Tag: Golden State Warriors

Report: Warriors GM Bob Myers to scout LaMelo Ball, R.J. Hampton

Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers will reportedly travel to Australia to scout NBL Next Stars LaMelo Ball and R.J. Hampton.

While it is early in the NBA season, the Golden State Warriors are one of the few teams that can be certain of their outlook moving forward. Long-term injuries to Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, nagging short-term injuries to Draymond Green and D’Angelo Russell and departures of Andre Iguodala and Kevin Durant has decimated the defending Western Conference champions.

All of that has added up to a league-worst three wins in the first 17 games. With a spot in the draft lottery a near certainty even in the opening months of the season, the Warriors have turned to scouting the upcoming 2020 NBA Draft.

In a piece for The Athletic, Anthony Slater reported that Warriors general manager Bob Myers will head to Australia to recruit the NBL’s pair of Next Stars.

“In the coming weeks, I’ve been told Myers is planning to make a trip over to Australia, where he’ll be able to scout LaMelo Ball and R.J. Hampton in person.”

Both LaMelo Ball and R.J. Hampton are guards, the latter considered more of a combo guard than the former. The Warriors already have a gluttony of guards in Curry, Thompson and Russell as is. While Russell has long been seen more as a trade piece than a part of the core moving forward, there are still two franchise guards on the roster.

The Warriors likely are using the opportunity to simply do due diligence and scout all of the young prospects atop the draft boards. Still, having a Ball brother become a Splash Brother is certainly an intriguing prospect.

Omari Spellman wants to be better than Marreese Speights

Omari Spellman has a similar play style to Marreese Speights, but he wants to be better than the former Warrior.

A second-year player out of Villanova, Golden State Warriors big man Omari Spellman knows about the comparisons to former Warrior Marreese Speights.

With Spellman in his first year with Golden State, he respects Speights, but he’s focused on making his own way in the NBA. Spellman talked about how he’s working to fulfill his own path to success with NBC Sports Bay Area’s Logan Murdock. 

“Mo is a great player. No disrespect to Mo Speights at all,” he continued. “But if I can, I want to be better than Mo Speights. And I’m pretty sure he would tell me the same thing. I’m pretty sure he would tell me the same thing like ‘bro, you don’t want to be me. Your goal should be to be better than me.’ So I don’t want to be Mo Speights.”

Spellman, 22, has been compared to Speights because they are of similar build, but they also have similar play styles.

Speights could knock down open jumpers, and Spellman can, too. Speights was also a solid rebounder, as he averaged 4.1 rebounds for his career. He was a key player for the Warriors during their 2015 championship season. During the regular season, he scored a career-high 10.4 points per game on 49.2% shooting from the field. Speights also grabbed 4.3 rebounds a game.

During the NBA Finals that season, Speights played three games and totaled nine points. His performance in Game 1 was his best, as he scored eight points and shot 50% from the field.

This season, Spellman has been one of the Warriors’ best young players. He’s averaging career-highs in points per game (7.4) and rebounds (5.5). He’s also done well grabbing offensive rebounds. Spellman ranks third in offensive rebound percentage (14.9%), according to Basketball Reference. 

With Spellman being a quality player off the bench, he has a chance to continue being key for the Warriors during this transitional season.

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Warriors two-way guard Ky Bowman is making an impression on Steve Kerr

Steve Kerr is impressed with what two-way guard Ky Bowman has done with his opportunity in the NBA. The coach wants to keep him around for the future.

The one positive to come out of injuries to Stephen Curry and D’Angelo Russell has been more opportunities for Golden State Warriors two-way guard, Ky Bowman.

Bowman signed a two-way contract to split time with Golden State and their G League affiliate the Santa Cruz Warriors after going undrafted out of Boston College. However, the rookie is quickly moving towards a guaranteed contract inside the association.

Bowman’s played in all 16 of the Warriors games so far this season and is averaging 7.6 points and 2.3 assists. Bowman’s seen the lion’s share of minutes at point guard during Golden State’s recent road swing while Russell deals with a sprained thumb, and Draymond Green nurses a sore heel.

