in turn, strains relationships. And if a particular group of players keeps coming up short, those whose jobs are on the line (i.e. coaches and front-office personnel) often have no choice but to shake up the roster.

Rivers went to great lengths to remodel his team this summer, despite the Clippers' lack of flexibility on the market. He kept the core intact while reloading with versatile veterans on the periphery.

"We’re deep. We’re multi-positional," said Rivers. "That was the goal going into the summer. It’s a good collection of guys. Now we just have to figure it out, figure out how we’re going to use it all."

They'll soon see how all those players, old and new, fit together both on and off the floor. Everyone in the organization stressed, contrary to rumors reported by Bill Reiter of Fox Sports, that things are hunky-dory behind closed doors.

"I think for us, it’s about continuing to build our team, our trust, and making sure that everybody in our locker room is on the same page and ignoring outside voices," said Paul.

Added Rivers: "I just think we’re in a good place as a group."

That doesn't mean these Clippers haven't had their ups and downs in the locker room, along with those they've experienced on the court. But the core of this club has been together for too long, with too much at stake, to let little squabbles and mistakes sink yet another promising season.

"As a team, as a player, you don’t know how many opportunities you have to win championships," Redick said. "You don’t know how long your window is open. To have those chances squandered essentially is very frustrating."

Those familiar frustrations figure to fuel the same fire that's been lit under this squad since the end of the last lockout. So does the scare of seeing Jordan nearly join the Dallas Mavericks, before the then-26-year-old changed his mind during the league-mandated moratorium.

"I don’t think we take anything for granted," Griffin insisted. "We all understand that we’re in a great position. I’m in a great position to be able to play with guys like these two."

Not to mention all of the other skilled veterans due to fill Doc's depth chart.

"This is clearly the most talent that we’ve had since I’ve been here," said Rivers. "I don’t even think it’s close."

There's plenty of work to do between now and opening night on Oct. 28—not to mention before mid-June—for Rivers and company to turn their impressive ingredients into a dish befitting Larry O'Brien.

Rivers expects Jordan to occupy an even bigger role this season next to Paul and Griffin. Pierce, Lance Stephenson and Josh Smith are all capable playmakers now squeezed next to others of that ilk, including Crawford and Austin Rivers. How will one ball and a limited supply of playing time keep all of those guys happy and humming along?

Answered Doc, "They’ll figure it out, or we won’t be any good."

Yet to be determined, too, is what this team's overarching identity will be. Strategically speaking, there will always be plenty of pick-and-roll in L.A.'s diet so long as Paul, Griffin and Jordan are around to feed it.

Defense will need to be the cream to the Clippers' bread and butter if they're to dig deep into the postseason calendar. To their credit, the Clippers were a top-10 outfit on that end after the All-Star break last season, per NBA.com.

A newfound emphasis on versatility and small ball, with Smith sliding to the 5 in certain lineups, could tilt the balance between scoreboard-busting offense and shutdown defense. How the Clippers' situation on the wing shakes out—with Pierce, Stephenson and Wesley Johnson all in the mix for major minutes—will shape the team's style from moment to moment, quarter to quarter and game to game.

But, in Rivers' mind, it'll be up to the players to determine their identity as a unit through a monthlong preseason and a grueling 82-game schedule to follow.

"I think the team tells you that more than the coach," said Rivers.

The same goes for the collective personality of this group. Matt Barnes, once the backbone of L.A.'s heel-heavy bunch, will now bring his brand of bellicosity to bear on the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Clippers, though, won't be without capable replacements. Pierce, in particular, could help the team hang on to its mean streak, if not enhance it.

"Sometimes, some teams just need a personality adjustment," he explained. "I can help in that department. I think the guys we picked up can really help in that department. I think to win in this league, you’ve got to have a certain nastiness to you, a certain attitude."

The Clippers will need all the nastiness they can muster if they're to survive the scrum out West. Each of their tormentors from the past four seasons (i.e. the San Antonio Spurs, Memphis Grizzlies, Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets) has improved itself as much as, if not more than, the Clippers have since the end of last season.

Meanwhile, the Golden State Warriors, the most recent champions and L.A.'s archnemeses, could be even better in 2015-16 as their young players continue to grow, both individually and collectively, in year two under head coach Steve Kerr.

In the big picture, many of the questions facing the Clippers are the same ones that have plagued them for some time.

Can Paul finally lead a team to the conference finals? Are Griffin and Jordan ready to dominate consistently on both ends? Who's holding the fort on the wing? How will their second unit function, beyond Crawford's isos? Does Rivers have what it takes to lead the league's traditionally least successful franchise to the very top of the mountain?

The Clippers are equipped to come up with better answers this time around. Whether they do will determine how much this team is able to break from its recent failures and bring home the only hardware that matters.

All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Josh Martin covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter.

Follow @JoshMartinNBA

Read more NBA news on BleacherReport.com

Andre Iguodala on Sixth Man Award: ‘It’s Like Affirmative Action’---(9/30/2015 http://www.slamonline.com)

Wed, 30 Sep 2015 17:10:04 +0000

Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr plans to keep brining Andre Iguodala off the bench, a role the veteran has grudgingly embraced since last season.

The reigning NBA Finals MVP, though, isn’t looking to be considered the top sixth-man in the L.

Iguodala, 31, dismisses the Sixth Man of the Year award by confoundingly comparing it to affirmative action.

Per USA Today:

“You learn how to embrace (the role), and when you embrace things, things tend to work out in your favor,” said Iguodala, who is again expected to play behind starter Harrison Barnes while leading the second unit. “I’ve been through (playing sixth man) for a year, (I) understand it a trillion times more than last year. Definitely more comfortable. I’m actually looking forward to it.”

As for the notion of winning the Sixth Man of the Year award, Iguodala was quick to stop the conversation there. His view, as he so comically shared, is that the individual accolades should begin and end with the league’s MVP award.

“I’m not a fan of the award, actually,” he said. “It’s like affirmative action or something (like that) to me.”

The post Andre Iguodala on Sixth Man Award: ‘It’s Like Affirmative Action’ appeared first on SLAMonline.

Stephen Curry ‘Wardell of The North’ Art---(9/30/2015 http://feedproxy.google.com)

Wed, 30 Sep 2015 17:03:04 +0000

Golden State Warriors MVP guard Stephen Curry by Ihra Galang from Quezon City, Philippines. The post Stephen Curry ‘Wardell of The...

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10 keys to the Warriors repeating as NBA champions---(9/30/2015 http://network.yardbarker.com)

Wed, 30 Sep 2015 17:01:00 +0000

With training camps getting going around the NBA, it seems like the Golden State Warriors just won the title. Such is the nature of the beast for a basketball season that pretty much drags on for a good nine months out of the year.Fresh off their first title in 40 years, the Warriors are looking to repeat as champions. And while they will face stiff competition in an improved Western Conference that's loaded with star talent, Steve Kerr's squad has to be considered the odds-on favorites.Here are 10 keys to the Warriors repeating as NBA champs.1. Home-court advantageIt's not a secret that the Warriors were dominating at home last season. The defending champs went 39-2 at Oracle Arena during the regular season, winning 28 of those games by double digits. Their only losses came by 13 points to the San Antonio Spurs in the first two weeks of the regular season and an overtime defeat at the hands of the Chicago Bulls in January.As was expected, the playoffs were a different story. Golden State matched its loss tot

Thompson: Stephen Curry grants wish of young cancer patient---(9/30/2015 http://www.insidebayarea.com)

Wed, 30 Sep 2015 16:42:21 +0000

NBA MVP is most valuable player for ailing Texas boy

Steve Kerr expects Andre Iguodala to come off bench again---(9/30/2015 http://www.insidebayarea.com)

Wed, 30 Sep 2015 13:04:14 +0000

Warriors coach plans to stick with same starting five he used in regular season with Iguodala as the sixth man

Ben Gordon slims down with vegetarian diet, now he hopes to make the Warriors (Yahoo Sports)---(9/30/2015 http://us.rd.yahoo.com)

Wed, 30 Sep 2015 02:09:44 +0000

Ben Gordon is in better shape, but will that be enough to help him land a spot on the defending champions' roster?

Warriors Back at it on Media Day---(9/30/2015 http://www.nba.com)

Andy Fahey — Wed, 30 Sep 2015 00:21:37 +0000

BDL 25: The rise of Brad Stevens and his starless Celtics---(9/30/2015 http://sports.yahoo.com)

Wed, 30 Sep 2015 00:03:47 +0000

WALTHAM, Mass. — Brad Stevens appears older, the way you can just tell a high school junior from a sophomore. It’s hard to pinpoint. Could just be the confidence.

That isn’t to say the Celtics coach is old, by any stretch of the imagination. He’s younger than three active NBA players (Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Andre Miller). He still looks like a fresh-faced hire at a pharmaceutical company, which is what he was before getting into the coaching racket, and there isn’t a gray hair on his head.

Entering his third season in Boston, Stevens is quite comfortable in his seat on the bench of the league’s most decorated franchise. On the cusp of his 39th birthday, he’s already one of the NBA’s brightest basketball minds. For those who disagree, consider his fourth-place finish in the 2014-15 Coach of the Year race as validation.

“Coach’s knowledge of the game is unbelievable,” says David Lee, the former All-Star who the Celtics acquired from Golden State for Gerald Wallace’s expiring contract, “and I think the biggest compliment I can give him — and it’s the same compliment I gave Steve Kerr last year — is that his personality fits the team’s personality well.”

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The starless C’s made a stunning run to the playoffs after losing their top scorer (Jeff Green), playmaker (Rajon Rondo) and rebounder (Jared Sullinger) to trades and injury. History suggests it’s impossible to be a contender without superstar talent, a narrative reinforced by the Cleveland Cavaliers’ first-round sweep of those same Celtics. Even team president Danny Ainge concedes, “Transcendent players are what everybody would like to have in the NBA. You don’t always get what you want.”

The Celtics cycled through 33 players during Stevens’ first two seasons, 22 of whom appeared in uniform during the 2014-15 campaign. Remarkably, there are only two players remaining from the Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett era — Sullinger and Avery Bradley — and only Bradley played more games for Doc Rivers than Stevens.

“A system is continually changing, depending on your personnel,” says Ainge, who signed Stevens to a six-year deal in 2013. “Brad’s a really smart coach. He spends a lot of time preparing. His system will be determined by the personnel he has. He doesn’t have a system. He’s a basketball coach, and he coaches the players that he has. He’s done a great job of that, and I think he’ll continue to do a great job of that.”

Between December 2014 and February 2015, Ainge completed seven trades involving 10 teams and 17 players, ultimately swapping Rondo, Green, Marcus Thornton and Dwight Powell for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Jonas Jerebko and Gigi Datome. Yet, after Feb. 3, only the five title favorites — the star-studded Warriors, Spurs, Cavaliers, Clippers and Rockets — owned a higher winning percentage.

“We played the Celtics twice, and they had us beat twice. And I thought we were a pretty good team last year in Golden State,” adds Lee, whose Warriors won both meetings by single digits. “I noticed the depth and how hard they played, and those are things that translate no matter what conference you’re in. They also seemed like they were very well coached, and that seems to be the case since I’ve been here.”

Ainge has built a roster in the mold of his coach — high motor, high IQ and high character. In addition to trading for Lee, the Celtics signed universally respected veteran Amir Johnson, their biggest free-agent addition in years, and then re-upped both Crowder and Jerebko, a pair of players whose versatility fit Stevens’ philosophy (the more you can do, the better) and whose energy helped spark the stretch run.

“Being comfortable played a big role in my decision,” says Crowder. “I didn’t want to go anywhere where I felt like I didn’t know what to expect. I knew exactly what I was going to get from Brad. I knew exactly what he wanted from me as a player, and was comfortable playing under him, so it played a big role in my decision, for sure.”

“Definitely,” adds Jerebko, whose production also increased after coming to Boston. “Being in an organization that changed coaches every year I was there and learning a new system is hard. So, coming back to this, knowing what I’m coming back to — and I know I’m coming back to a great coach and a great coaching staff that is going to put us in the best position to win — obviously was a big, big part of my decision.”

None of these names will wow anybody. Lee was last an All-Star in 2012-13 before losing his starting job to Draymond Green last season, and Thomas wants to be one this year. They maybe have a pair of All-Defensive talents in Bradley and Marcus Smart. Other than that, the Celtics have 15 roster spots for 16 players, and there is serious debate about who will be the odd man out come the end of training camp.

Stevens’ second unit (rookie Terry Rozier, Thomas, Evan Turner, Sullinger and Tyler Zeller?) might be as talented as his starters (Smart, Bradley, Crowder, Lee and Johnson?), and that 10-man rotation leaves out guys like Jerebko and Kelly Olynyk.

“Every good team you’re going to have discussions like that,” says Stevens. “Every good team that’s challenging to be better is going to have depth. We’re going to have good players on our team who aren’t going to play. That’s the reality of it. That’s the hard part of the job in some ways, but I think you just try to be really frank and talk about it. I’m not here to predetermine anything. That’s why I think we should probably have media day two weeks in, because I don’t know yet. We’ll find out.”

Are the Celtics actually any good, though? They finished 40-42 in the East and failed to win a playoff game, even if they played the Cavs tough in all four of them. While they submitted a top-10 defense during their 24-12 finish to the regular season, Boston featured a middling offense during that same stretch, particularly when Thomas was off the floor, and mostly because they were one of the league’s worst 3-point shooting teams despite attempting more 3’s than all but six squads. It’s one thing to position players for shots; it’s another to get the ball through the hoop.

“Brad talks a lot about playing with pace and space,” says Ainge, “and I think we do have better shooting. Although, we need our guys who aren’t shooting as well to be better, but I think we’re going to be an improved shooting team this year.”

Stevens literally boils the game down to each possession, because it levels the playing field. If you can win one possession against a LeBron James-led team, you can win the next. Win more than the other guy over the course of a game, and you’ve done your job. Do it for a full season, and you’re golden. Then do it again in the playoffs. It’s a philosophy that served him well at Butler, where his mid-major Bulldogs challenged NCAA Goliaths Duke and UConn in consecutive title games.

“We learned as a team that the margin of error is very small,” says Smart, a Second Team All-Rookie selection. “It just takes one mistake that can cost you the rest of your season and the playoffs. That one turnover, that one missed block-out can cost you that game, and in the playoffs every game counts and every possession matters.”

So much so that there was a concern inside the organization that Stevens was trying to do too much, designing defenses specifically tailored to each team rather than tweaking a scheme like the one Tom Thibodeau made so successful in Boston. While Stevens’ approach seems sound in theory, it’s nearly impossible to adjust on the fly when your team is playing on back-to-back nights and four games in five days. Last year’s ever-changing roster eventually forced him into finding a delicate balance.

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“Personally, it’s going to help me a lot to get more familiar with Brad’s system,” said Thomas. “Last year, even throughout the playoffs, when I got in the game, it was kind of like, ‘Just space the floor and pick and roll,’ because I didn’t really get any practices in, especially when I got hurt. We didn’t have time for practice. Having a full training camp and getting familiar with my teammates is only going to help us.”

Stevens admits he's less analytics savvy than he's been made out to be, but he's constructed a staff of "really intelligent, hard-working and humble people," and every bit of data is valuable, however small. Stevens calls it "corporate knowledge," as if he was still slinging pharmaceuticals for Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis.

“I’ve never really thought, ‘Hey, I’ve got to do this, this and this to connect with an NBA player,’” says Stevens. “NBA players are human beings. I’m a human being. We’re all human beings, and the best advice I was given was to be yourself, and I’m comfortable now. Maybe I wouldn’t have been when I was 30, when I was first named head coach; maybe I wouldn’t have been when I was 25, but I’m comfortable enough that if being yourself isn’t good enough, then it’s not good enough.”

Stevens bonded with Spurs coach Gregg Popovich over their Indiana roots, and the five-time champion admitted to regularly stealing plays from the Butler playbook. “Everyone in basketball knew a long time ago before he was in the NBA that he was a heck of a coach," Popovich told the Associated Press in March. Likewise, Stevens has already picked Lee’s brain about both Kerr’s approach and former Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni’s “open motion” offense. So, it comes as no surprise that notorious NBA gambler Haralabob Voulgaris, who made millions in Vegas evaluating coaching tendencies, took to Twitter to dub Stevens the league’s best in-game manager.

