Christmas Day, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
- New Orleans Pelicans at Miami Heat, 12 p.m. ET
- Golden State Warriors at Milwaukee Bucks, 2:30 p.m. ET
- Brooklyn Nets at Boston Celtics, 5 p.m. ET
- Dallas Mavericks at Los Angeles Lakers, 8 p.m. ET
- Los Angeles Clippers at Denver Nuggets, 10:30 p.m. ET
KERR ON ROTATION AND STARTERS:
Part of the reason is because of his defensive upside (which our Ethan Strauss detailed here). Oubre has the length — 7-foot-3 wingspan — strength, lateral quickness and mindset to be a plus-level perimeter defender. He’s just never been part of a great five-man unit. The Warriors believe they can unlock him as an on-ball pitbull, flanked by Wiggins and, most importantly, backed by Green.
“(Wizards coach) Scott (Brooks) told me that he felt like Kelly was at his best on the ball,” Kerr said. “He’s got a toughness about him. I envision us using Kelly quite a bit on the ball.”
Behind Oubre, the rotation must still sort itself out in camp. Lee, Bazemore, Brad Wanamaker, Jordan Poole and Mychal Mulder will be vying for backup wing minutes. Wanamaker will run some backup point behind Curry. Eric Paschall is the perfect Green replacement. Kerr said he plans to tie Curry’s and Green’s minutes together, leaving the second unit scoring to some combo of Oubre, Wiggins and Paschall.
“My gut would be from the beginning of this year to just play them together,” Kerr said. “Then try to find another combination when those two guys are on the bench.”
What’s yet to be discussed is the fifth starting spot — the center position, which will be the story of camp. Without explicitly saying it, it’s been deemed an open competition by Kerr. Marquese Chriss and Kevon Looney are the incumbents. Looney is the only center leftover from the dynasty, a trusted Kerr favorite, and Chriss is the livelier, recently healthier lob threat who’d seem to better fit the starting lineup.
But either would be considered placeholders for James Wiseman, the franchise’s center of the future. Does that future begin on Dec. 22 or do they give him a couple of weeks or months to officially earn that anointing? Depends on how he looks in the first weeks of practice. Is he ready? Is he already clearly the team’s best big?
There is a delicate balance for Kerr to strike in the early stages of Wiseman’s career. On one hand, he’s preaching patience. Wiseman is 19 with a whole lot of growing pains ahead. The Warriors are likely to face the Lakers in the first week. Do you want him guarding an Anthony Davis-LeBron James pick-and-roll in his infancy? Scoring guards will target and attack him on switches. Life might be a bit easier as a backup, easing into the league against reserves.
But that’s not Wiseman’s future. It is as a starter next to Curry and Green, the two unique talents who define the Warriors’ style. To learn what that’s like, he must experience what that’s like.
“Yeah, I mean it’s important for us to get James on the court, period,” Kerr said. “But given that our bread-and-butter offensively is the Steph-Draymond pick-and-roll and when he’s on the court with those guys, he’s gotta learn the spacing and learn to get to that dunker spot and be on the back side, understand his role in those circumstances. Then on the other side of the floor, Draymond is going to be anchoring the defense and he has to be Draymond’s partner, ultimately.
14. Golden State Warriors
Average wins: 31.2
Playoffs: 8%
Is it realistic that the Warriors might not be competitive for a playoff spot after Klay Thompson's Achilles injury ended his 2020-21 season before it started?
The first four games of the 2019-20 season suggest so. Golden State was 1-2 and on its way to a third lopsided loss in four games when Stephen Currysuffered a broken bone in his left hand that sent the Warriors into the tank.
