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The Kings’ long-term plan is starting to pan out. The young players showed promise, contending for a playoff spot into March. Now, the Kings enter the offseason with more than $62 million available under the salary cap.
That’s enough to pursue any of the top free agents available, but that might not be what the Kings want to do.
Sacramento knows it will have to dole out new contracts to Buddy Hield and De’Aaron Fox in the near future, so there’s a desire not to tie up money by overpaying older players. If the Kings are going to offer a max contract, they’d prefer it be to younger players who can grow with their young core instead of players who will be past their prime as the youngsters enter their primes.
Sacramento is invested in the big picture and finding players who fit how they want to play. So if that means only offering one- or two-year deals to older players to continue building up the nucleus, the Kings are fine with that.
But with so much money available, the Kings have a lot of options. Here are 15 different players the Kings could consider when free agency begins Sunday.
Harrison Barnes, forward, Sacramento Kings
The Kings didn’t give up any of their core players to acquire Barnes from Dallas in February. Veteran forward Zach Randolph wasn’t playing at all and second-year forward Justin Jackson was deemed expendable, and the Kings’ overall improvement necessitated an upgrade at small forward.
That doesn’t mean the Kings should let Barnes walk after he declined to exercise his player option for next season worth $25.1 million. The Kings would like to work out a new deal with Barnes, and the Kings are probably willing to pay him more than most teams with room under the salary cap would be willing to pay.
Barnes has said he enjoyed his time in Sacramento, so it seems reasonable Barnes opted out with plans to re-sign with the Kings. If the Kings were somehow to lose Barnes, it would put them back in search for a long-term answer at small forward, which has been the case since Rudy Gay left as a free agent in 2017.
Barnes averaged 14.3 points and shot 40.8 percent from 3 in 28 games with Sacramento.
Patrick Beverley, guard, LA Clippers
Besides Barnes, Beverley just might be the Kings’ top target and for good reason.
The Kings are in need of defensive intensity, which Beverley exudes every time he is on the court. The Kings need toughness, and Beverley is, pound-for-pound, one of the toughest players in the league. Beverley won’t back down from anyone and the Kings, the younger players in particular, need to have the confidence to stand up to teams who routinely use physicality to take them out of their game.
Aside from what Beverley does on the court with his play, the Kings would love to have him around Fox.
Privately, the Kings continue to want to see a more assertive Fox and hope Luke Walton’s coaching staff will demand more of him. He took a major step as a player in his second season, but the Kings want more from their point guard on both ends of the floor. Beverley would be the perfect type of player to not only show Fox the nuances of NBA defense, but also gives the Kings another point guard to allow Fox to play off the ball more.
The Kings would have to make a significant financial offer to Beverley to convince him to come to Sacramento as Fox’s backup — and to also woo him away from contenders who are likely to pursue him in free agency.
Beverley stated started 49 of 78 regular-season games he played in last season, averaging 7.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists.
Tobias Harris, F, Philadelphia 76ers
If there’s a free agent the Kings should consider making a max offer to, one who would fit their long-term plans, it would be Harris. Harris, 26, is young enough to grow with Sacramento’s nucleus and would be a big man who can space the floor, which the Kings need more of.
Nemanja Bjelica serves as a stretch four, and the hope is Marvin Bagley III can become that kind of player. Harris, however, is that kind of player now, having shot 48.7 percent overall and 39.7 percent on 3s while averaging 20.0 points and 7.8 rebounds last season for the Clippers and Sixers.
Adding Harris might mean sliding Bagley to center, but it would be worth it for the long-term growth of the Kings to add another proven scorer in the frontcourt.
DeAndre Jordan, C, New York Knicks
Jordan has been accused of chasing rebounds to pad his stats, but a center chasing rebounds would be a welcome addition in Sacramento. The Kings need a big man who can set screens, can attack the rim and run the floor and serve as a deterrent in the paint. Jordan, 30, could fill those roles and figures to be motivated to show he’s still a top rebounder and defender after being traded from Dallas last season.
Jordan averaged 11.0 points, 13.1 rebounds and 1.0 blocks last season.
Brook Lopez, C, Milwaukee Bucks
Should the Kings part ways with Willie Cauley-Stein, Lopez is the kind of center the team should consider. He’s become a decent 3-point shooter (36.5 percent last season) and might be willing to sign the kind of one- or two-year deal the team would prefer to offer players in their 30s.
Lopez played for Walton in Los Angeles, so he’d be familiar with what Walton wants. The only hang up would be Lopez is not great rebounder (4.9 per game), but the Kings might be able to deal with that if Lopez can be a floor-spacer.
Bojan Bogdanovic, F, Indiana Pacers
Should the Kings lose Barnes, Bogdanovic would be a nice, and perhaps cheaper, option at small forward. Bogdanovic averaged career-highs of 18.0 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.0 assists. He also shot 49.7 percent from the field, 42.5 percent on 3s.
Indiana acquired forward T.J. Warren in a trade with Phoenix last week, so Bogdanovic might not be as high a priority for Indiana in free agency.
Julius Randle, F, New Orleans Pelicans
The rugged forward is coming off his best season, but the addition of Zion Williamson in New Orleans means Randle will probably be on the move. Randle averaged 21.4 points and 8.7 rebounds last season and could play forward or center. He’s also another former Walton player, so the coach know what to expect from him.
Last season, Randle played for another fast-paced team, so any adjustment to how Sacramento wants to play this season — up-tempo — would be minimal.
JaVale McGee, C, Los Angeles Lakers
When reports surfaced a couple of summers ago the Kings were meeting with McGee while having no available roster spots, it confused many. But those types of meetings can pay off in the future, and this could be a case of that happening.
The Kings could need a center who can run, doesn’t need plays called for him and might be willing to come to Sacramento on a short deal. McGee averaged a career-high 12.0 points to go with 7.5 rebounds for the Lakers last season, playing under Walton.
But McGee is a two-time NBA champion with the Warriors, and it’s not far-fetched to think he might want to see if he can remain with the Lakers to play with LeBron James again.
Thabo Sefolosha, F, Utah Jazz
Looking for a veteran win to help fill the 3-and-D role? Sefolosha, 35, would be worth a look if the Kings want to add a player who can help in limited time. The Kings have also shown they like to add veterans who might not play a lot, but can be mentors in the locker room.
Sefolosha appeared in 50 games last season but shot 43.6 percent from 3-point range.
Corey Brewer, F, Sacramento Kings
He’s another veteran who spent time with the Kings last season. Brewer appeared in 24 games with Sacramento and would be a nice veteran to have on the bench. He’s been a part of a championship team (Dallas, 2011) and has the kind of wisdom and presence the Kings want around their young players.
Jeremy Lin, G, Toronto Raptors
The Kings were linked to Lin before last season’s trade deadline, and could add him as a veteran backup to Fox. Lin averaged 9.4 points and 3.1 assists in 74 games with Atlanta and Toronto.
Kosta Koufos, C, Sacramento Kings
The Kings could chase new options at center, or simply re-sign someone they know well. Koufos has been more of a mentor lately, but he’s always in shape and ready to play. He’s popular among his teammates and after four seasons in Sacramento, might be willing to stick around with a new deal and an increased role, assuming Cauley-Stein is no longer on the team.
Koufos averaged only 12.0 minutes, but still averaged 4.2 rebounds in his limited time over 42 games.
Cory Joseph, G, Indiana Pacers
Joseph would be a younger option for a backup point guard. Joseph has proven to be a capable backup, first in San Antonio, Toronto and then the Pacers.
Joseph isn’t a prolific 3-point shooter (32.7 percent for his career). He averaged 6.5 points and a career-high 3.9 assists last season.
Kevon Looney, C, Golden State Warriors
The Kings have enough cap space to go after unrestricted free agents like Looney. He averaged 6.3 points and 5.2 rebounds for the Warriors and showed his value as a defender during the playoffs. That would make him a fit for the Kings, who still need to add pieces to improve their defense.
Kelly Oubre, F, Phoenix Suns
This is another option if the Kings explore restricted free agency for depth on the wing. Oubre can score (16.9 points per game in 40 games with Phoenix) but is not a great 3-point shooter (32.1 percent for his career). But he is just 23, so if the Kings like him and his potential to improve, he’s the kind of athlete who could excel in the high-tempo style.
That’s enough to pursue any of the top free agents available, but that might not be what the Kings want to do.
Sacramento knows it will have to dole out new contracts to Buddy Hield and De’Aaron Fox in the near future, so there’s a desire not to tie up money by overpaying older players. If the Kings are going to offer a max contract, they’d prefer it be to younger players who can grow with their young core instead of players who will be past their prime as the youngsters enter their primes.
Sacramento is invested in the big picture and finding players who fit how they want to play. So if that means only offering one- or two-year deals to older players to continue building up the nucleus, the Kings are fine with that.
But with so much money available, the Kings have a lot of options. Here are 15 different players the Kings could consider when free agency begins Sunday.
Harrison Barnes, forward, Sacramento Kings
The Kings didn’t give up any of their core players to acquire Barnes from Dallas in February. Veteran forward Zach Randolph wasn’t playing at all and second-year forward Justin Jackson was deemed expendable, and the Kings’ overall improvement necessitated an upgrade at small forward.
That doesn’t mean the Kings should let Barnes walk after he declined to exercise his player option for next season worth $25.1 million. The Kings would like to work out a new deal with Barnes, and the Kings are probably willing to pay him more than most teams with room under the salary cap would be willing to pay.
Barnes has said he enjoyed his time in Sacramento, so it seems reasonable Barnes opted out with plans to re-sign with the Kings. If the Kings were somehow to lose Barnes, it would put them back in search for a long-term answer at small forward, which has been the case since Rudy Gay left as a free agent in 2017.
Barnes averaged 14.3 points and shot 40.8 percent from 3 in 28 games with Sacramento.
Patrick Beverley, guard, LA Clippers
Besides Barnes, Beverley just might be the Kings’ top target and for good reason.
The Kings are in need of defensive intensity, which Beverley exudes every time he is on the court. The Kings need toughness, and Beverley is, pound-for-pound, one of the toughest players in the league. Beverley won’t back down from anyone and the Kings, the younger players in particular, need to have the confidence to stand up to teams who routinely use physicality to take them out of their game.
Aside from what Beverley does on the court with his play, the Kings would love to have him around Fox.
Privately, the Kings continue to want to see a more assertive Fox and hope Luke Walton’s coaching staff will demand more of him. He took a major step as a player in his second season, but the Kings want more from their point guard on both ends of the floor. Beverley would be the perfect type of player to not only show Fox the nuances of NBA defense, but also gives the Kings another point guard to allow Fox to play off the ball more.
The Kings would have to make a significant financial offer to Beverley to convince him to come to Sacramento as Fox’s backup — and to also woo him away from contenders who are likely to pursue him in free agency.
Beverley stated started 49 of 78 regular-season games he played in last season, averaging 7.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists.
Tobias Harris, F, Philadelphia 76ers
If there’s a free agent the Kings should consider making a max offer to, one who would fit their long-term plans, it would be Harris. Harris, 26, is young enough to grow with Sacramento’s nucleus and would be a big man who can space the floor, which the Kings need more of.
Nemanja Bjelica serves as a stretch four, and the hope is Marvin Bagley III can become that kind of player. Harris, however, is that kind of player now, having shot 48.7 percent overall and 39.7 percent on 3s while averaging 20.0 points and 7.8 rebounds last season for the Clippers and Sixers.
Adding Harris might mean sliding Bagley to center, but it would be worth it for the long-term growth of the Kings to add another proven scorer in the frontcourt.
DeAndre Jordan, C, New York Knicks
Jordan has been accused of chasing rebounds to pad his stats, but a center chasing rebounds would be a welcome addition in Sacramento. The Kings need a big man who can set screens, can attack the rim and run the floor and serve as a deterrent in the paint. Jordan, 30, could fill those roles and figures to be motivated to show he’s still a top rebounder and defender after being traded from Dallas last season.
Jordan averaged 11.0 points, 13.1 rebounds and 1.0 blocks last season.
