"I'm looking forward to playing, but I'm on Kuminga, I'm on Moses Moody, and I'm on the young fellas," Iguodala said on his "Point Forward" podcast on Friday. "And I'm letting them know, 'Listen, if I get on this court, you ain't doing something right. There's no way you should allow me to get on the court.'
"And that's just something I'm feeding to those guys and making sure that when I walk away, everything's taken care of."
It has been 532 days since Wiseman's injury. I think because we have seen so little of him it feels longer than Klay's comeback. Shout out to anyone else who is in recovery in whatever capacity that is... You will always be worth it.
Now that Andre's roster spot is set, I couldn't help myself and started thinking about rotations and minutes. Obviously, y'all are doing the same as there's plenty of convo here about who's minutes Andre gets. So here's a pulled out of my ass guesstimate for minutes for a run-of-the-mill low-stakes regular season game, and a blow-out game, as well as minutes by position for each player.
RUN-OF-THE-MILL REG SEASON GAME - non-blowout
---
Steph: 30 min PG:30
Dray: 30 min PF:20, C:10
Klay: 30 min SG:20, SF:10
Wiggs: 32 min SF:22, PF:10
JP: 32 min PG:18,SG:14
Loon: 20 min C:20
Wise: 18 min C:18
MM: 13 min SG:4,SF:9
JK: 13 min PF:12, SF:1
DDV: 10 min SG:10
JMG: 6 min PF:6
Andre: 6 min SF: 6
RUN-OF-THE-MILL REG SEASON GAME - blowout
---
Steph: 24 min PG:24
Dray: 24 min C:3,PF:21
Klay: 24 min SG:18,SF:6
Wiggs: 28 min PF:3
JP: 28 min PG:20,SG:8
Loon: 20 min C:20
Wise: 22 min C:22
MM: 22 min SG:10,SF:12
JK: 22 min C:3,PF:18,SF:1
DDV: 12 min SG:12
JMG: 6 min PF:6
PBJ: 4 SF:4
RR: 4 PG:4
I'd also expect Kerr to take advantage of the schedule to not only rest the regulars on back-to-backs, but also regularly give one of the big 3 a random rest day off, and let the other 2 play. In those games, there should be an extra 30 minutes to go to the bench for the appropriate spots.
Finally, assuming there's a regular season must-win game (eg. Christmas vs the Grizz), and assuming Andre is the better option:
Regular Season MUST-WIN game
Steph: 34 min PG:34
Dray: 34 min PF:22, C:12
Klay: 34 min SG:22, SF:12
Wiggs: 36 min SF:20, PF:16
JP: 36 min PG:14,SG:22
Loon: 22 min C:22
Wise: 14 min C: 14
MM: 6 min SF:6
JK: 10 min PF:10
DDV: 4 min SG:4
Andre: 10 min SF:10
MOST INTERESTING TAKEAWAY:
----
In Must win-games, Dray will play more minutes at Center, obviously squeezing Wiseman. But an interesting by-product of that is that Wiggs and JK will have to play PF during those minutes where Dray is playing Center. That means that Andre, if he is the best player among the bench squad will be pushing Moody's minutes more than JK's minutes. Basically, when the Dubs play small, JK has to play PF, unless Andre wants to bang around as PF in those minutes (which I doubt). So it's Moody's minutes as a 3 that Andre takes away, and Moody's minutes as a 2 that increased play from Steph/Klay/JP will take away. I guess you could make the argument that MM could play the 4 in small-ball - something like a JP, DDV, Andre, MM, Dray lineup, but that just seems ... odd.
It effectively stalls out the competition for a full time roster spot. There's a very slight chance that one of the invites could impress enough to warrant signing them to the 15th roster spot. Last year, GP2 earned the 15th, but the team knew that it had a glaring hole in POA defense (and perhaps 3rd string ball-handler). They filled the POA defense role with GP2 and JP3 stepped up his ball-handling game to become 2nd-string PG while Chiozza stepped in for 3rd string ball-handling.
