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Draymond Green was big part of Warriors success this season

Draymond Green was big part of Warriors success this season

Here’s the San Francisco Chronicle reporting on the 2015 NBA champion Golden State Warriors:

The third-year power forward sprang to stardom during this championship run, thrust into a starting role at the beginning of the season when incumbent starter David Lee went down with a hamstring injury.

By the time Lee got back to work, Green had established himself as the team’s emotional heart, providing hustle and spark when the team needed it. But his contract is up, which is bad news for Golden State. The good news is that he’s a restricted free agent, which in NBA parlance means the Warriors have the ability to match any offer for Green’s services.

Warriors general manager Bob Myers sat down with The Chronicle during the NBA Finals to discuss the team’s future, including Green’s. He wasn’t able to come right out and say the team wants to re-sign the young man from Saginaw, Mich. Because of legal concerns, the league has begun discouraging that sort of thing. But after Green put up a triple-double in the deciding Game 6 victory over Cleveland, the writing is on the wall, if not on the contract just yet.

“Our hope is to keep the core together,” said Myers. “That is within our control.”

Warriors aim to keep Draymond Green

Warriors aim to keep Draymond Green

Versatile Warriors forward Draymond Green was a big part of the team’s success this season, which ended in celebration as winners of the NBA championship. Here’s CSN Bay Area reporting on the future between Green, who reportedly made just $915,000 this season, and the squad:

No need to beg or plead, no need to lay down and block Draymond Green’s path to Detroit or any other city with an NBA team.

The Warriors have this covered. They’re not letting Draymond walk, no matter what it costs to retain the heartiest partier among the Warriors during the team’s championship parade and celebration Friday at Lake Merritt.

General manager Bob Myers rather vowed as much while addressing over 500,000 fans at the rally.

“We’ll bring him back,” Myers said from the podium. “If you’re worried, don’t worry.”

That comment is in line with Myers’ recent responses to all things Draymond. Management knows. Ownership knows. The men in the locker room know how much Green means to newly created fabric of this team.

Uncertain future for Monta Ellis in Dallas

Uncertain future for Monta Ellis in Dallas

Here’s the Dallas Morning News with some insight on the Mavericks, who face many difficult decisions, many of which hinge on what Monta Ellis decides to do:

Monta Ellis has a decision to make. Most people think they know what he’s going to do, but until he makes it official, the Mavericks are forced to have two plans of attack ready to implement.

It boils down to whether Ellis opts out of the final season of his contract.

If Ellis does, he becomes an unrestricted free agent and can sign with any team in the league, presumably whoever is the highest bidder.

That likely would not be the Mavericks.

If Ellis doesn’t opt out, he will play the final year of his contract with the Mavericks, making about $9 million in the 2015-16 season.

The smart money is on Ellis opting out of his contract.

Hawks face uncertainty as NBA Draft approaches

Hawks face uncertainty as NBA draft approaches

Here’s the Atlanta Journal Constitution painting a picture of the Atlanta Hawks’ situation as both the NBA Draft and free agency approach:

The Hawks will enter the NBA draft not knowing if they will have two, one or zero gaping holes on their roster.

It’s not an enviable position.

The draft is Thursday, and six days later comes the start of free agency. Two-fifths of the Hawks’ starting lineup — DeMarre Carroll and Paul Millsap — will hit the open market and are free to sign with any team. Both could be gone. One or the other could depart. Both could return.

Drafting for need is illogical. The prevailing alternative would be to draft the best available player. Not necessarily.

“We do our best to separate the draft from free agency,” assistant general manager Wes Wilcox said. “Certainly, they are connected. Our focus in every draft is to identify the best player who fits us. There is the long-standing debate over drafting the best player versus drafting for a position of need. It’s certainly something we all juggle. We’ve become comfortable with being guided by what we call our draft objective, which remains the same every year, we want to draft a guy who fits without our culture, fits (coach Mike Budenholzer) and his system and can add to and become a piece of our core.”

When LeBron gave Kyrie a good talking-to

When LeBron gave Kyrie Irving a good talking-to

The Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the Warriors in the 2015 NBA Finals, but they still had an amazing season and can expect to compete for the 2016 championship. Here’s the Northeast Ohio Media Group reporting on a key development that took place during the regular season:

On Nov. 5, Irving led the team with 34 points in a loss to Utah. But in 45 minutes he failed to register an assist.

The night before in a loss to Portland, there were reports James and Irving had a dispute in the locker room, prompting Irving to dash without addressing the media. Irving missed 14 of his 17 shots that night. That’s when James said the team was developing “bad habits.”

As the team’s point guard, for Irving to not have a single assist was inexcusable, and James couldn’t stay quiet any longer.

“He came up to me and was like, ‘One, you can never have another game with no assists,’ ” Irving said, describing James’ words. “‘You can damn near have just one, two, three, but you can’t have zero.’ “

Warriors celebrate championship at parade

Warriors celebrate championship at parade

Here’s CSN Bay Area reporting on the Golden State Warriors championship parade, which took place Friday afternoon in Oakland:

The streets of Oakland were awash in yellow and blue as hundreds of thousands of fans watched and cheered the Golden State Warriors victory parade, which has been 40 years in the making.

