NBA Rumors: Latest Buzz on Warriors, Pacers' Victor Oladipo, LaMelo Ball

Dating back to the 2014-15 season, the Golden State Warriors have been the NBA's most dominant franchise. They have been to the Finals every single season and have won three of the past five titles. However, injuries caused that reign to reach its endpoint—at least for now.

In a season with no Klay Thompson and only a brief glimpse of Stephen Curry, the Warriors have been the league's worst team. Golden State has an NBA-low 18 wins and a good shot at earning a lottery draft selection.

Fortunately, though, the Warriors are in a good position to rebound next season. Presumably, they will have a healthy Thompson back in the lineup alongside Curry, Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins and a rookie first-rounder.

That draft pick could be a point guard like LaMelo Ball or Killian Hayes. According to The Athletic's Anthony Slater, Golden State will be looking to round out its roster with another point guard behind Curry:

"Draymond Green is a point forward who will handle the ball a ton. Andrew Wiggins will initiate plenty of offense. But Andre Iguodala, the calming assist-to-turnover expert, and Shaun Livingston, the perfect longtime Curry backup, are gone. Their passing acumen can’t be fully replaced. But it’s clear the Warriors must address that area of need. Sources indicate that backup point guard will be one of the front office’s offseason roster priorities."

If the Warriors don't target a guard in the draft, they may look to add a veteran like Jordan Clarkson or Fred VanVleet in free agency—though a rookie would clearly be the more affordable option.

Victor Oladipo

Darron Cummings/Associated Press

One player the Warriors won't be targeting in the offseason is Indiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo. The two-time All-Star is under contract through the 2020-21 season and could remain with the Pacers beyond that.

A year ago, however, the Oladipo staying in Indiana wasn't much of a certainty. He suffered a torn quadriceps tendon, from which he returned just before the league shut down. According to Pacers beat writer Scott Agness, he and the Pacers were at odds following his injury:

"The Pacers fully support Oladipo and whatever he decides, although they haven't always been on the same page. There was a fracture in the relationship after his injury in Jan. 2019, per sources. It has improved over time. And it's good that the team has two executives down there, Kevin Pritchard and Chad Buchanan, to assist during this situation."

Oladipo might even return to join the Pacers in the Florida restart bubble, though he previously had opted out.

"I'm just reassessing myself and my body every day," Oladipo said, per ESPN's Eric Woodyard. "I think people fail to realize that this injury that I have is very unique, No one of my stature, of my ability, has ever had this injury before."

Oladipo appeared in 13 games before the shutdown and averaged 13.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists in roughly 26 minutes per game.

LaMelo Ball

Rick Rycroft/Associated Press

While Ball could be a target for the Warriors and will likely be considered by several teams at the top of the draft, there are a couple of reasons why others may pass on him. One is the perceived idea that he would prefer to land with the New York Knicks.

"As teams do their homework on players in the draft, there's been a consistent theme about LaMelo Ball: Multiple teams believe Ball and those in his circle prefer that he lands in New York," Ian Begley of SNY recently wrote.

This meshes with an earlier report from Marc Berman of the New York Post.

"Some league sources believe the Ball camp will try to steer the 18-year-old point guard to the Knicks, though such a maneuver will seem difficult if Leon Rose's club doesn't rise into the top four in the lottery," Berman wrote in May.

Another reason is that Ball isn't the most consistent shooter and could have some habits that raise significant concern.

Cleveland.com's Chris Fedor recently said the following on the Wine & Gold Talk podcast (h/t HoopsHype):

"I talked to an evaluator that's been watching LaMelo and Deni Avdija and a lot of these other guys for a number of years now. And the term that was used for LaMelo's shot was 'broken.' Now this is just one person's evaluation of it. And then when I asked about Deni, because his shooting percentages were low as well. The person told me that he thought it was fixable."

As Fedor admitted, this might not be a widespread opinion of Ball's shot, but this does raise the question of whether Ball would be a fit for a team like Golden State.