Category: Golden State Warriors Blog

The Golden State Warriors announced today that the team has exercised the third-year contract option on guard Klay Thompson, which is for the 2013-14 NBA season.

Thompson, 22, appeared in all 66 games last season, averaging 12.5 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 24.4 minutes per contest, earning First Team All-Rookie honors.  In 29 starts, he averaged 18.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.10 steals in 33.9 minutes.  For the season, he led all rookies in three-point percentage (.414, 17th in NBA) and three-point field goals made (111), while ranking second among rookies in free throw percentage (.868) and fourth in scoring (12.5 points).

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.  Thompson was selected by the Warriors with the eleventh overall selection in the 2011 NBA Draft.

As the NBA regular season rapidly approaches, teams continue to trim their rosters, to get down to the 15-player maximum.

The Golden State Warriors today waived guards Carlon Brown and Tarence Kinsey, as well as forwards Lance Goulbourne and Rick Jackson.

The Warriors now have 15 players under contract.

NBA preseason ends Friday, OCtober 26. The regular season begins Tuesday, October 30.

The Warriors got relatively good news from both of their injured ankles on Saturday. Don’t expect either point guard Stephen Curry or center Andrew Bogut to take the court before the season opener. But each got good reports from their surgeon.

Curry, who re-injured his right ankle on Friday night in Portland, was checked out by Dr. Richard Ferkel at Saturday’s practice. According to general manager Bob Myers, Ferkel — who performed Curry’s arthroscopic surgery in April — wasn’t concerned about Curry’s latest ankle issue.

Coach Mark Jackson said he wasn’t concerned, either. Still, he said he’s going to hold out Curry for the final two preseason games.

“There’s no point in playing him now,” Jackson said. “There is nothing to gain by running him out there. I’m not concerned, but we’re going to be smart about it.”

— Reported by Marcus Thompson via the Contra Costa Times (Blog)

Warriors center Andew Bogut will have his troublesome left ankle examined Monday in Los Angeles.

The Warriors play at the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday, giving Bogut an opportunity to visit Richard Ferkel, the doctor who performed arthroscopic surgery on the ankle in April.

Bogut, who fractured the ankle in January while with Milwaukee, has yet to practice or play a preseason game. Before Wednesday’s exhibition game at Sacramento, Warriors coach Mark Jackson said Bogut is “still a ways away.”

— Reported by Marcus Thompson II of the Bay Area News Group

The Golden State Warriors have waived guard Stefhon Hannah, the team announced today.

Hannah, 27, was signed as a free agent on October 1. He has not appeared in any of the team’s three preseason games thus far.

The Warriors now have 19 players under contract.

The Golden State Warriors have signed free agent guard Stefhon Hannah, the team announced today. We assume it’s just a training camp signing.

Hannah, 27, appeared in 29 games (27 starts) last season with the Warriors’ NBA D-League affiliate, the Dakota Wizards, where he helped the Wizards to a postseason berth with averages of 18.4 points, 4.8 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 2.14 steals (second in the league) in 32.0 minutes en route to earning 2011-12 NBA Development Defensive Player of the Year honors. The 6’1” guard played the previous season in the D-League with the Iowa Energy and has played professionally in Poland, Cyprus and Lithuania since graduating from the University of Missouri in 2008.

The Warriors now have 20 players under contract.

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry has received full medical clearance to resume all basketball-related activities, including five-on-five scrimmages, following an examination on his surgically repaired right ankle by Dr. Richard Ferkel earlier today in Van Nuys, California, the team announced.

Curry, who missed 40 games overall last season due to a right ankle injury, originally underwent surgery on the ankle on April 25, 2012.  The exploratory procedure, performed by Dr. Ferkel, revealed a stable ankle with no structural damage and consisted of cleaning out loose debris and scar tissue.

Since the surgery, Curry has maintained a consistent rehabilitation program, which led him to begin participating in limited basketball-related activities in July.  Since then, under the guidance of Dr. Ferkel and the Warriors athletic training staff, Curry has consistently ramped up his level of on-court activity until receiving full clearance today.