Brook Lopez, C, Milwaukee Bucks
Should the Kings part ways with Willie Cauley-Stein, Lopez is the kind of center the team should consider. He’s become a decent 3-point shooter (36.5 percent last season) and might be willing to sign the kind of one- or two-year deal the team would prefer to offer players in their 30s.
Lopez played for Walton in Los Angeles, so he’d be familiar with what Walton wants. The only hang up would be Lopez is not great rebounder (4.9 per game), but the Kings might be able to deal with that if Lopez can be a floor-spacer.
Bojan Bogdanovic, F, Indiana Pacers
Should the Kings lose Barnes, Bogdanovic would be a nice, and perhaps cheaper, option at small forward. Bogdanovic averaged career-highs of 18.0 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.0 assists. He also shot 49.7 percent from the field, 42.5 percent on 3s.
Indiana acquired forward T.J. Warren in a trade with Phoenix last week, so Bogdanovic might not be as high a priority for Indiana in free agency.
Julius Randle, F, New Orleans Pelicans
The rugged forward is coming off his best season, but the addition of Zion Williamson in New Orleans means Randle will probably be on the move. Randle averaged 21.4 points and 8.7 rebounds last season and could play forward or center. He’s also another former Walton player, so the coach know what to expect from him.
Last season, Randle played for another fast-paced team, so any adjustment to how Sacramento wants to play this season — up-tempo — would be minimal.
JaVale McGee, C, Los Angeles Lakers
When reports surfaced a couple of summers ago the Kings were meeting with McGee while having no available roster spots, it confused many. But those types of meetings can pay off in the future, and this could be a case of that happening.
The Kings could need a center who can run, doesn’t need plays called for him and might be willing to come to Sacramento on a short deal. McGee averaged a career-high 12.0 points to go with 7.5 rebounds for the Lakers last season, playing under Walton.
But McGee is a two-time NBA champion with the Warriors, and it’s not far-fetched to think he might want to see if he can remain with the Lakers to play with LeBron James again.
Thabo Sefolosha, F, Utah Jazz
Looking for a veteran win to help fill the 3-and-D role? Sefolosha, 35, would be worth a look if the Kings want to add a player who can help in limited time. The Kings have also shown they like to add veterans who might not play a lot, but can be mentors in the locker room.
Sefolosha appeared in 50 games last season but shot 43.6 percent from 3-point range.
Corey Brewer, F, Sacramento Kings
He’s another veteran who spent time with the Kings last season. Brewer appeared in 24 games with Sacramento and would be a nice veteran to have on the bench. He’s been a part of a championship team (Dallas, 2011) and has the kind of wisdom and presence the Kings want around their young players.
Jeremy Lin, G, Toronto Raptors
The Kings were linked to Lin before last season’s trade deadline, and could add him as a veteran backup to Fox. Lin averaged 9.4 points and 3.1 assists in 74 games with Atlanta and Toronto.
Kosta Koufos, C, Sacramento Kings
The Kings could chase new options at center, or simply re-sign someone they know well. Koufos has been more of a mentor lately, but he’s always in shape and ready to play. He’s popular among his teammates and after four seasons in Sacramento, might be willing to stick around with a new deal and an increased role, assuming Cauley-Stein is no longer on the team.
Koufos averaged only 12.0 minutes, but still averaged 4.2 rebounds in his limited time over 42 games.
Cory Joseph, G, Indiana Pacers
Joseph would be a younger option for a backup point guard. Joseph has proven to be a capable backup, first in San Antonio, Toronto and then the Pacers.
Joseph isn’t a prolific 3-point shooter (32.7 percent for his career). He averaged 6.5 points and a career-high 3.9 assists last season.
Kevon Looney, C, Golden State Warriors
The Kings have enough cap space to go after unrestricted free agents like Looney. He averaged 6.3 points and 5.2 rebounds for the Warriors and showed his value as a defender during the playoffs. That would make him a fit for the Kings, who still need to add pieces to improve their defense.
Kelly Oubre, F, Phoenix Suns
This is another option if the Kings explore restricted free agency for depth on the wing. Oubre can score (16.9 points per game in 40 games with Phoenix) but is not a great 3-point shooter (32.1 percent for his career). But he is just 23, so if the Kings like him and his potential to improve, he’s the kind of athlete who could excel in the high-tempo style.
For years, I’ve said my favorite event to cover every season was Las Vegas Summer League. It’s such a weird and wonderful week-plus of seeing prized rookies, watching players on the cusp of the league and forgotten names fight it out for roster spots and contracts. It’s seeing league alumni (including Jamario Moon and his deep collection of throwback jerseys), convening with other writers and to generally soaking up basketball esoterica in 100-degree weather.
I have to amend that this year. I prefer covering an NBA championship to covering Summer League. I’m sorry, ultra-niche basketball friends. My annual Vegas trip is now just the thing I look forward to second-most.
And it’s soon. There has been pretty much no let up since the Raptors celebrated a championship, and in just over a week they’ll begin their Summer League schedule. I realize that for some, Summer League will feel too soon or less important or both coming off of a title, but it’s important to recognize that the tournament usually has implications for the roster in the year ahead. Allow us a quick look back:
The Raptors roster for 2019 is as follows:
Nick Nurse won’t be coaching the team himself this year, instead handing the reins over to Jon Goodwillie.
Their schedule for the tournament is as follows, and includes a pair of marquee (okay, marquee-adjacent) rivalry games and an R.J. Barrett appearance:
Coaches
Jon Goodwillie: The Raptors continue their tradition of giving Summer League coaching duties to an assistant from the staff, save for last year when Nurse wanted to regain his feel for the head coach’s chair. Goodwillie is a small surprise for the nod, rotating out Jama Mahlalela (Raptors 905 head coach and multi-time Summer League coach) and Patrick Mutombo (Raptors assistant and 2017 Summer League co-coach). This should be a great opportunity for Goodwillie, a Brock graduate who has been with the Raptors since 2006, first as an assistant video coordinator and later as their primary video coordinator. Over time, Goodwillie has earned a reputation as a strong player development assistant in addition to his video and advanced scouting responsibilities. Like assistants before him, this should be a good growth opportunity for Goodwillie — Nurse is on record as liking his assistants to have some level of head coaching experience — and he’ll surely have ample help from the regular crew of assistants in Las Vegas.
Raptors
Chris Boucher (C/PF): This time last year, Boucher had been quietly waived by the Warriors, impressed in Canada Basketball exhibitions but didn’t make the roster for that FIBA qualifier window, caught on with the Raptors for Summer League and rode the bench for the first few games. Nurse eventually tried him at centre in practice and everything clicked. Boucher was excellent in Vegas from there, ultimately playing his way to a camp deal, then a two-way contract, then a conversion to an NBA contract and the G League MVP award. A lot can happen in a year, it turns out. If last summer and the G League are any indication, Boucher should post gaudy numbers here (he’s already three blocks away from the Raptors’ Summer League record held by Lucas Nogueira). Questions about Boucher’s NBA viability are more about how his game can translate against stronger, smarter competition, so the Raptors will be evaluating the subtleties here, like how he defends in pick-and-roll and how he fights for position inside before a shot goes up. His deal doesn’t fully guarantee until the regular season begins so he’s in the summer plans regardless, but there will be a number of heavier, fringe-NBA bodies to make a case against in Vegas
Malcolm Miller (Wing): Miller would be forgiven for wanting to bow out of Summer League entirely, and not just because he’s 26 — he’s been hurt in each of the last two tournaments, suffering a bad ankle sprain that required surgery in 2017 right after signing a two-way deal and tearing his labrum on a nasty fall in 2018 right before he was set to sign a standard NBA deal. He eventually got that NBA contract, but he still has plenty to prove here — Miller’s contract is completely non-guaranteed until shortly after Summer League, and a strong performance could convince the Raptors that he’s worth locking in for the year. At this point, they know what they have in Miller from a role playing perspective. He’s long, can guard three positions, plays within himself and knocks down threes at a 38.4-percent clip for his G League career (nearly 500 attempts). Here, he’ll look to show his offensive game can be a bit more dynamic, too, and that the last few months shadowing one of the best collections of wings in the world has manifested in taking his game to an even higher level.
Jordan Loyd (G): It’s been a long road to this point for Loyd, where he’ll now look to make his case for a contract conversion and possibly the Raptors’ third-string point guard job for 2019-20 with a strong showing here. It was two years ago that Loyd first played his way into Toronto’s plans as an undrafted D-II player coming off of a strong rookie season in the G League. After he took another step forward in Israel the year after, the Raptors brought him back last summer and he played his way to a two-way deal. A third go-round offers the chance for Loyd to join some interesting company — he’ll have more Summer League games played than anyone but Caboclo after the tournament is done. Considering Loyd was one of, if not the, best player in the G League last season, he should be expected to put up solid numbers here. The big question for his development will be whether he can play the VanVleet role of recent years and also use that talent advantage to work as a connector between all these disparate, unfamiliar pieces, raising the play of his teammates.
I have to amend that this year. I prefer covering an NBA championship to covering Summer League. I’m sorry, ultra-niche basketball friends. My annual Vegas trip is now just the thing I look forward to second-most.
And it’s soon. There has been pretty much no let up since the Raptors celebrated a championship, and in just over a week they’ll begin their Summer League schedule. I realize that for some, Summer League will feel too soon or less important or both coming off of a title, but it’s important to recognize that the tournament usually has implications for the roster in the year ahead. Allow us a quick look back:
- 2015: Norman Powell earns a multi-year deal as a second-round pick, Delon Wright debuts, Bruno Caboclo shows some growth and a handful of players become the core of the first Raptors 905 team.
- 2016: Pascal Siakam and Jakob Poeltl debut, Caboclo and Wright play, Fred VanVleet plays and is eventually signed, three others end up in training camp and four non-Raptors land on Raptors 905 eventually.
- 2017: Siakam, VanVleet and Poeltl portend breakouts to come by dominating, Alfonzo McKinnie plays and gets signed, Malcolm Miller gets a 2-way deal before getting hurt, Jordan Loyd impresses enough to be kept in mind for 2018 and Kennedy Meeks lands with the 905.
- 2018: OG Anunoby and Malachi Richardson show some development, Miller does the same before getting hurt, McKinnie gets cut shortly after, Loyd fights his way to a 2-way deal and Chris Boucher earns a camp invite that he eventually makes the most of.
- General: Powell (twice), DeMar DeRozan, Andrea Bargnani and Jonas Valanciunas have all earned All-Tournament team honors and Valanciunas won tournament MVP in 2013.
The Raptors roster for 2019 is as follows:
Nick Nurse won’t be coaching the team himself this year, instead handing the reins over to Jon Goodwillie.
Their schedule for the tournament is as follows, and includes a pair of marquee (okay, marquee-adjacent) rivalry games and an R.J. Barrett appearance:
- Saturday, July 6 – 12 am ET vs. Golden State (ESPN)
- Monday, July 8 – 7 pm ET vs. San Antonio (ESPNU)
- Tuesday, July 9 – 9:30 pm ET vs. New York (NBA TV)
- Thursday, July 11 – 6 pm ET vs. Indiana (NBA TV)
Coaches
Jon Goodwillie: The Raptors continue their tradition of giving Summer League coaching duties to an assistant from the staff, save for last year when Nurse wanted to regain his feel for the head coach’s chair. Goodwillie is a small surprise for the nod, rotating out Jama Mahlalela (Raptors 905 head coach and multi-time Summer League coach) and Patrick Mutombo (Raptors assistant and 2017 Summer League co-coach). This should be a great opportunity for Goodwillie, a Brock graduate who has been with the Raptors since 2006, first as an assistant video coordinator and later as their primary video coordinator. Over time, Goodwillie has earned a reputation as a strong player development assistant in addition to his video and advanced scouting responsibilities. Like assistants before him, this should be a good growth opportunity for Goodwillie — Nurse is on record as liking his assistants to have some level of head coaching experience — and he’ll surely have ample help from the regular crew of assistants in Las Vegas.