In that time, Bowman has stepped up for the injury-ravaged Warriors, averaging 13.8 points, 4.0 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.8 steals in four games.

What’s been most impressive about Bowman’s game in that time is his ability to take the care of the basketball. He’s only turned the ball over once over during Golden State’s recent four-game stretch.

Bowman’s shown complete control of Steve Kerr’s offense while having to guard players like Mike Conley, Luka Doncic and Ja Morant on the defensive end.

Kerr had high praise for the undrafted 22-year old rookie after the Warriors 113-109 loss in Utah.

“All we can do is keep giving him the opportunity, and he’s seizing it,” said the coach of Golden State. “It’s a great opportunity for him as well as our other young players— In a season that’s obviously disappointing in terms of the wins and losses, there’s a lot of individual battles to be won and a guy like Ky Bowman is playing for his career and so for him to get this opportunity and seize it and play well and show the league what he’s about it’s fantastic.”

Players signed to two-way contracts can spend a maximum of 45-days on an NBA roster meaning Bowman’s days are currently numbered with Golden State, unless they can find a way to add him to their roster for the remainder of the season.

The Dubs will have to get creative if they plan on keeping Bowman around, as they are currently hard-capped with their salary. Regardless of the cap situation, Kerr is making it clear he wants Bowman to stay with the Warriors.

“Obviously, I want to keep him. I think we feel really strongly about that,” said Kerr. “But if we can’t, I’m really happy he’s shown what he can do and shown he belongs in the NBA.”

Russell is slated to miss a couple more games with his sprained thumb, giving Bowman more time to capitalize on the opportunity he’s getting with Golden State.

The Warriors have been successful developing guards off the bench in the past. Ian Clark, Kent Bazemore and Quinn Cook all went on to sign lucrative NBA contracts after time in Golden State, and Bowman could be the next.

Donovan Mitchell and Utah stifle Warriors gritty comeback, 113-109

The Warriors clawed back into a hard-fought battle with the Utah Jazz, but in the end, Mike Conley and Donovan Mitchell were too much for the injury strapped dubs.

For a team that’s coming off a 48-point loss at the end of a week-long road trip, the Golden State Warriors gave as much effort as you could possibly ask for against the Utah Jazz.

The 15.5-point underdogs battled Utah for 48-minutes of the game. However, in the end, the talent of Donovan Mitchell and Mike Conley overpowered the grit of the understaffed Warriors.

The scrappy Dubs were able to cut down The Jazz’s 21-point lead to single digits in the final minutes, but the team couldn’t manufacture a bucket when it mattered, falling 113-109 in Utah.

When the game got close, the backcourt duo of Mitchell and Conley took over, combining for 57 of their team’s 113 points. Conley’s handling of the pick and roll with Rudy Gobert was a problem all night for Golden State’s lowly defense.

Utah shot 61-percent from the field in the first half and was able to stretch a two-point first-quarter lead into a 14-point lead heading into the locker room at halftime. The Warriors slowly scratched their way back into the game behind a flurry of 3-pointers from an unlikely hero.

Big man Omari Spellman dropped four-threes on four shots behind the arc, with all four coming in the fourth quarter. Spellman had one of his best nights in a Golden State uniform, totaling 18 points with five boards.

Seven players scored in double figures for the Warriors on a night where they only had eight healthy players, and none of them included Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, D’Angelo Russell, or Klay Thompson.

Undrafted rookie, Ky Bowman turned in another impressive performance as the Dubs primary ball-handler, scoring 17 points, with five assists and four steals. Bowman had a crafty steal that led to a powerful dunk to cut the Jazz lead to six with less than two minutes to play. Bowman is currently on a two-way contract, but has easily played his way onto the Warriors full-time roster for the 2019-20 season.

After a four-game road swing, the Warriors will now get a rare weekend off and hope for good news on the returns of Kevon Looney and Draymond Green. Both bigs could return as soon as Monday against Oklahoma City, providing a much-needed boost to the Warriors injury-riddled roster.

Luka Doncic humiliated the Warriors with a historic first quarter

Luke Doncic embarrassed Golden State in the first quarter.

