The Warriors might have to wait another year to inherit the Minnesota Timberwolves’ 2021 first-round draft pick.
Already owning the NBA’s worst record by a solid margin, the league has suspended Malik Beasley for 12 games for conduct “stemming from charges in offseason,” the organization announced Thursday. Stadium’s Shams Charania first reported the news.
As Charania indicated in his report, Beasley is having a tremendous season, scoring 20.5 points per game on 40.6 percent shooting from 3-point range.
The Warriors received the protected draft selection in last February’s Andrew Wiggins trade. It is top-three protected in 2021 and would become unprotected in 2022 if Minnesota ends up inside the top-three picks in the ’21 draft lottery.
If the Timberwolves end up with the worst record, the Warriors would have roughly a 60 percent chance at ending up with the No. 4 or No. 5 draft pick courtesy of Minnesota.
RELATED: Kerr shows how Draymond ‘ties it all together’ for Warriors
Given that the T-Wolves’ offensive rating nearly is 12 points higher when Beasley has been on the floor this season, it’s fair to assume they could suffer with the guard missing 12 games. Minnesota has 39 games remaining in the 2020-21 season.
Beasley was sentenced to 120 days in jail earlier this month after pleading guilty to a felony charge of threats of violence from September (h/t ESPN).
With a number of high-value prospects expected to be available early in the 2021 NBA Draft, potentially having two first-round picks would be huge for the Warriors’ front office.
We’ll see how Minnesota can weather the loss of one of its top scorers.
Draymond Green is putting up some of the best assist numbers in the NBA so far this season, but has his dwindling shooting percentage been a problem for the Warriors’ offense?
Longtime Warrior and Hall of Fame inductee Rick Barry believes so, and explained to 95.7 The Game on Thursday morning why he believes Draymond has been hurting the Warriors on that end of the court.
“The problem is, is that Draymond is not playing well right now,” Barry said on “The Morning Roast.” “It’s not a good thing, I mean if you look at his stats from two seasons ago, he’s going down in every category, his minutes obviously are down, his shooting percentage is down from 2’s, his shooting percentage is down from 3’s, his shooting percentage is down from the free-throw line, so he just needs to get back to playing at the level that he played before.
“I mean they really do need him, right now he’s become a liability, even in that game, I mean nobody guards him, they force him off to the 3-point line and they walk off and he’s shooting 20-something percent from 3’s, I mean why would you guard him out there, and that cuts down on his effectiveness, he needs to be able to knock down some of those 3’s, if you look back a number of seasons ago, he was shooting 40 percent from 3’s a lot of times.
“So right now he’s in a bit of a funk and hopefully he can get himself back to where he was a couple of seasons ago, but right now he’s not helping it.”
Green never has been a 40 percent shooter from 3-point range in his NBA career, at least not for a full season, but Barry makes a fair point about Draymond’s shooting numbers.
The soon-to-be 31-year-old is shooting 37.2 percent from the field this season, the lowest mark of his career since his first NBA season, when he made just 32.7 percent of his attempts. Green’s 22.2 percent mark from downtown also is the lowest it has been since his rookie year.
Green’s 71.1 percent mark from the free-throw line almost exactly aligns with his career percentage at the line entering this season (71.0).
RELATED: Draymond gives game-used shoes to young Pacers fan on road
While he has become much less of a scoring threat in 2020-21 than we have seen in past years, Green is racking up assists with the best distributors in the NBA. Green ranks sixth in the NBA with an average of 8.4 assists a game.
Klay Thompson’s absence from the court over the past two seasons has magnified Green’s scoring numbers, as he hasn’t recorded double figures in scoring for a season since 2017-18.
Steph Curry’s breakout numbers this season haven’t led to much progress in the win column for the Warriors, which also has led some, including Barry it appears, to point the finger at Draymond.
Other issues including inconsistency from the rest of the supporting cast and questionable adjustments (or lack thereof) from coach Steve Kerr have played a factor in the Warriors’ inability to climb more than a game or two above .500.
Kerr spoke after Wednesday night’s win over the Indiana Pacers about not needing Draymond to score “in general,” but that him adding a few buckets doesn’t hurt on a night where the Warriors only connected on five 3-pointers.
There is blame to go around, and Draymond likely would be the first to tell you that he hasn’t been as productive as he would have hoped this season, but his defensive intensity has the Warriors playing the best defense in the league over the last 15 games.
Being a more consistent shooter from three might help the Warriors’ offense, but there’s not much Draymond can do about that midseason outside of simply make a higher percentage. He’s never inspired much fear in opponents with his outside shooting, even in his most successful seasons from downtown.
