Ex-Warriors Big Man Joins Western Conference Rival

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Tristan Thompson #13 of the Cleveland Cavaliers and JaVale McGee #1 of the Golden State Warriors compete for the ball during Game Four of the 2018 NBA Finals.

Javale McGee isn’t re-joining the Golden State Warriors after all.

McGee, who was part of the Warriors’ two championship runs, will join the Sacramento Kings, their new Western Conference rivals, instead, according to Bleacher Report/NBA on TNT’s Chris Haynes.

McGee was recently stretched and waived by the Dallas Mavericks after he did not pan out as they hoped, even with his forged relationship with their coach, Jason Kidd, at the Orlando bubble during the Los Angeles Lakers championship run.

The 7-foot-center is expected to bring a veteran presence to a young Kings team that pushed the Warriors to seven games in the first round last season.

McGee appeared in only 47 games last season with the Mavericks, averaging 4.4 points and 2.5 rebounds. He averaged 5.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.9 blocks in eight NBA Finals game appearances with the Warriors during the 2016-17 and 2-17-18 seasons.

Klay Thompson Will Seriously Consider Playing for Bahamas

Warriors star forward Klay Thompson will seriously consider playing for the Bahamas, his father’s home country, starting in the Olympic qualifying tournament next summer.

“When that time comes, I’ll give it serious consideration just because of what the Bahamas has meant to the Thompson family, especially my father,” Thompson told Manila reporters during his Asian Tour for sportswear brand Anta in the Philippines.

The Bahamas recently made history after beating Argentina twice to earn a shot at qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

His father, Mychal Thompson, is a Bahamian who was selected as the No. 1 pick in the 1978 NBA Draft and later starred for the Warriors’ present-day rival Los Angeles Lakers.

But there will be obstacles Thompson and the Bahamas need to hurdle since he already played at the senior level in FIBA tournaments with Team USA, winning golds in the 2014 FIBA World Cup and 2016 Rio Olympics.

The Bahamas can invoke the FIBA eligibility exception, which they did with Gordon, who already won a gold with Team USA in the 2010 FIBA World Cup. But if Thompson gets clearance from USA Basketball and FIBA to play for the Bahamas, the rising basketball power will have to choose between him and Gordon.

Chris Paul Expected to Elevate Warriors’ Young Players

Warriors superstar Stephen Curry expects Chris Paul to elevate their young players’ play, including Quiñones’, as they go for their fifth NBA title in eight years.

“There’s a lot of excitement for us like we want to talk about strict X and O’s,” Curry said on the Gil’s Arena podcast. “He connects a lot of lineups for us in terms of being able to help some of the young guys figure out what it means to play winning basketball and be in the right spots. He’s obviously a great leader in terms of his communication, like he’s going to get on you. He’s going to over-communicate and we need that.”

Paul had already linked with Jonathan Kuminga, who declared he’s ready for his breakout season.

“I’ve already seen him helping JK (Kuminga) how to help run the pick and roll, where to be, giving him confidence in those types of scenarios, so that’ll help us in terms of trying to be more cohesive when I’m on the floor, when I’m off [the floor] and Klay [Thompson] being able to run off the ball if [Paul] is running the point,” Curry added.

Alder Almo is a basketball journalist covering the New York Knicks and Golden State Warirors for Heavy. He has more than 15 years of experience in local and international media, including broadcast, print and digital. He previously covered the Knicks for Empire Sports Media and the NBA for Off the Glass. Alder is from the Philippines and is now based in Jersey City, New Jersey. More about Alder Almo