Golden State Warriors Blog – Page 44 – NBA Blog

Steve Kerr and Jason Terry share bball roots

As a player, Steve Kerr was a key role player for squads that won championships. Now he’s coaching one of the key squads in the league.

Guard Jason Terry, now towards the end of his days as a player, still has skills, mostly as a backup guard at this point.

Here’s the Houston Chronicle reporting on their past:

Steve Kerr and Jason Terry share basketball roots

Warriors coach Steve Kerr and Rockets guard Jason Terry go back a long way. Not only did the two both play in the NBA at the same time – early in Terry’s career and near the end of Kerr’s – they also knew each other from summer pick up games in the University of Arizona gym.

“I remember when Jason first got to U of A, I was going back a lot in the summers and I played pick up ball with the guys,” Kerr, also an Arizona alum, said. “He was a sophomore and I was maybe in my fifth year in the league and you could tell he was going to be good right away.”

Terry was familiar with Kerr and would speak with him often. The two became friends over the years and have always kept in touch.

David Lee out with hamstring strain

David Lee out with hamstring strain, for two weeks or more

Golden State Warriors forward David Lee underwent an MRI yesterday that revealed a reaggravated strained left hamstring, the injury that sidelined him for the first three games of the season. He will be re-evaluated in two weeks.

Lee scored six points in his season debut before suffering the injury at the 8:51 mark of the second quarter in Wednesday’s 121-104 win over the Clippers.

Warriors, Klay Thompson agree to contract extension

Warriors, Klay Thompson agree to contract extension at deadline

The Golden State Warriors and shooting guard Klay Thompson have a good thing going. They win together. And they like each other. Was money going to get in the way of their future together? It sure seemed possible, with Thompson seeking a maximum NBA contract.

But up against tonight’s extension deadline, the two sides have come to an agreement, according to multiple reports.

According to Marc Spears of Yahoo Sports, “Klay Thompson’s new contract extension with the Warriors includes no opt-out on either side, a source said.”

And per Marc Stein of ESPN: “ESPN sources say that Thompson and the Warriors have struck a four-year max agreement that is projected to be worth in the $70 million range.”

Warriors exercise contract options on Harrison Barnes and Festus Ezeli

Warriors exercise contract options on Harrison Barnes and Festus Ezeli

The Golden State Warriors have exercised fourth-year contract options on forward Harrison Barnes and center Festus Ezeli, which are for the 2015-16 NBA season.

The Warriors declined to exercise their third-year contract option on guard Nemanja Nedovic.

Barnes, 22, has appeared in 160 games (106 starts) over three seasons with the Warriors, averaging 9.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 26.8 minutes per contest. The 6’8” forward has appeared in all 19 of the team’s postseason games in that span, earning 12 starting assignments and posting averages of 13.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 32.5 minutes. Barnes, who was selected by the Warriors with the seventh overall pick in the first round of the 2012 NBA Draft, was a First Team All-Rookie selection in 2012-13.

Ezeli, 25, has appeared in 79 games (41 starts) over three seasons in Golden State, averaging 2.5 points and 4.0 rebounds to go with 0.94 blocks. In 12 postseason appearances (all in 2012-13), the 6’11” center averaged 2.0 points and 2.5 rebounds in 11.2 minutes. Ezeli, the 30th overall pick in the first round of the 2012 NBA Draft, missed the entire 2013-14 season while recovering from right knee surgery.

Nedovic, 23, appeared in 24 games with the Warriors last season as a rookie, averaging 1.1 points in 5.9 minutes per contest. Originally selected by the Phoenix Suns with the 30th overall pick in the first round of the 2013 NBA Draft, he was acquired by the Warriors in a draft-night deal.

Under the terms of the NBA’s current collective bargaining agreement, the first two years of a first round draft pick’s contract are guaranteed, while the third and fourth year of the contract are the team’s option.

Shaun Livingston returns for Warriors

Shaun Livingston returns for Warriors

The 2014-15 NBA regular season began Tuesday with three games, and on Wednesday featured 12 matchups, including the Warriors vs Kings. Golden State came away with a win on the court, but another in that they were able to utilize the services of guard Shaun Livingston, who wasn’t expected to be healthy enough to set foot on the court just yet. Here’s the Bay Area News Group reporting:

Warriors point guard Shaun Livingston surprisingly didn’t miss the start of the season Wednesday after his recovery from toe surgery cost him weeks of training camp and the entire preseason.