So yeah, Luka Doncic is really, really good at basketball.

The second-year star of the Dallas Mavericks entered Wednesday night’s game against the Golden State Warriors averaging just under 30 points a contest. He also has 10.7 rebounds a game and 9.3 assists.

Earlier this week our Charles Curtis gave you six reasons why Doncic is the favorite to win the NBA MVP award this season.

Then Wednesday night he went out and had a monster first quarter against the banged-up Warriors, putting up numbers that haven’t been seen since Allen Iverson in 2003.

Check out what he did to poor Golden State, who added Draymond Green to their list of injured stars before the game:

He had 22 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists in the first:

He then had a good second quarter, too:

And he had another triple-double before the fourth quarter:

This adds to his historic run of late:

Yup, the 20 year old is pretty good.

LeBron James’ remarkable road to triple-doubles against all 30 NBA teams

LeBron James has triple-doubles against all 30 NBA teams. Here is how he accomplished the feat.

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LeBron James completed the NBA cycle of triple-doubles on Tuesday. He made the Oklahoma City Thunder the 30th team he has accomplished the feat against.

We took a look at how he got there, addressing each of the teams that saw LeBron post a triple-double against it in his amazing career.

Atlanta Hawks

Kevin Liles/NBAE via Getty Images

LeBron and the Cavaliers lost to the Atlanta Hawks by 126-125 in overtime on April 9, 2017. He played 47 minutes and put up a line of 32-16-10 in the defeat.

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Warriors-Mavericks odds: Dallas a huge favorite vs. Golden State

Previewing Wednesday’s Golden State Warriors vs. Dallas Mavericks sports betting odds and lines, with NBA matchup analysis, picks and tips.

The Dallas Mavericks (8-5) host the Golden State Warriors (3-12) Wednesday at American Airlines Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET. We analyze the Warriors-Mavericks odds and lines, with NBA betting advice and tips around the matchup.

Place a legal sports bet on this NBA action or other games at BetMGM.

Warriors at Mavericks: Key injuries

Warriors

  • PF Draymond Green (elbow) questionable
  • PG D’Angelo Russell (thumb) out
  • SF Damion Lee (hand) out
  • PG Stephen Curry (hand) out
  • SG Jacob Evans (groin) out
  • PF Alen Smailagic (ankle) out
  • C Kevon Looney (hamstring) out
  • SG Klay Thompson (knee) out

Mavericks

  • PG Seth Curry (illness) questionable

Warriors at Mavericks: Odds, lines, picks and betting tips

NBA odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full set of today’s betting odds. Odds last updated at 11:45 a.m. ET.

Prediction

Mavericks 128, Warriors 98

Moneyline (ML)

The host Mavericks are laying -1000 against a Warriors (+650) lineup that’s a shell of it’s opening-day self. Green was able to play through a minor injury in Tuesday’s 114-95 road victory over the Memphis Grizzlies, but he could sit out the second half of the back-to-back. The Mavericks have won two straight home games over the Toronto Raptors and San Antonio Spurs to improve to 4-3 at home for the season. They were off Tuesday night.

A bet on the Mavericks to win outright at this price would return a profit of just $1. This line is approaching what we often see in lopsided college matchups. Pass on this and play the spread.

Line/Against the Spread (ATS)

Take the MAVERICKS (-14.5, -105). The Warriors are 6-9 against the spread overall and 4-4 on the road. The Mavericks are 6-7 overall ATS and 2-5 at home. The back-to-back situation for the visitors along with the potential new absence of Green sways this heavily toward the hosts.

Golden State is outscored by an average of 8.3 points per game (117.4-109.1) while Dallas wins by an average of 3.3 points (114.1-110.8). The Mavs will cruise to the finish with several starters unlikely to see the floor in the fourth quarter.

Over/Under (O/U)

Following suit, take the OVER 215.5 (-128). The Mavericks will do the heavy lifting here in a rout.

Dallas ranks second in the NBA with a record of 9-4 against the Over/Under. Golden State is 8-7 with its opponents taking care of the majority of the projected totals in its games.

Want some action in this one? Place a bet at BetMGM now. For more sports betting tips, visit SportsbookWire.com.

