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Warriors

Earlier this week, we identified roster spot battles to watch through training camp this October here. And already a portion of my <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/3-roster-spot-battles-to-watch-for-in-the-eastern-conference" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eastern Conference list</a> has been upended by transactions, as the Brooklyn Nets promptly traded away Sekou Doumbouya almost immediately after I predicted that he would make the team. Long story short: Things happen quickly in training camp.&nbsp;
But still, we forge ahead, this time refocusing our analysis on the Western Conference. So as training camp approaches its close, let&rsquo;s identify the three most interesting roster-spot battles in the Western Conference.&nbsp;
Portland Trail Blazers
Entering training camp, the Trail Blazers signed three former lottery picks to training camp deals: Dennis Smith Jr., Marquese Chriss and Patrick Patterson. Portland only has 13 players signed, meaning that they technically have two spots to fill (and one of their two-way contracts are spoken for, too), but Portland general manager Neil Olshey usually enters seasons with fewer than 15 players. So, it&rsquo;s an understandable assumption that the Trail Blazers will probably only sign one of the three guys they inked to training camp deals.
Considering who was signed and who is already in place in Portland, none of the three are likely to get major minutes. Smith is best suited as a backup point guard, while Chriss and Patterson are power forwards. In my estimation, this decision comes down to needs. Considering that Robert Covington and Larry Nance Jr. are their only true 4s, the most pressing need is probably down low. So, if Portland is hell-bent on entering the season with no more than 14 guys on its roster, the team will probably choose between Chriss and Patterson. Patterson has more experience, and he shoots it better from deep (36.9% on three-point attempts in his career compared to just 28.9% for Chriss.) Neither makes or breaks Portland&rsquo;s season; but considering the Blazers are trying to build a contender and convince Damian Lillard that Portland is the place for him, Patterson is a better addition. If the Blazers decide to fill out their entire roster by signing a 15th player, Smith should get a long look. He is too skilled and athletic to not get another shot, and backing up a star like Lillard removes a lot of the pressure he&rsquo;s had on him throughout his career.
Prediction: Patterson makes the cut (and Smith signs a two-way contract).
Golden State Warriors
Golden State entered training camp with the maximum of 20 players on its roster, one of whom is on a two-way deal (Chris Chiozza) and three of whom are on training-camp deals (Jordan Bell, Avery Bradley and Langston Galloway.) Damion Lee, Mychal Mulder and Gary Payton Jr. are all signed to non-guaranteed deals, too. To summarize, the Warriors have lots of options &ndash; but Golden State will probably avoid making any zany moves. Instead, they will probably keep one of the three players signed to training-camp deals and cut the other two. As much as the veteran savvy of Bradley and Galloway could be alluring, Golden State doesn&rsquo;t need more veteran leadership &ndash; but they could use help backing up the power-forward position. Enter Bell, who returns to the Bay Area with a familiarity of head coach Steve Kerr and the Warriors&rsquo; systems. Bell exited Golden State after playing his first two professional seasons there, and he had some maturity issues in his first go-round with the Warriors. But Bell sounded significantly more mature in a <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/warriors/jordan-bell-warriors-contract-reunites-two-desperate-parties" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent interview with NBC Sports Bay Area</a>. Assuming he demonstrates that growth in practices and preseason games, Bell will probably be kept.
Prediction: Jordan Bell makes the cut.
Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers' roster battle is particularly interesting, as it features a former top-ranked high school prospect in Harry Giles. Giles is battling with Isaiah Hartenstein and Moses Wright for the Clippers&rsquo; final roster spot; both of the team's two-way contracts are used up (Jay Scrubb and Amir Coffey.) &nbsp;Two of the spots are also occupied by players who will miss a good chunk of the 2021-22 season to injuries (Kawhi Leonard and rookie Jason Preston), making the remaining roster spots all the more valuable.&nbsp;
In the Clippers&rsquo; first preseason game, Giles produced more than Hartenstein and Wright, posting 8 points and 12 rebounds in 16 minutes. In their second preseason game, Wright played slightly better than the other two, finishing with 7 points and 5 rebounds in 12 minutes. What the Clippers ultimately choose to do is anyone&rsquo;s guess, but I think that Giles&rsquo; potential is too much to pass on. He&rsquo;s still only 23 years old; and if he finds what made him special just a few short years ago, Giles could be significantly more valuable than what the salary of a 15th man will pay him.&nbsp;
Prediction: Giles makes the cut.&nbsp;
The NBA&rsquo;s 75th regular season kicks off in less than two weeks. Decisions will be made between now and then that will greatly impact the lives of several men. Ultimately, some will impact teams' seasons too, as a chunk of these end-of-the-bench guys will probably earn bigger roles as the season goes on.&nbsp;

Drew Maresca examines the three most interesting final roster spot situations in the West.

