Rounding up all Warriors and NBA related news for Friday, October 4th.
The Golden State Warriors tip off their preseason opener this Saturday against the Los Angeles Clippers at the SimpliFi Arena in Honolulu. They will, however, be without one of their key players as The Athletic’s Anthony Slater reports that Andrew Wiggins will not play in the game due to an illness.
Andrew Wiggins missed a third straight practice today. He’s in the gym doing some light individual work, but training staff hasn’t cleared him for team practice. Under the weather. He will not play in Saturday’s preseason opener vs Clippers in Hawaii.
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) October 3, 2024
Wiggins did not participate in the first three days of training camp as he recovers from the sickness. The good news is that he’s still been able to watch practices and was seen getting some shots up on the side.
Here’s Andrew Wiggins shooting free throws with a mask on. He’s still under the weather pic.twitter.com/cW1tcVxa18
— Dalton Johnson (@DaltonJ_Johnson) October 2, 2024
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has high expectations for Wiggins this season. With Klay Thompson no longer on the team, Wiggins is set to take on a larger role, serving as their secondary scoring option while also being the team’s go-to perimeter defender. Because of this, the 29-year-old former All-Star’s health and availability will be crucial to Golden State’s success as they prepare for the start of the regular season.
Kerr said he expects Wiggins to remain Golden State’s primary point-of-attack defender, even if his offensive responsibilities increase: pic.twitter.com/MHBK56tG7h
— Sam Gordon (@BySamGordon) October 3, 2024
For more on this and other news around the NBA, here is our latest news round-up for Friday, October 4th:
Kerr, however, is unconcerned, noting Wiggins was superbly conditioned when he arrived in San Francisco.
“I just feel bad for him because he’s really focused on having a great year and he wants to be playing,” Kerr said, explaining Golden State’s training staff hasn’t yet cleared Wiggins to practice.
Kerr said there’s merit in Wiggins watching practice as the Warriors install offensive and defensive concepts, some of which are new this season and based around Golden State’s personnel. “It’s important for him to be here and watch,” Kerr said.
Provided the Warriors maintain their health Friday, Kerr expects the other 19 camp participants to play on Saturday.
Newcomer Kyle Anderson, 31, can feel the different compared to his previous teams.
“Obviously you have to be in shape to play fast,” the man nicknamed Slo Mo said. “Day 1 was a little tough. I’m going to speak for myself, but I think the last two days I kind of picked it up. It’s different being in shape and basketball shape.
“We’re flying up the court, we’re getting back on defense in transition. You got to get your legs underneath you.”
“I really used this past offseason before the Olympics to visit with other coaches, to ask a lot of questions, to figure out what can we do better,” Kerr said, “and one of the things was becoming clearer with terminology.”
A drive to Santa Clara to sit in on one of 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan’s meetings was eye-opening.
“He was going through all their actions on this one play and he had such specific terminology and that was really helpful. We haven’t labeled a lot of things, we’ve ran a lot of organic offense in the past where we’ve kind of given them the freedom to roam and play out of concepts.
“We’re labeling things, we’re trying to make things a lot more clearer, especially for our young players so they know exactly what the cut is called, what the screen is called. So that’s a change for us and something we’re trying to do better, and I think it will make a big impact.”
“When you’ve built this s— up from the laughingstock of the NBA,” Green said, “… it feels a little different. I said to Joe Lacob two years ago, like, ‘You should understand I think about this organization like it’s mine.’ No disrespect to them that own this but, like, I take a great deal of pride in what we built here. This is home for me. This is like Michigan State for me. Most people don’t have an NBA home. I care what this organization looks like in 10 years. That’s going to matter to me.”
Draymond on Kuminga: “I think he’s a three. That’s always been my opinion. To play the four, it requires a certain skill set. A certain knowledge and a certain understanding of that position to do that.” pic.twitter.com/mCO7xg6ERD
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) October 3, 2024
The Dallas Mavericks announced today that Luka Doncic “sustained a hit during workouts this week resulting in a left calf contusion. Doncic will be re-evaluated as necessary in one week.” NBA correspondent Marc Stein has indicated that that the injury was sustained in a weekend workout prior to the team’s departure to training camp in Las Vegas. ESPN’s Tim MacMahon has reported that sources confirm that the injury does not put him in jeopardy of missing the season opener against the San Antonio Spurs at the American Airlines Center on October 24.
“It’s fantastic to be able to be here and witness it in practice,” Davis said. “Bronny hit a 3 over him today. Everybody was talking smack in Bronny’s favor. Then Bron came down and just bullied somebody. Just took it out on [the defender] — I forgot who it was — and got a layup. Bronny came down and hit another 3, I think over Austin [Reaves]. And Bron wanted the ball.
“So you could see, even though they weren’t matched up, the competition is there. And that’s what we love to see.”
The Knicks have discovered a new loophole in the CBA.
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) October 2, 2024
Teams in their situation cannot aggregate minimums anymore. So in the sign and trades of Jeffries, Brown and Washington, they are paying each of those guys just $1 above the minimum, league sources tell @TheAthletic.
The Sixers aren’t the only team that has run this set for Hield. The NBA is a closed loop of concepts and plays passed around by a fraternity of coaches, whose shamelessness in “borrowing” (i.e., “stealing”) plays makes for a bit of fun analysis work. Sixers head coach Nick Nurse definitely did his research on Hield and which sets involving him had the highest success rates. During Hield’s tenure with the Sacramento Kings, he was also used in an identical role as a backscreener and movement shooter in Finland action — but instead of his defender getting confused and switching off of him, Hield’s man opts to stay attached
The GPII vlog you didn't know you needed pic.twitter.com/gHAaT0qAD5
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) October 3, 2024
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