It's certainly possible the Warriors' newcomers will outperform projections accumulated without the same kind of talent around them, but Golden State also can't count on Curry staying healthy. He missed an average of 22 games in 2017-18 and 2018-19, long before the Warriors were worried about draft positioning. Without Curry, projected to play 54 games, Golden State will again be lacking in efficient shot creation
VEGAS: 36.5 WINS — .500 — 36-36 = TO 41-41 OVER 82
DAVID ALDRIDGE: 21ST BEST OFF SEASON-
21. Golden State Warriors
2019-20 record: 15-50; did not make playoffs
Added: F Kelly Oubre (acquired from Oklahoma City); G Brad Wanamaker (one year, $2.25M); F Kent Bazemore (one year); C James Wiseman (first round, second pick overall); G Nico Mannion (second round, 48th pick overall)
Lost: G Ky Bowman (waived)
Retained: None
The Skinny: It is no one’s fault, of course, that Klay Thompson — for a second straight season — will not play a game. But you don’t lose someone as dynamic as he is, and who is as much a part of the Warriors’ DNA as Steph Curry, and think you’re better entering a season. The Dubs did the best they could with a limited window, using their $17 million trade exception from the Andre Iguodala deal last year to bring in the athletic Oubre, who’ll step in at Thompson’s spot and give GSW some length and defensive chops it sorely lacked last season. He’s clearly not the floor-spacer Thompson was, so Steve Kerr will have to re-imagine his offense around slashers like Oubre and Andrew Wiggins and a post outlet in Wiseman rather than the Splash Brothers ho
"No, I'm not going to comment on everything that's written about us, true or untrue," Myers told the media. "I'm just not going to do that. I appreciate you have to ask, but if every call we made or didn't make, I had to comment ... I don't think it's productive on my side.
"I understand why you ask these questions. Very fair to ask."
Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that the Warriors were one of a few teams to call and check in on the disgrunted Rockets star, and that they did so before Klay Thompson suffered a torn Achilles.
Reports of Harden's discontent in Houston started to surfact last month, and many believe the star shooting guard has his eyes on joining Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn with the Nets.
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| Rex calls Larry Bird the greatest spot up shooter in history. I’m calling Steph Curry the best off the dribble shooter in history. We didn’t settle on who is the best all around shooter though in history did we @RexChapman ? Who do you all have? | |||||
| 12/2/20, 8:19 AM | |||||
FIANCES: LIONS AHVE TO TAKE 24.8M CAP HIT, 49ERS WOULD HAVE TO PAY CAP NUMBER OF 34M AND 27M NEXT 2 SEASONS.
San Francisco 49ers: Coach Kyle Shanahan helped Ryan become the league MVP and reach a Super Bowl. He just knocked the Los Angeles Rams out of first place in the NFC West with Nick Mullens subbing for Jimmy Garoppolo at quarterback. Think Shanahan could win big with Stafford? His Falcons offenses were more pass-oriented than his 49ers offenses have become for a simple reason. Shanahan had greater faith throwing the ball with Ryan than he has throwing the ball with the quarterbacks in San Francisco. Stafford would open the playbook.
“They would win a Super Bowl,” an offensive coach said. “Stafford would be in a real organization finally. He would bend to Shanahan and that offense because there is such a history of success with that system. And Stafford would know he’s not going to get hit in the head all the time like in Detroit.”
TO ME:
1- JIMMY
2- DARNOLD (JETS GET LAWRENCE)
3- STAFFORD (LIONS DRAFT QB)
4- DRAFT A QB
NO:
COUSINS 41M DEAd cap
MATT RYAN 49M dead cap, 2022 goes down to 24m dead cap
CARSON WENTZ CAP HIT 34M CAP HIT DEAD
During Sunday’s win over the Chargers, Bills quarterback Josh Allen took an awkward hit that seemed to twist his ankle. He emerged showing some signs of being a bit hobbled (he missed one play), but he kept going.
“It didn’t feel great,” Allen told PFT by phone after Sunday’s game. “But it is what it is. Gonna take more than that to get me out. Everything that I can do to be out on the field I’m gonna do. It was a little painful but nothing crazy.”
That was right after the game. He may have felt different come Monday morning. Regardless, the Bills won’t be saying anything about Allen’s ankle until they have to, and they don’t have to until they produce the first practice report of the week.
Because the Bills play the 49ers on Monday night in Arizona, Buffalo’s first practice report of the week will be published on Thursday. When it emerges, the first question will be whether Allen appears on the report with an ankle injury and, if so, whether and to what extent he practiced.
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