Brad Stevens is the best in game coach in the NBA. Pop has a better system / culture gets the rest stuff etc. But Stevens is best in game
— Haralabos Voulgaris (@haralabob) March 31, 2015

He’s an elite adjuster, manages his subs better and calls better plays. Its scary how good of a coach he is.
— Haralabos Voulgaris (@haralabob) March 31, 2015

Over the last two months of 2014-15, the Celtics owned the NBA’s most efficient offense in the final three minutes of one-possession games, averaging 1.40 points per possession. The Warriors were next at 1.29 points per possession. From Feb. 11 to April 14, Stevens scripted game-winners for Turner, Zeller, Smart and Crowder — the latter two of which came 10 days apart in April opposite Johnson’s Raptors. Keep in mind four wins separated the East’s No. 6 seed from the 10th-place team.

“He’s a very smart coach,” says Johnson. “Playing against him when I was with Toronto, I knew he just broke down our defensive strategies by switching up the plays or going through dribble hand-offs. I knew he was just a great X’s and O’s coach, and our coaching staff did steal a couple plays from him during last season.”

Stevens’ approach and a roster full of players who’ve seen their games evolve in a short time with the coach (Exhibit A: Turner was named the team’s 2014-15 MVP) have the Celtics believing, however irrationally, they can contend this season.

“If we continue to work hard, anything’s possible,” says Bradley, the longest-tenured member of the Celtics at the ripe old age of 24. “If you buy into what the coach is trying to do and this Celtics culture, I feel like anything is possible and we can definitely have a chance to make it to the championship if we do those things.”

Realistically, though, the C’s are just trying to improve upon last season — one possession at a time, of course — and the ceiling for their success probably still stands at a division title, a fourth seed and a conference semifinals appearance.

“The years I’ve been in Toronto, losing [Chris Bosh], kind of rebuilding and building and making it to the playoffs, I kind of look at that Celtics team last year as being in the rebuilding stage, fighting through some tough times and making the playoffs,” adds Johnson. “Now, this year we’ve got some new attributes, great veteran players, and I think we can take it and push it further with the attributes that we have.”

But with a heap of draft picks, expiring contracts and affordable assets, there’s always the chance these Celtics could look awfully different again come February.

“We have a group of guys who’ve been with Brad now for at least half a season, if not a whole season,” Ainge says as he departs on media day. “We had a lot of changes last year, and I expect there to be fewer of those this year. But you never know.”

Forever in search of transcendent players, as all NBA general managers are, Ainge cites his failed attempt to trade for James Harden as evidence any deal requires the best package of picks, players and payroll at the right time. His interest in DeMarcus Cousins has been well publicized, and whichever star is rumored to be on the move next, Ainge will be calling. If all else fails, he’ll be shopping with $50 million in salary cap space during the free-agent bonanza of 2016, billing his coach as the draw.

“The expectations do change,” adds Ainge, now entering his 13th season as GM. “When they started the [2014-15] season, I think most players in the locker room felt like they were a playoff team. As the season went on, I don’t think anybody thought we were a playoff team after 30 or 40 games. Then, the team came together and made the playoffs. So, I don’t really like to share my prognostications. I want to see. I’m not even sure who the 15 guys on the roster will be yet. I’m not sure how it’s all going to fit, but I’m excited about that, and I can’t wait for us to start the process.”

And there’s the thing. Ainge has a superstar under contract. He just wears a suit and tie. Stevens has bucked one trend that suggests college coaches can’t succeed in the NBA, and now he’s attempting to navigate another by contending sans elite talent.

“I had one goal at the last job, and that was to win the national championship, and I have one goal at this job, and that’s to win an NBA championship,” says Stevens. “That’s the only thing I’ll ever put down as a goal. That’s the only thing I’ll ever talk about as a goal to our players. Now, I might only say it once, because the rest of the time I’m focused on just the day-to-day process — how we need to be to prepare well, how we need to be to perform well and the small margin between being good and not being good. Hey, we were as close to fourth as we were to 12th last year, and we’ll continue to talk about that, because that margin is a small one.”

The cool, calm and collected wunderkind coach can now add confidence to his description, and that could spell trouble for every NBA team on every possession, even if otherworldly talent doesn’t populate the rising star’s system. Brad Stevens remains the NBA’s youngest coach. Someday soon, he might also be the best.

Previously, on BDL 25:

Kevin Durant is back to score at will and dominate headlines

What the heck will the Dallas Mavericks even look like?

Paul George tries to reclaim stardom and Indiana's contender status

Will DeMarcus Cousins and the Kings even make it to January?

Can the Golden State Warriors be that perfect again?

Are the Cleveland Cavaliers going to price themselves into oblivion?

The Grizzlies know exactly who they are, and that might be enough

Are the Knicks building something or just biding time before a blow-up?

Russell Westbrook searches for an encore to an overwhelming season

Kobe Bryant takes on what could be the last of his many battles

Will Kevin Love 'fit in' better in Year 2 in Cleveland?

Is DeAndre Jordan and Chris Paul's relationship built to last?

Anthony Davis, nascent destroyer of worlds

How, exactly, will LaMarcus Aldridge fit in with the Spurs?

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Ben Rohrbach is a contributor for Ball Don't Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach

Derrick Rose Injury: Twitter Reacts to Star's Orbital Fracture---(9/29/2015 http://bleacherreport.com)

Alec Nathan — Tue, 29 Sep 2015 23:15:31 +0000

Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose has been plagued by injuries over the past few seasons, and he's set to go under the knife again after suffering an orbital fracture in practice Tuesday.

The team released an official statement that confirmed the injury and provided an update on his status:

Bulls Guard Derrick Rose was struck in the face by an elbow during today’s practice. He was taken by the Bulls medical staff to Rush University Medical Center for testing and evaluation which determined he sustained a left orbital fracture. After consultation with several specialists, it has been determined that he will require a surgical procedure, which will take place tomorrow at Rush. After the procedure, a timetable for return to play will be determined.

Rose has battled a litany of lower-body injuries since tearing his ACL during the 2012 postseason, and the Associated Press' Tim Reynolds provided a look at the various ailments that have limited him to 61 regular-season appearances over the past three years:

Following the announcement, NBA fans turned to Twitter to offer their take on Rose's latest setback.

ESPN.com's Mike Wallace cited a couple of recent examples of orbital fractures to provide an estimated timetable for the point guard's return:

Rotowire's Jeff Stotts added a couple of other names to that list while breaking down the complexities of the injury:

Bleacher Report's Josh Martin chimed in with a glass-half-full and glass-half-empty look at the news:

Brian Schroeder of Hardwood Paroxysm contrasted Rose's injury woes with those of a fellow star floor general:

Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Game's Devin Kharpertian preached caution when it comes to slapping labels on Rose:

Warriors World's Sam Esfandiari noted that along with Kyrie Irving's rehabilitation from knee surgery, the Eastern Conference backcourt could underwhelm at the 2016 All-Star Game:

Elsewhere, Bleacher Report's Dan Favale offered a solution for head coach Fred Hoiberg's ailing Chicago backcourt:

For as long as the Bulls are without Rose, Jimmy Butler could turn out to be their most viable solution at the 1.

"First off, I think I am a point guard,” Butler said in August, according to NBA.com's Sam Smith. "So I’ve done a heck of a lot of ball-screen work, ball-handling, getting into the paint and still handling, floaters, all that stuff point guards do. If I get a chance, high pick and roll more. I want some triple-doubles."

Chicago has Aaron Brooks and Kirk Hinrich available to fill in should Rose miss regular-season action, but Butler could represent the best option for a team in need of playmakers and table-setters in the backcourt.

Read more NBA news on BleacherReport.com

Warriors swingman Iguodala ready to do whatever team needs (The Associated Press)---(9/29/2015 http://us.rd.yahoo.com)

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 23:10:25 +0000

Andre Iguodala has been doing more dunking this offseason, and that's rare for him when nothing is on the line. ''So, the sixth man, the position I don't have a problem with, but the award, it's not that it's not important, but being singled out, it's like affirmative action or something like that to me,'' Iguodala said. The Warriors began training camp Tuesday with a tall task of trying to repeat after the franchise captured its first title in 40 years.

Gordon auditioning for job with Warriors: 'Still got gas in the tank'---(9/29/2015 http://www.csnbayarea.com)

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 22:19:44 +0000

Ben Gordon accepted a training camp invite with the Warriors because he "wanted to be in a winning situation." Now, he has to prove he's worthy of a roster spot...

Brandon Rush Joins Kaiser Permanente And Playworks At Oakland’s Lincoln Elementary School September 23---(9/29/2015 http://www.nba.com)

Paige Fischer — Tue, 29 Sep 2015 22:00:05 +0000

On Wednesday, September 23, the 2015 NBA Champion Golden State Warriors, Kaiser Permanente and learning and physical-health nonprofit P

Warriors to Open 2015 Training Camp, Presented by Yoatz, on Tuesday, September 29---(9/29/2015 http://www.nba.com)

Andy Fahey — Tue, 29 Sep 2015 21:14:35 +0000

Warriors Sign Ben Gordon---(9/29/2015 http://www.nba.com)

Paige Fischer — Tue, 29 Sep 2015 21:13:36 +0000

The Golden State Warriors have signed free agent guard Ben Gordon to a contract, the team announced today.

Barbosa absent from Warriors practice, stuck in Brazil ---(9/29/2015 http://www.csnbayarea.com)

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 20:33:44 +0000

Issues with his visa prevented Leandro Barbosa from participating in the Warriors' first practice of training camp on Tuesday...

Cavs' practice to be first Facebook live sports event (AFP)---(9/29/2015 http://us.rd.yahoo.com)

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 20:17:24 +0000

Facebook will stream a live sports event for the first time when the social media website simulcasts a Cleveland Cavaliers pre-season training camp practice Thursday featuring NBA superstar LeBron James. The NBA Real Training Camp show will air on NBA TV as well as the league's website starting at 11 a.m. (1500 GMT). The program features interviews with players, coaches and team executives as well as playmaking from the workout of the Cavaliers, who lost to the Golden State Warriors in last June's NBA Finals.

Iman Shumpert will miss 3 months after wrist surgery, as Cavs take another hit---(9/29/2015 http://sports.yahoo.com)

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 19:42:32 +0000

In his opening press conference of the 2015-16 NBA season during Monday's Media Day session, LeBron James said that for the Cleveland Cavaliers this year, it all comes down to health. Just 24 hours later, the club was forced to deal with a significant challenge on that score:

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Cavaliers say guard Iman Shumpert recently suffered a ruptured Extensor Carpi Ulnaris sheath in his right wrist and is out 12-14 weeks.
— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) September 29, 2015

If, like me, you're not so up on your extensors, it looks like Iman Shumpert tore the covering of the tendon that runs from the forearm down the wrist to the fifth metacarpal, the bone connecting to your pinky finger. Cavaliers general manager David Griffin said Shumpert sustained the injury "on the rim during a workout last week," according to USA TODAY's Jeff Zillgitt. A magnetic resonance imaging exam taken after Shumpert reported the incident to the Cavs' medical staff upon reporting to training camp revealed the injury; he'll have surgery at Cleveland Clinic on Wednesday.

"In a situation like this, when the tendon's out of the sheath, it's not optional to just wait," Griffin told reporters at training camp Tuesday.

A three-month layoff would leave Shumpert on the shelf for about 25 games. That, obviously, is disappointing for the former New York Knicks first-round draft pick, who became a valuable contributor and postseason starter after being traded to Cleveland with J.R. Smith midway through last season.

"Tough day but I will be back better than ever," Shumpert wrote in the caption to an Instagram post Tuesday afternoon.

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The 6-foot-5 Georgia Tech product showed flashes of being an explosive backcourt contributor and perimeter stopper in three-plus seasons in Manhattan, but who typically alternated stretches of strong play with periods of ineffectiveness born out of a struggle to finish around the basket, a flagging touch from long distance, wavering on-court confidence and myriad injuries. Knee ligament tears ended his rookie season and limited him to just 45 games as a sophomore; a dislocated left shoulder sidelined him out for 20 games last season, and cropped up again during the playoffs. (He also battled a groin strain in the postseason.)

After getting healthy in Ohio, Shumpert settled into a spot on the second unit, helping check opponents' top perimeter threats while chipping in 7.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.3 steals in 24.2 minutes per game in 38 appearances. He was forced into a larger role in the second round of the playoffs, when head coach David Blatt had to juggle his rotation to make up for losing starting power forward Kevin Love to a season-ending shoulder injury and starting off-guard Smith to a two-game suspension for cracking Boston Celtics wing Jae Crowder in the face.

Shumpert performed admirably against the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks in the Cavs' run to the Eastern Conference crown, averaging 11.4 points and 5.3 rebounds in 36.4 minutes per game. He shot 38.3 percent from 3-point land; more important, he helped make life difficult for the likes of Derrick Rose and Kyle Korver.

"Look at those All‑Defensive teams, and — obviously he has a small window with us — but he will be on the All‑Defensive team in this league very soon," James said of Shumpert after Cleveland's Game 2 win over Atlanta in the Eastern Conference finals.

Shumpert, like the rest of the non-LeBron Cavs, struggled mightily in shorthanded Cleveland's NBA Finals loss to the Golden State Warriors without stars Love and Kyrie Irving. But despite that rough dismount, Griffin and owner Dan Gilbert re-upped the 25-year-old wing on a four-year, $40 million contract in restricted free agency this summer, part of a cash-splashing display that keeps Cleveland in place as the team to beat in the East but will have major luxury-tax (and possibly roster-management) implications down the line.

All those expenses — max deals for LeBron and Love, new deals for J.R. and Matthew Dellavedova, agreements with veterans Mo Williams, Richard Jefferson and Russian center Sasha Kaun — have Cleveland well over the salary cap, and that's before you consider whatever deal the club might come to with lingering restricted free agent power forward Tristan Thompson. Trading away veterans Brendan Haywood and Mike Miller created a combined $13 million in trade exceptions they can use to absorb more salary in deals should the Cavs feel they need more help, but it sounds like Griffin's content to leave things alone for now and see what develops.

"I don't think, in the immediate future, it does [affect the roster]," Griffin said Tuesday. "We look at this as a very similar situation to what we went through in the playoffs last year. Next man up. We have a roster we feel is deep enough to withstand one injury like this, and so we're going to give people a chance to kind of absorb it from within. But obviously, we'll be paying a lot of attention to opportunities that we may be able to improve the group. We'll just play it by ear."

You can understand why Griffin doesn't necessarily feel compelled to start burning up the phone lines. While Shumpert's a better and more versatile defender than Smith, Dellavedova, Williams, Jefferson and second-year man Joe Harris, his minutes are not exactly irreplaceable. And though it's certainly not ideal to lose another member of the backcourt rotation while All-Star Irving's still working his way back from knee surgery, with no evident superpower competition looming in the conference, the Cavs seem like they can afford to scuffle a bit in the early going before turning it on and proving themselves the class of the conference ... just like last year.

Love, who's also coming back from surgery, figures to take on a larger role in the Cleveland attack to help make up for the backcourt injuries. Smith will likely return to his starting spot, with Williams and Dellavedova sharing duties and time at both backcourt spots; Harris, who saw a surprising amount of minutes early last season after the Cavs tabbed him in the second round of the 2014 draft before the trade for Smith and Shumpert send him to the end of the bench, could get a longer look. The Cavs will figure it out, as James said Tuesday, according to Tom Withers of The Associated Press:

"Obviously it's a big blow. Injuries will probably be the only thing than can stop us long-term," LeBron James said following the team's first training camp practice. "This is a short-term thing. He will be there when we most need him." [...]

"If there's one place we have depth it's at the guard spot," he said. "With this injury, our guys should be able to step in."

They probably will. This'll probably be fine. If Cleveland struggles early, though — without Irving's playmaking, without Shumpert's defense, with Love and Anderson Varejao knocking the rust off, etc. — you wonder if LeBron will wind up seeing a more significant season-opening workload than he, Blatt or Griffin would prefer, and whether some of these "no big deal" early nicks and bruises could wind up having a greater negative impact down the line, when Cleveland needs all their big guns as fresh as possible to reach the heights they were too banged up to achieve last postseason.

- - - - - - -

Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!

