Kerr talks Thompson’s injury, Oubre’s fit, getting back in mix
It happened minutes after Steve Kerr showed up at Chase Center ready to make a draft pick for which he and the rest of the Warriors had spent months preparing. “Bob gets a call,” he said, “and he just looks like he’s seen a ghost.”
That afternoon, Nov. 18, during a pickup game in Los Angeles, Klay Thompson suffered a right Achilles tendon tear that will force him to miss his second straight season. His agent, Greg Lawrence, called Warriors general manager Bob Myers, and Myers relayed the information to the rest of the staff assembled in the team’s draft night “war room” in San Francisco.
“We were all just in shock,” Kerr said in a phone interview. “Once we got the news, we got on the phone with Klay and talked to him for 5 or 10 minutes. As you might expect, he was devastated — as were all of us.”
Suddenly, with the team on the brink of a pivotal offseason, everything changed. That night they drafted James Wiseman, a 7-foot center bursting with potential, with the No. 2 pick. Within 24 hours, owner Joe
Lacob signed off on trading for Kelly Oubre Jr., adding a $14 million contract to one of the most expensive payrolls in the NBA. Within a few more days, Myers filled out the rest of the roster with free agents Kent Bazemore and Brad Wanamaker.
None of that is likely enough to turn the Warriors into a title contender — as they were widely considered with a healthy Thompson — but they will be better than their 15- 50 record last season. This week, Kerr talked to me about Thompson’s latest setback, Wiseman’s potential and his expectations for the season.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and brevity.
Q: What was going through your mind when you heard about Klay’s injury?
A: Very few people I know have ever gone through what Klay is going through right now. It’s hard for me to relate and we all know how much Klay loves basketball. So it’s just, it’s just brutal. It’s one of the saddest injuries that I’ve ever been around.
Q: This has got to be gutting for you as a coach, too
: Klay is one of the very best two-way players in the NBA. Everybody knows about his shooting and his scoring, but his defense over the years has been one of the keys to our championships. Guarding the ball, whether it’s (James) Harden or Kyrie (Irving) or LeBron (James) in the playoffs. Switching from Kyrie onto Kevin Love and us not having to double — nobody does that. Looking to this season, we factored all that into what we were looking to do as a staff, what we’re looking to implement. And offensively all of his movement and the floor spacing. What he and Steph both do with their shooting, both on and off ball, it’s been the basis of everything we’ve done offensively over the years. So really, really devastating. Obviously first and foremost for Klay, but for us too as an organization and as a staff. So now we got to readjust the plans and figure out what we’re going to do.
Q: You went ahead and drafted James Wiseman at No. 2, Kelly Oubre always made sense as a trade exception target given his salary. As far as roster construction, did the injury really change anything?
A: It 100% triggered the Oubre trade. I’m not sure we were going to use the TPE if Klay had been healthy. It was more likely that we would.have used the mid-level A exception, maybe split it up. That’s what we were talking about anyway. We’re looking at a very interesting team that has a chance to be elite defensively. We’ve got tremendous length across the starting lineup and it really gives us a lot of flexibility to switch, to try some different things defensively, to be aggressive and trap, maybe do some things we haven’t done as much of over the years.
Q: Going back to Joe signing off on the Oubre trade, did that provide a needed boost of morale to the organization?
A: Oh, definitely boosted morale. Everybody was so down with Klay’s injury so to be able
to add Kelly so quickly was definitely a boost for all of us. And it was a reminder that Joe never fails to improve the team at any cost. He’s one of the best owners in the league because of his commitment to winning, his vision, and there’s no question where he stands year after year.
Q: Since February you’ve added Wiggins, Oubre and Wiseman and now you guys are much longer and faster and more athletic. How do you think that’s going to impact the way you play offensively?