This year, there are no glaring holes that the roster needs. Perhaps wing depth, but that's what 2-ways are for. There's no rotation role available, and minutes will be scarce for the 12th and 13th roster spots (rooks), so any idea that a 15th man would earn meaningful minutes is silly.
So, realistically, I'd say there's less than a 3% chance that 15th spot gets filled before buyout season. However, the invites can still choose to be motivated by that 3%. Getting to the NBA is all about defying the odds against you, after all. So, TW or MmC have a choice to be demotivated or to fight for that 3% chance.
That being said, there are two 2-ways available. LQ is signed to one of them and QW has a QO for the other (I believe). I think QW will easily win any battle for one of the slots if he so chooses. And that would immediately fill the last remaining need on the roster (wing-depth). There is a small chance that he gets lured elsewhere and signs for a full roster spot, however. The remaining 2-way, I believe, is not LQ's. He may be signed to it right now, but things can change fairly quickly.
So, that's the real competition right there: Among two-way eligible players for the second 2-way slot. Mac McClung, if he chooses to settle for a 2-way, is eligible. LQ, obviously is a the nominal front-runner. Trevion Williams has a chance to win it out, as well. Remember that these guys are not only auditioning for a 2-way slot, but also for other teams who may be looking for a project for their remaining roster spots, too.
Does anyone know if any of the more recent roster invitees and signees are available to sign a two-way? My guess is at least a couple of them are eligible, so any that are can get thrown into the scrum for the two-way.
Vets that were invited to camp, but not eligible for a 2-way can be treated as roster filler for the spring training rosters. No doubt some of them, as well as those who don't end up securing that second 2-way slot will almost all be offered contracts with the Sea-Dubs. So, TW fans, don't despair. Even if he loses out the 2-way slot to LQ or MM, there's a good chance he stays connected with the team in SC. If he impresses there, the Dubs could very well decide to swap a 2-way contract to him, mid-season, to secure his rights.
Kinda hard NOT to juxtapose the Warriors' recent offseason announcements with the Celtics':
Warriors:
That young guy with a knee injury (Wiseman)? He's worked all offseason and he's ready to go! Those injured new guys we signed (PBJ, Rollins), they're fully ready for training camp! That old guy who spent a bunch of time on the bench (Iguodala)? He's coming back!
Celtics:
That young guy with a knee injury (Williams III)? Yeah... he needs surgery, gonna be out a while. That healthy new guy we signed (Gallo), he's injured and gonna miss the season. That old guy who spent a bunch of time on the bench (Udoka)? He's suspended (and probably fired)...
People saying that Iggy won't really be stealing minutes from the young guns are off base. Iggy himself said he wouldn't be coming back unless he got assurances that he would be playing, he didn't want to be a player coach. Also, last year when Iggy was healthy, he was getting a solid 20 mph which is reflective of Kerr's documented preference for vets and love of Iggy.
Therefore, let's be charitable and assume he's only playing 10 minutes per night at the SG/SF spot, that's 10 minutes per game taken away from Moody/Kuminga in the exact year we need them to showcase their games before Wiggins contract expires.
In the end though, I'm not too bothered. I think Kuminga/Moody will outplay Iggy by the end of the year. If they can't, that's probably reflective of an Iggy Renaissance which I will be happy about as well since that improves our title chances.
Totally OT: I use the name Dilly for my cat Dill who is 7 1/2 now. [His pic is my avatar.] He appeared in my world after I had spinal surgery when he was about 6 wks old. Chasing after a small kitten [that bonded with me immediately after I coaxed him out from under my car] was about all I could do at that point. He gave me joy & a reason to keep on going. He used one of his 9 lives yesterday [down to 6 now] after, apparently, getting into a fight with an interloper the night before. Defending his territory, he received multiple wounds on his legs [right was the worst] & belly. We made a flying trip to the vet yesterday morning, he spent the night and is now ready to go home. I called this morning to ask how he was doing & the response was: "He's pissed off to be in a cage." Sounded like good news to me.