In a rare moment of glory, Oakland – a city that usually makes news for crime, corruption, protests and violence- shined in the national spotlight.

On Friday, blue-and-gold-clad fans flooded downtown to see the NBA championship players, MC Hammer, six floats and, of course, the championship trophy, won after the team bested LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers.

People started lining up as early as 3 a.m., and city officials estimated at least 500,000 fans packed the streets when the parade started about 10 a.m.

Kamala Moore arrived at the parade route at 4:15 a.m. “It’s history in the making,” she said.

“Oh my gosh, I really want to see Riley (Curry),” she said, referring to the 2-year-old daughter of Stephen Curry, her favorite player.

Steve Blake exercises Blazers contract option

Portland Trail Blazers guard Steve Blake has exercised his player option for the 2015-16 season, it was announced today by President of Basketball Operations Neil Olshey.

Blake (6-3, 172) appeared in 81 games for the Trail Blazers last season. In 350 games (232 starts) over five seasons with Portland, Blake holds averages of 7.8 points (41.4% FG, 39.8% 3-PT, 78.2% FT), 2.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists.

For his career, Blake has averages of 6.7 points (40.1% FG, 38.5% 3-PT, 77.8% FT), 2.1 rebounds and 4.0 assists over 12 seasons with Washington, Portland, Milwaukee, Denver, L.A. Clippers, L.A. Lakers and Golden State.

Blake, 34, played four years at the University of Maryland, where he won an NCAA Championship in 2002, and was selected by the Washington Wizards with the ninth pick in the second round (38th overall) of the 2003 NBA Draft.

Taj Gibson had ankle surgery Tuesday

Recovery time for Taj Gibson is around four months

Chicago Bulls forward Taj Gibson underwent an arthroscopy and repair of his left ankle on Tuesday, June 16. The surgery was performed by foot specialist Dr. David Porter in Indianapolis. Gibson’s surgery went as expected and he has begun the rehabilitation process. His estimated time to return to full basketball activity is approximately four months.

The 29-year old Gibson recently completed his sixth season in the NBA, where he appeared in 62 games (17 starts) and posted 10.3 ppg on .502 shooting, 6.4 rpg, 1.21 bpg and 1.1 apg in 27.3 mpg. He also played in all 12 of Chicago’s playoff games (two starts) and averaged 7.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.0 apg and 1.00 bpg in 23.0 mpg.

Loss of Kyrie Irving was crucial for Cavs in NBA Finals

Without Kyrie Irving, Cavs were serious underdog vs Warriors

The Warriors won Tuesday’s NBA Finals Game 6 to beat the Cavaliers and win the 2015 NBA championship. Here’s the News Herald reporting on a critical issue that helped ensure Cleveland’s defeat:

Loss of Kyrie Irving was crucial for Cavs in NBA Finals

The loss of All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving after Game 1 was probably the last straw for the Cavs.

His broken knee cap elevated Matthew Dellavedova into the starting lineup. Dellavedova had a brief flurry of spirited play, but eventually settled into what he really was: an undrafted backup role player. Pitting him against league MVP Stephen Curry was almost cruel.

Curry was fueled by all the admiration Dellavedova got early in the series. He was irked by the thought of Dellavedova slowing him down. Curry averaged 26 points in the series, 28 in the last three games.

Kevin Love was injured in Game 4 of the Boston series. They shifted Tristan Thompson into the starting lineup to replace Love, and the Cavs’ defense and rebounding intensified.

“The injuries they suffered were just too much,” Golden State coach Steve Kerr said. “This would have been a different series with Kyrie and Kevin Love.”

Jeff Green exercises contract option to stay with Grizzlies

Grizzlies forward Jeff Green will stick with team for 2015-16 season

Memphis Grizzlies General Manager Chris Wallace announced today that Grizzlies forward Jeff Green has exercised his player option for the 2015-16 season.

Green (6-9, 235) averaged 15.0 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 31.5 minutes in 78 games (70 starts) last season with the Grizzlies and Boston Celtics. Acquired by Memphis from Boston in a three-team trade on Jan. 12, he recorded 13.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 30.3 minutes in 45 games (37 starts) with the Grizzlies. Green shot a team-high .398 from three-point range after the All-Star Break and increased his three-point percentage to .438 over the final 20 games of the regular season.

The 28-year-old posted 8.9 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 27.1 minutes in 11 games (two starts) for Memphis during the 2015 NBA Playoffs.

Drafted by Boston in the first round (fifth overall) of the 2007 NBA Draft, Green holds career averages of 14.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 32.6 minutes in 556 games (432 starts) for the Seattle SuperSonics/Oklahoma City Thunder, Boston and Memphis. The Hyattsville, Md. native starred for three seasons at Georgetown University (2004-07), earning 2007 Big East Player of the Year honors as a junior and leading the Hoyas to the 2006 NCAA Final Four as a sophomore, the program’s first NCAA Final Four appearance since 1985.