Raptors
Chris Boucher (C/PF): This time last year, Boucher had been quietly waived by the Warriors, impressed in Canada Basketball exhibitions but didn’t make the roster for that FIBA qualifier window, caught on with the Raptors for Summer League and rode the bench for the first few games. Nurse eventually tried him at centre in practice and everything clicked. Boucher was excellent in Vegas from there, ultimately playing his way to a camp deal, then a two-way contract, then a conversion to an NBA contract and the G League MVP award. A lot can happen in a year, it turns out. If last summer and the G League are any indication, Boucher should post gaudy numbers here (he’s already three blocks away from the Raptors’ Summer League record held by Lucas Nogueira). Questions about Boucher’s NBA viability are more about how his game can translate against stronger, smarter competition, so the Raptors will be evaluating the subtleties here, like how he defends in pick-and-roll and how he fights for position inside before a shot goes up. His deal doesn’t fully guarantee until the regular season begins so he’s in the summer plans regardless, but there will be a number of heavier, fringe-NBA bodies to make a case against in Vegas
Malcolm Miller (Wing): Miller would be forgiven for wanting to bow out of Summer League entirely, and not just because he’s 26 — he’s been hurt in each of the last two tournaments, suffering a bad ankle sprain that required surgery in 2017 right after signing a two-way deal and tearing his labrum on a nasty fall in 2018 right before he was set to sign a standard NBA deal. He eventually got that NBA contract, but he still has plenty to prove here — Miller’s contract is completely non-guaranteed until shortly after Summer League, and a strong performance could convince the Raptors that he’s worth locking in for the year. At this point, they know what they have in Miller from a role playing perspective. He’s long, can guard three positions, plays within himself and knocks down threes at a 38.4-percent clip for his G League career (nearly 500 attempts). Here, he’ll look to show his offensive game can be a bit more dynamic, too, and that the last few months shadowing one of the best collections of wings in the world has manifested in taking his game to an even higher level.
Jordan Loyd (G): It’s been a long road to this point for Loyd, where he’ll now look to make his case for a contract conversion and possibly the Raptors’ third-string point guard job for 2019-20 with a strong showing here. It was two years ago that Loyd first played his way into Toronto’s plans as an undrafted D-II player coming off of a strong rookie season in the G League. After he took another step forward in Israel the year after, the Raptors brought him back last summer and he played his way to a two-way deal. A third go-round offers the chance for Loyd to join some interesting company — he’ll have more Summer League games played than anyone but Caboclo after the tournament is done. Considering Loyd was one of, if not the, best player in the G League last season, he should be expected to put up solid numbers here. The big question for his development will be whether he can play the VanVleet role of recent years and also use that talent advantage to work as a connector between all these disparate, unfamiliar pieces, raising the play of his teammates.
Part two
Raptors 905
Duane Notice (SG): Undrafted out of South Carolina in 2017, Notice lost most of his first pro season to a situation that didn’t work out in Poland, instead spending most of the year working out at the Canada Basketball facility. That helped him land with Raptors 905 as a home-grown tryout player, and he became an indispensable part of their playoff run. While Notice’s numbers were somewhat modest — 9.9 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists — he showed real growth as a 3-point shooter (38.9 percent) and was one of the most stout perimeter defenders in the league. At 6-foot-2 and 225 pounds, Notice is unmovable when going chest-to-chest with a ball-handler and has the combination of size and agility to capably guard multiple positions. His offensive ceiling is a little capped right now by sub-par finishing and a fairly strict adherence to his 3-and-D role outside of the transition game, but he’s still just 24 and could be in line for contract offers from the higher levels of the international scene this summer.
Draft picks and signings
Dewan Hernandez (C/PF): After a year off due to NCAA eligibility issues and a name change, Hernandez will be out to remind people why he was considered a potential first-round pick throughout his first two years at Miami. He impressed across the G League Elite Camp, NBA scouting combine and a pre-draft workout that the Raptors selected him 59th overall. That breakdown covers most of what we do and don’t know about Hernandez, and the year away from the public eye might make him the most interesting player to watch on this roster. If he’s as fast and springy as he was before, and if he’s as impressive as he was in those pre-draft events, Hernandez could make a case for the Raptors to sign him outright as frontcourt depth or at least earn a two-way contract. (Second-round picks can be handled any number of ways, like a standard NBA contract, two-way deal, draft-and-stash, and so on. How the Raptors’ offseason plays out and how Hernandez looks in their summer incubator will dictate what type of deal he signs, if he signs, to some degree.)
Sagaba Konate (C/PF): The Raptors moved quickly after the draft to land Konate on an Exhibit 10 deal, the only one they currently have on their roster. They’ve tended to want to wait until after Summer League to sign more than one undrafted free agent for training camp, and so it says a lot about Konate that the Raptors grabbed him so soon. Konate was on the second-round bubble before going undrafted out of West Virginia, and he actually ranked higher on my amalgamated big board (87.6 average) than Hernandez (93). While some draft experts, including our Sam Vecenie, had him outside the top 100, a few had him in the low-70s. Konate’s story at this moment is almost a mix of Hernandez and Siakam — he was largely out of sight as a junior because a knee injury limited him to eight games, andhe has the theoretical upside from having only started playing basketball in 2014.
At 6-foot-8 and 260 pounds, he’s an interesting combo-big and potentially a fun complement to Hernandez as a dual-big pairing with Raptors 905. There are questions about whether he can hold up defensively as a power forward because he’s a much better shot-blocker on the ball than from the help side and because it’s unclear if his motor and strength will be enough to make up for a (perceived) lack of mobility at his size. I’m moderately optimistic, and failing that, he should be a useful undersized centre with some switchability. Offensively, he took a lot more jumpers in his small junior-season sample (9-of-23 on threes), which is an important development because he doesn’t have a ton of skill base right now and will likely be relied on only as a play finisher (and he’s not great around the rim unless he can dunk it). For him, Summer League will be about showing he’s used the time since the season ended to further develop those offensive skills, and the Raptors’ track record with that type of foundation should be encouraging.
(An Exhibit 10 contract, as a refresher, is a non-guaranteed minimum contract that allows Konate to compete for a roster spot in camp, be converted to a two-way contract or, if he’s cut and stays with Raptors 905 a certain amount of time, receive a $50,000 bonus to supplement his G League salary. It’s the same deal Boucher, Eric Moreland, Kay Felder, Kyle Collinsworth and Deng Adel were on last year, for example, and the Raptors used those players to compete for the final roster spot and then become the core of their G League team. With their cap situation as it is, I’d expect a few more Exhibit 10s competing for a roster spot or two in camp this year.)
Undrafted free agents
Lindell Wigginton (SG): The CanCon is strong on this roster. Wigginton adds a little East Coast presence alongside fellow Canadians Boucher and Notice, and the Nova Scotia native adds some potential scoring flair. At one point, it seemed like there was a chance Wigginton would join the six other Canadians drafted but a step back in his sophomore season saw him fall out of most top-100 lists. No matter here, as the Raptors like Wigginton as a potential 905 piece coming out of his pre-draft workout, and he’ll get a shot to show he can be even more in Vegas. One thing that’s unquestionable about Wigginton’s game is his shooting — he hit 39.7 percent on nearly 300 3-point attempts in two years at Iowa State and has established NBA range with a mechanically sound stroke — and he’s shown a knack for getting to the free-throw line, as well. That’s a solid combination to build an efficient microwave scorer from. Beyond that, Wigginton will have to show he can defend pro-level guards at 6-foot-2 with a 6-foot-4 wingspan and maybe that he can shift to point guard to help ease those concerns. (He’ll need to exhibit continued growth as a playmaker, and that might be more of a down-the-line consideration.) If nothing else for now, Wigginton always feels like he’s liable to put up 12 points in three minutes, which is always a fun Summer League element.
Jessie Govan (C): The roster might feel a little heavy on centres at this point, but it’s easy to understand why the Raptors might want to cast a wide net at that position with Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka both off the books for 2020. Govan is a little more established than Hernandez and Konate after four years at Georgetown, and there are fewer questions about his pro position at 6-foot-10 and 260 pounds with a 7-foot-4 wingspan and an established inside scoring game. Govan excels at using his strength to carve out position and has really nice footwork in the screen-and-roll with a soft touch around the basket. That’s a really nice offensive profile, and he began to add a 3-point shot — hitting 41.2 percent on over 100 attempts — and the ability to pass out of the post as a senior. Pair him with a good lead guard and he should be able to carve out a finisher role with strong rebounding numbers. He’s not much of a defender yet, though, with his lateral quickness lacking and the footwork he shows on offence not being as present at the other end. Some of his defensive shortcomings feel fixable, and Vegas will be an opportunity for him to show growth on that side and get on the radar as a legitimate prospect.
Matt Morgan (G): The all-time leading scorer in Cornell history can certainly do that: Score. If there’s a common thread for the non-centres on this roster, it’s that they can shoot, which is a similar priority to last summer’s roster. If the Raptors are going to unearth gems or at least find productive G League development projects, they clearly feel shooting is paramount. Few did it better than Morgan this year, as he hit 43.1 percent on nearly eight 3-point attempts per-game, many of them from NBA-like distance because he was such an obvious threat defences were game-planning for. I’m sure that’s what the Raptors loved in his pre-draft workout, too. While he’s only 6-foot-2 and quite skinny, he does his best work off the ball and is excellent navigating screens and releasing quickly when he finds daylight. How he navigates that size issue – as an offensive weapon against bigger, stronger competition but particularly on defence – will be the major litmus for his pro outlook. He doesn’t show great point guard skill at this point (he had more turnovers than assists, although some of that might be due to the heavy load he carried) and opponents are going to attack him to see how well he can hold up guarding. At the very least, Morgan profiles as an interesting scoring specialist at a lower pro level. Guys just don’t post 68-percent true-shooting marks on 32.2-percent usage all that often. That’s a pretty good… blueprint… for a pro scorer.
Jordon Varnado (F): If you’re looking for what a modern 3-and-D prototype might look like, Varnado’s a good stand-in. He’s 6-foot-7 with a 7-foot-1 wingspan with high-end athleticism and hit 40.7 percent on a moderate volume of threes in his senior year at Troy. That 3-point development came slowly over his four seasons, and Vegas will be a good opportunity to display not only that it’s real but that it can stretch out to the NBA line as well. If it can, Varnado becomes really interesting as a potential G League development project. He’ll need that sort of longer-term plan to fill out his offensive game, which is mostly just catch-and-shoot looks and some nice post moves that he won’t be asked to utilize nearly as much at the top pro levels, as he’s probably better off as a wing than a frontcourt player. He has some work to do in terms of offensive skill set to get there, and the way the Raptors’ roster is constructed here, he’ll probably get the chance to get some reps on the wing.
Duane Notice (SG): Undrafted out of South Carolina in 2017, Notice lost most of his first pro season to a situation that didn’t work out in Poland, instead spending most of the year working out at the Canada Basketball facility. That helped him land with Raptors 905 as a home-grown tryout player, and he became an indispensable part of their playoff run. While Notice’s numbers were somewhat modest — 9.9 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists — he showed real growth as a 3-point shooter (38.9 percent) and was one of the most stout perimeter defenders in the league. At 6-foot-2 and 225 pounds, Notice is unmovable when going chest-to-chest with a ball-handler and has the combination of size and agility to capably guard multiple positions. His offensive ceiling is a little capped right now by sub-par finishing and a fairly strict adherence to his 3-and-D role outside of the transition game, but he’s still just 24 and could be in line for contract offers from the higher levels of the international scene this summer.
Draft picks and signings
Dewan Hernandez (C/PF): After a year off due to NCAA eligibility issues and a name change, Hernandez will be out to remind people why he was considered a potential first-round pick throughout his first two years at Miami. He impressed across the G League Elite Camp, NBA scouting combine and a pre-draft workout that the Raptors selected him 59th overall. That breakdown covers most of what we do and don’t know about Hernandez, and the year away from the public eye might make him the most interesting player to watch on this roster. If he’s as fast and springy as he was before, and if he’s as impressive as he was in those pre-draft events, Hernandez could make a case for the Raptors to sign him outright as frontcourt depth or at least earn a two-way contract. (Second-round picks can be handled any number of ways, like a standard NBA contract, two-way deal, draft-and-stash, and so on. How the Raptors’ offseason plays out and how Hernandez looks in their summer incubator will dictate what type of deal he signs, if he signs, to some degree.)