“Liability” might be a stretch in regards to Green, but Barry is a Hall of Famer and six-time All-NBA selection, so his basketball acumen certainly qualifies him to analyze the game better than most.
With 4:44 remaining against the Charlotte Hornets, Draymond Green tipped in a missed attempt from Eric Paschall to give the Golden State Warriors a 10 point lead with the fourth quarter winding down. Prior to his tip-in, the former Defensive Player of the Year hit a timely 3-pointer to extend Golden State’s late lead.
Despite his pair of clutch points, Green’s performance against the Hornets will be remembered for what happened in the final seconds.
With the Warriors leading by two points with 9.3 seconds remaining in the contest, LaMelo Ball lined up for a jump ball against Brad Wanamaker. Following the tip. Charlotte quickly called a timeout as Green and Gordon Hayward scrambled for the loose ball. Upset after Charlotte was awarded a timeout and possession, Green lost his cool. While barking at the officials, the Golden State forward received a pair of technicals leading to an ejection.
Along with Green’s exit from the game at a crucial time, Charlotte received two technical free throws and a chance to steal the contest with the final possession. As the clock ran down, Terry Rozier drilled a fading jumper from the corner to win the game for Charlotte at the buzzer, 102-100.
Following Golden State’s frustrating loss to the Hornets, Steve Kerr called Green’s technicals “a terrible mistake.”
Via @anthonyVslater on Twitter:
In his postgame press conference with reporters, Kerr went on to say Green crossed the line.
He crossed the line. That’s the main thing. We love his passion and his energy. We would not be the team we are without him, but that doesn’t give him the license to cross that line.
Via @usatodaynba on Twitter:
After the game, Paschall told reporters Green took ownership of his pair of technicals in Charlotte.
Green finished the contest with five points on 2-of-7 shooting from the field with seven boards, three assists and two blocks in 32 minutes against the Hornets. Green and the Warriors will have the chance to bounce back on Tuesday with a trip to Madison Square Garden for a battle with the New York Knicks.
Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Calamity had a strong launch back in November. Becoming the best-selling Musou game of all-time, it presented a highly enjoyable prequel to Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, starting just before the calamity.
It was already a pretty complete experience but it seems this isn’t over yet. Confirmed within the latest Nintendo Direct, Age of Calamity’s getting an expansion pass. Shortly after the presentation, Nintendo released this statement:
Expand your quest to save Hyrule with upcoming downloadable content, as two waves of DLC are coming to the Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity Expansion Pass. Newly added characters, stages and more are all on their way, with the first wave coming in June and the second hitting in November. Players who purchase this Expansion Pass on Nintendo eShop for £17.99 / €19.99 will get both waves of DLC as they are released. They’ll also get an additional in-game weapon and costume for Link as a purchase bonus starting on 28th May. The Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity Expansion Pass will be available for purchase shortly after the presentation.
It follows Breath of the Wild’s example, which also saw an Expansion Pass with two waves of DLC. We won’t see this new content arrive until May, but you can pre-order it now via the Switch eShop.
Screenshot (183)
Will you be picking up this expansion pass? Let us know down below.
On Monday, the Cleveland Cavaliers took on the Golden State Warriors in a battle of two young teams that are trying to hone an identity.
Just before the end of the first half, Cavs big man Jarrett Allen got fouled hard, and he unleashed some anger at teammate Collin Sexton.
Breaking: Jarrett Allen got MAD! pic.twitter.com/uiBrX9tbkX
— Anthony Puccio (@APOOCH) February 16, 2021
Allen was acquired from the Brooklyn Nets in the multi-team mega-trade that sent superstar James Harden to Brooklyn. Allen has continued his solid play since relocating to Northeast Ohio.
Sexton, meanwhile, has also continued his own stellar play, although his numbers have gone down a bit of late.
After a promising start, the Cavs have cooled off considerably. They’re currently in the midst of a seven-game losing streak, having just lost on Sunday to a Los Angeles Clippers team that was without Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
Calling Steph Curry’s recent stretch of play impressive would be an understatement.
Prior to Thursday’s matchup in San Francisco, the two-time Most Valuable Player was averaging a scorching 37.4 points on 57.5 % shooting from the field over a five-game stretch. Curry has been on fire from beyond the arc during that span, hitting 6.4 triples per game on 50% shooting from beyond the arc.
Against the Orlando Magic at Chase Center, the six-time All-Star picked up right where he left off. Curry torched the Magic for 40 points on 14-of-26 shooting from the field with eight boards, five assists and four steals in 37 minutes. The Golden State point guard stayed hot from long distance, registering 10 made 3-pointers on 19 attempts.
