Inside: Looney out, to see specialists.
OKLAHOMA CITY >> The Warriors center rotation took another hit Saturday, as Kevon Looney will miss the next two games, and probably more, with further complications with his hamstring.
Looney, who did not play in the second half of Thursday’s game against the Clippers due to right hamstring tightness, has been ruled out for the team’s current two-game road trip to Oklahoma City and New Orleans as he deals with a condition that has delayed his recovery. He sat out the entire preseason with a strain to the same hamstring.
Instead, Looney will see a team of specialists to evaluate the on-going presence of what the organization is calling a “neuropathic condition” that has a direct correlation to his recent injury, according to the team.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Looney has been dealing with the condition for a couple of years and has been able to play through it, but that this is a unique case effecting his hamstring. “His hamstring is sound, the MRI is clean, but it makes it trickier actually that it’s neuropathic,” Kerr said.
Neuropathic pain is chronic pain resulting from injury to the nervous system. While the condition is considered common, it is notoriously difficult to treat. Looney, 23, has dealt with lower body injuries throughout his five-year career, including to his hip.
“He’s one of my favorite guys I’ve ever coached because he’s not just low maintenance, he’s zero maintenance,” Kerr said. “You just want a guy like that to flourish and he should be entering the prime of his career. Hopefully he’s got many years ahead of him.”
The injury puts the Warriors in a tough spot going forward. Without Looney, Willie Cauley-stein (foot) and Alen Smailagic (ankle), the team is down to forwards Marquese Chriss and Omari Spellman to fill minutes at center. Neither is considered a natural center, though Chriss has played well since joining the team in training camp.
“Loon, he knows what he’s doing out there, he knows where to be, he’s been with us for a long time and been in some pretty high-intensity games,” said guard Stephen Curry. “Those other guys have to step up in his absence.”
Making things more difficult are the centers waiting for the Warriors on the schedule. The Thunder’s Steven Adams and the Pelicans’ Derrick Favors are experienced, skilled centers with a knack for rebounding. In addition, giving up points in the paint has been an issue for the Warriors since the preseason began.
“We really just have to use our speed to our advantage and try to put pressure on the ball as much as we can, and not let the ball get in the paint as easily as we did against the Clippers to give ourselves a chance to defend,” Curry said. “That’s important when you don’t have as much size as you’d like.”
DEADLINE ON SPELLMAN COMING UP >> In July, a year after selecting him with the 30th pick in the draft, the Atlanta Hawks traded Spellman to the Warriors.
Spellman felt he wore out his welcome in Atlanta after just one season. “I was in a rut before I even got traded,” Spellman said. “They didn’t really want to deal with it.”
It was the way Spellman’s rut manifested itself that turned the Hawks away. When Spellman showed up to Las Vegas Summer League overweight at 315 pounds, the organization decided enough was enough.
Spellman, 22, was upset when the Hawks traded him but recognized that the
Warriors represented an opportunity for him to establish his NBA career. This week will show how much the Warriors are committed to Spellman beyond this season.
Thursday is the last day the team can exercise team options on the rookie scale contracts of former firstround picks. All the players whose options will be picked up or declined by Oct. 31 are already under contract for the 201920 season. The team’s decision is whether it wants to lock in those players’ contracts for the 2020-21 campaign. For the Warriors, that includes second-year guard Jacob Evans and Spellman.
The Warriors traded center Damian Jones and a future second-round pick for Spellman. While the deal was primarily a cost-cutting move, the secondyear forward had an opportunity to earn a role in training camp and the preseason. With injuries, Spellman started the first game of the preseason.
After coming off the bench in the ensuring exhibitions, Spellman averaged 6.5 rebounds, 4.3 points, 1.5 assists and 0.5 blocks in 17.1 minutes per game. He’s lost more than 40 pounds since the start of camp.
The preseason offered flashes for Spellman, but he ultimately lost status to forward Chriss. After playing 23 minutes in the first preseason game, Spellman logged 19, nine and 17 minutes in the next three. In the regular-season opener, Spellman finished with eight points and five rebounds in 11 minutes.
He will have just four regular season games under his belt by the time the Warriors have to make a decision on his third-year option.