Rising star NBA photographer Jordan Jimenez (@__jsquared on Instagram) released pictures of a scrimmage involving Stephen Curry and other Warriors players including Eric Paschall, Kevon Looney, Marquese Chriss, Ky Bowman, and Juan Toscano-Anderson this morning.
The post also includes Jeremy Lin in a solo shot and, for good measure, a source confirms to me that Lin was, indeed, at the pickup run last week which was held in San Francisco — it’s actually quite easy to figure out which gym.
Here is our slideshow rendition of Jimenez’s captures:
These runs are, of course, not organized by the Golden State Warriors (they aren’t allowed to do that, being it is the off-season) and are put together by the players themselves. I’ve also been told that each person on the court was tested and tested negative before entering the gym.
Curry’s personal trainer, Coach Brandon Payne, has informed me in the past that every workout Curry participates in involves some sort of testing as well as masks, so you can rest assured that the risks for catching COVID-19 at this scrimmage was low. Check out our Curry workout playlist for more of those. He’s been working out near his house in Atherton (Portola Valley, to be exact).
Now, as for Lin coming all the way up to the Bay Area for this run? There was a report originating from Chinese website Weixin that the Warriors were one of a handful or so of teams interested in signing Lin as a free agent:
Lin was also seen before this scrimmage in LA, in a pickup run with Klay Thompson and a group organized by one of Klay’s trainers down there, Jordan Lawley:
So let the speculation begin. Was the sheer amount of talent present in SF enough for Lin to make a special trip here, away from the usual basketball hotbed of LA, where Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins are also training?
By the way, I’m also told that Lin is back in LA at the moment, “until next week”.
Or did Lin want to get a jumpstart on meshing with the Warriors and is his signing basically a done deal? Check out all the recent transaction dates the NBA has announced. You’d figure verbal contact and all of that backstage stuff with trades has to have already occurred, no matter what the semantics tell you. That’s just how trades go down in the NBA; it’s not like Bob Myers or any of the 29 other GMs start making their first phone calls to potential signees on the “official” start of free agency.
Here’s some footage of Wiggins working out in LA:
Here’s Draymond:
There’s one new video of Green coming soon, as the clips are already on my phone ready to be compiled as one. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the notification bell so as not to miss out on any of these. Often times, like the “Lin x Klay” video, I just break news via video and not so much written out like this.
I also want to remind people that we have a private Discord server right now, free for subscribers to this website. Please DM me on Twitter for access. If you’re not a subscriber, we can add you as well, but please be forewarned that you have to have demonstrated good social media citizenship!
And we’ve got some exciting news coming up regarding our Draft coverage, tidbits of which are always pinged onto the Discord first. We have a special guest who is close with Curry coming onboard for our YouTube Live during the Draft!
Myers will also do an official Q&A tomorrow and we’ll do a live chat on Discord too.
More 2020 NBA Draft views including James Wiseman and Anthony Edwards are in our playlist.
For years I said that someone should do some actual reporting on why Ariza left after 2018 because it felt fishy that it would just be as simple as "money".
Lo and behold, from Shams today:
"Former teammates have described the culture in Houston as problematic, sources said, highlighting a situation that caters far too much to its stars. One example cited was the case of Trevor Ariza, who left the team in 2018 in search of more money, but also more respect, sources said. The Rockets attempted to bring him back down the line but Ariza, sources said, was seeking an apology that never came."
If one is a subscriber to the site who does not have a twitter account nor any interest in having one, is it still possible to get access to the discord server?
Lin would be a great backup PG. And I think the warriors have a way with people rejuvenating their careers while with the warriors and I know Lin is hungry. So this might work out well. Thinking if we pick up Wiseman, Lin would have a great roll guy to work with shooters/slashers around him in the second unit.
MICHEAL CARTER WILLIAMS. 6'6 pg. Look i know uve been doing this for many years but if u dont know at twhis point that small PGs , defensive liabilities cant win championships then idk what to say. Celtics lost mostly because of kemba. And they wont win anything till they get rid of him. Its that simple.. forget about bay area's affiliation to jeremy lin. He is a playoff disaster waiting to happen. See how cook couldnt guard anybody in 2019 playoffs. Its thar simple.. Linsanity is insanity for the warriors..
One complicating factor here is also that the Raptors backup, Fred VanFleet, was incredible. I'm with Rich (haven't really paid attention to Lin's game lately), but a little less skeptical because of Lin's knee and lower leg issues. In other words, it's complicated, but you're right that if he can't defend like he used to then it's a much less intriguing signing.
On size: I'd say he's just a normal size. Listed at around 6'3" (just like Steph), you can't really call him a "small" PG.
