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Getty Warriors Otto Porter Jr. (left) and Klay Thompson celebrate the team’s 2022 NBA Championship.
The Warriors have mostly completed their offseason, with a move log that leaves them ready to compete for an NBA championship again this season. They enlisted Patrick Baldwin Jr. and Ryan Rollins, added guard Donte DiVincenzo and forward JaMychal Green, while they lost Otto Porter Jr., Gary Payton II and Nemanja Bjelica. They now have 13 players under contract.
They may still have a hole to fill, and ESPN front-office insider Bobby Marks, who was a GM assistant with the Brooklyn Nets, has an idea on how to fill it: future Hall of Fame center Dwight Howard, who is an eight-time All-Star and two-time champion of blocked shots.
Marks said other contenders may have eyes for Howard, but that it would make sense for the Warriors under certain circumstances.
“On paper, the answer is Brooklyn, but we are likely to see Ben Simmons playing most of the minutes in the middle,” wrote Howard’s Future Marks. “The Nets also have Nic Claxton and Day’Ron Sharpe in a backup role. Golden State could use Howard but only if James Wiseman suffers a setback and Andre Iguodala retires. The Clippers need size, but due to the tax implications, they probably won’t carry 15 guaranteed contracts to start the season ”.
Howard adapts if Wiseman isn’t ready
Howard is now 36, a long way from his days as one of the NBA’s most dominant players. He remains a free agent this summer after playing with the Lakers last year, his third bout with that team, where he averaged 6.2 points and 5.9 rebounds in 16.2 minutes.
This is all the Warriors need from a reserve center with their own style of play. Last season, Golden State used starter Kevon Looney for 21.1 minutes per game in the position, played backup Nemanja Bjelica for 16.1 minutes, and filled in the rest with Draymond Green and Porter as small ball centers.
This year, Porter is gone, but JaMychal Green plans to take his small ball minutes in the middle. Howard could be an option to fill in the gaps.
Obviously, the ideal situation is for Wiseman to come back from the frustrating knee injury that forced him to constantly move towards a comeback last year, only he never got back on the pitch for Golden State. This is another of Marks’ caveats: If Wiseman sounds good, Howard wouldn’t be needed.
The warriors rejected all of Wiseman’s requests
Wiseman was the # 2 pick in the 2020 NBA draft and the Warriors have still invested heavily in its development. She averaged 11.5 points and 5.8 rebounds as a rookie, playing 21.4 minutes for an exhausted Warriors team before suffering a knee injury.
It has been the subject of commercial investigations repeatedly over the past few years, but as Heavy Sports NBA insider Steve Bulpett said, the Warriors have no plans to transfer it. If he’s healthy, he’ll be their boyfriend.
“They’re confident he’s okay, and I wouldn’t let anyone within five miles of him do it, you know?” Bulpett said in a video interview. “If someone calls and says they’re interested in Ja, I’ll hang up the phone. Don’t even come up with the full name. This guy can be a beast. Great body, good movement, good touch, all of these things. He has the opportunity to be an important, important player. They went through their unfortunate times to find a guy like this that they would never have. If you look at Golden State and say, OK, what hole do they have there in their lineup? Well, they don’t have the dominant type of the big boy. This guy can be the one.
“Will he be okay? If he is, yes, you wrap your arms around him, you call him every night and tell him that you love him and that you will never let him go. “
PlayNBA Talk to Heavy Sports Insider Steve BulpettSteve Bulpett and Sean Deveney talk about NBA matters, including Warriors, Bulls and, of course, Russell Westbrook and the Lakers.2022-07-19T19: 56: 52Z More heavy warriors news
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