Sagaba Konate (C/PF): The Raptors moved quickly after the draft to land Konate on an Exhibit 10 deal, the only one they currently have on their roster. They’ve tended to want to wait until after Summer League to sign more than one undrafted free agent for training camp, and so it says a lot about Konate that the Raptors grabbed him so soon. Konate was on the second-round bubble before going undrafted out of West Virginia, and he actually ranked higher on my amalgamated big board (87.6 average) than Hernandez (93). While some draft experts, including our Sam Vecenie, had him outside the top 100, a few had him in the low-70s. Konate’s story at this moment is almost a mix of Hernandez and Siakam — he was largely out of sight as a junior because a knee injury limited him to eight games, andhe has the theoretical upside from having only started playing basketball in 2014.
At 6-foot-8 and 260 pounds, he’s an interesting combo-big and potentially a fun complement to Hernandez as a dual-big pairing with Raptors 905. There are questions about whether he can hold up defensively as a power forward because he’s a much better shot-blocker on the ball than from the help side and because it’s unclear if his motor and strength will be enough to make up for a (perceived) lack of mobility at his size. I’m moderately optimistic, and failing that, he should be a useful undersized centre with some switchability. Offensively, he took a lot more jumpers in his small junior-season sample (9-of-23 on threes), which is an important development because he doesn’t have a ton of skill base right now and will likely be relied on only as a play finisher (and he’s not great around the rim unless he can dunk it). For him, Summer League will be about showing he’s used the time since the season ended to further develop those offensive skills, and the Raptors’ track record with that type of foundation should be encouraging.
(An Exhibit 10 contract, as a refresher, is a non-guaranteed minimum contract that allows Konate to compete for a roster spot in camp, be converted to a two-way contract or, if he’s cut and stays with Raptors 905 a certain amount of time, receive a $50,000 bonus to supplement his G League salary. It’s the same deal Boucher, Eric Moreland, Kay Felder, Kyle Collinsworth and Deng Adel were on last year, for example, and the Raptors used those players to compete for the final roster spot and then become the core of their G League team. With their cap situation as it is, I’d expect a few more Exhibit 10s competing for a roster spot or two in camp this year.)
Undrafted free agents
Lindell Wigginton (SG): The CanCon is strong on this roster. Wigginton adds a little East Coast presence alongside fellow Canadians Boucher and Notice, and the Nova Scotia native adds some potential scoring flair. At one point, it seemed like there was a chance Wigginton would join the six other Canadians drafted but a step back in his sophomore season saw him fall out of most top-100 lists. No matter here, as the Raptors like Wigginton as a potential 905 piece coming out of his pre-draft workout, and he’ll get a shot to show he can be even more in Vegas. One thing that’s unquestionable about Wigginton’s game is his shooting — he hit 39.7 percent on nearly 300 3-point attempts in two years at Iowa State and has established NBA range with a mechanically sound stroke — and he’s shown a knack for getting to the free-throw line, as well. That’s a solid combination to build an efficient microwave scorer from. Beyond that, Wigginton will have to show he can defend pro-level guards at 6-foot-2 with a 6-foot-4 wingspan and maybe that he can shift to point guard to help ease those concerns. (He’ll need to exhibit continued growth as a playmaker, and that might be more of a down-the-line consideration.) If nothing else for now, Wigginton always feels like he’s liable to put up 12 points in three minutes, which is always a fun Summer League element.
Jessie Govan (C): The roster might feel a little heavy on centres at this point, but it’s easy to understand why the Raptors might want to cast a wide net at that position with Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka both off the books for 2020. Govan is a little more established than Hernandez and Konate after four years at Georgetown, and there are fewer questions about his pro position at 6-foot-10 and 260 pounds with a 7-foot-4 wingspan and an established inside scoring game. Govan excels at using his strength to carve out position and has really nice footwork in the screen-and-roll with a soft touch around the basket. That’s a really nice offensive profile, and he began to add a 3-point shot — hitting 41.2 percent on over 100 attempts — and the ability to pass out of the post as a senior. Pair him with a good lead guard and he should be able to carve out a finisher role with strong rebounding numbers. He’s not much of a defender yet, though, with his lateral quickness lacking and the footwork he shows on offence not being as present at the other end. Some of his defensive shortcomings feel fixable, and Vegas will be an opportunity for him to show growth on that side and get on the radar as a legitimate prospect.
Matt Morgan (G): The all-time leading scorer in Cornell history can certainly do that: Score. If there’s a common thread for the non-centres on this roster, it’s that they can shoot, which is a similar priority to last summer’s roster. If the Raptors are going to unearth gems or at least find productive G League development projects, they clearly feel shooting is paramount. Few did it better than Morgan this year, as he hit 43.1 percent on nearly eight 3-point attempts per-game, many of them from NBA-like distance because he was such an obvious threat defences were game-planning for. I’m sure that’s what the Raptors loved in his pre-draft workout, too. While he’s only 6-foot-2 and quite skinny, he does his best work off the ball and is excellent navigating screens and releasing quickly when he finds daylight. How he navigates that size issue – as an offensive weapon against bigger, stronger competition but particularly on defence – will be the major litmus for his pro outlook. He doesn’t show great point guard skill at this point (he had more turnovers than assists, although some of that might be due to the heavy load he carried) and opponents are going to attack him to see how well he can hold up guarding. At the very least, Morgan profiles as an interesting scoring specialist at a lower pro level. Guys just don’t post 68-percent true-shooting marks on 32.2-percent usage all that often. That’s a pretty good… blueprint… for a pro scorer.
Jordon Varnado (F): If you’re looking for what a modern 3-and-D prototype might look like, Varnado’s a good stand-in. He’s 6-foot-7 with a 7-foot-1 wingspan with high-end athleticism and hit 40.7 percent on a moderate volume of threes in his senior year at Troy. That 3-point development came slowly over his four seasons, and Vegas will be a good opportunity to display not only that it’s real but that it can stretch out to the NBA line as well. If it can, Varnado becomes really interesting as a potential G League development project. He’ll need that sort of longer-term plan to fill out his offensive game, which is mostly just catch-and-shoot looks and some nice post moves that he won’t be asked to utilize nearly as much at the top pro levels, as he’s probably better off as a wing than a frontcourt player. He has some work to do in terms of offensive skill set to get there, and the way the Raptors’ roster is constructed here, he’ll probably get the chance to get some reps on the wing.
Part three
Other free agents
Jamaal Franklin (SG): Remember last summer when the Raptors traded for Kawhi Leonard, everyone was looking for any sign the Raptors were trying to please him and I sleuthed up an Xavier Thames scenario? No? Well, it happened. And since this is peak “look at every Leonard signal as proof he’s in or out” season — an unbuttoned Jays jersey on vacation! — allow me to point out that Franklin was teammates with Leonard and Raptors assistant coach Jeremy Castleberry at San Diego State. He’s also from Moreno Valley, where Leonard played his high school ball. Anyway, Franklin is very good in his own right, separate of Leonard. He was a second-round pick in 2013, has played in the NBA briefly for Memphis and Denver and was a dominant G Leaguer back in 2013-14 and 2014-15. He’s spent his time since primarily playing in China, where he’s averaged over 28 points per-game in five consecutive years, adding eye-popping rebound, assist, steal and block numbers, too. The only thing missing, really, has been consistency with his 3-point shot, which could be an issue if the 27-year-old is looking to make an NBA return.
Darius Thompson (G): You might remember Thompson from any number of places, as his college career spanned Tennessee, Virginia and Western Kentucky. It was at Western Kentucky as a senior where he started to make a mark, taking a big leap as a playmaker to complement his scoring. He still went undrafted in 2018, but his first pro season was a major success as he helped lead ZZ Leiden to a strong finish in the Dutch League, an NBB Cup championship and a place in the FIBA Europe Cup. Thompson won the DBL’s MVP award after leading the league in scoring with 20 points per-game on 62.2-percent true-shooting. He also averaged 4.4 rebounds, 4.9 assists and an eye-popping 2.5 steals while hitting 36.1 percent of his threes. It can be hard to translate stats from a league like the DBL to the NBA or even Summer League, so this will be his opportunity to get himself on the NBA radar in a more obvious setting.
Richard Solomon (C): Another California native, Solomon brings experience at the G League level as well as in Japan, Turkey and France. Undrafted out of Cal in 2014, the 6-foot-11 Solomon was most recently with the Oklahoma City Blue, where he averaged 13.8 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.2 steals. Offensively, Solomon is more of a traditional big without much of a face-up game or outside shot, but he finishes well inside, is an elite offensive rebounder and is able to get to the free-throw line and take advantage there. He’s not an elite shot-blocker on the other side of the ball despite his length, though advanced defensive metrics still graded him as making a strong positive impact. Solomon, by the way, impressed enough to get a pair of 10-day deals with the Thunder this year, only to never see the floor.
Adonis Thomas (SF): Thomas has been out of the Summer League circuit for a few years after being a regular in his first few pro seasons. Undrafted out of Memphis in 2013, Thomas briefly caught on with the Magic and 76ers for cups of coffee in the NBA and spent parts of three seasons in the G League, including an All-Star and Third-Team All-G(D-)League campaign in 2014-15. In the time since, he’s played in Italy, Turkey and Germany, most recently for Medi Bayreuth. There, Thomas averaged 10.2 points, three rebounds and 1.6 assists while struggling with his scoring efficiency (50.8 percent true-shooting). Last we saw him, Thomas was a capable, if inconsistent defender with great physical skills for guarding the perimeter. It will be interesting to see if his 3-point shot, which has been very up and down over his career, can get hot in a short-tournament setting and catch some attention. He was a in free-agent mini-camp with the Raptors during the Finals and their bet seems to be that it can.
Corey Walden (G): This will be Walden’s third run through Vegas, having played with the Celtics twice, even earning a camp invite in 2016 following a solid rookie season with Maine in the G League (where he was Miller’s teammate). He spent 2016-17 in Belgium after being cut by Boston, then jumped to Hapoel Holon in Israel the last two seasons, where in 2018 they won the Israeli Cup and in 2019 he was an All-Star, All-Israeli First Team and the Israeli League MVP. That’s a notable award, one former Raptors like P.J. Tucker and Anthony Parker have won in the past. To earn the MVP, Walden averaged 17.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.5 steals. He also hit 39.5 percent of his threes and was excellent at getting to the line, helping him post a robust 67.8-percent true-shooting mark on 24-percent usage. Walden is interesting for a lot more than just the Henry David Thoreau puns I’m cooking up.
Takeaways
The Raptors have built a roster that’s heavy on guards who can shoot and longer-term centre prospects. That makes sense given what their roster currently looks like and projects as for the next few years, as well as what’s worked best in the G League in recent years. The lack of true wings stands out a bit, so the Vegas Raptors could be playing quite big or quite small or, ironically, both at the same time a lot, and Goodwillie will get to play with some funkier lineups over the course of the tournament. As always, these games are worth watching because a couple of these players could wind up in training camp, with Raptors 905 or even on the NBA roster.
I’ll be out at Summer League and have coverage throughout. It will be more feature-based than game-based, but I’ll wrap things up with a news and scouting notes post at the end.
Jamaal Franklin (SG): Remember last summer when the Raptors traded for Kawhi Leonard, everyone was looking for any sign the Raptors were trying to please him and I sleuthed up an Xavier Thames scenario? No? Well, it happened. And since this is peak “look at every Leonard signal as proof he’s in or out” season — an unbuttoned Jays jersey on vacation! — allow me to point out that Franklin was teammates with Leonard and Raptors assistant coach Jeremy Castleberry at San Diego State. He’s also from Moreno Valley, where Leonard played his high school ball. Anyway, Franklin is very good in his own right, separate of Leonard. He was a second-round pick in 2013, has played in the NBA briefly for Memphis and Denver and was a dominant G Leaguer back in 2013-14 and 2014-15. He’s spent his time since primarily playing in China, where he’s averaged over 28 points per-game in five consecutive years, adding eye-popping rebound, assist, steal and block numbers, too. The only thing missing, really, has been consistency with his 3-point shot, which could be an issue if the 27-year-old is looking to make an NBA return.