Final thought is that with Vet Min players, we are going to have to accept some concessions - you don't get flawless backup players on a minimum contract. MCW is a fine option, but he may end up getting something closer to MLE after his play in the bubble.
Lin is smaller than steph.lin is like 6' 1 max.. lets face it..he cant defend anymore and just dont do it. Dont waste another year of steph's career. Lin isnt what we need just like smailagic..we need guys that can really play.
Lol Jeremy ain’t the size of Kemba. So if GSW doesn’t get MCW, you’re mad? That’s a very short list for that vet min backup pg. Also idk, I remember one of Lin’s strengths was his defense at Harvard, but I didn’t watch him much at TOR so I can’t agree or disagree on your assessment of him playing bad D at TOR in 2019.
His offense is worse than kemba and his defense is just as bad. Warriors were able to win because shawn the back up PG was 6'7..we need another long PG. I'll rather have mcw than Lin
I haven’t watched enough of Lin the last couple of years to have any feelIng for how much he has left in the tank, but we’re sure going to need some budget veteran help going forward. If his past skill set is any way still viable, he’d certainly fit the bill in many ways.
His numbers in China were good (Pts 22.3 · Reb 5.7 · Ast 5.6 · Eff 23.5) and he lead the team to the Semi-Finals. While his athleticism is not where it used to be, his timing and pace have never been better (think Steve Nash). Noticeably, the form of his jumper (3-point shot in particular) has evolved, it's earlier and way more effortless. Likely due to the task of being a volumes scorer. He was also a defensive player of the year candidate in China. Although the CBA is nowhere near the NBA in terms of competition, the things that he do best, like drawing charges, should still translate to the NBA. If the Warriors pick him up, he should slide into that Shaun Livingston role nicely. My prediction is a solid 20-23 minutes off the bench with 12pts 3reb 4ast.
on 33% from deep last year in china; NBA career mark is about 34% - but look at his last few years in the league (29%, 33%, 20%) and it looks a little worrying.
But this gets back into what I was telling Slim, you simply cannot expect to get a player on an NBA minimum salary contract without some flaws. At a minimum, I'd want Lin brought into camp just to see if he can outplay Lee or even Mulder.
Lin worth a non-guaranteed training camp invite. Not worth extending an actual offer right now, given how few slots we have. He'd be a great commercial/ cash generating decision (sell those homecoming jerseys!), but less so for basketball, given his repeated injury issues of late. As mentioned above, MCW would probs be the best option at vet min. Shabazz Napier and DJ Augustin also better options. I'm also of the view that Dubs don't need a proper "back up PG", as much as just wings who can pass within our system. One of Dray/Steph/Wiggins/Poole is fine to initiate the offence. We don't play heavy PnR anyway, so a backup PG is mostly not worth it (unless it's a MCW type who can defend multiple positions).
Yeah if someone locks him down w a guaranteed, I don't think it's a big loss for us (at least for non-commercial bball reasons). He's adequate when he's healthy, but accounting for a holistic picture, he's only a replacement level vet min at this point. He's not the guy he once was.
Lin has improved his shot release greatly over the past year. Go to his Instagram, maybe there's a post showing it. He has posted stuff on IG stories (which expire after 24 hours unfortunately).
For years I said that someone should do some actual reporting on why Ariza left after 2018 because it felt fishy that it would just be as simple as "money".
Lo and behold, from Shams today:
"Former teammates have described the culture in Houston as problematic, sources said, highlighting a situation that caters far too much to its stars. One example cited was the case of Trevor Ariza, who left the team in 2018 in search of more money, but also more respect, sources said. The Rockets attempted to bring him back down the line but Ariza, sources said, was seeking an apology that never came."
If one is a subscriber to the site who does not have a twitter account nor any interest in having one, is it still possible to get access to the discord server?
Cool. Can you email me at rich@letsgowarriors.com?
Lin would be a great backup PG. And I think the warriors have a way with people rejuvenating their careers while with the warriors and I know Lin is hungry. So this might work out well. Thinking if we pick up Wiseman, Lin would have a great roll guy to work with shooters/slashers around him in the second unit.
Has he improvedhis defense? Who wants a backup PG who gets cooked all the time. Couldnt even get minutes on the raptors cos his defense was horrible
Harden? is that you? or Melo ?
Alright, then name some backup pg’s with stronger defense that the Warriors can sign for the vet min?
MICHEAL CARTER WILLIAMS. 6'6 pg. Look i know uve been doing this for many years but if u dont know at twhis point that small PGs , defensive liabilities cant win championships then idk what to say. Celtics lost mostly because of kemba. And they wont win anything till they get rid of him. Its that simple.. forget about bay area's affiliation to jeremy lin. He is a playoff disaster waiting to happen. See how cook couldnt guard anybody in 2019 playoffs. Its thar simple.. Linsanity is insanity for the warriors..