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RealGM Radio: Seerat Sohi Of Rolling Stone, VICE Sports---(9/29/2015 http://basketball.realgm.com)

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 19:30:24 +0000

Host Danny Leroux (@DannyLeroux) talks with Seerat Sohi of Rolling Stone and VICE Sports (@DamianTrillard) about the Bulls, NBA players increasing their presence outside of basketball and how the Western Conference could shake out.

The two also discuss LeBron's legacy, whether the Warriors changed perceptions about how the game can be played, why Blake Griffin is more popular than Dwight Howard, the huge season for the Oklahoma City Thunder and ways to raise the NBA's profile.

Subscribe to RealGM Radio on iTunes or via the XML feed.

Warriors News: Ben Gordon Signing Pushes Training Camp Roster to 20---(9/29/2015 http://www.warriorsworld.net)

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 18:24:40 +0000

The Golden State Warriors attended media day and were all smiles. After a well-deserved offseason, the Champions are ready to taste success again. With training camp almost here, the roster looks plump and full. Add Ben Gordon to the list of guys competing for a spot. With the Gordon signing, the Warriors have 20 players. Last season, […]

The post Warriors News: Ben Gordon Signing Pushes Training Camp Roster to 20 appeared first on Warriors World.

Four Corners: Who is winning the Western Conference in 2015-16? (Ball Don't Lie)---(9/29/2015 http://us.rd.yahoo.com)

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 18:05:00 +0000

With the draft and the bulk of free agency now behind us, it's time to start taking stock of what's transpired this summer and how it all figures to impact the upcoming NBA campaign. This week, we discuss: Who is winning the Western Conference in 2015-16? *** Dan Devine : Warriors. San Antonio might boast the NBA's best frontline and its best pair of wing defenders, but the Spurs need one of Tony Parker or Manu Ginobili (and ideally both) to bounce back from their worst seasons in more than a decade to run the best version of Gregg Popovich's offense. Oklahoma City gets Kevin Durant back to pair with Russell Westbrook and an incredibly deep big-man rotation, but how confident can we be that the Thunder will run at peak effectiveness for the next eight months when we've seen one significant injury scuttle each of their last three seasons? [ Follow Dunks Don't Lie on Tumblr: The best slams from all of basketball ] Doc's communication commentary aside, I've got some concerns about how the new-look Clippers will fit together for the long haul. Memphis looks roughly the same, and while their sameness is awesome , it is also not markedly better than what fell short last year. Houston might have enough talent to go all the way, but its primary differentiation from last year's model is a risk (even if only mitigated and short-term ) that could upset a rotation good enough to make it to last season's conference finals. The Warriors, meanwhile, played at an unparalleled level on both ends of the floor for all of last season. They return a shade under 92 percent of the total minutes and 93 percent of the total points from last year's title squad, per Mark Porcaro . They can slide several capable players ( all-the-way-back-from-injury big man Festus Ezeli, physical specimen James Michael McAdoo, steady veteran addition Jason Thompson) into more significant roles as needed/warranted. Their four core pieces (MVP Stephen Curry, All-Star Klay Thompson, DPoY runner-up Draymond Green and about-to-get-paiiiiiiid swingman Harrison Barnes) are all young, healthy and improving. Even without Alvin Gentry, who decamped after last season to take over the New Orleans Pelicans, they've got arguably the best coaching staff in the league, led by Steve Kerr, who proved last year to be the perfect man for this particular job . Any, and perhaps even all, of the other elite Western teams could take down the Dubs if their "ifs" break right. But as tough as it is to repeat in the NBA, I'll take the champs' "ifs" over anybody else's until given evidence that I should think differently.

Four Corners: Who is winning the Western Conference in 2015-16?---(9/29/2015 http://sports.yahoo.com)

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 18:05:00 +0000

With the draft and the bulk of free agency now behind us, it's time to start taking stock of what's transpired this summer and how it all figures to impact the upcoming NBA campaign.

This week, we discuss: Who is winning the Western Conference in 2015-16?

***

Dan Devine: Warriors. San Antonio might boast the NBA's best frontline and its best pair of wing defenders, but the Spurs need one of Tony Parker or Manu Ginobili (and ideally both) to bounce back from their worst seasons in more than a decade to run the best version of Gregg Popovich's offense. Oklahoma City gets Kevin Durant back to pair with Russell Westbrook and an incredibly deep big-man rotation, but how confident can we be that the Thunder will run at peak effectiveness for the next eight months when we've seen one significant injury scuttle each of their last three seasons?

[Follow Dunks Don't Lie on Tumblr: The best slams from all of basketball]

Doc's communication commentary aside, I've got some concerns about how the new-look Clippers will fit together for the long haul. Memphis looks roughly the same, and while their sameness is awesome, it is also not markedly better than what fell short last year. Houston might have enough talent to go all the way, but its primary differentiation from last year's model is a risk (even if only mitigated and short-term) that could upset a rotation good enough to make it to last season's conference finals.

The Warriors, meanwhile, played at an unparalleled level on both ends of the floor for all of last season. They return a shade under 92 percent of the total minutes and 93 percent of the total points from last year's title squad, per Mark Porcaro. They can slide several capable players (all-the-way-back-from-injury big man Festus Ezeli, physical specimen James Michael McAdoo, steady veteran addition Jason Thompson) into more significant roles as needed/warranted. Their four core pieces (MVP Stephen Curry, All-Star Klay Thompson, DPoY runner-up Draymond Green and about-to-get-paiiiiiiid swingman Harrison Barnes) are all young, healthy and improving. Even without Alvin Gentry, who decamped after last season to take over the New Orleans Pelicans, they've got arguably the best coaching staff in the league, led by Steve Kerr, who proved last year to be the perfect man for this particular job.

Any, and perhaps even all, of the other elite Western teams could take down the Dubs if their "ifs" break right. But as tough as it is to repeat in the NBA, I'll take the champs' "ifs" over anybody else's until given evidence that I should think differently.

Kelly Dwyer: Good basketball.

Golden State was no joke.

They didn’t go through the Spurs. The Cavaliers were missing several limbs, the Clippers pissed away their shot at the Conference finals, and the Thunder didn’t even make the postseason. That’s fine and dandy, but Golden State is still the team that won 83 of 103 games between October and June, beating teams by an average of 10.1 points per contest during a 67-win regular season.

That five-year run of sterling-level parity in the West, following Los Angeles’ last championship in 2010, is over. No longer should you be able to call that bracket, rife with championship-level team, a coin flip proposition between seeds one through six (or, in some years, “one through eight”). The Warriors are the favorite because they’ve earned as much.

That still doesn’t mean that any sane person should be put one-third of one month’s rent on any of these teams to win in June at that point. Basketball Gods willing, this should also be the case come April if each of these next level squads – the Warriors, the Spurs, the Thunder, the Clippers, the Rockets – make it to the postseason fully healthy.

With the speed of the NBA’s news cycle cruising in overdrive, no team was caught by surprise by the Warriors after Thanksgiving. Various other Western contenders dealt with their regular season injury woes in 2014-15, but the Warriors didn’t pick up many (if any) gimmie wins. That shouldn’t figure to change in 2015-16, and the W’s may very well dash their way toward 67 wins again, and another year of averaging double-digit winning margins.

That bracket is still going to be a killer, though, and even if the Warriors are downed by a team with 15 fewer regular season wins in a playoff series we really shouldn’t be considering any defeat an “upset.” Entire seasons can be upended in two weeks’ time during the playoffs, and we’re not even referring to the odd hamstring pull or wrist sprain changing the course.

It could just come down to two very, very good teams battling it out at top strength, with one franchise pulling off four wins in seven tries. And the West, once again, has five of these monsters.

(And maybe more.)

Eric Freeman: Golden State Warriors. It is very easy to construct a scenario in which the Warriors do not repeat as conference and league champions. All their closest rivals have added excellent players, 2014-15 may have been an especially charmed season, and there is no guarantee that they can match the same on-court chemistry and improvement that carried them to the best year in franchise history. For that matter, they faced a series of playoff opponents that lost key contributors to injury and avoided several teams that figured to give them their sternest postseason tests.

Whatever. The ability to make worthwhile arguments against one outcome and for another does not mean that it is not also an over-complication of the situation. The Warriors were overwhelmingly the best team in the league from wire-to-wire and faced few challenges in part because they rendered any potential problems moot with the quality of their play. While the Warriors certainly didn't deal with as many disruptions as many title teams do, they were also especially well equipped to dismiss those that did arise.

Consider the conference semifinals series against the Memphis Grizzlies and the NBA Finals vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers. Both teams presented Golden State with problems to be solved — Memphis with intense defense and a slow-down offense and Cleveland with a more extreme version of the same, plus the added conundrum of LeBron James. In both cases, the Warriors took two consecutive losses before solving the conundrum with atypical defensive tactics and small-ball lineups. Although Steve Kerr and his staff deservedly received credit for refusing to guard Memphis wing Tony Allen and playing Draymond Green at center despite usual starter Andrew Bogut's track record, those moves would not have been possible without Golden State's hyper-versatile and loaded roster. They simply have more ways to win than anyone else. The operative question of those series was not if they would come up with solutions, but when they would.

We don't know a lot about the Warriors, in part because they turned into a title-winning outfit seemingly overnight. For now, though, everyone is playing catch-up to them. And while new challenges will assuredly arise over the 2015-16 season, that history of problem-solving bodes well for the team's future. The Spurs, Thunder, Clippers, and Rockets are all serious contenders, but every reason to discount the champs relies on the possibility of a problem rather than observed evidence of one.

Ben Rohrbach: San Antonio Spurs. Despite injuries costing three of their five starters a total of 82 games, the Spurs fell one game shy of the No. 2 seed this past April — a five-point loss to a future MVP playing for his own playoff life on the final day of the regular season — and who the heck knows what would’ve happened then.

As it was, the Spurs earned a No. 6 seed and a first-round date with the equally loaded L.A. Clippers. That series also required a ridiculous game-winning shot by one of the game’s great players in the final seconds of Game 7 to oust the defending champs.

That’s the razor’s edge that is the Western Conference. The Clippers, Houston Rockets and Memphis Grizzlies all upgraded their rosters; the Oklahoma City Thunder presumably return a healthy Kevin Durant to a team that barely missed the playoffs; and the Golden State Warriors run it back with one of the most dominant teams in league history; but no team reinforced its rotation quite like San Antonio.

In four-time returning All-Star big man LaMarcus Aldridge, San Antonio added the best available unrestricted free agent on the market — before re-signing reigning Defensive Player of the Year Kawhi Leonard to a max contract and bringing back Tim Duncan, Danny Green and Manu Ginobili on below-market salaries. For those of you counting at home, that’s three of the 12 players receiving MVP votes last season (Aldridge, Leonard and Duncan) on the same team in 2015-16. In fact, the Spurs’ summer was so good that David West willingly paid $11 million to play for them.

That isn’t to say San Antonio has all the answers. How will Aldridge work himself into a machine that’s been operating on full throttle for more than 15 years now? How will newcomers Jimmer Fredette and Ray McCallum replace the departed Marco Belinelli and Cory Joseph on the backcourt depth chart? And how will a 33-year-old Tony Parker respond to two straight seasons of precipitous decline? Thankfully, they have basketball genius Gregg Popovich to answer those questions.

Previously, as we've woven:

Which Eastern Conference contender will make it up to No. 2?

Which young player will make the biggest leap to stardom?

Which coach will be on the NBA's hottest seat in 2015-16?

Which rookie landed in the best spot?

Who will be this season's most entertaining trainwreck?

Which 2015 All-Star will miss out on selection this season?

Who will win the 2015-16 Most Improved Player award?

With Gentry gone, big shoes to fill for 'brilliant basketball mind' Walton---(9/29/2015 http://www.csnbayarea.com)

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 18:02:39 +0000

Alvin Gentry is no longer Golden State's offensive coordinator. That title belongs to Luke Walton. The Warriors feel like they are in good hands...

What Steve Nash's Hiring Says About the Evolving Golden State Warriors Culture---(9/29/2015 http://bleacherreport.com)

Grant Hughes — Tue, 29 Sep 2015 17:22:48 +0000

The real value in Steve Nash's partnership with the Golden State Warriors is more symbolic than practical, but don't make the mistake of assuming that detracts from its importance.

Chances are Nash won't be involved in the day-in-day-out grind—a possibility first reported by ESPN.com's Marc Stein and later confirmed in a team release. Intriguing as it is to imagine the two-time MVP breaking down film and spending hours imparting subtle tricks to Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Harrison Barnes, that's probably not how things will play out.

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr told Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News:

And I think (Nash is) at the point… I know I always felt… as far as retirement, you really need your freedom. You have to be able to get away and do what you want and not live on a schedule. And we want to give him the opportunity to make an impact with our team, but… have his freedom as well. I think assuming it all pans out, this will be the best way for that to happen, where he can be very flexible with his schedule and yet still be a part of things.

Nash doesn't live in the Bay Area. Throughout his ultimately failed comeback attempt with the Los Angeles Lakers, he remained committed to playing for no other team because his family had settled in L.A. and he didn't want to uproot them again.

From the sound of it, the Warriors won't ask him to.

Besides, it's not really possible for Nash to make a team that won 67 games while posting the eighth-highest average margin of victory in league history much better. Curry is already the MVP, the team is already elite on both ends and the coaching staff is already populated by an embarrassment of sharp minds.

It's hard to fathom how this group could significantly improve.

The Warriors' Idea Factory Gets an Upgrade

Even if his influence is most likely to be of a pop-in-and-chat variety, Nash is still immensely valuable to the Warriors because of what his acquisition stands for. It proves the Warriors aren't satisfied by one year of success, that no avenue for improvement will ever go unexplored and that their pursuit of good ideas will never be limited by pedestrian ambition.

They've built a collection of people and a top-down culture that now allows them to go from rich to richer.

Nash wouldn't be involved if not for the presence of Kerr, assistant Bruce Fraser or team president Rick Welts—all of whom formed strong bonds with Nash during their shared days with the Phoenix Suns, and all of whom have brought the very best ideas from those Suns teams to the Bay.

You might say snaring that Nash is more about a very specific relationship between men with shared history, and it's hard to discount the power of that bond—especially with Kerr admitting to Kawakami that the "Phoenix connections were really important."

But it's about something else, too.

Specifically, it's a result of the organizational mandate Kerr conveyed after the Warriors' Game 4 win in the NBA Finals—a victory earned through a strategic tweak suggested by Kerr's 28-year-old personal assistant Nick U'Ren.

"I don't care where an idea comes from," Kerr told reporters. "I've taken ideas from our players during the games when they make suggestions, our scouts. Doesn't matter where the idea comes from. If it's a good one, then we'll use it."

Even if Nash's actual degree of involvement remains casual, he's bound to have ideas worth considering. And the Warriors' egalitarian setup must have been appealing to him. He knows that even as something of a figurehead, he'll be listened to.

It's a rule now that whenever discussing how good things are with the Warriors, you have to mention how bad they were before. But it's particularly relevant to the Nash issue, so here goes.

Golden State's winning percentage in the 20 seasons preceding its 2014-15 title was the third-worst in the NBA during that span. And there was recent ugliness, too.

Remember that Grantland's Zach Lowe reported that former head coach Mark Jackson presided over a divided locker room of his own making: "When Ezeli was injured last season, Jackson and his staff told the healthy players that Ezeli was cheering against them—so that he would look good, according to several team sources. Players confronted Ezeli in a meeting, and he wept at the accusation—which he denied."

Nash, Captain Chemistry, a man who high-fived his Suns teammates an average of 239 times per game in 2010 (seriously), isn't coming within a country mile of that kind of team. But he's happy to cozy up with this one.

Meaningful Coolness

The Warriors have become a Nash-friendly environment in basically one year's time. And everything we've seen indicates that they plan to stay that way.

Golden State is meaningfully cool now. Not the Milwaukee Bucks' "they're young, rangy and weird" cool. Not the Houston Rockets' "they only shoot threes and it kind of works" cool.

Meaningfully cool. The kind of cool that stems from cutting-edge thinking on all fronts. The kind of cool that has a brand new San Francisco arena coming soon. The kind that has an MVP every scrawny kid on the playground can relate to. The kind that plays 6'6" forwards at center in the Finals. The kind that overhauls a training staff that kept a once-brittle team remarkably healthy because there were new frontiers of sport science to explore, and an Australian named Lachland Penfold was the man to explore them.

The kind that pulls Nash out of retirement and away from other suitors (the Dallas Mavericks and Cleveland Cavaliers made overtures too) and intra-division rivals (he'd been working with the younger Lakers guards last season).