3 roster-spot battles to watch for in the Western Conference

Fresh out of quarantine and eager to show off his new bronze medal back home in Australia, Patty Mills repeatedly used the word &ldquo;excited&rdquo; in discussing his decision to join the Brooklyn Nets for the upcoming NBA season.
He is looking forward to enjoying the mom-and-pop coffee shops in Kings County and, of course, playing alongside Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving. Also, the opportunity to come off the bench and be the same type of offensive-minded player that he was for the Australian national team this summer at the Tokyo Olympics drew him to the Nets.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s an opportunity for me to be who I am, like I am for the national team,&rdquo; said Mills, who sported a long-sleeved black Brooklyn sweatshirt and a green &ldquo;Boomers&rdquo; cap as he met with reporters on a Zoom call from his home in Australia.
Mills was the third-leading scorer at the Olympics (behind only Ricky Rubio and Luka Doncic), averaging 23.3 points as the Australian men medaled for the first time in the nation's history, a significant accomplishment for a federation that is ecstatic with a bronze. Mills was the star of the team, but in Brooklyn he will once again be coming off the bench, just like he did for the last 10 years with the San Antonio Spurs.
But with the Spurs going into a rebuild and the Nets being the favorite to win next season&rsquo;s championship, the opportunity to reunite with former Portland Trail Blazers teammate Sean Marks, play under Steve Nash and live in a thriving borough in New York City made Brooklyn too perfect to pass up.
Mills said it was almost surreal to be making his free-agency decision during the Olympic games, but also insinuated that his mind was made up even before the national team arrived in Japan. He said he weighed the pros and cons of an NBA relocation before switching into Olympic mode, and stayed with the national team at the athletes' village outside Tokyo.
The only difficult part was informing Spurs and U.S. men's national team head coach Gregg Popovich, whom Mills said was completely understanding.
&ldquo;It was almost like basketball wasn&rsquo;t a part of the conversation," Mills said. "And I think that&rsquo;s just a testament to him really caring about his players and going the extra mile to understand his players on a different level, and how he is able to connect his players to the outside world, and how there is a world out there that is bigger than basketball and very meaningful, and you learn about that stuff because of him. The ups and downs and the highs and lows that we shared, all that comes into play, but it was just a comfortable conversation, and they all are, because it comes from a genuine place.&rdquo;
Mills is coming off a season, his 12th in the NBA, in which he started only one of 68 games and was eighth on the team in scoring in a guard-heavy lineup that included DeMar DeRozan, Dejounte Murray, Lonnie Walker and Derrick White, all of whom averaged more points-per-game.
With the Nets, he is unlikely to score more than Durant, Harden or Irving, and Mills said part of the journey will be figuring out how exactly he will thrive as a secondary scorer in the abstract while perhaps being the best offensive weapon on Brooklyn&rsquo;s second unit.
The Nets have been installed as the prohibitive favorites to win the East, and they return everyone from last season&rsquo;s active roster with the exception of Landry Shamet, Chris Chiozza and Jeff Green. Green was often a shooter and scorer for Brooklyn when he was in the second unit, a group that got extra run last season due to injuries to Harden and Irving. Those setbacks caught up with the team in its postseason run, which ended with the Nets dropping Games 6 and 7 against the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Mills certainly makes them better, and he will have about a month back home before reporting for training camp and getting ready for the season opener at Milwaukee on Oct. 19. His alumni game in San Antonio is set for Jan. 21 after the Nets and Spurs first meet in Brooklyn on Jan. 9.
By then, Mills will probably have heard an earful from Durant about how gold medals are better than bronze medals. The two were competitors over the summer, but now are teammates.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a different opportunity to see how I can fit," Mills said. "The conversations I&rsquo;ve had with Kevin were so pure and so genuine, being able to understand that he&rsquo;s such a pure hooper and to go back and forth about basketball specifics, it's exciting for me."

Chris Sheridan recaps Patty Mills' first presser as a member of the Nets, and shares how the longtime Spur will help Brooklyn's bench.