One complicating factor here is also that the Raptors backup, Fred VanFleet, was incredible. I'm with Rich (haven't really paid attention to Lin's game lately), but a little less skeptical because of Lin's knee and lower leg issues. In other words, it's complicated, but you're right that if he can't defend like he used to then it's a much less intriguing signing.
On size: I'd say he's just a normal size. Listed at around 6'3" (just like Steph), you can't really call him a "small" PG.
Final thought is that with Vet Min players, we are going to have to accept some concessions - you don't get flawless backup players on a minimum contract. MCW is a fine option, but he may end up getting something closer to MLE after his play in the bubble.
Lin is smaller than steph.lin is like 6' 1 max.. lets face it..he cant defend anymore and just dont do it. Dont waste another year of steph's career. Lin isnt what we need just like smailagic..we need guys that can really play.
"guys that can really play" on a minimum contract? Something's gotta give there because you aren't getting flawless players at that price point.
And not that two inches is a huge deal, but I have personally stood right next to Curry. I can assure that he's over 6'1. I'm about 6'2" and Steph was taller than me (though when I met him in his rookie year that wasn't the case). Check out this pic here: https://www.nba.com/warriors/video/teams/warriors/2017/01/24/1485301794652-cny-1617-1164490
I thought they weren't really together in that video, but instead combined via green screen tech
Lol Jeremy ain’t the size of Kemba. So if GSW doesn’t get MCW, you’re mad? That’s a very short list for that vet min backup pg. Also idk, I remember one of Lin’s strengths was his defense at Harvard, but I didn’t watch him much at TOR so I can’t agree or disagree on your assessment of him playing bad D at TOR in 2019.
Harvard was like 9-10 yrs ago. Im sure i can be evaluated based on what i did 10yrs ago
His offense is worse than kemba and his defense is just as bad. Warriors were able to win because shawn the back up PG was 6'7..we need another long PG. I'll rather have mcw than Lin
I miss s•
FWIW, Lin just went to Vegas to scrimmage with KD and Kyrie. https://twitter.com/penny10654/status/1326345434168659973?s=19
I haven’t watched enough of Lin the last couple of years to have any feelIng for how much he has left in the tank, but we’re sure going to need some budget veteran help going forward. If his past skill set is any way still viable, he’d certainly fit the bill in many ways.
His numbers in China were good (Pts 22.3 · Reb 5.7 · Ast 5.6 · Eff 23.5) and he lead the team to the Semi-Finals. While his athleticism is not where it used to be, his timing and pace have never been better (think Steve Nash). Noticeably, the form of his jumper (3-point shot in particular) has evolved, it's earlier and way more effortless. Likely due to the task of being a volumes scorer. He was also a defensive player of the year candidate in China. Although the CBA is nowhere near the NBA in terms of competition, the things that he do best, like drawing charges, should still translate to the NBA. If the Warriors pick him up, he should slide into that Shaun Livingston role nicely. My prediction is a solid 20-23 minutes off the bench with 12pts 3reb 4ast.
on 33% from deep last year in china; NBA career mark is about 34% - but look at his last few years in the league (29%, 33%, 20%) and it looks a little worrying.
But this gets back into what I was telling Slim, you simply cannot expect to get a player on an NBA minimum salary contract without some flaws. At a minimum, I'd want Lin brought into camp just to see if he can outplay Lee or even Mulder.
In fairness, that 20% 3pt shooting was a pretty small sample size; 55 attempts in 23 games
Lin worth a non-guaranteed training camp invite. Not worth extending an actual offer right now, given how few slots we have. He'd be a great commercial/ cash generating decision (sell those homecoming jerseys!), but less so for basketball, given his repeated injury issues of late. As mentioned above, MCW would probs be the best option at vet min. Shabazz Napier and DJ Augustin also better options. I'm also of the view that Dubs don't need a proper "back up PG", as much as just wings who can pass within our system. One of Dray/Steph/Wiggins/Poole is fine to initiate the offence. We don't play heavy PnR anyway, so a backup PG is mostly not worth it (unless it's a MCW type who can defend multiple positions).
There’s 3-6 teams considering Lin. I think he’ll get something better than a training camp invite lol.
Yeah if someone locks him down w a guaranteed, I don't think it's a big loss for us (at least for non-commercial bball reasons). He's adequate when he's healthy, but accounting for a holistic picture, he's only a replacement level vet min at this point. He's not the guy he once was.
Lin has improved his shot release greatly over the past year. Go to his Instagram, maybe there's a post showing it. He has posted stuff on IG stories (which expire after 24 hours unfortunately).