The Golden State Warriors have hired Ellen Warner as Vice President of Development, it was announced today.  In this role, she will serve as the development manager for the team’s proposed privately financed sports and entertainment complex on Piers 30-32 and Seawall Lot 330 in San Francisco and will oversee planning, design and construction of the project.

“We are thrilled to add Ellen to the Warriors organization in this critical role,” said Joe Lacob, the team’s Co-Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.  “Her skills and experience make her a perfect choice to lead our project.”

A San Francisco resident, Warner has more than three decades of experience successfully managing large and complex real estate projects, with budgets totaling $1 billion, including public buildings, hospitals, medical campuses, and office buildings.

“Joining the Warriors organization at this pivotal time is incredibly exciting,” said Warner.  “I look forward to helping the organization bring a new world-class sports and entertainment complex to San Francisco.”

Prior to joining the Warriors, Warner was a partner at David S. Taylor Interests, Inc. in Sacramento, where she was directly responsible for the development of several of Sacramento’s most prominent buildings.  Her portfolio includes Sacramento City Hall, which was named “Best Public Project” in 2005 by the Sacramento Business Journal, and US Bank Tower at 621 Capitol Mall, which the SBJ named “Best Office Project” in 2009.

Warner is a licensed architect and a licensed general contractor, with LEED accreditation.  Her experience in the real estate development industry also includes nine years as the Assistant Manager of Facilities Design and Construction at the University of California Davis Medical Center, where she and her staff of architects, engineers and construction inspectors managed a $500 million capital improvement program for the hospital campus.  Warner also previously served as the Regional Project Director for National Medical Enterprises, an international health care company. She began her career in various architecture offices, including the San Francisco firm Kaplan McLaughlin Diaz.

In 2007, the SBJ honored Warner with their “Women Who Mean Business” award, which recognizes Sacramento-area women for their exemplary career achievements and entrepreneurial accomplishments.  From 2008-2012, Warner served on the Board of Directors for WEAVE, a non-profit agency in Sacramento with a mission to end domestic violence.  Warner attended Cornell University and earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Architecture from Washington University in St. Louis.

Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut fully expects to be in the lineup for the season opener Oct. 31 at Phoenix after undergoing surgery this spring on his troublesome ankle.

How much he plays during the exhibition schedule, he’s still not sure. Bogut believes he will be nearly full strength by the start of training camp Oct. 3, but might still be limited during the preseason as a precaution.

“I definitely want to be ready for training camp. I think it will be close,” Bogut said Sunday before heading to a Monday morning workout in Australia.

“The immediate goal with all of this is to make sure I’m ready for the first game. Whether that means playing only half the preseason games, it’s just about being smart with my ankle. There’s no point in trying to get ready for Oct. 1 when an extra week could significantly help. It’s just a matter of monitoring it very smartly and not doing anything stupid.”

— Reported by the Associated Press

The Golden State Warriors have signed free agent guard/forward Kent Bazemore to a contract, the team announced today.

We would guess that this is just a training camp contract and that Bazemore is not guaranteed to make the regular season roster. But we are not sure, and will check on this tonight and tomorrow morning and then update this page.

Bazemore, 23, signs with the Warriors after playing for the team’s Summer League squad at the recently-completed NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.  Bazemore started the final three Summer League games for Golden State, averaging 10.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 2.00 steals and 2.33 blocks in 27.0 minutes over that stretch.  On July 20 vs. Chicago, he recorded 11 points, eight rebounds, two assists, two steals and seven blocked shots in 36 minutes, marking the most blocked shots by a Warriors player ever at the Las Vegas Summer League.  Overall in four summer league games (DNP-CD in the first game and played one minute in the second game), Bazemore averaged 8.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.50 steals and 1.75 blocks in 20.5 minutes per contest.

A 6’5” swingman, Bazemore is coming off a four-year collegiate career at Old Dominion, where he was named Colonial Athletic Association Defensive Player of the Year in both his junior and senior seasons.  Following his senior campaign, in which he averaged 15.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.11 steals, the Kelford, NC, native was named First Team All-CAA.  Overall, for his career at ODU, Bazemore averaged 10.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.79 steals in 26.3 minutes in 140 games.  He left school having appeared in the most games in team history and as the all-time CAA leader in steals (250).

Bazemore will wear uniform #20.