Darius Thompson (G): You might remember Thompson from any number of places, as his college career spanned Tennessee, Virginia and Western Kentucky. It was at Western Kentucky as a senior where he started to make a mark, taking a big leap as a playmaker to complement his scoring. He still went undrafted in 2018, but his first pro season was a major success as he helped lead ZZ Leiden to a strong finish in the Dutch League, an NBB Cup championship and a place in the FIBA Europe Cup. Thompson won the DBL’s MVP award after leading the league in scoring with 20 points per-game on 62.2-percent true-shooting. He also averaged 4.4 rebounds, 4.9 assists and an eye-popping 2.5 steals while hitting 36.1 percent of his threes. It can be hard to translate stats from a league like the DBL to the NBA or even Summer League, so this will be his opportunity to get himself on the NBA radar in a more obvious setting.
Richard Solomon (C): Another California native, Solomon brings experience at the G League level as well as in Japan, Turkey and France. Undrafted out of Cal in 2014, the 6-foot-11 Solomon was most recently with the Oklahoma City Blue, where he averaged 13.8 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.2 steals. Offensively, Solomon is more of a traditional big without much of a face-up game or outside shot, but he finishes well inside, is an elite offensive rebounder and is able to get to the free-throw line and take advantage there. He’s not an elite shot-blocker on the other side of the ball despite his length, though advanced defensive metrics still graded him as making a strong positive impact. Solomon, by the way, impressed enough to get a pair of 10-day deals with the Thunder this year, only to never see the floor.
Adonis Thomas (SF): Thomas has been out of the Summer League circuit for a few years after being a regular in his first few pro seasons. Undrafted out of Memphis in 2013, Thomas briefly caught on with the Magic and 76ers for cups of coffee in the NBA and spent parts of three seasons in the G League, including an All-Star and Third-Team All-G(D-)League campaign in 2014-15. In the time since, he’s played in Italy, Turkey and Germany, most recently for Medi Bayreuth. There, Thomas averaged 10.2 points, three rebounds and 1.6 assists while struggling with his scoring efficiency (50.8 percent true-shooting). Last we saw him, Thomas was a capable, if inconsistent defender with great physical skills for guarding the perimeter. It will be interesting to see if his 3-point shot, which has been very up and down over his career, can get hot in a short-tournament setting and catch some attention. He was a in free-agent mini-camp with the Raptors during the Finals and their bet seems to be that it can.
Corey Walden (G): This will be Walden’s third run through Vegas, having played with the Celtics twice, even earning a camp invite in 2016 following a solid rookie season with Maine in the G League (where he was Miller’s teammate). He spent 2016-17 in Belgium after being cut by Boston, then jumped to Hapoel Holon in Israel the last two seasons, where in 2018 they won the Israeli Cup and in 2019 he was an All-Star, All-Israeli First Team and the Israeli League MVP. That’s a notable award, one former Raptors like P.J. Tucker and Anthony Parker have won in the past. To earn the MVP, Walden averaged 17.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.5 steals. He also hit 39.5 percent of his threes and was excellent at getting to the line, helping him post a robust 67.8-percent true-shooting mark on 24-percent usage. Walden is interesting for a lot more than just the Henry David Thoreau puns I’m cooking up.
Takeaways
The Raptors have built a roster that’s heavy on guards who can shoot and longer-term centre prospects. That makes sense given what their roster currently looks like and projects as for the next few years, as well as what’s worked best in the G League in recent years. The lack of true wings stands out a bit, so the Vegas Raptors could be playing quite big or quite small or, ironically, both at the same time a lot, and Goodwillie will get to play with some funkier lineups over the course of the tournament. As always, these games are worth watching because a couple of these players could wind up in training camp, with Raptors 905 or even on the NBA roster.
I’ll be out at Summer League and have coverage throughout. It will be more feature-based than game-based, but I’ll wrap things up with a news and scouting notes post at the end.
The majority of the NBA’s free agents are all awaiting decisions from the top of the class, including from Golden State’s Kevin Durant and Toronto’s Kawhi Leonard. Durant has left his top suitors such as the Warriors, New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets and LA Clippers guessing, and league sources said no formal meetings have been set yet.
Warriors President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Bob Myers, fresh off his new contract extension, is tentatively scheduled to travel to New York over the weekend where Durant and his inner circle are located, league sources told The Athletic. Other teams, such as the Knicks, Nets and Clippers, could speak with Durant, too. The Knicks have other free agency meetings set in Los Angeles during the week, according to sources.
Meanwhile, All-Star Kyrie Irving is fully focused on a potential deal with the Brooklyn Nets, league sources have told The Athletic.
League sources say the Nets’ goals center upon forming a trio of Irving, Durant and free-agent center DeAndre Jordan. That is part of the intrigue in Brooklyn, the ability to take one commitment from Irving and turn it into the capability to sign all three. A trio of that magnitude should compete for multiple NBA championships in the Eastern Conference.
Through it all, the Knicks linger, with the ability to pay Jordan, Irving and Durant too while also offering the allure of Madison Square Garden and the city of New York itself.
This all hinges on aspects going according to plan.
Should Durant return to Golden State — which remains a strong option for the two-time Finals MVP with the five-year, $221 million super maximum — the Nets could look toward players such as Tobias Harris and Julius Randle to pair with Irving. Should Durant choose the Knicks or the Clippers, perhaps a second star such as Irving or Leonard joins too.
Rival executives told The Athletic they believe Durant has considered a possible partnership with Leonard throughout the pre-free agency process so far. For the Clippers a potential duo of Leonard and Durant is the pitch they believe will trump any others — including Brooklyn’s.
Around the rest of the league, several deals should be completed upon the start of free agency on Sunday afternoon, but most of the available players are awaiting decisions from the players at the top.
Leonard is expected to meet with both Los Angeles teams and his current franchise, the Raptors, a process him and those closest to him will be diligent and respectful of. With Leonard, there is not much room for wasting time.
For people around the NBA, it wasn’t a surprise that Leonard will grant both L.A. teams a sit-down. He’s a native of California who had his entire focus set on Southern California at this time last summer. The San Antonio Spurs then shipped Leonard to the Raptors in late July, and he led the franchise to a championship. This is a two-time NBA champion who has proven he can win a title twice as the lead talent, as the sole face of a franchise. This has always been expected to give the Raptors and Clippers an edge — two franchises whose sole priorities would be Leonard and building upon the talent around him.
More news and notes from around the NBA …
Boston Celtics
The Celtics are pursuing bigs with their $4.8 million room exception, such as Enes Kanter and Kevon Looney, sources said.
Brooklyn Nets
League sources say the expectation is the Nets will eventually either renounce the rights of free-agent All-Star D’Angelo Russell or do a sign-and-trade deal involving him during free agency. The Nets made a procedural move Friday by tendering a qualifying offer to Russell.
Charlotte Hornets
As Kemba Walker continues to be poised to sign elsewhere, Charlotte has begun to target point guards in the marketplace such as Celtics free agent Terry Rozier, league sources said. Rozier is a target for the New York Knicks, too.
Golden State Warriors
Warriors guard Shaun Livingston has pushed his contract guarantee back to July 10, league sources say. Livingston had a $2 million guarantee on his $7.7 million deal for June 30. This move now allows the Warriors to have more time to decide on Livingston’s contract.
New York Knicks
New York has targeted free-agent center Robin Lopez to be the potential backup for Mitchell Robinson, according to league sources.
Philadelphia 76ers
When Jimmy Butler and the 76ers meet this weekend, one factor that will hold critical importance: The fifth year on Philadelphia’s contract offer, league sources have said. Rival teams interested in the All-Star believe that Butler and his agent, Bernie Lee, will prioritize the fifth year. Could the lack of one open Butler up to further meetings on the market? The 76ers remain fully focused on trying to re-sign both Butler and Tobias Harris.
(Top photo: Getty Images/Art by Adrian Guzman of The Athletic)
Warriors President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Bob Myers, fresh off his new contract extension, is tentatively scheduled to travel to New York over the weekend where Durant and his inner circle are located, league sources told The Athletic. Other teams, such as the Knicks, Nets and Clippers, could speak with Durant, too. The Knicks have other free agency meetings set in Los Angeles during the week, according to sources.
Meanwhile, All-Star Kyrie Irving is fully focused on a potential deal with the Brooklyn Nets, league sources have told The Athletic.
League sources say the Nets’ goals center upon forming a trio of Irving, Durant and free-agent center DeAndre Jordan. That is part of the intrigue in Brooklyn, the ability to take one commitment from Irving and turn it into the capability to sign all three. A trio of that magnitude should compete for multiple NBA championships in the Eastern Conference.
Through it all, the Knicks linger, with the ability to pay Jordan, Irving and Durant too while also offering the allure of Madison Square Garden and the city of New York itself.
This all hinges on aspects going according to plan.
Should Durant return to Golden State — which remains a strong option for the two-time Finals MVP with the five-year, $221 million super maximum — the Nets could look toward players such as Tobias Harris and Julius Randle to pair with Irving. Should Durant choose the Knicks or the Clippers, perhaps a second star such as Irving or Leonard joins too.
Rival executives told The Athletic they believe Durant has considered a possible partnership with Leonard throughout the pre-free agency process so far. For the Clippers a potential duo of Leonard and Durant is the pitch they believe will trump any others — including Brooklyn’s.
Around the rest of the league, several deals should be completed upon the start of free agency on Sunday afternoon, but most of the available players are awaiting decisions from the players at the top.
Leonard is expected to meet with both Los Angeles teams and his current franchise, the Raptors, a process him and those closest to him will be diligent and respectful of. With Leonard, there is not much room for wasting time.
For people around the NBA, it wasn’t a surprise that Leonard will grant both L.A. teams a sit-down. He’s a native of California who had his entire focus set on Southern California at this time last summer. The San Antonio Spurs then shipped Leonard to the Raptors in late July, and he led the franchise to a championship. This is a two-time NBA champion who has proven he can win a title twice as the lead talent, as the sole face of a franchise. This has always been expected to give the Raptors and Clippers an edge — two franchises whose sole priorities would be Leonard and building upon the talent around him.
More news and notes from around the NBA …
Boston Celtics
The Celtics are pursuing bigs with their $4.8 million room exception, such as Enes Kanter and Kevon Looney, sources said.
Brooklyn Nets
League sources say the expectation is the Nets will eventually either renounce the rights of free-agent All-Star D’Angelo Russell or do a sign-and-trade deal involving him during free agency. The Nets made a procedural move Friday by tendering a qualifying offer to Russell.
Charlotte Hornets
As Kemba Walker continues to be poised to sign elsewhere, Charlotte has begun to target point guards in the marketplace such as Celtics free agent Terry Rozier, league sources said. Rozier is a target for the New York Knicks, too.
Golden State Warriors
Warriors guard Shaun Livingston has pushed his contract guarantee back to July 10, league sources say. Livingston had a $2 million guarantee on his $7.7 million deal for June 30. This move now allows the Warriors to have more time to decide on Livingston’s contract.
New York Knicks
New York has targeted free-agent center Robin Lopez to be the potential backup for Mitchell Robinson, according to league sources.
Philadelphia 76ers
When Jimmy Butler and the 76ers meet this weekend, one factor that will hold critical importance: The fifth year on Philadelphia’s contract offer, league sources have said. Rival teams interested in the All-Star believe that Butler and his agent, Bernie Lee, will prioritize the fifth year. Could the lack of one open Butler up to further meetings on the market? The 76ers remain fully focused on trying to re-sign both Butler and Tobias Harris.
(Top photo: Getty Images/Art by Adrian Guzman of The Athletic)
Is somebody on this site an athletic writer? Or knows an athletic writer?
G.O.A.T Squad Spokesman
Logic Is Absent Wherever Hate Is Present
Stephen Curry flew straight to the New York area from Shanghai, China. But he wasn’t going to pitch Kevin Durant on why he should stay with the Warriors. It was already too late. He was on the plane when the news broke that Durant was leaving for Brooklyn.