And if the Warriors are now functional enough, successful enough and cool enough to snare him, who can't they go out and get?

Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com.

Follow Grant Hughes on Twitter @gt_hughes.

Read more NBA news on BleacherReport.com

Matt Steinmetz & A Look Ahead To Defending The Title | Warriors Huddle Podcast---(9/29/2015 http://www.warriorsworld.net)

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 17:00:06 +0000

Matt Steinmetz rejoins the Huddle, gives some exclusive insight on the Spree v Carlesimo incident, and drops a series of predictions for the upcoming Warriors season. Listen below: Subscribe to us on: iTunes here Stitcher here YouTube Channel here Any Ideas, Feedback or Comments for Us? Email Us or hit us up on Twitter @WarriorsHuddle

The post Matt Steinmetz & A Look Ahead To Defending The Title | Warriors Huddle Podcast appeared first on Warriors World.

Iman Shumpert Injury: Updates on Cavaliers Guard's Recovery from Wrist Surgery---(9/29/2015 http://bleacherreport.com)

Joseph Zucker — Tue, 29 Sep 2015 16:51:00 +0000

Iman Shumpert has been injury-plagued throughout his career, and that trend will continue when the Cleveland Cavaliers open the 2015-16 season in October as he recovers from wrist surgery.

Continue for updates.

Shumpert Out at Least Three Months

Tuesday, Sept. 29

Per Ananth Pandian of CBS Sports, the Cavaliers announced Shumpert will be out 12 to 14 weeks after he has surgery on his right wrist at the Cleveland Clinic on Wednesday to repair a ruptured extensor carpi ulnaris sheath:

"In training last week he had an issue where he hit the rim with his right wrist...I believe catching a lob," Cavaliers general manager David Griffin said, per ESPN's Dave McMenamin.

Since coming over from the New York Knicks in a trade in January, the 25-year-old shooting guard has been a solid role player for the Cavs. He averaged 7.2 points and 3.8 rebounds per game for Cleveland, a decent total since he came off the bench in 37 of 38 games with the team.

The bulk of his value came at the defensive end. When Shumpert was on the court, the Cavaliers had a defensive rating of 99.2, making him the only Cavs player with an on-court defensive rating below 100, per NBA.com. With Shumpert off the court, the figure ballooned to 105.

The Cavaliers' demise in last year's NBA Finals wasn't swift but rather a death by a thousand cuts. They slowly lost player after player to injury along the way until they simply ran out of bodies to compete with the Golden State Warriors.

Things are different now for the Cavaliers, who should have a healthy Kevin Love, but the injury to Shumpert, combined with Kyrie Irving's knee rehab and Tristan Thompson's continued absence while seeking a new contract, does leave holes on the roster before the season begins on October 27 at Chicago.

However, as McMenamin noted, Shumpert's injury is softened by the team's decision to bring J.R. Smith back into the fold. While Smith doesn't provide Shumpert's defensive prowess, he can more than fill Shumpert's shoes offensively.

The Cavaliers figure to be at or near the top of the Eastern Conference again this season. Shumpert's being on the shelf for the beginning of the campaign isn't what the team wants to hear, but it shouldn't deter the Cavs from making a run at their ultimate goal.

Read more NBA news on BleacherReport.com

Kerr: Harrison Barnes' Versatility Is What NBA Is All About Now---(9/29/2015 http://basketball.realgm.com)

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 16:20:49 +0000

Harrison Barnes turned down a contract extension with the Golden State Warriors worth $16 million per season.

Barnes is just 23 and can play multiple positions though he hasn't proven himself capable of scoring at the type of level one assumes you are getting with a contract that significant.

“It just may not be in the cards for me to create more here,” Barnes says, “but I can do it, and maybe this season there will be more opportunities.”

Barnes uses only about 15 percent of Golden State's possessions.

“His versatility is what the league is all about now,” Kerr said.

Golden State Warriors sign Ben Gordon---(9/29/2015 http://www.insidebayarea.com)

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 15:45:17 +0000

The Golden State Warriors sign Ben Gordon, NBA Sixth Man of the Year in 2005.

Warriors' Stephen Curry looking to add to his MVP game---(9/29/2015 http://www.insidebayarea.com)

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 15:45:01 +0000

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry says media-star daughter Riley has been a great big sister to new arrival Ryan Carson Curry.

Warriors' Andre Iguodala says knees feel good---(9/29/2015 http://www.insidebayarea.com)

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 15:44:41 +0000

Golden State Warriors forward Andre Iguodala, who had knee problems last season, says he feels good after getting injections in Germany.

Only five teams can win the 2016 NBA Finals---(9/29/2015 http://network.yardbarker.com)

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 15:44:31 +0000

NBA Basketball is back … sort of. Technically, NBA media days and training camps are back. We’re still a little ways off from actual games being played, but for those of us for whom the fun and sun of the summer months doubles as a dreary and decidedly not fun countdown to the return of LeBron and Steph and Blake — oh my! — simply seeing players wearing jerseys at all tends to feel like a momentous occasion to be celebrated with the finest champagne. Of course, it’s way too early to discuss which team will win the championship next June but, when have we ever let a little thing like reasonableness or not having seen any NBA basketball in the last three months stop us from making a bold prediction? Well then, without further adieu, here are the top five contenders for the 2016 NBA championship. Golden State Warriors 2015 Playoff Run: Won NBA Finals vs. Cleveland Cavaliers, Western Conference’s No. 1 seed The Upside: The champs are bringing back their core this season. They have the reign

Warriors' Klay Thompson gets to meet a hero---(9/29/2015 http://www.insidebayarea.com)

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 15:44:26 +0000

While making the TV talk-show rounds, Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson got to meet a Spencer Stone on the Jimmy Kimmel Show.

Draymond Green says NBA title just the beginning for Warriors---(9/29/2015 http://www.insidebayarea.com)

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 15:44:05 +0000

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green says the defending NBA champions are still young and hungry.

Warriors' Bogut offers support to fellow Aussie Jarryd Hayne---(9/29/2015 http://www.insidebayarea.com)

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 15:43:48 +0000

Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut says fellow Australian Jarryd Hayne, the rugby player-turned-San Francisco 49er, is the 'equivalent of our LeBron James or Kobe Bryant' down under.

Warriors' Harrison Barnes 'optimistic' deal will be done---(9/29/2015 http://www.insidebayarea.com)

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 15:43:29 +0000

Golden State Warriors forward Harrison Barnes says Oakland 'is home' for him.

Warriors' Festus Ezeli meets idol Hakeem Olajuwon---(9/29/2015 http://www.insidebayarea.com)

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 15:43:11 +0000

Golden State Warriors backup center Festus Ezeli meets idol Hakeem Olajuwon at NBA Africa Game and discovers that the Hall of Famer still has game at age 52.

Warriors should be favored to win title again---(9/29/2015 http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com)

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 15:39:45 +0000

Seems as season approaches, what Golden State accomplished last year has been forgotten

Warriors issue warning to NBA: Offense will be even better---(9/29/2015 http://www.csnbayarea.com)

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 15:11:59 +0000

In Year 1 under Steve Kerr, the Warriors were the most prolific offensive team in the NBA. They believe the best is yet to come. Look out...

Warriors sign Ben Gordon---(9/29/2015 http://www.insidehoops.com)

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 11:47:53 +0000

The Golden State Warriors have signed free agent guard Ben Gordon to a contract. After establishing himself as a terrific scorer — especially in 4th quarters — in the early part of his NBA career, Gordon has fallen off the basketball map in recent seasons. Gordon, 32, spent the 2014-15 season with the Orlando Magic, averaging 6.2 [...]

Curry says Warriors still team to beat---(9/29/2015 http://www.insidebayarea.com)

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 05:09:00 +0000

Despite improvements other teams made to their rosters, the Warriors are confident after mostly keeping intact the team that won 67 regular season games last season along with the title.

Warriors News: Iguodala Embraces the 6th Man Role---(9/29/2015 http://www.warriorsworld.net)

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 04:06:53 +0000

By Yama Hazheer After starting over 800 career games in the NBA, Andre Iguodala was used as a 6th man off the bench in 2014-15 in favor of young Harrison Barnes. Coach Steve Kerr decided that it would work out better for the both of them and while Barnes didn’t necessarily excel last season, Iguodala […]

The post Warriors News: Iguodala Embraces the 6th Man Role appeared first on Warriors World.

Warriors' media day circus: Sights, sounds from the champs' return---(9/29/2015 http://www.insidebayarea.com)

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 01:44:53 +0000

The Golden State Warriors share some stories and laughs before getting back to business.

Barnes confident extension with Warriors will get done---(9/29/2015 http://www.csnbayarea.com)

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 01:35:40 +0000

Harrison Barnes spoke at Warriors Media Day with "no complaints" about his contract. But will he reach a new deal by the Oct. 31 deadline?

Warriors News: Stephen Curry Adds to His Arsenal---(9/29/2015 http://www.warriorsworld.net)

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 01:31:54 +0000

By Yama Hazheer Steph Curry might be even harder to guard this season. Curry addressed reporters during Media Day Monday and looked ready for the season to start. He said that despite the busy offseason, he’s kept his mindset focused on the game. “It’s been a fun summer, it’s obviously a different experience going as […]

The post Warriors News: Stephen Curry Adds to His Arsenal appeared first on Warriors World.

LeBron, Cavaliers ready to make another NBA title run---(9/29/2015 http://www.csnbayarea.com)

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 00:18:12 +0000

LeBron James did as much as he could to try to lead the banged-up Cavaliers over the Warriors in the NBA Finals, and now he wants his revenge.

Warriors' Iguodala received knee injections in Germany---(9/28/2015 http://www.csnbayarea.com)

Mon, 28 Sep 2015 23:45:08 +0000

NBA Finals MVP Andre Iguodala addressed his knee issues with injections in Germany, but the forward believes he's ready to go for training camp.

Defending champion Warriors return to work (The Associated Press)---(9/28/2015 http://us.rd.yahoo.com)

Mon, 28 Sep 2015 22:21:25 +0000

The shortest offseason in Golden State Warriors history was filled with talk show appearances, golf outings with the president, award shows and worldwide travel. Just over three months after celebrating their first NBA championship in 40 years, the Warriors returned to work Monday intent on repeating. With almost every significant player back again this season and a full year of experience in coach Steve Kerr's system, the Warriors believe they can be even better despite the bright target on their backs as defending champions.

Warriors embrace challenge of defending title: 'We're the champs'---(9/28/2015 http://www.csnbayarea.com)

Mon, 28 Sep 2015 22:00:59 +0000

The Warriors, who spent last season ignoring the skeptics, seem to be embracing the fact not many expect them to win back-to-back titles...

BDL 25: How, exactly, will LaMarcus Aldridge fit in with the Spurs? (Ball Don't Lie)---(9/28/2015 http://us.rd.yahoo.com)

Mon, 28 Sep 2015 21:34:50 +0000

The NBA offseason has brought many changes to rosters, coaching staffs, and the list of championship contenders. As we draw closer to opening night, it's time to move our focus from the potential impact of each offseason event and onto the broader issues that figure to define this season. The BDL 25 takes stock of, uh, 25 key storylines to get you up to speed on where the most fascinating teams, players, and people stand on the brink of 2015-16. The NBA media cycle, I think we can all agree, has been flowing at hyperdrive speeds for the last few years. [ Follow Dunks Don't Lie on Tumblr: The best slams from all of basketball ] Decades ago we’d get a month to wonder if Dennis Rodman would fit in with the Bulls or possibly two months to guess at how Charles Barkley would fit alongside Hakeem Olajuwon. At this point, even with a month to go before the actual games start, we’ve had nearly three months to digest LaMarcus Aldridge on the San Antonio Spurs. And his free agent tour, by 2015 standards, was relatively lengthy . So you can imagine the Spurs’ annoyance, however cleverly articulated it might be , after having to answer a summer’s worth of questions about how, exactly, Aldridge and Tim Duncan will play alongside each other . Wonder about whether or not Aldridge has the temerity to lead a team that leads itself year in and year out, whatever the length of its playoff run. Worries about the offensive fit and the possible defensive holes in the wake of the team jettisoning two centers to clear cap space . Questions about a team that basically did everything right in the offseason in its ever-expanding Spurs Era (thought to be dead, quite literally, nearly a decade ago), a franchise that somehow added an in-prime superstar while retaining its other aging superstars while inking its next superstar-to-be to a deal that takes him into his prime. All the stars save for Aldridge, famously, take care of themselves with no muss or even fuss. LaMarcus? He’s not exactly a headcase, but he’s got to get this right. As is usually the case with San Antonio, the coaching staff will ensure that its players will have a suitable atmosphere in which to create. As it was when he was 23 and as it will be at age 40 next spring, Tim Duncan can adeptly handle both low and high post responsibilities as the situation calls for. Defensively, the shifting trend toward smaller lineups won’t bother the Spurs all that much. Not just because the two 7-footers on hand can bang with the best of them, but because they have the smarts and length to weather any type of Draymond-ish onslaught. The real worry here is Aldridge’s possible insistence on deferring. Stars don’t usually move into situations like this. The closest comps aren’t giants like Shaquille O’Neal or Wilt Chamberlain switching from one team to another, but types like Barkley heading to a Houston team some 14 months removed from a title, or Earl Monroe doing the same in New York early in the 1971-72 season. Monroe, playing with Walt Frazier in a crowded backcourt, wouldn’t even be an All-Star in his next two seasons but he nearly won a title in his first season with the Knicks, and was part of New York’s last championship the year after. Barkley may have clashed with Clyde Drexler in Houston, and his “your turn, now my turn”-left low post game with Hakeem Olajuwon wasn’t always the easiest to watch, but he was two wins away from making the Finals in his first year with Houston. Aldridge and the Spurs can’t bother with two wins from the Finals, though, and they can hardly bother with losing in the Finals only to win it all next season. That win would take place 21 months from now, and though Tim Duncan’s late-30s descent has been measured in centimeters the same can’t be said for his fellow 2003-champions in Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. Even the most bullish on Kawhi Leonard’s ceiling would probably admit that he isn’t yet equipped with the all-around offensive abilities needed to lead the Spurs to the title as a swingman. No, this comes down to LaMarcus. Yes, the Spurs won their last title with all out ball movement and sharing, a new hero every night, bigger than the sum of their parts, all that Commie crap – but Aldridge has to run this. (Hack sportswriter alert.) If you don’t believe me, ask Tim Duncan. From the Bleacher Report : “I'm not worried about him benefiting my game; I'm going to worry about me benefiting his. I'm going to let him do his thing and just see where I can fit in and help. I'm going to ride his coattails and I'm going to push him.” LMA has to set screens, find the open man, move the ball and flow within the sharing system, but at some point he’s going to have to act as a damned black hole in this Spurs offense. Just as Tim Duncan did – again with the hack alert – when he slid into David Robinson’s spot in the low post following a rookie season of acting as the Admiral’s apprentice. Robinson’s 1999 season wasn’t entirely made up of throwing entry passes into Duncan, but he did happily abdicate his literal post in order to benefit The Future. And he got a ring for his efforts. At age 30, Aldridge isn’t nearly as young as Duncan was in 1999 and he isn’t as potent. He’s not too far off in either respects, though, and lucky for him this year’s Spurs aren’t starting Jaren Jackson. Nor are they wondering if Avery Johnson can be trusted to hit an open 15-foot jump shot. This is one hell of a supporting cast. That’s where the luck ends, though. You can point to the slog of an 82-game season as the space to acclimate, but in the killer Western Conference you have to tick up those W’s early and often. One crappy December could prove fatal come spring, and nobody knows this better than these Spurs – a championship-caliber club that saw its season end two weeks before the Washington Wizards’ run ended last May. Tougher for Aldridge is his usual form when acting as a called-for black hole. He holds the ball, even though he isn’t nearly as efficient when glomming onto the leather for so long. Cutters shift and fade into oblivion. The shot clock ticks away. Tim Duncan turns 40. LaMarcus has to move quickly and efficiently, while still not playing as a scorer that has made up his mind about a move seconds before actually receiving the ball. Portland wasn’t exactly a breeding ground for bad habits, and his last coach (the clever Terry Stotts) encouraged the sort of movement that made San Antonio champions 15 months ago, but LMA will have to re-learn some things. And? So what? In Aldridge, the newly-signed David West, Tim Duncan and Boris Diaw, the Spurs will be fielding perhaps the brainiest batch of big men in NBA history. And don’t think Gregg Popovich hasn’t been staring at the salt and pepper shakers (or, more likely wine bottles) all summer, concocting plays for the fabulous lineup he’s been afforded. LaMarcus Aldridge and the Spurs can’t afford to wait, and LMA will have all eyes on him even on a TNT Thursday in November. That’s just fine, though. It has to be nice to be burdened with such lofty expectations. Previously, on BDL 25: Kevin Durant is back to score at will and dominate headlines What the heck will the Dallas Mavericks even look like? Paul George tries to reclaim stardom and Indiana's contender status Will DeMarcus Cousins and the Kings even make it to January? Can the Golden State Warriors be that perfect again? Are the Cleveland Cavaliers going to price themselves into oblivion? The Grizzlies know exactly who they are, and that might be enough Kevin Garnett's last run Are the Knicks building something or just biding time before a blow-up? Paul Pierce, journeyman Russell Westbrook searches for an encore to an overwhelming season Can the Atlanta Hawks do *that* again? Kobe Bryant takes on what could be the last of his many battles The rise of Rudy Gobert and the Utah Jazz Just how *excellent* are these Miami Heat, anyhow? Is Dwight Howard still a superstar? The fun, probably still terrible, Timberwolves Will Kevin Love 'fit in' better in Year 2 in Cleveland? Is DeAndre Jordan and Chris Paul's relationship built to last? Anthony Davis, nascent destroyer of worlds - - - - - - - Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops

BDL 25: How, exactly, will LaMarcus Aldridge fit in with the Spurs?---(9/28/2015 http://sports.yahoo.com)

Mon, 28 Sep 2015 21:34:50 +0000

The NBA media cycle, I think we can all agree, has been flowing at hyperdrive speeds for the last few years.

