By Wes Goldberg, The Mercury News Sometimes Warriors head coach Steve Kerr laughs when he reads articles grading selections of past NBA drafts. “It’s a tough position to be in to have to write about these guys and grade teams when nobody really knows but, after the fact, it’s sort of hilarious,” Kerr said. “Pascal Siakam […]
Warriors keeping options open with top-5 NBA draft pick: ‘The best player is not obvious’ — Daily Republic “It’s a tough position to be in to have to write about these guys and grade teams when nobody really knows but, after the fact, it’s sort of hilarious,” Kerr said. “Pascal Siakam going 27th and people complaining about the Raptors not knowing what they were doing, because so-and-so was available. Are you nuts? If you did that re-draft, he’d be top-five.” The NBA draft lottery is scheduled for May 19, and the Warriors are poised to select no later than fifth. However, they know the best player in the draft could end up being selected much later. With that in mind, the Warriors are taking a deep look at prospects, going beyond the players most often discussed at the top of the draft. As Kerr, general manager Bob Myers and the rest of the Warriors’ front office spend the hiatus watching film and scouting prospects, their final draft board for their first-round pick is expected to be whittled down to about 15 players by draft night.
(WTVO/WQRF) — It would appear that freshman sensation Kofi Cockburn has played his last basketball game for the Fighting Illini. Cockburn announced on Instagram Tuesday that he is declaring for the NBA Draft. Cockburn was a major force behind the Fighting Illini’s rise to a 21-10 record this season and a fourth place finish in […]
DURHAM, N.C. — Duke freshman Cassius Stanley is entering the NBA draft. Stanley announced his decision Tuesday after averaging 12.6 points and 4.9 rebounds for the Blue Devils, highlighted by his high-flying athleticism. He had a season-high 24 points in a January loss to Louisville, while he finished strong with 19 points and six rebounds…
NBA “looking at every possibility” to get back playing NBA “looking at every possibility” to get back playing Posted by Charean Williams on April 6, 2020, 10:16 PM EDT Getty Images The NBA isn’t ready to return, and NBA Commissioner Adam […]
The NBA isn’t ready to return, and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver expects it be at least May before the league can decide anything.
But Silver revealed during a conversation with Ernie Johnson of Turner Sports on the NBA’s Twitter account on Monday night that the league is exploring every possibility.
“We miss it badly,” Silver said. “To all the families watching this, I know the NBA is a big part of their lives. We just want to assure everybody that while we’re putting the health and safety of everyone first, we’re looking at every possibility to get our players back on the floor and to play NBA basketball again.”
The NBA became the first major American pro league to shut down after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. The league’s regular season was supposed to end April 15 with the playoffs starting three days later.
Silver said the league will have to decide whether the regular season will resume in some form or head straight to the postseason. The NBA also is exploring whether to play in NBA arenas, practice facilities or to have all teams to go to one location to finish the season.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban broached the idea of a “bubble city” last week, with the entire league going to Las Vegas to finish the season.
Cities have expressed interested in hosting the entire league in one site, Silver said.
It is an idea PFT has said the NFL should investigate as an “what-if” option in case COVID-19 affects its games this fall.
Even though the NBA has indefinitely suspended the 2019-20 season, Jayson Tatum has found a way to keep busy — and it’s much bigger than basketball. The Celtics forward has partnered with Washington Wizards star Bradley Beal, the Jayson Tatum Foundation, Feeding America and Lineage Logistics to pledge a combined $500,000 to the Boston and…
Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young is confident … or at least ready to play with Shaquille O’Neal. The second point guard appeared on Wednesday in the episode of O’Neal’s podcast “The Big Podcast with Shaq”. A moment later would go viral on Sunday. In the clip in circulation, O’Neal Young asked how many years it […]
Canada set an NBA record for most non-American players on opening-day rosters this season. There were 16 in all, as well as four more on two-way contracts, meaning they could split time between the NBA and its development league, the G League. Two more Canadians got called up during the year. In the coming weeks…
Canada set an NBA record for most non-American players on opening-day rosters this season. There were 16 in all, as well as four more on two-way contracts, meaning they could split time between the NBA and its development league, the G League. Two more Canadians got called up during the year. In the coming weeks we’ll continue to take a look at how the brightest lights of this golden generation of Canuck hoopers fared in 2019-20.
Next up, new Golden State Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins, of Vaughan, ON.
RECAPPING THE SEASON
Season 6 was definitely the oddest one for the former NBA rookie of the year and No. 1 overall draft choice. Yes, even stranger than being drafted and playing summer league ball for Cleveland, who didn’t have LeBron James, then being moved shortly after James decided to return home.
Andrew Wiggins got off to a fantastic start for the Minnesota Timberwolves, looking like a potential all-star in November, when he averaged 27.1 points, 4.1 assists and 1.4 blocks per game in 11 appearances on 48% shooting, including 39.5% work from three-point distance. The most scrutinized Canadian prospect ever had gone through ups and downs for years, but finally appeared to have broken through. But his production slipped from there, the Timberwolves again were one of the league’s worst teams (an injury to star big man Karl-Anthony Towns didn’t help) and, under new management, the Wolves decided to make a big move. D’Angelo Russell, a close friend of Towns, was brought in from Golden State, with Wiggins and some draft considerations going the other way.
