Dub Hub: Draymond Green ranks 55th in ESPN’s Top 100 players list

Warriors News:

NBArank 2023: Player rankings for 2023-24, from 100 to 51 | ESPN

Golden State Warriors | PF

2022 NBArank: 43

One huge question for 2023-24: As the fallout from him punching Jordan Poole followed the Warriors all season, Green admitted he didn’t feel he could be the vocal, and sometimes abrasive, leader the Warriors needed him to be. Green said he couldn’t hold his teammates accountable, which in part led to defensive issues and wild home-road splits. For the Warriors to rebound this year, they need Green to be the leader he always has been — without crossing the line while doing so.

— Andrews

Warriors’ goal for WNBA expansion team: ‘We want to be the best’ | ESPN

The declaration might have seemed bold, but it was nonetheless a clear indicator of how the Warriors see their endeavor into the WNBA realm: “We’re not just doing this — we want to be the best. We want to be the best on the court, we want to be the best off the court,” Warriors president and COO Brandon Schneider told ESPN Sunday in Las Vegas before Game 1 of the WNBA Finals.

“We’re always going to strive to be the best in everything that we do, and I think putting that stake in the ground and saying, ‘Look, this is what we want to do,’ I think will set the tone for the team as it comes together,” Schneider said.

Light Years interviews Warriors’ center Kevon Looney | Light Years Podcast

Five Players Who Will Define the 2023-24 NBA Season | The Ringer

Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors

Since Thompson’s return from those major injuries, only 5.9 percent of his shots have come within 3 feet of the rim. That number dropped even further, to 4.6 percent, in last year’s playoffs. Some of this is due to an aging body and different personnel, but at his peak Klay aggressively sought back cuts, drove on hard closeouts, and had trust in a first step that could turn the corner off a pindown. In 2019, the percentage of Thompson’s shots at the rim was 13.8. The year before Kevin Durant joined the Warriors, in 2016, it was 18.2. Those aren’t humongous numbers, but they’re significantly higher than his recent output.

Nemanja Bjelica to reportedly retire due to injuries | Sportando

Despite one of the most discussed move of the offseason, from Fenerbahce to Crvena Zvezda, Serbian veteran forward Nemanja Bjelica is ready to retire as a player according to Teleport.

Belgrade side previously announced that Bjelica is out for the team’s first games to a calf injury, and the player has reportedly rethink his future opting to retire instead. Bjelica averaged 2.7 ppg in just 7 Euroleague games last season for Fenerbahce.

Warriors owner Joe Lacob ‘very interested’ in buying Athletics if MLB team decides to sell | CBS Sports

“We’ve over the years been obviously very interested,” Lacob said. “You all know that I’ve said it, and if for whatever reason [Fisher] decided it wasn’t going to work, sure, we might be interested.”

The Athletics have long been rumored to be moving the team to Las Vegas, but the move isn’t official quite yet. As a result, if Lacob were to purchase the team, it’s possible he could choose to keep it in the Bay Area.

“You have to have someone who wants to sell something to be interested in buying it,” Lacob added. He noted he wasn’t “throwing my hat in the ring,” but just pointing out that he’s been a fan of the team for many years.

NBA News:

Hornets’ Kai Jones announces on social media that he wants to be traded | NBA

The Hornets have declined to comment on the matter.

The Hornets announced last week that the 6-foot-11 forward/center would not join the team for training camp following some bizarre behavior on social media, including a mostly indecipherable video on Instagram Live and other criticism of teammates on X.

How Kristaps Porziņģis can take Celtics offense to next level: Film breakdown |The Athletic

What makes Porziņģis potentially transformative for this offense, however, is how he can play off the team’s stars. Whenever two star wings are paired together, the question is always why they don’t play directly off each other in two-man actions more. The simple answer usually is that defenses will completely zero in on them. The other is that one star needs to hold down the other side of the play so there can be a viable second option.

Because so many teams switch one through four now, it’s hard to create significant cross-matches having wings screen for each other. But Porziņģis changes things, as the Celtics now have a big who can force those bad switches on the defense and punish them anywhere he wants. Then either Jayson Tatumor Jaylen Brown has a big on them in space, or Porziņģis can shoot over a small or take them to his hot zone in the high post.

Victor Wembanyama vs Chet Holmgren ROOKIE DUEL Full Highlights | House of Highlights

In case you missed it at Golden State of Mind:

Warriors-Lakers preseason musings: How Steph Curry and Chris Paul are working on guard-guard actions

That assist to Curry was one of five total for Paul, to go along with 6 points and 4 rebounds in just under 13 minutes of time on the floor. He displayed on-ball decision making that was to be expected from one of the greatest passers of all time — which is also why his integration within a scheme that seems antithetical to his preferred half-court approach is something to monitor throughout this season.

If this preseason game is of any indication, Paul won’t have any problems balancing his desire for on-ball control and being a cog in the motion-offense machine.

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