Esten’s NBA betting record: 32-34

Follow @EstenMcLaren and @SportsbookWire on Twitter.

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services.  Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

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Willie Cauley-Stein wants people to see more than his tattoos

Warriors center Willie Cauley-Stein has tattoos, but he wants the perception of people who look like him to change.

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Golden State Warriors center Willie Cauley-Stein wants people to see past the stereotypes some hold of young black males who are tatted up like himself.

Cauley-Stein recently spoke with ESPN’s Marc J. Spears about how he is perceived by others because of his numerous tattoos. Cauley-Stein told Spears that he is shy and usually doesn’t initiate conversation.

But he also mentioned other people may be hesitant to talk with him because of his appearance. The full interview with Spears can be read here.

“They don’t know how to come up to you either,” Cauley-Stein said. “They say, ‘Man, you got tattoos on your face.’ The first thing that they see. They’re not even looking in your eyes. They’re looking at the tattoos on your face. I made that perception on me because I felt like that’s part of my movement. I want to look like the ’hood but … I want to get past the perception of what people put on people. The stigma that they put on, on people that look like me.”

A fifth-year player out of Kentucky, Cauley-Stein said he was aware during college of how his tattoos would affect the way others perceived him. He referenced his mother to Spears, as he said she has more tattoos than he does.

“She’s more tattooed than me, so she gets the stigma on it,” Cauley-Stein said. “And, to me, I want that. I want people to look at me, think I’m some thug and then talk to me and realize this dude is intelligent. Just completely different than what we thought.”

The perception people have of Cauley-Stein and others with similar appearances is usually negative, or at the very least filled with misunderstanding.

With Cauley-Stein speaking his truth, though, he’s empowering himself and others like him to be their genuine selves.

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Warriors-Grizzlies odds: Memphis favored by a handful

Previewing Tuesday’s Golden State Warriors at Memphis Grizzlies sports betting odds, with NBA matchup analysis, picks and tips.

The Golden State Warriors (2-12) visit the Memphis Grizzlies (5-8) Tuesday at FedEx Forum for an 8 p.m. ET start. We analyze the Warriors-Grizzlies odds and lines, with NBA betting advice and tips around the matchup.

Place a legal sports bet on this NBA action or other games at BetMGM.

Warriors at Grizzlies: Key injuries

Warriors

  • PG Stephen Curry (hand) out
  • PF Alen Smailagic (ankle) questionable
  • SG Jacob Evans (hip) out
  • SG D’Angelo Russell (thumb sprain) out

Grizzlies

  • SG Grayson Allen (ankle) out

Warriors at Grizzlies: Odds, lines, picks, and betting tips

NBA odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full set of today’s betting odds. Odds last updated at 9:20 a.m. ET.

Prediction

Grizzlies 115, Warriors 106

Moneyline (ML)

The -278 line for the home GRIZZLIES is very low but they are 3-5 at home facing a Warriors team just 1-6 on the road. Golden State continues to manage to lose late in games.

The Warriors allow 119 points per game and can barely muster 110 points per night on offense.

New to sports betting? A $10 bet on the GRIZZLIES to win outright returns a profit of $3.60. It’s chalky, but Golden State has a low probability of winning Tuesday night.

Line/Against the Spread (ATS)

The GRIZZLIES (-6.5, -115) is the play here. A Grizzlies cover (win by seven or more points) returns a profit of $8.70.

The Grizzlies are 5-8 against the spread overall while staying right around the spread (-0.2 points per game below projections). Golden State is 1-6 ATS on the road while falling further short of projections at minus-3.5 points per game.

Over/Under (O/U)

The UNDER 222.5 (-106) is where we lean Tuesday. Memphis does not quite have the offense to score 120 points if Golden State struggles to get too much above 100.

At these odds, a $10 bet still returns a profit of $9.43.

Want some action in this one? Place a bet at BetMGM now. For more sports betting tips, visit SportsbookWire.com.

Chris’ NBA betting record: 40-24

Follow @ChrisWasselDFS and @SportsbookWire on Twitter.

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services.  Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

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