WELCOME BACK ANDRE! THE CHAMP IS HERE! Can't wait to see #9 make his haters and detractors out there look real dumb for doubting his usefulness to this team this year. Great news on a Friday!
Well I'll be a contrarian and say "meh". Yea Andre's a good leader, but if the $20 million price tag means we don't get the key mid-season pickup I'll be really sad. And whose minutes will he be stealing? Moody's? I guess if it's just DDV who gets pushed down the minutes chart, then I won't complain too much.
Last season he played 61 minutes in the playoffs. Do we expect more this year?
Now I will go run and hide under a rock and when Andre is awesome this year I will weep at the sounds of all the "I told you so" shouts raining down on me.
I'm fucking thrilled that Iguodala is back, and also that he made it clear that this is his last season so I know to savor every minute that a franchise legend has left on the court.
Any post coming for the 1st day? I had to letsgowarriors.com to get clips. I'm not proud of that.
"I'm looking forward to playing, but I'm on Kuminga, I'm on Moses Moody, and I'm on the young fellas," Iguodala said on his "Point Forward" podcast on Friday. "And I'm letting them know, 'Listen, if I get on this court, you ain't doing something right. There's no way you should allow me to get on the court.'
"And that's just something I'm feeding to those guys and making sure that when I walk away, everything's taken care of."
Win another one for Andre"s thumb!!!
LINEUP PERMUTATIONS
As long as I'm at it, I wanted to take a look at lineups to see what pops out.
.
Expected Core-6 lineups:
----------
Steph Klay Wiggs Dray Loon
Steph Klay Wiggs Dray Wise
Steph JP Wiggs Dray Loon
Steph JP Wiggs Dray Wise
JP Klay Wiggs Dray Loon
JP Klay Wiggs Dray Wise
Steph JP Klay Wiggs Dray
.
The All-Bench lineups:
--------------
The standard bench lineups:
JP MM JK JMG Wise
DDV MM JK JMG Wise
JP DDV MM JK Wise (Run The Floor!)
.
Mix in the splash bros:
Steph JP MM JK Wise
JP Klay MM JK Wise
.
Finally, an assortment of one-off lineups:
JMG small ball C: JP DDV MM JK JMG
Get to the cup: Steph JP JK Dray Wise
The core and the future: Steph Klay MM JK Dray
Spread the floor: Steph JP Klay MM JMG/Wise (not sure which one is the better stretch 5)
Mentor Me: Andre MM JK Dray Wise
And finally: D-it-up! Andre MM Wiggs Dray Loon (probably doesn't have enough shooting, but the opposing team won't score either)
It has been 532 days since Wiseman's injury. I think because we have seen so little of him it feels longer than Klay's comeback. Shout out to anyone else who is in recovery in whatever capacity that is... You will always be worth it.
Now that Andre's roster spot is set, I couldn't help myself and started thinking about rotations and minutes. Obviously, y'all are doing the same as there's plenty of convo here about who's minutes Andre gets. So here's a pulled out of my ass guesstimate for minutes for a run-of-the-mill low-stakes regular season game, and a blow-out game, as well as minutes by position for each player.