Patty Mills ecstatic to be competing for championship in Brooklyn

When not sidelined by a sprained ankle (as he was on Saturday night), James Harden has going through the motions in Houston, waiting for the inevitable. In the meantime, many of the teams that could use him the most are struggling. We are less than two weeks into the young NBA season, the new year is here, and somebody is eventually going to act on their resolution to get better.
The Golden State Warriors got Draymond Green back on Friday night, but he went for a goose egg in a 25-point loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. The Warriors are 2-3 in a tightly-packed Western Conference led by the Phoenix Suns, who are 13-1 in their last 14 games counting their undefeated run through the bubble.
The Brooklyn Nets got John Collins&rsquo;d on Friday and defeated by the Washington Wizards on Sunday, and they are now sitting at 3-4 in an Eastern Conference in which they are looking up at four 4-2 teams that are supposed to be worse than them: the Orlando Magic, Indiana Pacers, Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia 76ers are tied for the league&rsquo;s best record at 5-1.
In case you missed it, this is what it looks like when a young up-and-coming team posterizes your star center:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
OH JOHN COLLINS GODAAAAAAAAAAM:scream::scream::scream: <a href="https://t.co/p0QIfQlOcV">pic.twitter.com/p0QIfQlOcV</a>
&mdash; The Daily Dunk (@dailydunkfr) <a href="https://twitter.com/dailydunkfr/status/1345196308781559811?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 2, 2021</a></blockquote>
The Hawks are a damn good team, scoring a league-leading 125.8 points per game entering Saturday night&rsquo;s letdown against the Cavaliers. They also rank first among all NBA teams in offensive efficiency (119.6 points per 100 possessions) and True Shooting Percentage (.619), and they&rsquo;re winning by an average of 10.4 points per game, which is the third-highest in the league behind only the mighty Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers. They have yet to be at full strength with their entire complement of veteran additions Danilo Gallinari, Rajon Rondo and Bogdan Bogdanovic joining the young nucleus of Trae Young, Collins and Clint Capela. If they can run the table this week with a schedule that includes two games against the Charlotte Hornets and one each against the Cavs and New York Knicks, there will be a Trae-Young-for-MVP dialogue trending next weekend.
Yes, the season is young and good teams have to prove themselves over a longer stretch than the first week and a half of the campaign. But Atlanta&rsquo;s Travis Schlenk was as aggressive as any GM this side of Rob Pelinka in retooling his team this offseason, and the Hawks are no mirage. Time will tell if the other 4-2 teams can keep up what they have done to start the season, but all of those teams are pretty much what they were a year ago personnel-wise.
In the West, the underachievers along with Golden State include the 1-4 Denver Nuggets, who cannot win despite Nikola Jokic getting triple-doubles more often than anyone not named Russell Westbrook. After what we saw from them in last year&rsquo;s postseason, they should not be residing in last place in the 15-team West.
But at least the Nuggets are whole, which is something the Warriors are not and will not be until next season when Klay Thompson finally <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-rumors-klay-thompson-golden-state-warriors-achilles-rehab-recovery-process">returns from his Achilles injury</a>. So the question for Bob Myers and Steve Kerr is this: Is it worth pursuing Harden to see if he and Steph Curry can replicate the success that the franchise had for so many successive seasons before it all fell apart in the 2019 NBA Finals?