[Follow Dunks Don't Lie on Tumblr: The best slams from all of basketball]

Decades ago we’d get a month to wonder if Dennis Rodman would fit in with the Bulls or possibly two months to guess at how Charles Barkley would fit alongside Hakeem Olajuwon. At this point, even with a month to go before the actual games start, we’ve had nearly three months to digest LaMarcus Aldridge on the San Antonio Spurs. And his free agent tour, by 2015 standards, was relatively lengthy.

So you can imagine the Spurs’ annoyance, however cleverly articulated it might be, after having to answer a summer’s worth of questions about how, exactly, Aldridge and Tim Duncan will play alongside each other. Wonder about whether or not Aldridge has the temerity to lead a team that leads itself year in and year out, whatever the length of its playoff run. Worries about the offensive fit and the possible defensive holes in the wake of the team jettisoning two centers to clear cap space.

Questions about a team that basically did everything right in the offseason in its ever-expanding Spurs Era (thought to be dead, quite literally, nearly a decade ago), a franchise that somehow added an in-prime superstar while retaining its other aging superstars while inking its next superstar-to-be to a deal that takes him into his prime.

All the stars save for Aldridge, famously, take care of themselves with no muss or even fuss.

LaMarcus? He’s not exactly a headcase, but he’s got to get this right.

As is usually the case with San Antonio, the coaching staff will ensure that its players will have a suitable atmosphere in which to create. As it was when he was 23 and as it will be at age 40 next spring, Tim Duncan can adeptly handle both low and high post responsibilities as the situation calls for. Defensively, the shifting trend toward smaller lineups won’t bother the Spurs all that much. Not just because the two 7-footers on hand can bang with the best of them, but because they have the smarts and length to weather any type of Draymond-ish onslaught.

The real worry here is Aldridge’s possible insistence on deferring. Stars don’t usually move into situations like this. The closest comps aren’t giants like Shaquille O’Neal or Wilt Chamberlain switching from one team to another, but types like Barkley heading to a Houston team some 14 months removed from a title, or Earl Monroe doing the same in New York early in the 1971-72 season.

Monroe, playing with Walt Frazier in a crowded backcourt, wouldn’t even be an All-Star in his next two seasons but he nearly won a title in his first season with the Knicks, and was part of New York’s last championship the year after. Barkley may have clashed with Clyde Drexler in Houston, and his “your turn, now my turn”-left low post game with Hakeem Olajuwon wasn’t always the easiest to watch, but he was two wins away from making the Finals in his first year with Houston.

Aldridge and the Spurs can’t bother with two wins from the Finals, though, and they can hardly bother with losing in the Finals only to win it all next season. That win would take place 21 months from now, and though Tim Duncan’s late-30s descent has been measured in centimeters the same can’t be said for his fellow 2003-champions in Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. Even the most bullish on Kawhi Leonard’s ceiling would probably admit that he isn’t yet equipped with the all-around offensive abilities needed to lead the Spurs to the title as a swingman.

No, this comes down to LaMarcus. Yes, the Spurs won their last title with all out ball movement and sharing, a new hero every night, bigger than the sum of their parts, all that Commie crap – but Aldridge has to run this.

(Hack sportswriter alert.)

If you don’t believe me, ask Tim Duncan. From the Bleacher Report:

“I'm not worried about him benefiting my game; I'm going to worry about me benefiting his. I'm going to let him do his thing and just see where I can fit in and help. I'm going to ride his coattails and I'm going to push him.”

LMA has to set screens, find the open man, move the ball and flow within the sharing system, but at some point he’s going to have to act as a damned black hole in this Spurs offense. Just as Tim Duncan did – again with the hack alert – when he slid into David Robinson’s spot in the low post following a rookie season of acting as the Admiral’s apprentice. Robinson’s 1999 season wasn’t entirely made up of throwing entry passes into Duncan, but he did happily abdicate his literal post in order to benefit The Future. And he got a ring for his efforts.

At age 30, Aldridge isn’t nearly as young as Duncan was in 1999 and he isn’t as potent. He’s not too far off in either respects, though, and lucky for him this year’s Spurs aren’t starting Jaren Jackson. Nor are they wondering if Avery Johnson can be trusted to hit an open 15-foot jump shot. This is one hell of a supporting cast.

That’s where the luck ends, though. You can point to the slog of an 82-game season as the space to acclimate, but in the killer Western Conference you have to tick up those W’s early and often. One crappy December could prove fatal come spring, and nobody knows this better than these Spurs – a championship-caliber club that saw its season end two weeks before the Washington Wizards’ run ended last May.

Tougher for Aldridge is his usual form when acting as a called-for black hole. He holds the ball, even though he isn’t nearly as efficient when glomming onto the leather for so long. Cutters shift and fade into oblivion. The shot clock ticks away. Tim Duncan turns 40. LaMarcus has to move quickly and efficiently, while still not playing as a scorer that has made up his mind about a move seconds before actually receiving the ball. Portland wasn’t exactly a breeding ground for bad habits, and his last coach (the clever Terry Stotts) encouraged the sort of movement that made San Antonio champions 15 months ago, but LMA will have to re-learn some things.

And? So what?

In Aldridge, the newly-signed David West, Tim Duncan and Boris Diaw, the Spurs will be fielding perhaps the brainiest batch of big men in NBA history. And don’t think Gregg Popovich hasn’t been staring at the salt and pepper shakers (or, more likely wine bottles) all summer, concocting plays for the fabulous lineup he’s been afforded.

LaMarcus Aldridge and the Spurs can’t afford to wait, and LMA will have all eyes on him even on a TNT Thursday in November. That’s just fine, though. It has to be nice to be burdened with such lofty expectations.

Previously, on BDL 25:

Kevin Durant is back to score at will and dominate headlines

What the heck will the Dallas Mavericks even look like?

Paul George tries to reclaim stardom and Indiana's contender status

Will DeMarcus Cousins and the Kings even make it to January?

Can the Golden State Warriors be that perfect again?

Are the Cleveland Cavaliers going to price themselves into oblivion?

The Grizzlies know exactly who they are, and that might be enough

Are the Knicks building something or just biding time before a blow-up?

Russell Westbrook searches for an encore to an overwhelming season

Kobe Bryant takes on what could be the last of his many battles

Will Kevin Love 'fit in' better in Year 2 in Cleveland?

Is DeAndre Jordan and Chris Paul's relationship built to last?

Anthony Davis, nascent destroyer of worlds

- - - - - - -

Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops

Biz Ball: New speed bumps for Warriors' Mission Bay arena---(9/28/2015 http://www.csnbayarea.com)

Mon, 28 Sep 2015 20:13:37 +0000

The Warriors still hope to open their Mission Bay arena for the 2018-19 NBA season, but a new speed bump was recently constructed in their path.

Warriors officially sign veteran guard Ben Gordon---(9/28/2015 http://www.csnbayarea.com)

Mon, 28 Sep 2015 19:42:57 +0000

There's no guarantee, but 11-year NBA veteran Ben Gordon will have a chance this training camp to earn a roster spot with the world champs.

Warriors News: Catching Up With Steve Kerr and Bob Myers---(9/28/2015 http://www.warriorsworld.net)

Mon, 28 Sep 2015 19:41:27 +0000

By Yama Hazheer On adding Ben Gordon to the Training Camp Roster In his 11-year career, Ben Gordon has been an energetic scorer and proven shooter. A one-time 6th Man of the Year award winner, Gordon used to throw defenses off guard. Gordon has career averages of 14.9 points per game and 40% shooting from […]

The post Warriors News: Catching Up With Steve Kerr and Bob Myers appeared first on Warriors World.

Finals defeats harder to take says James (AFP)---(9/28/2015 http://us.rd.yahoo.com)

Mon, 28 Sep 2015 19:39:18 +0000

Lebron James admitted Monday he is finding it harder and harder to accept the bitter sting of defeat in the NBA Finals as he prepares for another tilt at glory this year. The Cleveland Cavaliers superstar suffered his fourth loss in six NBA finals appearances in June after being pipped by the Golden State Warriors. "Every year you lose in the Finals, it gets worse and worse to get over," James told reporters at a media day for the Cavaliers.

Stephen Curry makes wish come true for 10-year-old fan with inoperable brain tumor (Ball Don't Lie)---(9/28/2015 http://us.rd.yahoo.com)

Mon, 28 Sep 2015 18:58:34 +0000

Before he kicked off another long NBA season with the Golden State Warriors' Media Day session on Monday, defending NBA champion Stephen Curry took some time out to share a few moments with a special fan embroiled in a fight more grueling than anything the league's reigning Most Valuable Player will face on the court. [ Follow Dunks Don't Lie on Tumblr: The best slams from all of basketball] Earlier this year, doctors diagnosed a boy from Killen, Texas, named Taliq Davis with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma , or DIPG — a tumor near the base of his brain stem that causes the body's nervous system to lose function, prompts double vision, and makes chewing and swallowing more difficult, among other debilitating symptoms. The tumor is inoperable — DIPG is the same disease that struck Lauren Hill, the Mount St. Joseph University forward whose courage inspired millions before she succumbed to cancer this spring — and he was nine years old when doctors discovered it. Someone who heard about Taliq's diagnosis shared his story with a member of the Warriors' community relations staff; he counts the Dubs as his favorite team, and Curry as his favorite player. One month after the diagnosis, Taliq received a care package of souvenirs from the Warriors , headlined by an autographed photo of Curry. Four months later, when Taliq celebrated his 10th birthday, he did so with an estimated 10,000 birthday cards and gifts sent by well-wishers all over the country, and even as far away as Australia . Thanks in part to a reminder from team mom extraordinaire Mary Babers-Green, mother of Warriors forward Draymond Green, he also received a special birthday message from Steph: Happy 10th Birthday to my man Taliq. Keep fighting, keep believing. We are all praying & rooting for you! #TeamTaliq pic.twitter.com/4wBy3PF9kb — Stephen Curry (@StephenCurry30) July 23, 2015 Thanks so much @StephenCurry30 you made my day I almost cried https://t.co/kjPPET4bHq — taliq davis (@taliqdavis11) July 23, 2015 [ Yahoo Fantasy Basketball: Sign up for a league today ] Last week, Taliq got to meet the MVP and his teammates in person, as the Warriors welcomed him and his family to their training facility in the Bay for a special visit: Went to go meet stephen curry hade fun pic.twitter.com/Bbf23mtZ6Z — taliq davis (@taliqdavis11) September 27, 2015 Went to go meet klay Thompson pic.twitter.com/K40THKIMvF — taliq davis (@taliqdavis11) September 27, 2015 Taliq has reportedly already undergone four surgeries in his battle with DIPG, and given the nature of the condition, will likely continue to face daunting challenges. Here's hoping that the opportunity to meet his hero lightened the burden on this brave young man, if only for a moment, and that the memory of the experience can help makes what figures to be a difficult path ahead just a bit easier to travel. Hat-tip to Bleacher Report . - - - - - - - Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YourManDevine Stay connected with Ball Don't Lie on Twitter @YahooBDL , "Like" BDL on Facebook and follow Dunks Don't Lie on Tumblr for year-round NBA talk, jokes and more.

Stephen Curry makes wish come true for 10-year-old fan with inoperable brain tumor---(9/28/2015 http://sports.yahoo.com)

Mon, 28 Sep 2015 18:58:34 +0000

[Follow Dunks Don't Lie on Tumblr: The best slams from all of basketball]

Earlier this year, doctors diagnosed a boy from Killen, Texas, named Taliq Davis with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, or DIPG — a tumor near the base of his brain stem that causes the body's nervous system to lose function, prompts double vision, and makes chewing and swallowing more difficult, among other debilitating symptoms. The tumor is inoperable — DIPG is the same disease that struck Lauren Hill, the Mount St. Joseph University forward whose courage inspired millions before she succumbed to cancer this spring — and he was nine years old when doctors discovered it.

Someone who heard about Taliq's diagnosis shared his story with a member of the Warriors' community relations staff; he counts the Dubs as his favorite team, and Curry as his favorite player. One month after the diagnosis, Taliq received a care package of souvenirs from the Warriors, headlined by an autographed photo of Curry.

Four months later, when Taliq celebrated his 10th birthday, he did so with an estimated 10,000 birthday cards and gifts sent by well-wishers all over the country, and even as far away as Australia. Thanks in part to a reminder from team mom extraordinaire Mary Babers-Green, mother of Warriors forward Draymond Green, he also received a special birthday message from Steph:

Happy 10th Birthday to my man Taliq. Keep fighting, keep believing. We are all praying & rooting for you! #TeamTaliq pic.twitter.com/4wBy3PF9kb
— Stephen Curry (@StephenCurry30) July 23, 2015

Thanks so much @StephenCurry30 you made my day I almost cried https://t.co/kjPPET4bHq
— taliq davis (@taliqdavis11) July 23, 2015

[Yahoo Fantasy Basketball: Sign up for a league today]

Last week, Taliq got to meet the MVP and his teammates in person, as the Warriors welcomed him and his family to their training facility in the Bay for a special visit:

Went to go meet stephen curry hade fun pic.twitter.com/Bbf23mtZ6Z
— taliq davis (@taliqdavis11) September 27, 2015

Went to go meet klay Thompson pic.twitter.com/K40THKIMvF
— taliq davis (@taliqdavis11) September 27, 2015

Taliq has reportedly already undergone four surgeries in his battle with DIPG, and given the nature of the condition, will likely continue to face daunting challenges. Here's hoping that the opportunity to meet his hero lightened the burden on this brave young man, if only for a moment, and that the memory of the experience can help makes what figures to be a difficult path ahead just a bit easier to travel.

Hat-tip to Bleacher Report.

- - - - - - -

Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!

Stay connected with Ball Don't Lie on Twitter @YahooBDL, "Like" BDL on Facebook and follow Dunks Don't Lie on Tumblr for year-round NBA talk, jokes and more.

Report: Chandler Parsons had 'minor hybrid' microfracture surgery on right knee---(9/28/2015 http://sports.yahoo.com)

Mon, 28 Sep 2015 17:56:31 +0000

There's been no shortage of discussion about Chandler Parsons this offseason; the Dallas Mavericks swingman played a central role in the (house-)arresting summertime drama surrounding DeAndre Jordan's defection to Dallas, subsequent decommitment and eventual re-signing with the Los Angeles Clippers. What has stayed pretty quiet, though, is the exact nature of the surgery Parsons had to repair the late-season right knee injury that he reaggravated during the Mavs' first playoff game back in April, ending his first season in Dallas and leaving Mark Cuban, Rick Carlisle and company with one more question mark heading into a long summer.