RUN-OF-THE-MILL REG SEASON GAME - non-blowout
---
Steph: 30 min PG:30
Dray: 30 min PF:20, C:10
Klay: 30 min SG:20, SF:10
Wiggs: 32 min SF:22, PF:10
JP: 32 min PG:18,SG:14
Loon: 20 min C:20
Wise: 18 min C:18
MM: 13 min SG:4,SF:9
JK: 13 min PF:12, SF:1
DDV: 10 min SG:10
JMG: 6 min PF:6
Andre: 6 min SF: 6
RUN-OF-THE-MILL REG SEASON GAME - blowout
---
Steph: 24 min PG:24
Dray: 24 min C:3,PF:21
Klay: 24 min SG:18,SF:6
Wiggs: 28 min PF:3
JP: 28 min PG:20,SG:8
Loon: 20 min C:20
Wise: 22 min C:22
MM: 22 min SG:10,SF:12
JK: 22 min C:3,PF:18,SF:1
DDV: 12 min SG:12
JMG: 6 min PF:6
PBJ: 4 SF:4
RR: 4 PG:4
I'd also expect Kerr to take advantage of the schedule to not only rest the regulars on back-to-backs, but also regularly give one of the big 3 a random rest day off, and let the other 2 play. In those games, there should be an extra 30 minutes to go to the bench for the appropriate spots.
Finally, assuming there's a regular season must-win game (eg. Christmas vs the Grizz), and assuming Andre is the better option:
Regular Season MUST-WIN game
Steph: 34 min PG:34
Dray: 34 min PF:22, C:12
Klay: 34 min SG:22, SF:12
Wiggs: 36 min SF:20, PF:16
JP: 36 min PG:14,SG:22
Loon: 22 min C:22
Wise: 14 min C: 14
MM: 6 min SF:6
JK: 10 min PF:10
DDV: 4 min SG:4
Andre: 10 min SF:10
MOST INTERESTING TAKEAWAY:
----
In Must win-games, Dray will play more minutes at Center, obviously squeezing Wiseman. But an interesting by-product of that is that Wiggs and JK will have to play PF during those minutes where Dray is playing Center. That means that Andre, if he is the best player among the bench squad will be pushing Moody's minutes more than JK's minutes. Basically, when the Dubs play small, JK has to play PF, unless Andre wants to bang around as PF in those minutes (which I doubt). So it's Moody's minutes as a 3 that Andre takes away, and Moody's minutes as a 2 that increased play from Steph/Klay/JP will take away. I guess you could make the argument that MM could play the 4 in small-ball - something like a JP, DDV, Andre, MM, Dray lineup, but that just seems ... odd.
What Dre's return means for the roster:
It effectively stalls out the competition for a full time roster spot. There's a very slight chance that one of the invites could impress enough to warrant signing them to the 15th roster spot. Last year, GP2 earned the 15th, but the team knew that it had a glaring hole in POA defense (and perhaps 3rd string ball-handler). They filled the POA defense role with GP2 and JP3 stepped up his ball-handling game to become 2nd-string PG while Chiozza stepped in for 3rd string ball-handling.
This year, there are no glaring holes that the roster needs. Perhaps wing depth, but that's what 2-ways are for. There's no rotation role available, and minutes will be scarce for the 12th and 13th roster spots (rooks), so any idea that a 15th man would earn meaningful minutes is silly.
So, realistically, I'd say there's less than a 3% chance that 15th spot gets filled before buyout season. However, the invites can still choose to be motivated by that 3%. Getting to the NBA is all about defying the odds against you, after all. So, TW or MmC have a choice to be demotivated or to fight for that 3% chance.
That being said, there are two 2-ways available. LQ is signed to one of them and QW has a QO for the other (I believe). I think QW will easily win any battle for one of the slots if he so chooses. And that would immediately fill the last remaining need on the roster (wing-depth). There is a small chance that he gets lured elsewhere and signs for a full roster spot, however. The remaining 2-way, I believe, is not LQ's. He may be signed to it right now, but things can change fairly quickly.
So, that's the real competition right there: Among two-way eligible players for the second 2-way slot. Mac McClung, if he chooses to settle for a 2-way, is eligible. LQ, obviously is a the nominal front-runner. Trevion Williams has a chance to win it out, as well. Remember that these guys are not only auditioning for a 2-way slot, but also for other teams who may be looking for a project for their remaining roster spots, too.
Does anyone know if any of the more recent roster invitees and signees are available to sign a two-way? My guess is at least a couple of them are eligible, so any that are can get thrown into the scrum for the two-way.
