Rounding up all Warriors and NBA related news for Wednesday, October 4th.
Warriors News:
Chris Paul will take Draymond Green’s starting spot for Saturday’s preseason game against the Lakers
The Warriors will start Steph Curry, Chris Paul, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins and Kevon Looney in the preseason opener.
Here is Steve Kerr on the first practice today. That group scrimmaged together. pic.twitter.com/yKFG7HIjn1
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) October 3, 2023
Warriors notebook: Watch Steph Curry and Chris Paul begin their integration process | The Athletic
Kerr has made it clear the Warriors will run more pick-and-roll in the Paul-infused second unit. Kuminga profiles as either the screener or a lob threat in the dunker spot. Dario Šarić is a floor spacer and possible screener. Moses Moody is a slashing shooter. Payton could sit in the dunker spot. Thompson and Wiggins could fit in those lineups. There are a lot of combinations to track in preseason.
“Maybe the biggest benefit (Paul) will bring to us will be his ability to run an offense when Steph is off the floor,” Kerr said. “They’re going to be great together. But the biggest problem we’ve had is the non-Steph minutes. Even when we had Kevin (Durant) and that group that won back-to-back titles, our whole group was to put a great defensive team on the floor and win those minutes with defense.
“We’ve never really generated good offense with Steph on the bench. Chris will help us do that.”
Steph Curry responds again to the GOAT point guard debate | 95.7 The Game
Steph Curry on MJ and Magic disagreeing with calling himself the greatest PG of all time:
“It’s the beautiful thing about basketball and the eras… Obviously, there’s so much respect and admiration for what Magic did in his career. His resume is second to none… If you’re in… pic.twitter.com/VjiSKpiB4Z
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) October 3, 2023
What Jordan Poole learned about himself after Warriors-Wizards trade | NBC Sports Bay Area
At Wizards Media Day on Monday, Poole was asked what he learned most over the last year-and-a-half of his career. After all, he celebrated a championship in a parade down the streets of San Francisco, was infamously punched by teammate Draymond Green, and was traded to Washington in a span of about 15 months.
“Resilience, of course. I like that one,” Poole said. “Over-preparation. Just being able just to take in everything that I’ve taken in to the fullest at all times. There’s never a day that I took it for granted. … Being able to get the chance to apply everything that I’ve learned to a really special situation [in Washington] from scratch.”
Steve Kerr thinks Klay Thompson can play defense at power forward this season
Steve Kerr sees Klay Thompson’s role on defense evolving this season pic.twitter.com/DNCgOvJR5k
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) October 3, 2023
NBA News:
Sources: James Harden expected to join 76ers at training camp | ESPN
While Harden was not present for Philadelphia’s first practice at Moby Arena on the campus of Colorado State University Tuesday morning, he’s expected to arrive in Colorado as soon as later Tuesday to join the franchise for training camp, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
It is not immediately clear how soon — or whether — Harden will participate in practice, sources told Wojnarowski.
“I do know that he wasn’t here today,” 76ers coach Nick Nurse said after Tuesday’s practice. “If he’s here tomorrow, like we’ve said on everything, we will get ready to make some adjustments on everything.
“We’ll see what happens.”
Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard takes issue with NBA’s new load management policy: ‘If I’m able to play, I’ll play’ | CBS Sports
“I’m not a guy that’s sitting down because I’m doing load management,” Leonard said. “When I was with the Raptors, it was different. I was coming off an injury, and you have to know the details from the doctor. But if the league is seeing or trying to mock what I did with the Raptors, they should stop because I was injured during that whole year.
“But other than that, if I’m able to play, I’ll play basketball.”
Miami’s Jimmy Butler having fun at Heat Media Day
Bam Adebayo: “The whole lip ring is annoying.”
Jimmy Butler: “Look, I gotta stay in character.”
Bam: “Sh*t. You get a haircut for Media Day.”
Jimmy: “This is my halloween.”
(via jimmybutler/IG)pic.twitter.com/CvSIyN50fx
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 2, 2023
In case you missed it at Golden State of Mind:
Dario Šarić is happy to be here
“Dario is just a great dude, great teammate,” said Chris Paul, Šarić’s Suns teammate of three and a half seasons.
Steph Curry had similar things to say about The Homie, noting that his basketball IQ is off the charts.
“We were playing pickup the other day and someone threw him the ball, and he did an immediate DHO with me. I didn’t have to say anything,” Curry said. “When you talk to him about how he sees the game, it’s very similar to the way we play.”
Draymond Green returns to Nike
According to a report from Nick DePaula, Green has signed a sneaker deal with Nike, far and away the largest and most successful basketball footwear brand in the world. It’s a return for the four-time All-Star, who spent the formative years of his career under the Nike swoosh before signing a multi-year deal with Converse towards the end of the 2019-2020 season.
It’s not a huge change, however, as Converse is owned by Nike. Yet despite being under the same umbrella, Converse operates independent of Nike, and on its own budget, so it really was a separate deal for the future Hall-of-Famer … just in the same family.
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