And Curry didn’t turn the jet around or cancel the trip. Because it wasn’t about recruiting. It was about respect. It was about thanks.
It was easy to presume that if anyone could sway Durant, Curry would be the one. The point guard has been the Warriors’ biggest magnet, drawing the key pieces to the dynasty, including Durant and Andre Iguodala and coach Steve Kerr. It was Curry’s mojo that built this. It was his stamp of approval that sealed Durant’s arrival. His trip to New York was seen as a last-ditch effort to keep Durant.
But Curry went to have one last moment with Durant as teammates. To tell him one more time how much he appreciated him for the three years they had. They’d won two championships together. Dominated the league together. Made history together. He was there to wish Durant happiness and peace, express his support for his decision. And when Curry got to Durant’s apartment in Manhattan, Durant confirmed to Curry his decision that their time together was over. Face to face. Man to man. Friend to friend.
Neither Curry nor Durant responded to requests for comment. But what was probably unsaid, though, was what could have been. This moment illustrated one of the reasons, perhaps a significant one, Durant left — because Curry and Durant never really got to become Curry and Durant. It might have been the only thing that truly could have kept Durant in the Bay.
“He wanted that type of relationship,” said one source friendly with Durant. “It just didn’t work out like that.”
Durant had so many options in free agency, it was nearly impossible to know what he wanted. He made sure of that, too, by keeping his desires close to the vest and challenging anyone who presumed to know what he coveted.
But since he has decided, accepting a free-agent contract offer to play for the Brooklyn Nets and the teams later working out a sign-and-trade that sends D’Angelo Russell to the Warriors, some of the mystery has been uncovered. It wasn’t about money for Durant. He turned down the most he could get, which was $221 million from the Warriors, even with an Achilles injury that threatens his future earning potential. It wasn’t about the best opportunity to win a championship. While Brooklyn will now be a major player in the East, the Warriors were a proven championship contender on the cusp of a three-peat before injuries. An argument can be made that the Nets are younger and the Eastern Conference is an easier route, but those advantages pale in comparison to the experience and chemistry the Warriors core had already developed.
And this, clearly, wasn’t primarily about validating his legacy either. Undoubtedly, Durant has some critics he wants to rebut. But the biggest answer to his naysayers, the sure-fire way to make him the most legendary figure he could be, was to revive the Knicks. He passed on that, too.
Multiple sources have said for months Durant and Kyrie Irving planned on being teammates. Durant wanted them to join the Knicks together while Irving preferred they take over Brooklyn. They are now both Nets.
The decision by Durant revealed what he valued most: friendship. That DeAndre Jordan, another of Durant’s close friends, is also joining them in Brooklyn, reportedly, underscores exactly what was most important in Durant’s heart.
The money? He has plenty of it and will get plenty more. The winning? You can bet he is sure they are championship-worthy. The legacy? Like he said before, y’all know who he is.
It seems the real driving force was the opportunity to play with his good friends. It’s not surprising that such an opportunity matters to Durant. It always has, since he was a kid on the PG Jaguars AAU team. Camaraderie, fellowship, loyalty — truth is, these things have always been preeminent for Durant, even if some other desires and determinations tend to get in the way sometimes. He’s still a guy who wants to hoop at high levels with his homies.
If that was his greatest desire, it makes sense why he’s leaving — that was the one thing the Warriors couldn’t give him.
Durant came to the Warriors in search of a bond. Three years ago, when they met in the Hamptons, the visible unity the Warriors displayed stood out to him. They were four dudes who enjoyed each other and let that connection infect their play. Durant especially wanted that bond with Curry. That’s what drew him, according to many behind the scenes.
On paper, it made perfect sense. They are two humble guys, two players with a reputation for being selfless and easy going, two players who poured themselves into the game and have legendary work ethics.
But it never happened, not in the way that would keep Durant with the Warriors. To be sure, they got along. There was no behind-the-scenes fighting to speak of between the two. Ask Curry about Durant, he will rave about his talent and his heart. Ask Durant about Curry, he will lavish him heavily with praise. They were cool with each other. Still are. But their relationship could only go so deep because of their circumstances.
The biggest issue was timing. Durant arrived when Curry was 28 with two young daughters. Curry’s emphasis on being a family man cuts into his ability to be especially close with new people. Plus, Curry keeps a familial hedge around him. His entourage is mostly blood relatives, in-laws, close friends, business partners and employees. While his teammates are usually welcome, being with Curry requires being with his family.
Durant came to the Warriors a single man, new to the area and a free spirit. Their lives were in completely different spaces. Their hobbies were different. Durant, too, had his family and close friends around him. But as they faded from the forefront — his mother, Wanda, his brother, Tony, and his childhood friend Charlie Bell were far less visible in the Bay the last two years — Durant was left with his business partner Rich Kleiman and longtime friend and trainer Randy Williams, along with his Nike reps.
Durant is not the type to force his way into situations. If he meets too much resistance, or doesn’t feel the vibe, he is much more inclined to fall back.
They were friendly when together. They laughed incessantly. They supported each other. On many occasions, Durant used his platform to be supportive of Curry, buck back at his critics. Curry went out of his way to make Durant feel welcome. They both tried.
However, another reason they couldn’t bond fully was because they were often being pitted against each other.
Definitely by the fans, and in the space Durant frequents: social media. Even when Durant announced he was signing with the Warriors, on Independence Day 2016, while many Warriors fans celebrated, others contended the Warriors didn’t need Durant. Many fell in love with the 2015 and 2016 Warriors and scoffed when the team gave up its depth for Durant.
When the Warriors struggled, those struggles were pinned on Durant. His style of play was criticized. And Curry was the light under which Durant was scrutinized.
It wasn’t just fans. The media was complicit in presenting the Curry vs. Durant narrative, nationally and locally. The debate of who was the team’s best player continued in the background. How the team performed with either Curry or Durant absent was under constant watch.
And then there was the offense. Who runs it? Who has the ball in his hands? Who ends up iced out while the other gets fed? This discussion never ended.
Systemically, they had some issues. The Warriors preferred to move the ball, create offense by creating seams with motion. While Durant could play that game, that wasn’t his preferred style, especially when paired with players who couldn’t take advantage of the openings. And, invariably, Durant would get frozen out while Curry and Klay Thompson jacked up shots that would be ill-advised for others but were the foundation of what the Warriors built. And when the offense ran through Durant and it didn’t work, Durant took the heat.
All of it was fair game. Criticism, analysis, opinions — it’s part of the basketball landscape. It could be argued Durant should have been able to block it out, handle it better. It could be argued the Warriors should have adjusted the offense, adapted to its players. But the greater question is what was making Durant feel connected when everything else was trying to pull them apart?
That’s where friendship comes in. That’s where chemistry and the bond of players become valuable. The Warriors and Durant couldn’t build in three years, under the most intense of heat, the kind of bond that would survive all this. It was probably too much to ask from the beginning if that’s what indeed mattered most to Durant.
The original Warriors core isn’t as connected off the court as it may seem. None of them are inseparable away from the game. Each of their lives pulls them in different directions. Curry has his family. Draymond Green became a dad in 2016, altering his life significantly. Iguodala, who is also now on his way out with a trade to the Memphis Grizzlies, and Shaun Livingston also have their own families. And Thompson did his bachelor thing.
Probably the players who spend the most time together, away from team events, are Curry and Iguodala on the golf course.
But this crew grew up together. They became All-Stars together, champions together. They didn’t need the same type of fellowship. They’ve done their bonding dinners and team parties and group outings. The building of the Warriors, beginning with the Mark Jackson era when David Lee was a veteran leader, included numerous team-bonding events that created the chemistry the Warriors’ core has. Now they have these brotherly relationships without needing to spend significant time with each other off the court.
The team outings and bonding sessions decreased over the years. The Warriors became a collection of players that bonded on the court and largely went their separate ways once work was done.
Durant is as affable as can be. When they were together, especially in his first season, he was easily one of the guys. Remember the barbecue at Curry’s house in Durant’s first year with the Warriors, featuring the SuperVillain balloons? They enjoyed each other’s presence. But over time, Durant and the pack grew more and more distant. And this past season, Durant was much more alone. He and his teammates talked less.
Green’s blowup on Durant in November seemed to doom any chance they had of staying together. But it actually prompted them to double down on each other. Curry was more aggressive about fostering unity, trying to fix what was fractured. Green went into reconciliation mode. Veterans like Iguodala and Livingston did their part to hold the locker room together. Durant had a tendency to be isolated but eventually, especially towards the end of the year, they locked in as a team.
By the end of the year, they seemed as tight as they’d been in a long time. But in hindsight, it seemed more like an unspoken pact to just enjoy whatever time they had left. They all seemed to buy-in. They looked unified. They talked about each other glowingly. Even while injured, Durant was engaged with his teammates.
When it was all said and done, they had respect for one another, appreciation for what they had, but not enough to stay together. It looked as if they might have found their stride in time to keep this group going. But in the end, it proved to be their best attempt at ending on a good note.
Maybe if Curry and Durant actually became the duo they seemed destined to be, on and off the court, they’d be ushering in a new era at Chase Center. Maybe if they linked up at different times in their lives, under different circumstances, in a different media landscape, they could have built something that could have survived.
But it didn’t happen. Now Durant is headed to Brooklyn, having linked up with his good friends, with whom he already has a great rapport and a relationship established over many years. So Curry stopped in New York simply to say thank you. They had a relatively short time together, but it was a helluva ride.
And Curry didn’t turn the jet around or cancel the trip. Because it wasn’t about recruiting. It was about respect. It was about thanks.
It was easy to presume that if anyone could sway Durant, Curry would be the one. The point guard has been the Warriors’ biggest magnet, drawing the key pieces to the dynasty, including Durant and Andre Iguodala and coach Steve Kerr. It was Curry’s mojo that built this. It was his stamp of approval that sealed Durant’s arrival. His trip to New York was seen as a last-ditch effort to keep Durant.
But Curry went to have one last moment with Durant as teammates. To tell him one more time how much he appreciated him for the three years they had. They’d won two championships together. Dominated the league together. Made history together. He was there to wish Durant happiness and peace, express his support for his decision. And when Curry got to Durant’s apartment in Manhattan, Durant confirmed to Curry his decision that their time together was over. Face to face. Man to man. Friend to friend.
Neither Curry nor Durant responded to requests for comment. But what was probably unsaid, though, was what could have been. This moment illustrated one of the reasons, perhaps a significant one, Durant left — because Curry and Durant never really got to become Curry and Durant. It might have been the only thing that truly could have kept Durant in the Bay.
“He wanted that type of relationship,” said one source friendly with Durant. “It just didn’t work out like that.”
Durant had so many options in free agency, it was nearly impossible to know what he wanted. He made sure of that, too, by keeping his desires close to the vest and challenging anyone who presumed to know what he coveted.
But since he has decided, accepting a free-agent contract offer to play for the Brooklyn Nets and the teams later working out a sign-and-trade that sends D’Angelo Russell to the Warriors, some of the mystery has been uncovered. It wasn’t about money for Durant. He turned down the most he could get, which was $221 million from the Warriors, even with an Achilles injury that threatens his future earning potential. It wasn’t about the best opportunity to win a championship. While Brooklyn will now be a major player in the East, the Warriors were a proven championship contender on the cusp of a three-peat before injuries. An argument can be made that the Nets are younger and the Eastern Conference is an easier route, but those advantages pale in comparison to the experience and chemistry the Warriors core had already developed.
And this, clearly, wasn’t primarily about validating his legacy either. Undoubtedly, Durant has some critics he wants to rebut. But the biggest answer to his naysayers, the sure-fire way to make him the most legendary figure he could be, was to revive the Knicks. He passed on that, too.
Multiple sources have said for months Durant and Kyrie Irving planned on being teammates. Durant wanted them to join the Knicks together while Irving preferred they take over Brooklyn. They are now both Nets.
The decision by Durant revealed what he valued most: friendship. That DeAndre Jordan, another of Durant’s close friends, is also joining them in Brooklyn, reportedly, underscores exactly what was most important in Durant’s heart.