Last year&rsquo;s disaster of a season at least brought James Wiseman with the No. 2 pick, but spending this year as a middle-of-the-pack team was never supposed to be an option. Obtaining Harden would be tough; any deal would likely have to include Andrew Wiggins, Minnesota&rsquo;s top-three protected 2021 first-rounder (which is unprotected in 2022) and some combination of future picks. However, it&rsquo;s worth noting that they owe their 2021 first-rounder to the Oklahoma City Thunder (protected 1-20) and their 2024 first-rounder to the Memphis Grizzlies (protected 1-4). Wiseman is a terrific trade piece as well, but it seems highly unlikely that Golden State would be willing to part with him.
One must presume that Brooklyn and Golden State are taking a harder look at Harden now despite The Beard&rsquo;s devaluation of himself with his training-camp shenanigans. He remains the only player in the NBA who we all expect to go out and score 40 points every single night, and when a player of that caliber is on the market, everyone is obligated to find out what it would take to get him and whether it would be worth the investment. He can turn 15 okay teams into very, very good teams.
Harden has sort of held the league captive with a month&rsquo;s worth of wondering where he will eventually land. He probably won&rsquo;t finish the season in Houston, but Rockets general manager Rafael Stone is driving the bus on this one and is not going to give him away for pennies on the dollar. He can wait all the way until the trade deadline in March if he so chooses (or even longer given that Harden can&rsquo;t leave as a free agent until the 2022 offseason at the earliest). It is merely a matter of how much internal drama the Rockets choose to endure.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/hadr_lg.jpg" alt="" width="667" height="AUTO" />
Also, where Harden wants to play is not Stone&rsquo;s concern. His job is to get the most he can in return for Harden, then let someone else try to make the guy happy. And that allows him to say &ldquo;no&rdquo; to Philadelphia every time the name &ldquo;Tobias Harris&rdquo; is uttered instead of &ldquo;Ben Simmons.&rdquo; Same with half a dozen other potential trade partners who are not willing to give up a terrific young player along with multiple first-round picks.
In the case of the Nets, the need/desire to take another long look at Harden has been fueled by the season-ending injury to Spencer Dinwiddie, who was the anchor of a very strong second unit. Chris Chiozza is a solid replacement, but losing Dinwiddie is a big blow to Brooklyn. The question is: Would a package centered around Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen along with future first-round picks be too much to pay for Harden? (And Dinwiddie would likely have to be included to make the salaries match).
Golden State is hard-capped with a league-high $173,683,225 payroll, which complicates trade possibilities. But the Wolves&rsquo; 2021 pick is a terrific trade chip, and Wiggins&rsquo; $29.5 million salary makes it easier for Myers to make the money match. In terms of what else currently on Golden State&rsquo;s roster might intrigue the Rockets, that list likely begins with Wiseman (who is not going anywhere) and does not go much further. With that said, do the Warriors have enough to assemble a serious offer for Harden?
The bottom line is that there is a stronger possibility of Harden getting traded from Houston sometime between now and March than there is of him staying.
He could make at least a half-dozen semi-contenders into legit championship threats, and at some point somebody is going to meet Stone&rsquo;s asking price. It&rsquo;s more of a when, not an if. And then it becomes a question of where. And if Harden is unhappy with whatever deal eventually goes down, he&rsquo;s going to have to deal with it.
We&rsquo;ll all just have to stay tuned, and see who either gets desperate or believes they are one superstar away from a title run.

