We have that and more in Sunday’s NBA newsletter.
We interrupt this NBA Finals series to bring you some commentary on one of the more interesting free agents this summer, Kemba Walker. Walker, you may recall, was named to the third team All-NBA a week ago. That makes him eligible to receive a gargantuan super-max deal from the Charlotte Hornets this summer. Walker told The Athletic’s Jared Weiss that Charlotte is “definitely: his “first priority” in free agency, which doesn’t indicate necessarily that he will re-sign with the Hornets, but it certainly makes that seem like the most likely scenario.
If the Hornets offer him the super-max, which perhaps isn’t a foregone conclusion.
The deal would be five years, $221 million. Charlotte needs Walker, the best player in franchise history. But the Hornets also need to be realistic about whether paying Walker all that money will make it possible to build a competitive team around him. Of course, the Hornets have been unable to build a competitive team around him at a much lower salary number mostly due to free agency and trade and NBA draft mistakes. Fixing those mistakes would be a good first step, and having Walker on board would allow the Hornets to potentially take advantage of success elsewhere on the roster.
You don’t win anything by letting free agents walk, and so Charlotte needs to be careful about trying to convince Kemba to take anything less than the super-max lest they kill the goodwill and send him checkin in on his second, third, and fourth priorities. But if keeping Walker ends up being easier than envisioned, it’s time to focus on the rest of the roster and try to find ways to make sense of it.
Pressure Test
A pressure test is when you apply high pressure to some sort of structure to see if it will hold, to see if it can withstand high levels of stress. Game 1 was a pressure test for these Warriors. They lost the game, but passed the test. They didn’t crack. They didn’t warp. They remain sound.
That’s my takeaway, at least, from Paul Flannery’s Sunday Shootaround from Toronto, where the Warriors indicate they are actually excited for the challenge of trying to figure out how to beat the Raptors.
The pressure test, of course, might not be over. I feel like I’m of the few who picked Toronto who actually thinks Game 1 was really, really encouraging beyond just getting the win at home (an essential element in just ensuring you don’t get embarrassed in the series). How Toronto played is exactly how they have to in order to beat the incredible Warriors; that they were able to execute without a ton of resistance seems like a marvelous sign.
If they do it again, that’s when we’ll see how secure the Warriors are in themselves. Nothing to worry about so far. But the pressure’s only going to rise.
Links
Game 2 is on Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
Zach Lowe sits down with Draymond Green to analyze 10 plays from the postseason and get into the star’s head.
Michael Pina on how the Raptors’ defense is built to stop the Warriors.
Michael Grange on the man behind the load management of Kawhi Leonard.
How Pascal Siakam’s epic Game 1 made life easier going forward for his teammates.
Alex Wong on whether insecure Raptors fans are finally ready to turn the page.
An argument from Matt Ellentuck that the Game 1 loss doesn’t prove that the Warriors need Kevin Durant.
The NBA hit Doc Rivers with a $50,000 fine for talking about Kawhi. I really don’t think saying “Player X is hella good” should be a fineable offense. Getting caught talking to his agent about him? Sure. Stating the obvious in front of a mic? Come on.
Darius Bazley had the weirdest path to the NBA Draft: Syracuse commit, then G League prospect, then guy who just took a shoe contract and worked out all year. That strange path about to be tested.
How the Raptors slowed down Steph Curry.
Rodger Sherman ranks the Warriors’ randos.
And finally: Drake and Draymond Green, who trolled each other at the end of Game 1, had dinner the next night. No beef on the menu, I guess.
Be excellent to each other.