Although it didn’t count, Curry capped off his 40 point effort with a jaw-dropping shot. After the final buzzer sounded to seal Golden State’s 111-105 victory over Orlando, Curry launched a high-arcing underhand shot from behind the 3-point line that swished through the bottom of the net.
Via @NBA on Twitter:
Following the three-time champ’s ridiculous trick shot, the NBA Twitter community exploded with a flurry of reactions. Here are some of the top responses from social media to Curry’s wild underhand triple.
The Warriors might enter Thursday night’s game vs. the Dallas Mavericks even more depleted in the frontcourt than expected.
Eric Paschall will not play due to right knee soreness after initially appearing on the morning injury report as “questionable.”
Paschall had been questionable with this designation a couple times this season, but had not yet missed a game because of it.
With Kevon Looney (sprained left ankle) and James Wiseman (sprained left wrist) already ruled out, the expectation is that Juan Toscano-Anderson will start at power forward and receive a boost in playing time, with Draymond Green playing all of his minutes at center.
Steve Kerr on Juan Toscano-Anderson: “I would think right now he’s heading for a lot of minutes. And this is one of the reasons we purposely deactivated him the last four or five games because we knew there come a time when he would play a bigger role. That time is now.”
— Drew Shiller (@DrewShiller) February 3, 2021
RELATED: Klay 10th among West guards in All-Star votes despite injury
Steve Kerr and the coaching staff also could go very small by inserting Damion Lee, Kent Bazemore or Brad Wanamaker into the game for longer stretches.
After Thursday’s matchup, the Warriors and Mavs will face off again Saturday night.
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr has repeatedly identified the 20-game mark as the first point at which he could make an honest assessment about what his team was, and more importantly, what it could be moving forward. We’re at that point. Entering Tuesday’s matchup with the Boston Celtics, the Warriors are 11-9, good enough for No. 7 in the West and just one game back of the No. 5 spot.
They’re also just two games up in the loss column on No. 12 Oklahoma City Thunder.
Truth be told, the Warriors are an average team. They can beat anyone. They can lose to anyone. They pulled a couple rabbits out of their hat with a 19- and 22-point rally to beat the Lakers and Clippers, respectively, but seven of their 11 victories have come against sub-.500 teams.
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Is this a playoff team? Assuming good health, probably. It’s hard to imagine a team with Stephen Curry not at least making the expanded play-in round. Beyond that, the Warriors aren’t anywhere close to a contender. Under normal circumstances, with a player like Curry entering the back end of his prime with just one year remaining on his contract after this season, the urgency to upgrade the roster would be on full tilt.
But in this case, Golden State has an ace up its sleeve, and that ace is Klay Thompson. If you want to take the most optimistic viewpoint of the Warriors’ next nine months, they spend the rest of this season developing rookie James Wiseman, crack the playoffs, draft a stud with the Timberwolves’ 2021 first-round pick, then become contenders again when Thompson returns next year.
Call me a pessimist, but I can’t see all that happening. For starters, the Minnesota pick is top-three protected, and at present the Wolves are in statistical line for a top-three pick. In that case, the pick would become unprotected in 2022. In other words, unless the Warriors trade that pick, there’s a decent chance it won’t mean anything to their 2021-22 roster.
More importantly, the idea that Thompson is just going to come back firing on all cylinders feels like a reach. By the time next season begins, Thompson won’t have played in an NBA game for almost 30 months. He’s going to turn 31 in a week, which means he’ll be 32 a few months into next season, and, as we know, he’ll be coming off a torn ACL and a torn Achilles.
If the Warriors don’t make any big moves, a 90 percent Thompson likely isn’t enough. It’s not even certain that a 100 percent Thompson puts the Warriors within the ranks of legitimate contenders. Seeing how great Kevin Durant and John Wall look so far, given that they are both coming off Achilles tears, gives the Warriors hope that Thompson can return to his old self. That’s deceiving, however, in the fact that Durant sat 18 months from the day he tore his Achilles, and Wall sat 21 months. Thompson will be trying to come back in the neighborhood of 12 months post-Achilles tear.
“That extra time rehabbing and getting strong again can make a big difference,” Dr. Alan Beyer, an orthopedic surgeon and the executive medical director at Hoag Orthopedic Institute in Southern California, told CBS Sports. “You just don’t know how one guy is going to come back as opposed to another. Those are two major injuries, and these things are cumulative. … I’ll say this: If you’re depending on a player, Klay Thompson or otherwise, to come back after an ACL tear and a full Achilles rupture and be the same player he was before those injuries, it’s a gamble. It’s a very big gamble.”