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Summer's over now, with teams all over the NBA map holding Media Day sessions. Parsons won't be on the court with his compatriots as Dallas returns to work, though, and it's evidently because initial reports on the severity of his injury were close, if not bang-on; the forward had a "minor hybrid" microfracture operation, according to ESPN Dallas' Tim MacMahon:

The Mavs and Parsons have been vague about the details of the operation, which was announced simply as an "arthroscopic surgery to address a cartilage injury in his right knee."

Sources told ESPN.com that the operation, which was performed by team physician T.O. Souryal, included a bone marrow transplant from Parsons' right hip to help regenerate the cartilage damage from late last season that caused him to miss all but one game of the playoffs.

The location of the cartilage damage was in the "best possible spot," a source said, because it is in a non-weight-bearing area of the knee. That was the primary reason that a traditional microfracture surgery, which would require a longer recovery period, was not necessary.

That last bit figures to be pretty important.

Reading "minor" next to "microfracture surgery" confused me. How can an injury and procedure responsible for some of the most significant and superstar-career-altering downturns of last decade be "minor?" It's worth noting, though, that there are levels and shades of grey here; "not all microfracture surgeries are equal," as In Street Clothes' Jeff Stotts wrote back in 2014:

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Microfracture is a technique and not a specific surgery like Tommy John surgery. It generally carried out when damage has been sustained to the articular cartilage of the knee but it can be performed on other joints including the ankle. In the case of Stoudemire the injured cartilage was located on the proximal surface of one of the two lower two leg bones. However, occasionally the procedure will also be carried out on the kneecap when the cartilage surrounding an athlete’s kneecap, the patella, is damaged. [...]

The average recovery time for the surgery depends on the location of the procedure and the size of the area repaired. If a repair is done to a weight-bearing bone like the tibia or fibula the athlete will likely not return to play for at least six to eight months with rehab and recovery often extending longer. If a patellar repair is carried out, the recovery time may be slightly reduced and an athlete can return four months later. However it may take six months for a complete return and a brace will likely be worn for the majority of those six months.

Parsons went under the knife on May 1; a four-month recovery timeline for the comparatively more minor version of the microfracture procedure would've put him in line to be back on the court four weeks ago. Parsons, however, has not yet been cleared to join the Mavericks for the start of training camp. He's aiming to be back on the court when Dallas opens the 2015-16 regular season in Arizona against the Phoenix Suns, as is high-priced free-agent acquisition Wesley Matthews, who's still working his way back from the torn Achilles tendon he suffered in March while a member of the Portland Trail Blazers.

Even if both Parsons and Matthews make it back onto the court for Opening Night, it remains very much an open question whether Dallas' mended wings will be capable of shouldering the significant shot-creating, shot-making, defensive and leadership roles they'll be expected to play for a Mavericks team reconfiguring itself without departed bookends Monta Ellis and Tyson Chandler. Veteran reclamation project point guard Deron Williams could join with living legend Dirk Nowitzki and bounce-back big man Zaza Pachulia to keep Carlisle's crew steady in the early going with Parsons and Matthews find their sea legs.

Any delay in that search, though, could prove fatal for the postseason chances of a Dallas club that will need all hands on deck to avoid taking a significant step backward. And with the Boston Celtics holding Dallas' 2016 first-round draft pick should it fall outside the top seven, that lost step could be particularly damaging for the future prospects of a franchise that must start preparing for life after Dirk. If Parsons, too, has lost a step after undergoing even a "minor hybrid" version of one of the game's most daunting procedures, the outlook becomes even darker in the long-term than it is in the short-term.

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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!

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Don't get it twisted: Warriors still team to beat in 2015-16 ---(9/28/2015 http://www.csnbayarea.com)

Mon, 28 Sep 2015 17:29:44 +0000

Repeating in the NBA is tougher than ever, but the Warriors will ignore that fact perhaps because they know they are capable of pulling it off...

Warriors Sign Ian Clark, Jarell Eddie, Tony Mitchell & Juwan Staten---(9/28/2015 http://www.nba.com)

Paige Fischer — Mon, 28 Sep 2015 17:17:47 +0000

The Golden State Warriors have signed free agent guards Ian Clark and Juwan Staten along with free agent forwards Tony Mitchell and Jare

Warriors outlook: Klay's priority to become more consistent ---(9/28/2015 http://www.csnbayarea.com)

Mon, 28 Sep 2015 17:05:22 +0000

Klay Thompson has gotten appreciably better each season since being drafted 11th overall in 2011. He’ll seek to do the same this season...

Timeline: Busy offseason for NBA MVP Stephen Curry---(9/28/2015 http://www.csnbayarea.com)

Mon, 28 Sep 2015 15:20:59 +0000

Stephen Curry didn't find much time to sit still this summer. That's what happens when you're the MVP and win the NBA title...

NBA teams get back to work with injured stars returning (The Associated Press)---(9/28/2015 http://us.rd.yahoo.com)

Mon, 28 Sep 2015 06:36:09 +0000

Summer is over in the NBA. Stephen Curry couldn't be blamed if he wanted more time. It's been barely three months since his Golden State Warriors ended their 40-year title drought, not exactly a ton of time to plop down, put the feet up, recover from one nine-month grind and prepare for the next.

Klay Thompson Throws a Strike for First Pitch at Oakland A’s Game (VIDEO)---(9/27/2015 http://www.slamonline.com)

Sun, 27 Sep 2015 21:29:21 +0000

NBA players throwing out the first pitch at Major League Baseball games is becoming a thing this summer, and it’s been a mixed bag when it comes to the restults. MCW threw a wild pitch that hit a cameraman, James Harden’s was so-so, but Klay Thompson had the best one yet—watch as he fires a strike before the Oakland A’s game earlier this weekend:

Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised, since Klay’s younger brother Trayce plays for the Chicago White Sox. One team reporter even joked that Klay threw harder than the two starting pitchers in that day’s game:

First pitches on radar guns: Barry Zito 85 mph, Tim Hudson 87 mph, Klay Thompson 89 mph. #sfgiants #athletics #warriors

— John Shea (@JohnSheaHey) September 26, 2015

The post Klay Thompson Throws a Strike for First Pitch at Oakland A’s Game (VIDEO) appeared first on SLAMonline.

Klay Thompson on Bucks Passing on Him in 2011 Draft: ‘I Thank God Every Day’---(9/27/2015 http://www.slamonline.com)

Sun, 27 Sep 2015 18:21:49 +0000

Early in the first round of the 2011 NBA Draft, a three-way trade executed by Charlotte, Sacramento and Milwaukee resulted in Jimmer Fredette going No. 10 overall to the Bucks (he was subsequently traded to the Kings) which left Klay Thompson available to Golden State at No. 11. The rest is history, as Thompson has become an All-Star and NBA Champion, and Fredette has become a fringe NBA player who has bounced around on three different teams already.

Looking back, Klay says “I thank God every day” that he went to the Warriors, and not the Bucks. It’s not necessarily throwing shade at Milwaukee so much as Thompson is recognizing what a blessing it’s been to be in the Bay Area. But still, yikes.

Klay Thompson on Milwaukee Bucks passing on him in the draft: "I thank God every day."

— Diamond Leung (@diamond83) September 25, 2015

Klay Thompson: "I originally thought coming out of the draft my junior yr, I thought I was going to go to Milwaukee. But they passed me up."

— Diamond Leung (@diamond83) September 25, 2015

Klay Thompson: "I thank God every day, and I ended up in the Bay."

— Diamond Leung (@diamond83) September 25, 2015

The post Klay Thompson on Bucks Passing on Him in 2011 Draft: ‘I Thank God Every Day’ appeared first on SLAMonline.

Warriors outlook: Will move to winner get most out of Thompson?---(9/27/2015 http://www.csnbayarea.com)

Sun, 27 Sep 2015 16:19:25 +0000

Mired in Sacramento for seven seasons, Jason Thompson now has a chance to thrive as a backup on the defending NBA champs.

Warriors outlook: Better defense key for slimmed down Speights---(9/26/2015 http://www.csnbayarea.com)

Sat, 26 Sep 2015 18:31:00 +0000

With eyes on more playing time, Warriors PF/C Marreese Speights slimmed down over the summer. Now he needs to improve in two areas...

Back surgeries could limit Warriors' Kerr in training camp---(9/26/2015 http://www.insidebayarea.com)

Sat, 26 Sep 2015 04:56:11 +0000

Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr raved about newly hired player development consultant Steve Nash, who is expected to work with the defending NBA champions for a few days during training camp.

Kerr spends championship summer recovering from back surgery (The Associated Press)---(9/25/2015 http://us.rd.yahoo.com)

Fri, 25 Sep 2015 23:10:13 +0000

Steve Kerr had hoped to be able to spend the offseason savoring the NBA championship he won in his first year as coach of the Golden State Warriors. Instead, Kerr spent most of the abbreviated summer on his back recovering from a pair of back surgeries. ''To be honest the last couple of months stunk for me,'' Kerr said Friday.

Twice former MVP Nash joins Golden State as a consultant (Reuters)---(9/25/2015 http://us.rd.yahoo.com)

Fri, 25 Sep 2015 21:57:11 +0000

(Reuters) - Steve Nash, a retired two-time NBA most valuable player who was one of the best point guards ever to grace the game, has joined the champion Golden State Warriors as a player development consultant. After weeks of speculation, the Warriors made the Nash hire official on Friday. The 41-year-old Canadian's duties will include being "embedded" for stretches with the Warriors as well as doing on-court work with the team.

NBA-Twice former MVP Nash joins Golden State as a consultant (Reuters)---(9/25/2015 http://us.rd.yahoo.com)

Fri, 25 Sep 2015 21:52:25 +0000

Steve Nash, a retired two-time NBA most valuable player who was one of the best point guards ever to grace the game, has joined the champion Golden State Warriors as a player development consultant. After weeks of speculation, the Warriors made the Nash hire official on Friday. The 41-year-old Canadian's duties will include being "embedded" for stretches with the Warriors as well as doing on-court work with the team.

Warriors Hire Two-Time NBA MVP Steve Nash as Player Development Consultant---(9/25/2015 http://www.nba.com)

Paige Fischer — Fri, 25 Sep 2015 20:40:42 +0000

The NBA Champion Golden State Warriors have hired two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Steve Nash as a player development consultant, the te

Paul George is 'not too thrilled' about being the Pacers' starting power forward---(9/25/2015 http://sports.yahoo.com)

Fri, 25 Sep 2015 19:28:29 +0000

As soon as the Indiana Pacers wrapped up an injury-plagued and disappointing 2014-15 season, finishing outside the Eastern Conference playoff bracket for the first time since 2010, team president Larry Bird and head coach Frank Vogel made it clear that their vision for the club's future included a break from its recent past.

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"There's a gentleman who sits behind me who said, 'Boy, I wish they'd push the ball up a little faster,'" Bird said during his season-ending press conference. "And I agreed with him. [...] I'm not saying we're going to go out there and go crazy up and down the court. But we want to play a little smaller at times."

The decision to skew smaller and faster spelled the end of the line in Indiana for big men Roy Hibbert and David West, and led to the selection of lithe Texas 7-footer Myles Turner in the first round of the 2015 NBA draft. The whole project, though, hinges on moving 6-foot-10 wing Paul George — who rose to All-NBA prominence as a small forward, and who played just six games last season after spending much of the year recovering from the horrific broken leg he suffered during an August 2014 USA Basketball scrimmage — sliding up from the three spot to the four spot.

"I'm excited about it," Vogel season-ending press conferencesaid. "We've been in the bottom third offensively for a couple years now. Our style of play is based on how our roster is set up and playing to personnel strengths, but using Paul at the four spot some could, A, make us faster and, B, give us better spacing."

George said in July he was "fine with" playing "a couple of minutes at the power forward" to help the team, but that “it’s not going to be logging 30 minutes at the power forward." Bird responded by saying that George doesn't get to say who plays how many minutes where: ""Well, he don't make the decisions around here [...] I think with him coming off this injury, it's a good opportunity. He'll guard some threes but he won't have to do it all the time."

Vogel indicated Thursday that he views George as more than a spot-minutes option at the four, too, according to Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star — and while George might be feeling better physically, he doesn't seem to be feeling much better about this business:

On Thursday, Vogel shared his tentative 2015-16 starting lineup with George at power forward, alongside George Hill, [free-agent acquisition] Monta Ellis, C.J. Miles and Ian Mahinmi. Team President Larry Bird has repeatedly said George will see time at power forward as part of an overhaul that will make the Pacers a high-volume offensive team.

However, when asked about Vogel's projected starting five, George said: "That's kinda new to me. We talked about it some, [but] for him to say it in the papers, I guess he's pretty confident on me starting as the power forward. So that was new to me.

"I don't think I'm at that point in my career where I should be changing positions. I think guys do that later in their career. They put on weight, [begin] lacking physical attributes as far as being quick, so I don’t necessarily feel the need to play a different position, especially coming back into a new season and starting fresh again. So it’s a change, it’s definitely a change. We’ll see how it goes.”

George, speaking a couple of hours after Vogel at the Brickyard Crossing Golf Course for the Pacers Foundation Golf Outing, however, did said he's willing to explore a position change.

“I told them I’m open for a change. I wasn’t extremely thrilled about it when they first presented it to me,” George said, “but the way the league is going and my playing style, I think I can fit right into it. We’ll see how it goes during camp whether I’m comfortable with it or not, then we’ll just make that decision from there. But to start it out, I’m open for the change.”

George sounded similarly unenthused during an interview with USA TODAY's Sam Amick:

“Um, you know it’s, uh, I was open for — to try it out,” George said [...]. “It’s definitely a change. It’s something new. We’ll see how it goes. As the season goes, it might be better for me to just be at my regular position. But I told them I was open to the situation and (we’ll) see where it goes.” [...]

“It’s just being outmatched strength-wise with guys at the four spot is really the only concern. It’s not really the concern for one game. It’s the concern just over the course of a season just how my body would take it, especially coming off the injury that I had and a whole year of rehabbing. Just not sure of how it’s going to take it. [We’ll] start camp, see how camp goes. Again, I’m not too thrilled on it, but it could change the more comfortable I get at the position. But we’ll see. But again, I could very much end up loving it, so it’s all up in the air. I’m open to the position.”

George has played the four for stretches in the past; he even called for the responsibility in suggesting Vogel go small during the Pacers' first-round playoff matchup with Mike Budenholzer's five-out Atlanta Hawks. But he's never stayed there for very long, playing nearly all of his career minutes at the two and three spots, and you can understand him having some reservations about going from rehabilitating a catastrophic injury to a very brief season-ending return to all of a sudden battling beasts.

Even though there are fewer back-to-the-basket behemoths (your Zach Randolphs, your Nenes) for opposing power forwards to deal with these days, a full season of playing up a spot in the lineup and punching above your weight can lead to extra wear and tear. We've heard small-ball fours like Shane Battier and Jared Dudley discuss the physical toll it can take on you over the course of 82 games, not only when it comes to anchoring down against battering-ram post-ups, but also in repeatedly having to box out bigger, more rebound-hungry opponents on every possession.

While George's size, length and quickness will make him a nightmarish cover for slower bigs, that's a pretty big and grueling responsibility to have to take on in addition to the already daunting task of figuring out how to regain your previous superstar form to propel your team back into contention. The task seems especially daunting when you consider the opponents George and the Pacers will see most often in the Central Division, as noted by Chris Manning of Hardwood Paroxysm:

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In the division, the Cavs have Kevin Love, who when he posts up or operates out of the elbow, is one of the league’s best scorers, not to mention rebounding fiend Tristan Thompson. George can probably hang with Nikola Mirotic when the Pacers play the Bulls, but what will happen when Pau Gasol plays power forward next to Joakim Noah or George has to box out Taj Gibson? Or what if the Bucks go big with John Henson and Greg Monroe up front? For this to work, Indiana has to bet on George being so good at the four that the opposition will give up their size advantage to try and stop George.

But these are grinding, exhausting tasks. We don’t know yet what this means for George because we haven’t seen it, but in some way, this has to limit George’s effectiveness in some way.

At his peak, George has enough size, skills, smarts, length and talent to pull this off. He's capable of adapting to a new role in which he's asked to run pick-and-rolls, screen for ball-handlers, post up smaller marks, take bigger defenders off the bounce, anchor defensively on the block, act as the high-hedging big in Indiana's pick-and-roll defense, step up his defensive rebounding and offer some supplemental rim protection.