The money? He has plenty of it and will get plenty more. The winning? You can bet he is sure they are championship-worthy. The legacy? Like he said before, y’all know who he is.
It seems the real driving force was the opportunity to play with his good friends. It’s not surprising that such an opportunity matters to Durant. It always has, since he was a kid on the PG Jaguars AAU team. Camaraderie, fellowship, loyalty — truth is, these things have always been preeminent for Durant, even if some other desires and determinations tend to get in the way sometimes. He’s still a guy who wants to hoop at high levels with his homies.
If that was his greatest desire, it makes sense why he’s leaving — that was the one thing the Warriors couldn’t give him.
Durant came to the Warriors in search of a bond. Three years ago, when they met in the Hamptons, the visible unity the Warriors displayed stood out to him. They were four dudes who enjoyed each other and let that connection infect their play. Durant especially wanted that bond with Curry. That’s what drew him, according to many behind the scenes.
On paper, it made perfect sense. They are two humble guys, two players with a reputation for being selfless and easy going, two players who poured themselves into the game and have legendary work ethics.
But it never happened, not in the way that would keep Durant with the Warriors. To be sure, they got along. There was no behind-the-scenes fighting to speak of between the two. Ask Curry about Durant, he will rave about his talent and his heart. Ask Durant about Curry, he will lavish him heavily with praise. They were cool with each other. Still are. But their relationship could only go so deep because of their circumstances.
The biggest issue was timing. Durant arrived when Curry was 28 with two young daughters. Curry’s emphasis on being a family man cuts into his ability to be especially close with new people. Plus, Curry keeps a familial hedge around him. His entourage is mostly blood relatives, in-laws, close friends, business partners and employees. While his teammates are usually welcome, being with Curry requires being with his family.
Durant came to the Warriors a single man, new to the area and a free spirit. Their lives were in completely different spaces. Their hobbies were different. Durant, too, had his family and close friends around him. But as they faded from the forefront — his mother, Wanda, his brother, Tony, and his childhood friend Charlie Bell were far less visible in the Bay the last two years — Durant was left with his business partner Rich Kleiman and longtime friend and trainer Randy Williams, along with his Nike reps.
Durant is not the type to force his way into situations. If he meets too much resistance, or doesn’t feel the vibe, he is much more inclined to fall back.
They were friendly when together. They laughed incessantly. They supported each other. On many occasions, Durant used his platform to be supportive of Curry, buck back at his critics. Curry went out of his way to make Durant feel welcome. They both tried.
However, another reason they couldn’t bond fully was because they were often being pitted against each other.
Definitely by the fans, and in the space Durant frequents: social media. Even when Durant announced he was signing with the Warriors, on Independence Day 2016, while many Warriors fans celebrated, others contended the Warriors didn’t need Durant. Many fell in love with the 2015 and 2016 Warriors and scoffed when the team gave up its depth for Durant.
When the Warriors struggled, those struggles were pinned on Durant. His style of play was criticized. And Curry was the light under which Durant was scrutinized.
It wasn’t just fans. The media was complicit in presenting the Curry vs. Durant narrative, nationally and locally. The debate of who was the team’s best player continued in the background. How the team performed with either Curry or Durant absent was under constant watch.
And then there was the offense. Who runs it? Who has the ball in his hands? Who ends up iced out while the other gets fed? This discussion never ended.
Systemically, they had some issues. The Warriors preferred to move the ball, create offense by creating seams with motion. While Durant could play that game, that wasn’t his preferred style, especially when paired with players who couldn’t take advantage of the openings. And, invariably, Durant would get frozen out while Curry and Klay Thompson jacked up shots that would be ill-advised for others but were the foundation of what the Warriors built. And when the offense ran through Durant and it didn’t work, Durant took the heat.
All of it was fair game. Criticism, analysis, opinions — it’s part of the basketball landscape. It could be argued Durant should have been able to block it out, handle it better. It could be argued the Warriors should have adjusted the offense, adapted to its players. But the greater question is what was making Durant feel connected when everything else was trying to pull them apart?
That’s where friendship comes in. That’s where chemistry and the bond of players become valuable. The Warriors and Durant couldn’t build in three years, under the most intense of heat, the kind of bond that would survive all this. It was probably too much to ask from the beginning if that’s what indeed mattered most to Durant.
The original Warriors core isn’t as connected off the court as it may seem. None of them are inseparable away from the game. Each of their lives pulls them in different directions. Curry has his family. Draymond Green became a dad in 2016, altering his life significantly. Iguodala, who is also now on his way out with a trade to the Memphis Grizzlies, and Shaun Livingston also have their own families. And Thompson did his bachelor thing.
Probably the players who spend the most time together, away from team events, are Curry and Iguodala on the golf course.
But this crew grew up together. They became All-Stars together, champions together. They didn’t need the same type of fellowship. They’ve done their bonding dinners and team parties and group outings. The building of the Warriors, beginning with the Mark Jackson era when David Lee was a veteran leader, included numerous team-bonding events that created the chemistry the Warriors’ core has. Now they have these brotherly relationships without needing to spend significant time with each other off the court.
The team outings and bonding sessions decreased over the years. The Warriors became a collection of players that bonded on the court and largely went their separate ways once work was done.
Durant is as affable as can be. When they were together, especially in his first season, he was easily one of the guys. Remember the barbecue at Curry’s house in Durant’s first year with the Warriors, featuring the SuperVillain balloons? They enjoyed each other’s presence. But over time, Durant and the pack grew more and more distant. And this past season, Durant was much more alone. He and his teammates talked less.
Green’s blowup on Durant in November seemed to doom any chance they had of staying together. But it actually prompted them to double down on each other. Curry was more aggressive about fostering unity, trying to fix what was fractured. Green went into reconciliation mode. Veterans like Iguodala and Livingston did their part to hold the locker room together. Durant had a tendency to be isolated but eventually, especially towards the end of the year, they locked in as a team.
By the end of the year, they seemed as tight as they’d been in a long time. But in hindsight, it seemed more like an unspoken pact to just enjoy whatever time they had left. They all seemed to buy-in. They looked unified. They talked about each other glowingly. Even while injured, Durant was engaged with his teammates.
When it was all said and done, they had respect for one another, appreciation for what they had, but not enough to stay together. It looked as if they might have found their stride in time to keep this group going. But in the end, it proved to be their best attempt at ending on a good note.
Maybe if Curry and Durant actually became the duo they seemed destined to be, on and off the court, they’d be ushering in a new era at Chase Center. Maybe if they linked up at different times in their lives, under different circumstances, in a different media landscape, they could have built something that could have survived.
But it didn’t happen. Now Durant is headed to Brooklyn, having linked up with his good friends, with whom he already has a great rapport and a relationship established over many years. So Curry stopped in New York simply to say thank you. They had a relatively short time together, but it was a helluva ride.
G.O.A.T Squad Spokesman
Logic Is Absent Wherever Hate Is Present
We now have ultimate confirmation of what has been suspected about Kevin Durant for months. If a guaranteed extra $50 million in the last contract year can’t compel a man, it’s because the die was cast long ago. A member of the Warriors’ front-office staff texted, “I don’t think anything that happened today would have affected his decision.”
True. Durant’s company, Thirty Five Ventures, was not expanding its staff into a New York office, far from all those increasingly powerful Silicon Valley social media companies, for the weather or for the affordability. For most of the 2018-19 season, the Warriors were in a better position than anyone, on the court. Simultaneously, in the KD free-agent sweepstakes, they were drawing dead.
Before the big news finally broke, The New York Times’ Marc Stein tweeted, “An undeniable vibe of confidence is emanating from Brooklyn as we speak: The Nets sure seem to believe they are getting Kevin Durant’s commitment tonight to go with Kyrie Irving’s … with DeAndre Jordan, Durant’s close friend, to follow.”
What was interesting about the tweet, beyond what it foreshadowed, was how it put Warriors’ hopes and efforts into stark relief. At no point this season did the Warriors’ front office communicate a “vibe of confidence” on Durant returning, at least not to me or others on The Athletic staff. This was the main thrust of the article I wrote titled, “Silent star: On the presumed Warriors’ exit of Kevin Durant” that happened to set KD off back in February. The most optimistic front-office talk was of “having a shot,” or how you never really know till you know. Deep down, the Warriors knew. Now they’re just happy to have official confirmation come sooner rather than later.
Then again, there is something to be said for circumspection in these matters. Back in the winter, the league buzz was of Durant heading to New York, albeit for a different borough. Expectations shifted after a March 12 episode of “The Michael Kay Show,” wherein Knicks owner James Dolan crowed, “We hear from people all the time, from players, representatives. It’s about who wants to come. We can’t respond because of the NBA rules, but that doesn’t stop them from telling us, and they do. I can tell you from what we’ve heard, I think we’re going to have a very successful offseason when it comes to free agents.”
The owner’s statements appeared to be a poorly received error, one that might have unraveled carefully laid plans. For an owner, the first rule of free agency is to not talk about free agency, especially when your prospective free agents might already have reservations about your competence. Now, it’s reported by ESPN that Dolan and the Knicks weren’t prepared to offer Durant a max contract on account of the Achilles injury. That’s actually not a totally crazy move, just one that looks like it’s out of the, “You can’t fire me, I quit!” playbook, given the timing. In the end, the Nets conveyed confidence, at the right time, in the right way.
The Brooklyn Nets have pulled off an impressive organizational turnaround, but, from a Warriors’ perspective, the question still is: How did they lose out to the Nets? With apologies to Brooklyn, the Nets were 42-40 last season, and, despite their enviable zip code, they don’t boast a large fan base. Steph Curry is, on most nights, better than Kyrie Irving and there’s no Klay Thompson joining the party out east. The answer is mostly that KD had one size 18 sneaker out the door all season, and the Nets happened to check the most boxes when he swung the other foot out the door. Did the Achilles tear hurt the Warriors’ cause? In all likelihood, the cause was lost. There was already infrastructure built for KD’s move and it wasn’t in the Bay.
That prompts another question: Why? The Warriors were a dynasty whose players were still in their primes. They were about to move into that jewel box in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood. Why did the dynasty’s story run out?
I’m a fan of quoting economist Herbert Stein’s Law, “If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.” It’s so obvious, so dumb, and yet often forgotten in the best of times. When the economy is roaring, it feels like it’ll go on forever. When you have a hot gambling streak, it feels like it’ll go on forever. And yes, when you have a dynasty, it feels like it will go on forever.
Joe Lacob once told our Tim Kawakami, in response to Bob Myers’ contention that dynasties must come to an end, “I don’t think so, honestly, I do not. And I tell Bob every day, our job is not to let it end.” Lacob told me last summer, “People say we’re a dynasty today. OK, we’ve done really well, but you know, there’s been some great ones in the past. Our goal is to be one of the greatest teams over a long period of time.”
I don’t begrudge Lacob this attitude because such unrealistic ambitions might have been necessary to build up the dynasty in the first place. It just so happens to be a vision that’s now on life support, barring some miracle resurgence in the short term. Marc Stein’s tweet brought Herb Stein’s Law into focus.
And yet, the fact that it had to end is an insufficient answer as to why. It’s insufficient because it didn’t have to end when it did. Even with the grievous injuries to KD and Klay, there were more seasons left in this core. Other teams still would not want to compete against Steph, Klay and KD going forward. The Bay Area was bound to remain a perfect place for impossibly rich people.
The reason it ended speaks to an aspect of the human condition that is often on display in the NBA. There’s less motivation in maintaining dominance than in seizing it from someone else. Remember, the Lakers’ Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant broke up before they ultimately had to. The Michael Jordan Bulls won their sixth title in a “last dance” season that did not necessarily have to be a last dance. In the NBA, the issue is that winning gets harder concurrent with its returns diminishing. To hear the winners tell it, that first championship is every bit as great as they’d imagined.
The separation between zero titles and one title is a difference in kind and a vast one. The separation between three titles versus four titles is a difference in degree, one that gets smaller the more you win.
Look at Kevin Durant after his first championship at Oracle.