None of this is to suggest Thompson shouldn’t be expected to return as a really good player. Whether that’s 85 percent of his old self or whatever, he’s going to be good. You wonder about the defense, but at the very least, he’ll be a great shooter, and by the time the 2022 playoffs arrive, Thompson will have had close to the 18 months Durant had post-Achilles tear.
But that’s assuming Thompson doesn’t suffer any other injuries, even minor ones that stunt his progress as he tries to regain previous rhythms. As Dr. Beyer said, these thing are cumulative. Wiseman looks like he has a lot of potential, but will he be ready to contribute at a championship level in his second season? Will whomever the Warriors select with Minnesota’s pick, should that pick even convey, be ready to contribute as a rookie?
It’s a lot of unknowns when the Warriors would effectively need everything to go almost exactly according to plan to return to contention in the short term. And if next year doesn’t go as planned, now Curry will be 33 years old and entering the last year of his contract.
Nobody thinks he’ll leave, but if he looks up and sees a team that has prioritized the future at the expense of maximizing his rapidly dwindling prime, can we be so sure? The Warriors could, and perhaps likely will, sign him to a huge extension before that, but then you’re paying an aging Curry max money on a team that can’t realistically compete for titles. You’ve become, in essence, the Trail Blazers with Damian Lillard.
All of which points to the Warriors making strong moves to ensure contention, at least to the extent of their control, beyond putting all their eggs in the Klay comeback basket. There have been rumors of the Warriors having interest in Lonzo Ball. In theory, Ball would fit pretty darn well with Curry and Thompson next season as a guy with the type of high-IQ, ball-movement DNA Kerr fancies. Ball has always needed shooters and scorers around him to thrive, and his up-tempo instincts and defensive versatility scream Warriors basketball.
Still, that move, or an equivalent, isn’t one that significantly changes Golden State’s temperature. The Ringer’s Jonathan Tjarks recently suggested the Warriors think much bigger by throwing a Godfather offer at the Wizards for Bradley Beal. It would most certainly cost the Warriors Wiseman and the Minnesota pick, plus more future picks in all likelihood, but the thinking is that Curry is a once-in-a-generation player, and when you have that kind of player, you don’t let your roster-building mind start skipping too far ahead.
Rather, you do what the Heat, Cavaliers and Lakers did when they got their hands on prime LeBron James. You give that kind of superstar the pieces he needs to compete, because you know having that kind of superstar is the rarest of NBA luxuries that cannot, under any circumstances, or in any capacity, be wasted.
What makes it complicated, again is Wiseman and the Minnesota pick are Golden State’s lone remaining big-time assets. Once the Warriors deal those, they’re pretty much all-in for the foreseeable future with whatever they’ve gotten in return. You might look at the Warriors trading Wiseman and a potential top-five pick like the Lakers trading Brandon Ingram and a top-five pick, but the difference is the Lakers’ package netted them Anthony Davis.
Beal, if the Wizards were to even make him available, isn’t Davis. But Beal is a great enough player that he would give Curry a chance to at least compete this season, and next season, with Beal, Thompson, Curry and Draymond Green, you would be talking about a top-tier contender.
For the record, Beal apparently continues to assert behind closed doors that he’s committed to Washington, per The Athletic. But this isn’t about what Beal wants (to whatever extent you think Beal would actually fight a trade); this is about what’s best for the Wizards. I’m with Tjarks. I think a Warriors offer centered on Wiseman and the 2021 Minnesota pick would potentially call Washington’s “we’re not trading Beal” bluff, and if it did, and Washington relented, I would jump on the deal if I were the Warriors.
I understand the counter argument of using Wiseman and the Minnesota pick to usher in the next era of Warriors basketball, as the Spurs were able to do with Kawhi Leonard without ever having to fall out of the playoffs, but in the spirit of Bradley Beal not being Anthony Davis, you’re really reaching trying to put James Wiseman in the Kawhi Leonard conversation.
Chances are, by the time Wiseman and whoever comes of the Minnesota pick are ready to lead a contender, Curry, Thompson and Green no longer will be. To me, that’s too big a risk to take when you have Stephen Curry on your team. Trading for Lonzo might be a nice start, but if the Warriors want to truly do right by Curry — whether it’s trying to get into the seemingly inevitable Beal sweepstakes or getting creative via some other route — they’ll have to think far bigger than that.