It's a remarkable load to ask a player to carry, but he's one of the few in the league gifted enough to be able to handle it. The question, however, is whether putting so much on George winds up taking away from what made him such an exceptional leading light before his injury.

It's a significant risk, but as Tom Lewis of Indy Cornrows notes, the reward could well be worth it for a Pacers club that's finished in the top half of the league in points scored per possession just twice in the last decade:

If PG is truly better than ever, and Vogel gushed over how good he's looked, which would indicate the team won't be protecting PG at power forward, then he shouldn't worry about what position he plays. The Pacers must have PG defending at an elite level again if they want to consider the playoffs this year. That also means he won't be matching up against big guys down low, but instead against the biggest threat on the other team, regardless of position.

Obviously, the Pacers have enough big guys to play big if needed and not put PG at a disadvantage down low. With a versatile collection of players on the roster, the Pacers now have options to attack a variety of matchups.

If Vogel's able to manage rotations to avoid George getting pounded early, and the Pacers get off to a fast start with the revamped offense carrying the day, we could wind up thinking this preseason hemming and hawing was much ado about nothing. But if Indy struggles out of the gate and George continues to make his displeasure with playing up known, Bird and Vogel could find themselves wondering whether all they did by determinedly going small was create a really big headache.

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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!

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Festus Ezeli wants to stay with Golden State Warriors, focused on having healthy season---(9/25/2015 http://www.insidebayarea.com)

Fri, 25 Sep 2015 18:06:16 +0000

Festus Ezeli could receive a contract extension with the Warriors, but is trying not to think about it

Ball Don't Five: Top 5 worst contracts in the NBA moving forward---(9/25/2015 http://sports.yahoo.com)

Fri, 25 Sep 2015 17:25:13 +0000

As we continue to work our way through the endless summer between the Finals and Opening Night, we'll pause each Friday to briefly consider and count down some NBA-related topic of note. We like starting lineups and round numbers, so we'll run through a handful of items each week. With a nod to our friends at Dr. Saturday, welcome to Ball Don't Five.

This week's installment: The NBA’s five worst contracts moving forward.

Thanks to advanced metrics and NBA teams now employing people who actually grasp the salary cap, there are fewer and fewer horrible contracts each July. The $20 million cap expansion in 2016 will also make some of the current albatrosses more palatable when Hassan Whiteside signs for $100 million next summer.

As long as the New York Knicks remain an NBA franchise, however, there will still be horrendous financial decisions made every year. As we retire the expiring contracts of Joe Johnson (6 years, $123.7 million), Kobe Bryant (2 years, $48.5 million), Nene (5 years, $65 million), Roy Hibbert (4 years, $58.4 million) and Eric Gordon (4 years, $58.4 million) this season — and with respect to every crazy deal the Cavaliers have signed this summer — let’s examine the league’s five worst deals going forward.

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5. Wesley Matthews, Dallas Mavericks. Even when healthy, Matthews may not have been worth four years and $70 million this summer. A prolific 3-point shooter and shutdown defender on the wing, he was a fantastic third option for the Trail Blazers and the glue that held a 50-win team together for the past two seasons.

But is that worth $17.5 million a season? Mavs owner Mark Cuban certainly thought so, hoping Matthews would fill a similar role alongside Chandler Parsons, Dirk Nowitzki and DeAndre Jordan. But once Jordan reneged on his deal, you wonder if Cuban wishes he could’ve done the same with Matthews in the aftermath. After all, Matthews generously estimated his own annual value at $15 million weeks earlier.

And we haven’t even mentioned Matthews’ ruptured Achilles tendon, requiring season-ending surgery from which NBA players rarely — if ever — regain form.

4. Omer Asik, New Orleans Pelicans. On the surface, signing Asik to a five-year, $60 million deal this summer to coincide with Anthony Davis’ extension should’ve shored up the Pelicans’ frontcourt for the foreseeable future. Lineups featuring that duo allowed 100.6 points per 100 possessions in 2014-15 — a mark that would rank as the league’s seventh-best defensive rating if extrapolated over a full season.

Except, Asik is so severely limited on offense that he hurt the Pelicans more on that end than he helped them defensively, as his negative real plus-minus reflected last season. In their first-round series against the Warriors, the two most common lineups featuring Asik were outscored by 18.4 and 26.3 points per 100 possessions, respectively, because Golden State ignored him in favor of double-teaming Davis.

That’s a problem for a franchise that hopes to build a contender around Davis. The Pelicans fared far better with Davis manning the middle alongside stretch four Ryan Anderson, and 7-footer Alexis Ajinca — signed to a more affordable four-year, $20.2 million extension — has proven capable of approximating Asik’s production in more traditional lineups. In other words, why commit to Asik for so much and for so long?

3. Reggie Jackson, Detroit Pistons. What do you do when your inefficient starting point guard tears his Achilles before entering the final year of his contract? Why, you offer twice as much money to an even more inefficient point guard, of course.

Brandon Jennings was finally coming into his own on the Pistons. His turnovers were down, his shooting percentages were up, and the result was the best on/off rating of his six-year career. And then the tendon in his left ankle ruptured. With it went the playoff prayers of a team that had won 12 of 15 following a 5-23 start. Meanwhile, two of the three players Detroit traded for Jennings two years earlier — Brandon Knight and Khris Middleton — were keeping Milwaukee in contention.

And then Stan Van Gundy got weird. In two separate deals on deadline day, the Pistons coach and president traded a trio of inexpensive and impactful role players — D.J. Augustin, Kyle Singler and Jonas Jerebko — along with a pair of second-round picks for Jackson and Tayshaun Prince. The acquisition of Prince’s additional salary made absolutely no sense, and Jackson’s arrival might make less, if that’s possible.

Jackson posted impressive per-minute traditional statistics off the bench in Oklahoma City, although he required a high usage rate and a ton of shots to get those numbers. He also fell out of favor on the Thunder after vocalizing his desire for a starting role and big contract elsewhere, and that doesn’t always sit well, especially on a roster that could compete for a championship when healthy.

It’s his right to seek more minutes and money, even if it’s on a team battling from the middle of a muddled Eastern Conference. Over the final month of last season, Jackson posted numbers (19.9 points, 10.9 assists and 4.9 rebounds while shooting nearly 40 percent from 3-point range) worthy of his five-year, $80 million deal.

But paying a $16 million salary to someone who spent three-plus season proving himself as an individualistic and inefficient talent rarely translates into winning basketball. The fact Knight and Middleton each signed through 2020 for $10 million less will only make matters when Detroit fans watch Jennings come off the bench.

2. Enes Kanter, Oklahoma City Thunder. Sam Presti had to do it. With Kevin Durant’s free agency looming over the franchise, the OKC general manager couldn’t part with another player over a price tag, even if matching Portland’s four-year, $70 million contract offer to Kanter meant spending $10 million more than it would’ve cost to keep James Harden in a Thunder uniform only a few years earlier.

Presti had to show Durant the team was willing to exceed the luxury tax in order to appease the former MVP’s fears that the organization would never spend enough to build a title contender around him, even if it meant handicapping the roster with one of the league’s worst defensive centers at a rate of $17.5 million per season.

Of the 11 Thunder lineups that played at least 50 minutes together in 2014-15, Kanter appeared on four of them, and all but one was outscored by at least 7.4 points per 100 possessions. Despite the Swiss-born center’s obvious talent as a low-post scorer and rebounder, Oklahoma City features more impactful options in the middle of both small-ball combinations (Serge Ibaka) and bigger lineups (Steven Adams).

While OKC needed Kanter from an image standpoint, the Thunder don’t require his services to win this season, which will be the real key to keeping Durant down the line. Kanter’s presence might actually hinder Oklahoma City’s efforts on the court in 2015-16, and his cumbersome contract could prevent them from improving in the future, especially since his salary skyrockets 15 percent if he’s ever traded. Ouch.

1. Carmelo Anthony, New York Knicks. Don’t get me wrong. As a proud former Syracuse student, I love me some Melo. He’s an extraordinary offensive talent who has led the league in scoring and shot 40 percent from 3-point range despite being every defense’s sole focus in his last two healthy seasons, but he’s also a black hole whose hero ball can extinguish the bright lights of basketball in New York City.

In the summer of 2014, the Knicks were entering another rebuilding project with the same finish date as every previous renovation since 1973: someday. With that in mind, the new brass acted just as the old brass would, signing a 30-year-old Anthony to a five-year, $124.1 million contract — the NBA’s richest deal at the time.

Making matters worse, Anthony had been dealing with knee problems in the months leading up to that contract, and then missed the entirety of the second half of his first year making $22.5 million due to, you guessed it, season-ending knee surgery.

His salary is set to increase each of the next four seasons, at which point he’ll be 35. Robin Lopez and rookie Kristaps Porzingis are also signed through 2019 for a combined $17-20 million per season, which makes for a strange triumvirate taking up half your salary cap, if the goal is to win a championship. But the real motivation behind signing Anthony probably had more to do with selling tickets in Madison Square Garden now than building toward a title, in which case — #knickstape?

Previously on Ball Don't Five:

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Ben Rohrbach is a contributor for Ball Don't Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach

Warriors Announce Additions to Physical Performance and Sports Medicine Staff---(9/25/2015 http://www.nba.com)

Paige Fischer — Fri, 25 Sep 2015 16:23:55 +0000

The NBA Champion Golden State Warriors announced the addition of three new members of the team’s physical performance and sports

BDL 25: Anthony Davis, nascent destroyer of worlds---(9/25/2015 http://sports.yahoo.com)

Fri, 25 Sep 2015 13:15:00 +0000

It would not be a stretch to say that Anthony Davis was the most outstanding player of the 2014-15 NBA season.

While LeBron James remained the leading force in the league and Stephen Curry stood as the best player on the best team, Davis put up stats that suggest no one was more productive — 24.4 points per game on 53.5 percent shooting from the field, 10.2 rebounds per game, a league-best 2.9 blocks per game, 1.5 steals per game, a league-best 30.8 Player Efficiency Rating, 14.0 Win Shares, a 122-100 Offensive Rating-Defensive Rating split that says the Pelicans outscored opponents by 22 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor, etc., ad infinitum.

The impact carried over to team success, as well, with Davis dragging a limited Pelicans squad to its first playoff berth in four years and playing well enough in a sweep to the eventual champion Golden State Warriors to lead the postseason in points per game, minutes per game, and PER. Davis was already a star — now he's one of the sport's true superstars and the sort of player who will disappoint if he does not become a Hall of Famer with multiple championships.

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So, yes, expectations are high, but there's also no evidence that Davis is not capable of meeting them. His first three seasons have followed a path that portends well for the rest of the 21-year-old's career. While the No. 1 overall pick lost 2012-13's Rookie of the Year trophy to Damian Lillard, Davis put up very efficient stats in 64 games and showed no signs of disappointing. Season two saw the requisite jump in form, complete with a first All-Star Game selection. The summer brought a starring role on Team USA at the FIBA World Cup, the precursor to the NBA season's excellence.

Few players get so good in such a short period of time. One who did was Kevin Durant, who went from impressive rookie to notable star to full-fledged superstar for a No. 8 seed in his first three seasons, as well. Durant topped those years with another step up in individual quality in 2010-11 and a Western Conference Finals berth for the Oklahoma City Thunder. It may be too early to peg the Pelicans for a similar finish — the West was more open four years ago, for one thing — but some progress will be necessary to slot in Davis as a top two or three player rather than someone who figures to be in that position pretty soon.

Naturally, that improvement will require both player and team to take steps forward. For Davis, the areas of weakness are not so clear if only because pointing them out feels like nitpicking. However, new head coach Alvin Gentry has stated a desire to see the forward take more than the 12 3-pointers he put up last season, which is a frightening proposition for any opponents. Davis has extended his range steadily in each of his pro seasons, and he will be downright indefensible if he figures out a way to drain triples with any regularity. Otherwise, the challenge for Davis may just be to learn how to put himself in places to succeed more often. The ability is obviously there.

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This description of his potential improvement is vague on purpose, because the fact is that players at Davis's level are notable in large part because they confound standard career progressions. Davis is so good that he could very well put forth one of the best seasons in NBA history — frankly, he had one of them in 2014-15 anyway. Asking him to do more is almost unfair, because he will either achieve more than anyone ever thought possible or merely play like the All-NBA First Team player he is right this minute. Davis is already someone to exclaim about — more would almost be overkill.

Like many other superstars, Davis will only gain more attention as an all-time great when the rest of his team manages to support him with series-winning performances. The Pelicans have several players who could be capable of such things, but the largest potential improvement could come from their coaching change. Monty Williams did many good things for this franchise and may have only been fired due to unrealistic expectations, but Gentry brings championship experience, considerable success as the head coach of the Phoenix Suns, and a reputation as a tactician who allows players' skills to amplify each other. It's possible that the Pelicans will be a better team and that Davis will take on greater prominence in the league even if his individual stats get worse. Gentry can empower Eric Gordon, Tyreke Evans, and others to make the Pelicans more formidable, to the point where Davis will be part of the attack rather than a star without much help.

Matching 2014-15 isn't the point. For Davis, the next step forward may not be his to take.

Previously, on BDL 25:

Kevin Durant is back to score at will and dominate headlines

What the heck will the Dallas Mavericks even look like?

Paul George tries to reclaim stardom and Indiana's contender status

Will DeMarcus Cousins and the Kings even make it to January?

Can the Golden State Warriors be that perfect again?

Are the Cleveland Cavaliers going to price themselves into oblivion?

The Grizzlies know exactly who they are, and that might be enough

Are the Knicks building something or just biding time before a blow-up?

Russell Westbrook searches for an encore to an overwhelming season

Kobe Bryant takes on what could be the last of his many battles

Will Kevin Love 'fit in' better in Year 2 in Cleveland?

Is DeAndre Jordan and Chris Paul's relationship built to last?

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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

Follow @FreemanEric

Hornets Media Day Today!---(9/25/2015 http://feedproxy.google.com)

JLinfan#1 — Fri, 25 Sep 2015 07:48:00 +0000

Here is the link for the live stream for Media Day which starts at 10:30am PST:

http://www.nba.com/hornets/media-day-live-matt-and-matt-9/25/15

Update 12:31pm:

Takeaways so far:

JLin seems so comfortable and really showing his personality and sense of humor. Coach Clifford is a joy to listen to. Just so knowledgeable and transparent. Frank the tank is a clown. This team has a bunch of good dudes and I'm expecting great chemistry.

As we get ready for media day, nice Reddit Q and A with JLin. Btw, the "How to fit in the NBA" video has over 2 million hits in 2 days!

Doing a surprise AMA on @nba_Reddit right now! http://t.co/kYrBI63Lx7 pic.twitter.com/jEccKt7iDQ
— Jeremy Lin (@JLin7) September 24, 2015

Warriors News: Former Warrior Jason Richardson Retires---(9/24/2015 http://www.warriorsworld.net)

Thu, 24 Sep 2015 21:16:04 +0000

Drafted with the 5th overall pick in the 2001 Draft, Jason Richardson stepped in and started 75 games for Golden State. Best known for his thunderous slams, Richardson helped create a lot of Golden State Warriors fans. Richardson hasn’t played for the Warriors since the end of the 2007 season. After 13 seasons in the […]

The post Warriors News: Former Warrior Jason Richardson Retires appeared first on Warriors World.

Chandler Parsons claims the tweet that sparked the emoji war wasn't about DeAndre Jordan---(9/24/2015 http://sports.yahoo.com)

Thu, 24 Sep 2015 20:14:41 +0000

It was the tweet that sparked one of the more ridiculous days in recent NBA memory:

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✈️
— Chandler Parsons (@ChandlerParsons) July 8, 2015

With that one plane emoji, fired off shortly after reports began to circulate that free-agent center DeAndre Jordan had started to change his mind about leaving the Los Angeles Clippers to join the Dallas Mavericks in free agency, Mavericks swingman/lead recruiter Chandler Parsons touched off a social-media firestorm. The viewing public took Parsons' tweet to mean that he was heading to Houston for one last meeting with Jordan to attempt to convince him to hold fast and stick to the agreement he'd made with Mark Cuban one week earlier; many Clippers soon responded in kind.