Vets that were invited to camp, but not eligible for a 2-way can be treated as roster filler for the spring training rosters. No doubt some of them, as well as those who don't end up securing that second 2-way slot will almost all be offered contracts with the Sea-Dubs. So, TW fans, don't despair. Even if he loses out the 2-way slot to LQ or MM, there's a good chance he stays connected with the team in SC. If he impresses there, the Dubs could very well decide to swap a 2-way contract to him, mid-season, to secure his rights.
Kinda hard NOT to juxtapose the Warriors' recent offseason announcements with the Celtics':
Warriors:
That young guy with a knee injury (Wiseman)? He's worked all offseason and he's ready to go! Those injured new guys we signed (PBJ, Rollins), they're fully ready for training camp! That old guy who spent a bunch of time on the bench (Iguodala)? He's coming back!
Celtics:
That young guy with a knee injury (Williams III)? Yeah... he needs surgery, gonna be out a while. That healthy new guy we signed (Gallo), he's injured and gonna miss the season. That old guy who spent a bunch of time on the bench (Udoka)? He's suspended (and probably fired)...
People saying that Iggy won't really be stealing minutes from the young guns are off base. Iggy himself said he wouldn't be coming back unless he got assurances that he would be playing, he didn't want to be a player coach. Also, last year when Iggy was healthy, he was getting a solid 20 mph which is reflective of Kerr's documented preference for vets and love of Iggy.
Therefore, let's be charitable and assume he's only playing 10 minutes per night at the SG/SF spot, that's 10 minutes per game taken away from Moody/Kuminga in the exact year we need them to showcase their games before Wiggins contract expires.
In the end though, I'm not too bothered. I think Kuminga/Moody will outplay Iggy by the end of the year. If they can't, that's probably reflective of an Iggy Renaissance which I will be happy about as well since that improves our title chances.
Totally OT: I use the name Dilly for my cat Dill who is 7 1/2 now. [His pic is my avatar.] He appeared in my world after I had spinal surgery when he was about 6 wks old. Chasing after a small kitten [that bonded with me immediately after I coaxed him out from under my car] was about all I could do at that point. He gave me joy & a reason to keep on going. He used one of his 9 lives yesterday [down to 6 now] after, apparently, getting into a fight with an interloper the night before. Defending his territory, he received multiple wounds on his legs [right was the worst] & belly. We made a flying trip to the vet yesterday morning, he spent the night and is now ready to go home. I called this morning to ask how he was doing & the response was: "He's pissed off to be in a cage." Sounded like good news to me.
Whoa, Matt Barnes hinting at some as-yet-unreported disturbing details of the Udoka story:
https://mobile.twitter.com/GangCeltics/status/1573363205468000256
Sounds like anyone who immediately rushed to Udoka’s defense (including Barnes, very cool of him to own up) may need to walk some things back.
Age 39 season deserves a new nickname. I nominate “IgOLDala” or “Iggy Pops”.
You guys are a bunch of sentimental fools. Ok ok I love Andre too!
WELCOME BACK ANDRE! THE CHAMP IS HERE! Can't wait to see #9 make his haters and detractors out there look real dumb for doubting his usefulness to this team this year. Great news on a Friday!
Well I'll be a contrarian and say "meh". Yea Andre's a good leader, but if the $20 million price tag means we don't get the key mid-season pickup I'll be really sad. And whose minutes will he be stealing? Moody's? I guess if it's just DDV who gets pushed down the minutes chart, then I won't complain too much.
Last season he played 61 minutes in the playoffs. Do we expect more this year?
Now I will go run and hide under a rock and when Andre is awesome this year I will weep at the sounds of all the "I told you so" shouts raining down on me.
I'm fucking thrilled that Iguodala is back, and also that he made it clear that this is his last season so I know to savor every minute that a franchise legend has left on the court.