Shortly before the season opener that the Warriors went on to win 95-77, coach Steve Kerr approached Livingston about the possibility of playing since they were short-handed with David Lee and Brandon Rush sidelined.

“I was ready,” Livingston said, noting he’s been ready for a week now.

Warriors waive Aaron Craft, Jason Kapono, Sean Kilpatrick, James Michael McAdoo, Mitchell Watt

The Golden State Warriors have waived guard Aaron Craft, guard/forward Jason Kapono, guard Sean Kilpatrick, forward James Michael McAdoo and forward Mitchell Watt, the team announced following tonight’s preseason finale against the Denver Nuggets.

Craft appeared in four preseason games, averaging 3.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.00 steal in 14.7 minutes per contest.

Kapono appeared in five preseason games, averaging 3.2 and 1.6 rebounds in 8.7 minutes per game.

Kilpatrick signed with the Warriors on October 20 and did not appear in a preseason game for Golden State.

McAdoo appeared in five preseason games, averaging 5.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.20 steals in 13.0 minutes per contest.

Watt appeared in two preseason games, averaging 3.5 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and a team-leading 1.50 blocks in 9.5 minutes per game.

The team’s roster now stands at 15 players.

Warriors sign guard Sean Kilpatrick

The Golden State Warriors signed free agent guard Sean Kilpatrick to a contract today. It is likely a non-guaranteed deal just for preseason.

Kilpatrick, 24 years old, earned First Team All-America honors as a senior at the University of Cincinnati in 2013-14, posting an American Athletic Conference-best 20.6 points per contest to go with 4.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.41 steals in 34 games, while leading the conference in three-point field goals (93). In four years with the Bearcats, the 6’4” guard tallied averages of 15.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.19 steals in 30.8 minutes over 140 career games, finishing as the school’s second all-time leading scorer behind only Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson. He was a Second Team All-Big East selection in 2011-12 and 2012-13 before earning First Team All-AAC honors as a senior.

Kilpatrick will wear uniform #25.

The Warriors roster currently stands at 20 players. The regular season begins October 28, and the maximum number of players allowed on a regular season roster is 15.

Trying to stop Warriors fast break, Ronnie Price throws shoe at Andre Iguodala

In a Warriors vs Lakers preseason game today, Lakers guard Ronnie Price lost his shoe, then threw it towards Andre Iguodala in an apparent attempt to stop a Warrior fast break. Yes, it’s preseason.

The Warriors were up 39-13 after the first quarter and with 2:24 left in the first half lead 59-28.

Credit Price for being… innovative!

Warriors sign Jason Kapono

The Golden State Warriors have signed free agent guard/forward Jason Kapono to a contract, the team announced today. This may just be a training camp contract.

Kapono, 33, owns career NBA averages of 6.7 points, 1.7 rebounds and 17.8 minutes in 509 games (87 starts) with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Charlotte Bobcats, Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, Philadelphia 76ers and Los Angeles Lakers. He last played professionally in Greece in 2012-13, appearing in 17 games for Panathinaikos and posting averages of 7.6 points, 1.6 assists and 1.3 rebounds in 17.0 minutes while hitting 45.0 percent of his three-point attempts.

The nine-year NBA veteran ranks fifth all-time on the league’s three-point percentage list, hitting at a career 43.4 percent clip, and ranks second in the category among active players behind only Warriors guard Stephen Curry (.440). Kapono led the league in three-point percentage with the Heat in 2006-07 (.514), and again the following season as a member of the Raptors in 2007-08 (.483), becoming the only player in NBA history to lead the league in the category in back-to-back seasons.

Originally selected by the Cavaliers in the second round (31st overall) of the 2003 NBA Draft, Kapono won an NBA championship as a member of the Heat in 2005-06. The Long Beach, CA, native and UCLA alum last appeared in the NBA with the Lakers during the 2011-12 season.

Kapono will wear uniform #22.

David Lee not mad about past trade rumors

Here’s the Bay Area News Group reporting on the Golden State Warriors:

Warriors forward David Lee heard the offseason trade rumors involving Kevin Love and said they didn’t leave him feeling unwanted by the team.

“There was no hard feelings,” Lee said Monday. “There can’t be. Our front office is trying to improve the team, and Kevin Love is a great player.

“It happened, and I’m not mad at anybody. I don’t feel bad. It’s just this is a business.”

Lee, the Warriors’ highest-paid player making $15 million this salary, would have likely been shipped to Minnesota had the trade gotten done. Instead, Love was dealt to Cleveland and Lee got to joke about pondering a move to the Midwest that wasn’t to be.