Dub Hub: Draymond Green believes the Warriors can win two more championships

Rounding up all Warriors and NBA related news for Wednesday, September 13th.

Warriors News:

Warriors’ Draymond Green faces ‘one of the most important years of my career’ | ESPN

But Green is thinking why stop there? With the right players, more experience and better chemistry, Green believes the Golden State trio can even equal Michael Jordan’s six titles.

“I don’t like to necessarily put a number on things,” Green told ESPN. “But I don’t see why we can’t get two more championships. Why not?”

There are hurdles that can stop the Warriors. While Curry can still play at an MVP level and Thompson is determined to return to his pre-injury form, Green knows much will be riding on his shoulders. He wants to make amends for last season’s failure, which he knows he played a part in when the Poole punch fractured team chemistry. And the fiery forward has to put any past bitterness between him and Paul behind them to get the Warriors back to the top.

“I look at this as one of the most important years of my career,” said Green, who is entering his 12th season. “... It’s not to redeem anything about Draymond. My goal is that we can help Chris Paul get his first championship.”

Crafting the best Team USA roster for the 2024 Olympics in Paris | ESPN

Point guard: Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors

We’ve never really seen peak Curry on the international stage. He played for the U.S. in the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, the latter the summer before emerging as an MVP and NBA champion. At 6-foot-2, Curry is on the small side for a switch-heavy defense and not exactly the pass-first distributor the best USA teams have featured at point guard. Yet, the threat of his shooting from the shorter FIBA 3-point line makes Curry a no-brainer choice.

Rookie Brandin Podziemski works out with Steph Curry and others

NBA top 100 player rankings: Nikola Jokic, Stephen Curry, Giannis eye No. 1; LeBron James falls out of top 10 | CBS Sports

73. Chris Paul

Last year’s rank: 18. Paul put together his least efficient scoring season last year since he was a rookie. He’s not going to dominate a game for 40 minutes anymore. The days of him getting whatever shots he wants for himself or a teammate are over. But he can still do it in stretches, and he’s now playing with the two best shooters and off-ball movers in history in Golden State. He’s going to have a lot of space to work in, which should make that snake dribble pull-up all the more effective. Keep an eye on Paul’s chemistry with Jonathan Kuminga; that could end up being a money pick-and-roll combination for the Warriors. — Botkin

Steph Curry tells the story behind his iconic purple Curry 4 Flotros in the 2022 NBA Finals

NBA News:

OKC unveils plan for new arena to keep Thunder through 2050 | ESPN

“As this very public discussion played out over the last year, the people of Oklahoma City have overwhelmingly expressed to me two desires — (1) keep the Thunder for as long as possible, and (2) don’t raise taxes if it can be avoided. We have accomplished those two priorities with this plan, and it is truly a win-win for all of us,” Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt said in the news release.

“Perhaps the most important aspect of the deal is the length — this is twice the commitment we received in 2008 and will keep the Thunder here beyond 2050. My children will be my age when this agreement ends. For a generation, we will retain the economic impact and quality-of-life benefits we have enjoyed as a big-league City. It is an investment that pays for itself many times over.”

Clippers owner Steve Balmer breaks down the new features of the Intuit Dome | Podcast P Show

Giannis Antetokounmpo reveals plans to work out with Hakeem Olajuwon | NBA

Appearing on the 48 Minutes podcast, Antetokounmpo spoke about his admiration for Olajuwon and expressed his excitement to learn from one of his childhood idols.

“This season for the training camp I have a trip that I’m going to go down to Houston and try to work out with Hakeem Olajuwon,” Antetokounmpo said. “I love his game and if I can kind of take a few things from his game or learn anything from the few days I’m going to spend with him it’s going to be a blessing.”

Kevin Porter Jr. deserves whatever he gets | SB Nation

Do not make excuses for Kevin Porter Jr. Nothing excuses this. A difficult upbringing? Edmund Kemper had a difficult upbringing. He is a monster.

Am I being hyperbolic? I’m not sure. Are you 100% sure that Porter Jr. is incapable of murder? Can you conceive of choking a woman so hard that you break her vertebrae? Of punching a woman in the face repeatedly? I bet you can’t. So let’s not pretend to be able to delve into the psyche of somebody who did that.

Let’s be clear: he did that. Her vertebrae are broken. So no, we don’t need to “wait until all of the details emerge”. We have all of the details we need.

In case you missed it at Golden State of Mind:

Steve Kerr and Team USA outgunned by Canada as they return home empty-handed

Team USA banked on another gamble when it came to defending Canada: hide one of their smaller defenders (Reaves and Brunson) on Brooks and let him take the shots that come to him.

The result of the gamble? Brooks scoring 39 points 5/10 shooting on twos (50%) and a scorching 7/8 clip on threes (87.5%).

It came to a point where Brooks was commanding hard closeouts — the kind that the likes of Curry and Klay Thompson get — from Team USA.

The Canadians took advantage of that by having Brooks be the corner spacer in half-court sets, where the threat of his shooting would be used to get him looks at the rim.

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