AJ King@allday_ajking
https://twitter.com/allday_ajking/status/1145184926037397504
If we’ve seen the last of KD in The Bay, this is probably my fave memory of him as a Warrior
23K
12:18 AM - Jun 30, 2019
6,582 people are talking about this
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This is about the happiest we ever saw him. Not only is he having the time of his life, he’s spreading the love. Everyone from Ian Clark to Patrick McCaw to assistant athletic trainer Roger Sancho is getting included in winning’s warm embrace.
The Warriors enjoyed their last championship in Cleveland, but it wasn’t raucous. Nick Young was delirious in the locker room but almost nobody was matching his energy. That celebration was a far cry from the first Warriors’ celebration in Cleveland, one Steve Kerr called, “the greatest night of my life.” Eventually, there are no greatest nights anymore, at least not for the core members.
Pat Riley wrote of “the disease of more,” when positing that the problems come after you win a title and not before. People look around and seek whatever ego fulfillment didn’t magically arrive with the jewelry. The Warriors were, by and large, a fairly selfless unit, evidenced by the way they played. The core members got a lot out of the title-winning sacrifices. Curry got two MVPs and became the face of a sneaker brand. Thompson perhaps has the highest approval rating of anyone in the NBA. Draymond Green became deservedly rich and famous beyond his wildest dreams, in addition to burnishing a reputation as the top defender of his era. Andre Iguodala got Hall of Fame buzz and is currently shopping a book that has everyone talking.
The newest member of the core did not see his star rise quite so high off his rings. KD couldn’t realistically, as he was already a superstar upon joining. Beyond that, the sporting public wasn’t so invested in his journey in the way they followed LeBron James. KD outplayed LeBron in two Finals and was graded on the curve of having superior teammates. Few if anyone in the NBA world dropped LeBron from the top spot in the player rankings. When LeBron’s super team won the championship in 2013, LeBron was considered the best player. When KD’s Warriors did, LeBron was still considered the best player. In our confusing social media era, winning did not win Durant more recognition as a winner.
Whatever the reason, this much seemed so: Kevin Durant’s Warriors run eventually was doing more for the Warriors’ reputation than it was for Kevin Durant’s. That was nobody’s fault, but likely had consequences nonetheless.
KD seized the top individual rankings spot briefly, after he said, “I’m Kevin Durant,” and started pounding the Clippers. Then he got hurt against the Rockets, and finally, he returned for the Finals, only to have a bigger disaster strike.
Durant’s Achilles tear was a bitter result that ironically soothed other aspects of his journey. There are probably Warriors fans who might have raged about today’s news, who will instead espouse gratitude. A lot of that is because KD put his body on the line and paid a heavy price. In his time here, he was always bothered by the notion that he was an entity apart from the Warriors. In truth, KD was never embraced or loved by local fans on the level of the incumbent Curry. Again, not something that was anyone’s fault in particular, but it was what it was. On June 10, 2019, KD hurt himself for the Warriors’ cause and finally got that love. Sadly, the outpouring of affection and gratitude was spurred by loss. On June 30, another loss became official.
However the exit came, Durant left the Warriors because he eventually wasn’t all that happy here, despite the rings. If he was, he would have stayed and reaped a bigger paycheck on a better roster. I don’t think I’m breaking news here for people who watched the team every day. Beyond the tensions with Kerr and the public spat with Draymond, this had ceased to be a fulfilling situation.
It should have stayed fulfilling, in theory. Championships and money solve everything, in theory. In practice, titles are only the beginning of a process and that process can be a grind. Rather than continue this grind, Kevin Durant is going to search for something new. Out with the grind, in with the challenge. In the meantime, the Warriors look to find players who see them more as the latter than the former.
True. Durant’s company, Thirty Five Ventures, was not expanding its staff into a New York office, far from all those increasingly powerful Silicon Valley social media companies, for the weather or for the affordability. For most of the 2018-19 season, the Warriors were in a better position than anyone, on the court. Simultaneously, in the KD free-agent sweepstakes, they were drawing dead.
Before the big news finally broke, The New York Times’ Marc Stein tweeted, “An undeniable vibe of confidence is emanating from Brooklyn as we speak: The Nets sure seem to believe they are getting Kevin Durant’s commitment tonight to go with Kyrie Irving’s … with DeAndre Jordan, Durant’s close friend, to follow.”
What was interesting about the tweet, beyond what it foreshadowed, was how it put Warriors’ hopes and efforts into stark relief. At no point this season did the Warriors’ front office communicate a “vibe of confidence” on Durant returning, at least not to me or others on The Athletic staff. This was the main thrust of the article I wrote titled, “Silent star: On the presumed Warriors’ exit of Kevin Durant” that happened to set KD off back in February. The most optimistic front-office talk was of “having a shot,” or how you never really know till you know. Deep down, the Warriors knew. Now they’re just happy to have official confirmation come sooner rather than later.
Then again, there is something to be said for circumspection in these matters. Back in the winter, the league buzz was of Durant heading to New York, albeit for a different borough. Expectations shifted after a March 12 episode of “The Michael Kay Show,” wherein Knicks owner James Dolan crowed, “We hear from people all the time, from players, representatives. It’s about who wants to come. We can’t respond because of the NBA rules, but that doesn’t stop them from telling us, and they do. I can tell you from what we’ve heard, I think we’re going to have a very successful offseason when it comes to free agents.”
The owner’s statements appeared to be a poorly received error, one that might have unraveled carefully laid plans. For an owner, the first rule of free agency is to not talk about free agency, especially when your prospective free agents might already have reservations about your competence. Now, it’s reported by ESPN that Dolan and the Knicks weren’t prepared to offer Durant a max contract on account of the Achilles injury. That’s actually not a totally crazy move, just one that looks like it’s out of the, “You can’t fire me, I quit!” playbook, given the timing. In the end, the Nets conveyed confidence, at the right time, in the right way.
The Brooklyn Nets have pulled off an impressive organizational turnaround, but, from a Warriors’ perspective, the question still is: How did they lose out to the Nets? With apologies to Brooklyn, the Nets were 42-40 last season, and, despite their enviable zip code, they don’t boast a large fan base. Steph Curry is, on most nights, better than Kyrie Irving and there’s no Klay Thompson joining the party out east. The answer is mostly that KD had one size 18 sneaker out the door all season, and the Nets happened to check the most boxes when he swung the other foot out the door. Did the Achilles tear hurt the Warriors’ cause? In all likelihood, the cause was lost. There was already infrastructure built for KD’s move and it wasn’t in the Bay.
That prompts another question: Why? The Warriors were a dynasty whose players were still in their primes. They were about to move into that jewel box in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood. Why did the dynasty’s story run out?
I’m a fan of quoting economist Herbert Stein’s Law, “If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.” It’s so obvious, so dumb, and yet often forgotten in the best of times. When the economy is roaring, it feels like it’ll go on forever. When you have a hot gambling streak, it feels like it’ll go on forever. And yes, when you have a dynasty, it feels like it will go on forever.
Joe Lacob once told our Tim Kawakami, in response to Bob Myers’ contention that dynasties must come to an end, “I don’t think so, honestly, I do not. And I tell Bob every day, our job is not to let it end.” Lacob told me last summer, “People say we’re a dynasty today. OK, we’ve done really well, but you know, there’s been some great ones in the past. Our goal is to be one of the greatest teams over a long period of time.”
I don’t begrudge Lacob this attitude because such unrealistic ambitions might have been necessary to build up the dynasty in the first place. It just so happens to be a vision that’s now on life support, barring some miracle resurgence in the short term. Marc Stein’s tweet brought Herb Stein’s Law into focus.
And yet, the fact that it had to end is an insufficient answer as to why. It’s insufficient because it didn’t have to end when it did. Even with the grievous injuries to KD and Klay, there were more seasons left in this core. Other teams still would not want to compete against Steph, Klay and KD going forward. The Bay Area was bound to remain a perfect place for impossibly rich people.
The reason it ended speaks to an aspect of the human condition that is often on display in the NBA. There’s less motivation in maintaining dominance than in seizing it from someone else. Remember, the Lakers’ Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant broke up before they ultimately had to. The Michael Jordan Bulls won their sixth title in a “last dance” season that did not necessarily have to be a last dance. In the NBA, the issue is that winning gets harder concurrent with its returns diminishing. To hear the winners tell it, that first championship is every bit as great as they’d imagined.
The separation between zero titles and one title is a difference in kind and a vast one. The separation between three titles versus four titles is a difference in degree, one that gets smaller the more you win.
Look at Kevin Durant after his first championship at Oracle.
AJ King@allday_ajking
https://twitter.com/allday_ajking/status/1145184926037397504
If we’ve seen the last of KD in The Bay, this is probably my fave memory of him as a Warrior
23K
12:18 AM - Jun 30, 2019
6,582 people are talking about this
Twitter Ads info and privacy
This is about the happiest we ever saw him. Not only is he having the time of his life, he’s spreading the love. Everyone from Ian Clark to Patrick McCaw to assistant athletic trainer Roger Sancho is getting included in winning’s warm embrace.
The Warriors enjoyed their last championship in Cleveland, but it wasn’t raucous. Nick Young was delirious in the locker room but almost nobody was matching his energy. That celebration was a far cry from the first Warriors’ celebration in Cleveland, one Steve Kerr called, “the greatest night of my life.” Eventually, there are no greatest nights anymore, at least not for the core members.
Pat Riley wrote of “the disease of more,” when positing that the problems come after you win a title and not before. People look around and seek whatever ego fulfillment didn’t magically arrive with the jewelry. The Warriors were, by and large, a fairly selfless unit, evidenced by the way they played. The core members got a lot out of the title-winning sacrifices. Curry got two MVPs and became the face of a sneaker brand. Thompson perhaps has the highest approval rating of anyone in the NBA. Draymond Green became deservedly rich and famous beyond his wildest dreams, in addition to burnishing a reputation as the top defender of his era. Andre Iguodala got Hall of Fame buzz and is currently shopping a book that has everyone talking.
The newest member of the core did not see his star rise quite so high off his rings. KD couldn’t realistically, as he was already a superstar upon joining. Beyond that, the sporting public wasn’t so invested in his journey in the way they followed LeBron James. KD outplayed LeBron in two Finals and was graded on the curve of having superior teammates. Few if anyone in the NBA world dropped LeBron from the top spot in the player rankings. When LeBron’s super team won the championship in 2013, LeBron was considered the best player. When KD’s Warriors did, LeBron was still considered the best player. In our confusing social media era, winning did not win Durant more recognition as a winner.
Whatever the reason, this much seemed so: Kevin Durant’s Warriors run eventually was doing more for the Warriors’ reputation than it was for Kevin Durant’s. That was nobody’s fault, but likely had consequences nonetheless.
KD seized the top individual rankings spot briefly, after he said, “I’m Kevin Durant,” and started pounding the Clippers. Then he got hurt against the Rockets, and finally, he returned for the Finals, only to have a bigger disaster strike.
Durant’s Achilles tear was a bitter result that ironically soothed other aspects of his journey. There are probably Warriors fans who might have raged about today’s news, who will instead espouse gratitude. A lot of that is because KD put his body on the line and paid a heavy price. In his time here, he was always bothered by the notion that he was an entity apart from the Warriors. In truth, KD was never embraced or loved by local fans on the level of the incumbent Curry. Again, not something that was anyone’s fault in particular, but it was what it was. On June 10, 2019, KD hurt himself for the Warriors’ cause and finally got that love. Sadly, the outpouring of affection and gratitude was spurred by loss. On June 30, another loss became official.
However the exit came, Durant left the Warriors because he eventually wasn’t all that happy here, despite the rings. If he was, he would have stayed and reaped a bigger paycheck on a better roster. I don’t think I’m breaking news here for people who watched the team every day. Beyond the tensions with Kerr and the public spat with Draymond, this had ceased to be a fulfilling situation.
It should have stayed fulfilling, in theory. Championships and money solve everything, in theory. In practice, titles are only the beginning of a process and that process can be a grind. Rather than continue this grind, Kevin Durant is going to search for something new. Out with the grind, in with the challenge. In the meantime, the Warriors look to find players who see them more as the latter than the former.
G.O.A.T Squad Spokesman
Logic Is Absent Wherever Hate Is Present