🚙
— JJ Redick (@JJRedick) July 8, 2015

✈️🚁🚙
— Blake Griffin (@blakegriffin32) July 8, 2015

🍌🚤
— Chris Paul (@CP3) July 8, 2015

pic.twitter.com/SIyHJjDScR
— Paul Pierce (@paulpierce34) July 8, 2015

🏊
— Mike Woodson (@MikeWoodsonNBA) July 8, 2015

The insanity soon spread to totally uninvolved parties, like Kobe Bryant and Tony Romo, and became a ludicrous viral happening that, according to those involved, far outstripped the reality of the situation, which — as you surely know — ended with Jordan back in L.A., the Mavs up a certain creek, and Cuban and Doc Rivers waging a war of words that continues two months later.

The damnedest thing about it? According to Parsons, that plane didn't mean what we thought it meant. From an interview on Dallas' KRLD-FM, as transcribed by SportsDayDFW.com:

I loved the emojis during all of that, and then everybody started jumping on that and there were emojis everywhere — did you enjoy all that, or was it too stressful to enjoy it?

Parsons: You know what's funny? Actually, when I tweeted that plane emoji, I was leaving LA and going to Vegas for my girlfriend's birthday. I wasn't even going to Houston. I didn't even think about it initially, then it started blowing up, and obviously the timing of it was perfect and then it just kind of took off with J.J. [Redick] tweeting the car and [Chris Paul] and everybody — I saw the Dodgers, the Warriors, Kobe, MJ, everybody started tweeting it so that was more funny than ever. At that point, it was already over and he was going back to the Clippers, so might as well make light of it.

Oh. OK, then. So ... too late to delete all those tweets, everyone?

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Whether you believe Parsons' story to be a correction of the record or an attempt to revise history in a way that limits his own exposure — I mean, if you weren't trying to hop on the private jet that you and Cubes had used in your previous attempt to seal the deal and in fact weren't even talking about trying to get another sitdown with Jordan, then did you even really lose out? — is, at this stage, pretty much immaterial. The Clips' gain was the Mavericks' loss, the relationship between Jordan and Parsons has changed forever, and we're now forced to take every emoji — even ones screenshotted and tweeted as picture attachments by future Hall of Famers — with more than a few grains of salt.

Oh, well. At least we'll always have our weird, exceptionally specific and exceedingly difficult-to-explain-to-someone-who-doesn't-use-social-media jokes.

- - - - - - -

Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!

Stay connected with Ball Don't Lie on Twitter @YahooBDL, "Like" BDL on Facebook and follow Dunks Don't Lie on Tumblr for year-round NBA talk, jokes and more.

Kevin Durant's ready to return, and the Thunder are ready to take one wild ride---(9/24/2015 http://sports.yahoo.com)

Thu, 24 Sep 2015 19:23:05 +0000

It had been expected for weeks, but it's good news all the same: After three surgeries in six months on his fractured right foot, Kevin Durant has been fully cleared for all basketball activities, and will be full-go on the court when the Oklahoma City Thunder open their training camp next week.

Thunder general manager Sam Presti shared the glad tidings on Wednesday, according to Royce Young of ESPN.com:

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"He's been playing without restriction, 5-on-5 and competing as normal," Presti said at his preseason news conference. "With that said, as any of our players coming off injury, we're going to be watching and managing practice, recovery time; we're going to be watching. But as far as limitations, he doesn't have any." [...]

"He feels great. Looks great. It's great to have him back on the floor," Presti said. "Happy for him because he's been so committed and so disciplined to that process of getting back on the floor."

Persistent foot problems limited the 2013-14 NBA Most Valuable Player and four-time NBA scoring champ to just 27 appearances for OKC last year. He missed the first month of the season rehabilitating after an initial procedure intended to address his preseason Jones fracture. Less than a month after his return to the lineup, he was sidelined for another 10 days by a sprained right ankle.

Durant performed largely as advertised when he did get on the floor, averaging 25.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 33.8 minutes per contest on typically sterling 51/40/85 shooting splits for the Thunder. But he couldn't stay on the court; the issues with his surgically repaired foot never fully subsided.

He played just 10 minutes in the 2015 NBA All-Star Game and suited up for only one post-All-Star-break contest — a Feb. 19 win over the Dallas Mavericks — before exiting with just over three minutes left in the fourth quarter. Three days later, Durant underwent another procedure on the foot, this time to replace a screw in the foot that had been causing the persistent discomfort.

Durant spent the ensuing weeks continuing to rehab and work his way back to health in the hope of returning to the lineup to aid the Thunder's push for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. New concerns arose when Durant sat out a Thunder practice "with another bout of soreness in his surgically repaired right foot." A day after that setback, Presti ruled Durant out indefinitely; from there, team and player agreed that Durant would go back under the knife, scuttling the remainder of his '14-'15 campaign in hopes of rebounding strong thereafter.

Evidently, he's now believed to be healthy enough to do just that, which ought to offer a major boost to Oklahoma City's attempts to return to the postseason after falling one game short in an injury-wracked campaign. But while there's certainly plenty of reason to be excited about a season that will see Russell Westbrook aim to once again produce at an MVP level even though he won't have to do it all himself this time around while Durant resumes torching opponents with an eye on proving he is exactly what he says he is, Presti reserves the right to take a measured, cautious approach to reintegrating his top gun, according to Cliff Brunt of The Associated Press:

Durant averaged a career-low 33.8 minutes per game last season as he fought through the injury. Presti wouldn't say for sure if the number would creep back up toward the 38.2 minutes he averaged in his career before last season.

"Average minutes — that's probably going to be the most important thing," Presti said. "Are there going to be games that he plays more than the average last year? Probably. You also have to factor in where you want be at a certain point and where the schedule is and where there are opportunities to take some time."

Those opportunities will begin in preseason, and — as is the case with the likewise-recently-cleared Kobe Bryant and coach Byron Scott with the Los Angeles Lakers — Presti and new head coach Billy Donovan plan to take advantage of them. That said, the Thunder bosses aren't exactly going to envelop KD in bubble wrap and store him in the attic, according to Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman:

On Wednesday, Presti shied away from revealing a specific plan to monitor Durant. The goal is to move perception away from that injury stigma and back to his on-court greatness.

“We are going to treat him like a normal player because that's what he is,” Presti said.

But a drop in court time is expected. [...]

Even without a setback, there's an expectation Billy Donovan can find more pockets of rest for Durant this year. Sit him during some back-to-backs. Limit his practice time. Anticipate blowouts early and cut his minutes against lesser teams. Trust a deep roster.

“He is going to play a lot of minutes because he can,” Presti said. “[But] we are going to be really diligent about how those minutes are distributed and when.”

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The more diligent they are and the healthier Durant remains, the more dangerous the Thunder become in the race to unseat the NBA champion Golden State Warriors. And, of course, the closer the Thunder get to that goal of hoisting the Larry O'Brien Trophy for the first time in this iteration of the franchise's history, the greater the chances — you'd figure, at least — of Durant electing to stay put in Oklahoma City when he hits unrestricted free agency next summer.

Presti, like everyone else in Oklahoma and the NBA-watching world at large, knows that. And yet, with perhaps the most significant single personnel decision in franchise history now sitting a scant nine months away, Presti's entering the season refusing to make himself a prisoner to the worst-case scenario looming on the horizon, according to ESPN's Young:

"Here's the thing: We're not going to bury our heads in the sand and pretend that's not going to be in the air," Presti said. "Knowing that the future is coming, we're incredibly excited about that because it's an opportunity for us to keep him in Oklahoma City: a Hall of Fame player, a legacy player, I should say a legacy person, in Oklahoma. But those are conversations for another day.

"He knows how we feel about him. The best way to serve the Thunder and put him in a position to be successful, those things are one in the same, and that's what we focus on."

With Donovan on board in place of Scott Brooks, Westbrook coming off the best season of his career and plenty of capable contributors up and down the roster, Presti and company certainly seem to have put together a crew capable of meeting their high expectations. Whether they do so figures to depend mostly on whether Durant's ready to don his "Slim Reaper" shroud once again; in getting him fully cleared, Oklahoma City has jumped that first significant hurdle. That's sour news for Thunder opponents, but an exceptionally exciting update for the rest of us who just missed watching the game's purest scorer work.

- - - - - - -

Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!

Stay connected with Ball Don't Lie on Twitter @YahooBDL, "Like" BDL on Facebook and follow Dunks Don't Lie on Tumblr for year-round NBA talk, jokes and more.

Jeremy Lin figures out how to fit in the NBA: Dance with Riley Curry---(9/24/2015 http://sports.yahoo.com)

Thu, 24 Sep 2015 16:55:42 +0000

Credit Jeremy Lin for having a self-deprecating sense of humor and seeing the big picture: If you're going to get overlooked, you might as well have a little bit take it all in stride with a smile.

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First, the Charlotte Hornets point guard poked fun at his recent mistaken identity run-in with team security by goofing around with new teammate and noted stopper Michael Kidd-Gilchrist:

Today @jlin7 found out who's running security around here. #MKGSecurity pic.twitter.com/FQ1nBUAzNs
— Mike Kidd-Gilchrist (@MKG14) September 17, 2015

... and then Lin drops a new comedy video — which he's been known to do from time to time — showcasing his efforts to convince his fellow NBA players, from Wesley Matthews to a nose-ringed Tyson Chandler to Dwight Howard to DeAndre Jordan and beyond — that he's one of them. (Spoiler alert: these efforts do not go well!)

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While Lin's attempts to effectively fit in with his NBA brethren might have led him astray for a while, he eventually figured out the best way to score a certified social media hit: calling up Stephen Curry and asking him to bring the MVP with him to the shoot:

Predictably, the video's at 945,000 views and counting. Thank you, Based Riley.

- - - - - - -

Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!

Kevin Durant is back to score at will and dominate headlines

Stay connected with Ball Don't Lie on Twitter @YahooBDL, "Like" BDL on Facebook and follow Dunks Don't Lie on Tumblr for year-round NBA talk, jokes and more.

Danny Ainge Picks Steph Curry Over Larry Bird as the Greatest Shooter Ever---(9/24/2015 http://www.slamonline.com)

Thu, 24 Sep 2015 15:50:11 +0000

Just six seasons into his remarkable NBA career, and already, Stephen Curry is considered by many as perhaps the greatest shooter in League history.

Count Danny Ainge among those who consider Curry the G.O.A.T. at launching the rock.

Ainge, who played with Larry Bird in Boston during his legendary reign, gives Steph the nod based on the multitude of shots he has mastered.

Per WEEI:

“I think Larry was as good a shooter as I’ve ever seen before Steph. And Ray Allen is up there, too,” Ainge said. “If anybody were to come in and tell me, ‘Larry Bird‘s the best shooter of all time,’ I wouldn’t have much argument. Same with Ray. I probably wouldn’t argue. It’s really close. […] “The reason I think Steph is the best shooter of all time is simply the variety of shots he hits. Left-handed running hook shots, reverses, floaters, 3-point shots off the dribble, behind screens. It’s the variety and the degree of difficulty of the shots he hits.”

“That’s why I think Larry was always my first guy of being the best shooter of all time, up until Steph,” Ainge said. “To me, it was the difficulty of shots he made. I mean, Larry could shoot with two guys draped on him, and I used to play Larry one-on-one often before practice. I would be right on him and turn around, and the ball would be going in the basket. That’s what was always amazing to me, how he was able to create that shot and get that shot off with very little space. I see the same qualities in Steph.”

Bird chimed in on the debate back in June during the NBA Finals, and explained the difference between the two greats’ shooting mentalities.

Per the Indy Star:

“It’s really in different stages,” is how Bird started his answer. “He’s no doubt a great shooter from long distance and short distance. He shoots more 3-point shots than anything. Usually outside that 3-point line if you’re consistent and hit shots, people automatically think you’re a great, great shooter – which he is, no question.

“But when I played, the 3-point shot was not the biggest thing. That was the last thing we thought of when we played. Later on in my career, we shot more (3’s). My whole game was mid-range – that’s where I played. I posted up later, but down screens, 15 to 23 feet, that was my game.”

“There were some days,” Bird says, “it didn’t matter what I did out there. I couldn’t miss. I could try to miss and wouldn’t. I’d be out there working out, I’d get on a roll and say, ‘I wonder if anybody ever made this many shots in a row.’ There were days it was pretty incredible.” […] “One time I ran like 3 miles,” Bird says. “Game that night. Go out and get loosened up and shoot jumpers. I didn’t know it, but a TV station in Boston was counting. I never paid no attention. They said: ‘You know you hit 74 shots in a row?’ Nah, I can’t really remember shooting. My mind was someplace else. They ran that highlight that night in fast speed.”

The post Danny Ainge Picks Steph Curry Over Larry Bird as the Greatest Shooter Ever appeared first on SLAMonline.

BDL 25: Is DeAndre Jordan and Chris Paul's relationship built to last?---(9/24/2015 http://sports.yahoo.com)

Thu, 24 Sep 2015 13:40:00 +0000

The first Friday in July looked like an especially dark time for the Los Angeles Clippers franchise and leader Chris Paul. DeAndre Jordan's departure to the Dallas Mavericks had left an ostensible title contender without its defensive linchpin and the cap space necessary to replace him, essentially dooming an aging team to run and go small in the hopes of maintaining long-term relevance.

Worse yet, reported animosity between Jordan and Paul appeared to confirm the growing belief that the 30-year-old point guard is too demanding and high-strung to serve as an effective leader in this era. If Paul had alienated the team's third-most important player, then what hope would the Clippers have of returning to contender status?

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These issues became secondary concerns as soon as Blake Griffin started propping up chairs against the doors in Jordan's Houston home. When the Clippers visited Jordan and convinced him to stay in L.A. with some kind words and card games, they patched over any disagreements with the fabric of a shared goal and the thread of several years of shared experience. Suddenly, the Clippers had reassembled one of the best teams in the league.

It is easy to be optimistic about the Clippers this season, because they have elite talent, a title-winning coach, and new players like Paul Pierce, Lance Stephenson, and Josh Smith to provide a necessary infusion of depth. Yet it would be prudent not to wipe the impressions of those few days in July from our memory. The negative side of the Clippers' continuity is that the conditions that allowed Jordan to become dissatisfied haven't just disappeared because he signed a new four-year deal.

To be fair, the immediate aftermath of a breakup can often lead to exaggeration of both the good and the bad. Whatever made Jordan not enjoy playing with Paul obviously wasn't enough to keep the Clippers from finishing with the second-most wins in the West and seeing one improbable collapse rob them of the franchise's first conference finals appearance. For that matter, Paul and Jordan have always had terrific chemistry on the pick-and-roll and in alley-oops, where the former's generation-best point-guard skills match up with Jordan's elite catching and finishing ability.

Unfortunately, anyone who has watched the Clippers at length knows that CP3 can get angry with his teammates in the heat of competition. Jordan has often been on the wrong end of those exchanges, and reports that he had tired of serving that role didn't come as a huge surprise during the Mavericks' courtship. At the same time, Paul apparently was shocked to learn that Jordan was unhappy with his treatment and expressed a desire to make things better as the Clippers convinced the center to return.

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That newfound openness could lead to greater team chemistry and more effective conflict resolution whenever issues do arise. Because, as anyone who has ever worked in a high-pressure team-intensive situation knows, conflict will arise. The Clippers will face challenges and perhaps a bit of infighting — these events are common and often healthy for professional basketball teams. But Jordan's decision to renege on his agreement with Dallas and return to the Clippers could change the tenor of any disagreement between him, Paul, and anyone else in the organization. His return carried a promise (whether explicit or implicit) from the team that this time would be different. Jordan had all the leverage in the situation and would not have returned otherwise.

For better or worse, Jordan's relationship with his teammates, coaches, and bosses will now be very different. Paul only stands at the most obvious flashpoint. It's up to him and everyone else to ensure that Jordan does not regret his decision somewhere down the line.

Previously, on BDL 25:

What the heck will the Dallas Mavericks even look like?

Paul George tries to reclaim stardom and Indiana's contender status

Will DeMarcus Cousins and the Kings even make it to January?

Can the Golden State Warriors be that perfect again?

Are the Cleveland Cavaliers going to price themselves into oblivion?

The Grizzlies know exactly who they are, and that might be enough

Are the Knicks building something or just biding time before a blow-up?

Russell Westbrook searches for an encore to an overwhelming season

Kobe Bryant takes on what could be the last of his many battles