All of a sudden, all of the pressure and expectations Wiggins had dealt with for his entire career evaporated. As head coach Steve Kerr has said, Wiggins was looked at as a saviour in Minnesota after being the key return for Kevin Love and then being given a massive contract. Now, he just needed to fit in and play his role.
Yes, the formerly great Warriors were a mess, with the NBA’s worst record, but they are a great organization with a culture of winning and will be in the mix next year when Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are back to 100%. Wiggins only ended up getting one game in alongside Curry (a loss to Toronto), but told us during that visit that he was loving life in the Bay Area and with the Warriors. It showed on the court, where Wiggins started to score a bit less (19.4 points per game in 12 appearances), but expanded his overall game, doing a little bit of everything. Like early in the season in Minnesota, Wiggins defended (1.4 blocks and 1.3 steals), rebounded (4.6 per game) and moved the ball well (3.6 assists, though his turnovers were a bit high). He got to the free throw line more often than ever before and his advanced metrics were nearly uniformly career highs.
He looked happy and he looked comfortable.
Wiggins has teased before. He is more athletic than nearly any other NBA player and can score in bunches, but has always fallen back to earth and been inconsistent. This year was the most encouraging of his career on those fronts and something he can build on moving forward.
FUTURE OUTLOOK
Speaking of which, life should be pretty great for Wiggins whenever 2020-21 kicks off. He’ll average about $31.5 million U.S. on the final three years of his contract, but, besides that, he’ll be playing with two of the five best shooters in the history of the NBA, along with Draymond Green and potentially the first pick of the 2020 draft. The game should be easy for him and he’ll get to show off his new-found and still improving play-making skills. “When we’re whole, we’re going to have a lot of shooting out there, we’re going to have the floor spaced and he’s going to be tough to handle,” Kerr said when the Raptors were in town. “It bodes well for next year when he’s playing with two of the best shooters on earth,” Kerr said on The Full 48 podcast recently.
A Wiggins has only made the playoffs once, but the Warriors should be a shoo-in, if healthy for a long time to come. And Kerr’s particularly enthused about what Wiggins can do on defence. He believes Wiggins, 6-foot-7, with long arms and that renowned athleticism, can at least slow down superstars like Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James better than most other players if they meet in the playoffs.
The Warriors have a huge fanbase, so Wiggins will become more of a household name in more than just Canada. Will he play for the national team again sometime? Head coach Nick Nurse thinks so and so does Canada Basketball’s braintrust. Time will tell on that front.
THE BEST OF WIGGINS
The top outings of Andrew Wiggins’s 2019-20 season:
Date Opponent Summary
1/27 Sacramento 36 pts, 9 reb, 8 assists in fourth-last game with Wolves.
11/8 Golden State 40 pts, 5 reb, 7 assists against future teammates.
02/12 Phoenix 27 pts, 5 assists, 4 blks in impressive early Warriors game.
11/11 Detroit 33 pts, 6 reb, 5 assists on 60% shooting.
11/13 San Antonio 30 pts, 8 reb, 7 assists, 4 three-pointers.
12/13 L.A. Clippers 34 pts on 60% shooting against Kawhi Leonard’s team.
01/18 Toronto 18 pts, 11 assists, 10 reb for first career triple-double.
03/05 Toronto 21 pts, 10 2 blocks in lone game with Stephen Curry.
03/03 Denver 22 pts, 5 reb, 10 assists in a win over an elite team.
New York has been one of the epicenters of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States. As of Saturday, New York City had accounted for more than 1,900 deaths, according to the latest tracking data from Johns Hopkins University.
With hospitals overwhelmed, medical workers are running low on the personal protective equipment (PPE) necessary to keep themselves protected from the virus. That’s what makes the latest gesture from the NBA and the two local teams, the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets, all the more important.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the league, in collaboration with the Knicks, Nets and China’s Consul General Huang Ping, is contributing one million surgical masks for the state’s essential workers.
“New York thanks you,” Cuomo wrote on Twitter. “We are beyond grateful for this gift of critically needed PPE.”Andrew Cuomo✔@NYGovCuomo
NEW: The @NBA is contributing 1 million desperately needed surgical masks for New York’s essential workers in collaboration with @nyknicks, @BrooklynNets and China’s Consul General Huang Ping.
New York reported 630 coronavirus-related deaths on Friday, the deadliest day thus far. Earlier Saturday, Cuomo announced the donation of 1,000 ventilators from the Chinese government.
The New England Patriots sent their team plane to China this week to pick up 1.2 million masks, with an additional 500,000 on the way. Owner Robert Kraft sent 300,000 of those masks to New York.
Not many saw Kevin Garnett’s work ethic and intensity up close and personal like former Boston Celtics teammate Paul Pierce did. So, on the same day Garnett was named among the Basketball Hall of Fame honorees, Pierce told ESPN’s Rece Davis on SportsCenter what made his former teammate, and friend, so special on the court.…
The 2020 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class might be one of the best ever. Headlined by former Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant, fellow honorees include ex-Boston Celtic Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Tamika Catchings, Patrick Baumann, Barbara Stevens, Kim Mulkey, Eddie Sutton and Rudy Tomjanovich. The Basketball Hall of Fame officially released the…
The view from left field 