A: That’s what we have to figure out. Klay’s injury changes things pretty dramatically in terms of just the movement and the attention that the defense has to pay. So we’re probably looking at our opponents really packing the paint more and forcing us to shoot from the outside. We’ve got capable shooters but, by 2020 standards, this is not a modern 3-point shooting roster. It’s up to us as a staff to figure out how to account for that. I think the addition of Brad Wanamaker and Kent Bazemore will help on that front. Both guys can make plays off the dribble and also spot up and make 3s, which is helpful. I think Jordan Poole and the work that he’s put in over the summer has been really impressive and he’ll have a chance to show what he can do. Same with Da
mion Lee and Mychal Mulder — those guys are shooters. Eric Paschall has worked really hard on his shot. So these guys will all get a chance to step up and make shots and we’re going to need them to do so.
Q: Then at center, Looney went into last season shooting 3-pointers. Chriss has experience. Wiseman has worked on it. Are they going to be empowered to shoot 3s? Is that something you want to see early on?
A: Yeah. They shoot 3s every day in practice and scrimmages. It’s a different deal though to get comfortable shooting them in games and I think that’s part of this year. We want both of them to get to that point. And we will be working on the same thing with Wiseman.
Q: A lot has been made of Wiseman’s workout in Miami. What stood out to you in that workout, and then later that night at dinner?
A: His size, athleticism, the skill. He’s the complete package. You just rarely see all that. James is a very coordinated player, he’s got massive hands, dunks the ball with either hand, easily palms the ball, so he should be a great finisher on rolls and offensive rebounds. He’s shown the ability to make perimeter shots. All in all, the potential is there. But he’s 19 and he didn’t even play a college season, so we’ve got a big job on our hands in terms of developing him. What we found out at dinner later that night is that we really are impressed by his character and his willingness to work and his desire to be great.
Q: Was he at the top of your board even before the meeting?
A: We’ve always played with centers here. There’s been a lot of transition towards small ball in the NBA and we’ve embraced that too, playing Draymond at the 5, and that’s been one of our best lineups, but we totally believe that there’s still a place for the modern big. If you can run the floor, block shots and have great athleticism, you’re going to impact the game even today with all the 3-point shooting. All you have to do is watch the final four teams in the playoffs to see.
Q: With Klay missing his second straight year, does Steph have more pressure?
A: Steph is a two-time MVP, he’s one of the great players in the league and he’s still in his prime. All Steph has to do is play. I’m not going to go to him and tell him, ‘ You need to do this more, you need to take on a bigger burden.’ I don’t need to tell him any of that. He’s going to take any shot he wants because he’s the greatest shooter I’ve ever seen and our offense is predicated on his ability to shoot off pick
and-roll or hit Draymond in the pocket or come off the ball and play as a guy coming off screens and causing havoc away from the ball. None of that changes.
Q: Steph and Draymond feed off the fans. How do you think those guys will react to not having fans in the arena at least for the start of the season?
A: We’d all much prefer to have fans in the stands to help generate the energy and the emotion that you need in a game, so we’re going to miss that, but every team is in the same boat. What’s important is really finding the motivation from within, loving the game, loving the preparation and loving the competition. And we have guys who embody that.
Q: Are you concerned at all by the shortened season since you haven’t played in so long?
A: Not only have we not played in nine months but we’ve never played together, and it takes time for a team to come together. It’s not like it’s a 50-game season. Seventytwo is still quite a bit and I’m confident that over the course of the season we’re going to find a good groove, we’re going to find the right combinations and the right style to play and I’m excited about the season.
Q: Last year you told me you got a sense in training camp that it was going to be a rebuilding year. I know it’s not training camp yet, but what are your expectations for the season?
A: We want to be a playoff team and constantly grow and get better because we’re so new to each other. We’re fully aware of how strong the West is, and not just at the top. There’s never a night off so we got our hands full. But we have enough to be in the mix. If we can do that and get some better fortune along the way than we’ve had over the last year-and-a-half, we have a chance to make some noise.