Should the Brooklyn Nets or Golden State Warriors try to pull off a blockbuster trade for James Harden?

With Warriors and Nets struggling, is it time to revisit Harden trade?

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Kevin Durant shook off 18 months of rust in a matter of minutes.
Durant looked good as new against his old team, Kyrie Irving was even better and the Brooklyn Nets emphatically kicked off the Steve Nash era with a 125-99 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night in the NBA's season opener.
Durant finished with 22 points in 25 minutes of his first official game since rupturing his Achilles tendon while playing for Golden State in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals. It's a new start for Durant, but he did the same things he's been doing for years.
&ldquo;I tried not to make too big a deal out of this whole thing and realize I&rsquo;ve been playing this game since I was 8 years old, so just got to revert back to what I know,&rdquo; Durant said.
Irving led Brooklyn with 26 points and Caris LeVert scored 20 as the Nets led by as many as 38, pouring on the points the way the Phoenix Suns did when Nash was their point guard, or more recently Golden State did when Durant was their All-Star forward.
The Nets made the playoffs last season but now are expected to contend for the Eastern Conference title after finally getting Durant and Irving on the court together. They used the first game of the shortened, 72-game season to prove they might be worth the hype.
&ldquo;I think our goals are a lot higher this year and we just want to be able to come in and dominate and do that consistently,&rdquo; Irving said.
Stephen Curry had 20 points and 10 assists for the Warriors, a depleted team that looks nothing like the powerhouse that won two titles in Durant's three seasons there.
Durant left shortly after having surgery following his injury and was expected to sit out the entire 2019-20 season even before it was suspended in March because of the coronavirus pandemic. Teammates who have worked out with him said the four-time scoring champion was back in top form and Durant quickly backed up their boasts in a mostly empty Barclays Center.
He made his first three shots, one a 3-pointer and another while being fouled, and was in double figures in fewer than five minutes. He did everything but keep up with Irving, who made three 3-pointers and had 17 points in 9 1/2 minutes of the opening quarter, when the Nets led by as many as 21.
Irving, himself coming back from injury after playing just 20 games last season because of shoulder problems, had Brooklyn&rsquo;s last two baskets of the first half, including a deep 3-pointer with 4.1 seconds left that made it 63-45.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr said he was happy for Durant but upset with what he saw from his team, trying to bounce back after winning a league-low 15 games last season.
&ldquo;Both Kevin and Kyrie just kind of had their way in the first half," he said. "So the lack of physicality and competition were the most disappointing things.&rdquo;
Durant then scored 10 more in Brooklyn's 36-point third quarter, ending his night for good late in the period.
No. 2 pick James Wiseman started at center despite his limited preparation and had 19 points and six rebounds. But the Warriors, playing without Draymond Green because of a sore right foot, need to find more shooting around Curry with Klay Thompson set to miss a second straight season.
Andrew Wiggins was 4 for 16 for his 13 points and Kelly Oubre Jr. was 3 for 14.
TIP-INS
Warriors: Kerr said Green planned an individual workout Tuesday and would hopefully do some group work Wednesday when they remained in New York to practice. ... Wiseman, at 19 years, 266 days, became the third-youngest Golden State player to start a game behind Andris Biedrins (18, 352) and Anthony Randolph (19, 179). ... The Warriors signed Juan Toscano-Anderson, who started six games for them last season, to a two-way contract.
Nets: The Nets snapped a seven-game losing streak in season openers. They are 1-0 for the first time since Nov. 3, 2012, their first game at Barclays Center after moving from New Jersey. ... Brooklyn re-signed G Chris Chiozza to a two-way contract Tuesday. He played in 18 games for the Nets last season. ... The Nets honored the essential workers who have helped New York fight the coronavirus, raising a banner on one end of Barclays Center.
TRAVELING FOR THE HOLIDAYS
Golden State is starting the season on a four-game Eastern road trip, including a Christmas game at Milwaukee. It&rsquo;s the first time the Warriors began in the Eastern time zone since 1975.
UP NEXT
Warriors: Visit Milwaukee on Friday.
Nets: Visit Boston on Friday in what will be Irving's first regular-season game there since leaving the Celtics.
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
&nbsp;

The Brooklyn Nets routed the Warriors in the NBA's season opener.

Nets blitz Warriors in NBA season opener

Michael Frazier opens up to Spencer Davies about how locked in he's been this offseason to continue chasing his NBA dream.

Michael Frazier doesn't have an ounce of quit in his body

With training camps starting in a week, the NBA's 2020 free-agency period has moved very quickly. Nearly all of the marquee free agents are off the board, aside from Anthony Davis and Brandon Ingram (RFA). However, both stars are expected to re-sign.
On Day 5, who are the top remaining free agents at each position?&nbsp;
GUARDS: Reggie Jackson, Shabazz Napier, Quinn Cook, Shaquille Harrison, Evan Turner, Dion Waiters, Marco Belinelli, Emmanuel Mudiay, Yogi Ferrell, Jamal Crawford, Isaiah Thomas, Jeremy Lin, Jordan McLaughlin (RFA), Chris Chiozza, Thabo Sefolosha, Jordan McRae (RFA), Courtney Lee, Troy Daniels, Brandon Knight, Andre Roberson, Allonzo Trier, Ky Bowman, Gary Payton II, Naz Mitrou-Long, Treveon Graham, Ian Clark, Marcus Georges-Hunt, Frank Mason, Ty Lawson, Shabazz Muhammad, J.R. Smith, Chasson Randle
FORWARDS: Anthony Davis, Nicolas Batum, Frank Kaminsky, Glenn Robinson III, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Wilson Chandler, Kyle Korver, DeMarre Carroll, John Henson, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Taj Gibson, Jared Dudley, Ersan Ilyasova, Bruno Caboclo, Lance Stephenson, Kenneth Faried, Kenrich Williams, Anthony Tolliver, Cheick Diallo, Dante Cunningham, Donatas Motiejunas, Justin Anderson
CENTER: Hassan Whiteside, Kyle O'Quinn, Ian Mahinmi, Noah Vonleh, Skal Labissiere, Tyson Chandler, Thon Maker, Kosta Koufos, Andrew Bogut, Caleb Swanigan, Ekpe Udoh, Miles Plumlee
Who would you like your favorite team to add? Leave a comment below.

Here's a position-by-position look at the top players who remain unsigned on Day 6 of NBA free agency.