Warriors notes: Players, Steve Kerr fondly remember Seattle's NBA days

OAKLAND -- One of the routine but utterly trivial debates among NBA players and coaches is about franchise locations. The cities they enjoy, those they’d like to avoid and those they wish were a part of the league.

In that regard, there might not be a more popular city than Seattle, which lost its franchise, the SuperSonics, in 2008.

Count the Warriors as wistful fans of the Pacific Northwest city, which they will visit Friday for a preseason game with the Sacramento Kings at KeyArena.

“It’ll be fun,” said veteran guard Shaun Livingston, who made trips to Seattle as a member of the Clippers before the Sonics' relocation to Oklahoma City. “They deserve a franchise.”

Warriors coach Steve Kerr -- who played in Seattle throughout his 15-year NBA career, including the Bulls-Sonics NBA Finals in 1996 -- seems to have studied the possibility.

“We should be in Seattle, right? It’s sort of a no-brainer,” he said. “It’s one of the top 10 markets, I believe, in the United States. It has a big TV market and Pacific Coast time slot, which would be great for TV purposes.”

Seattle ranks 14th in TV markets, considerably higher than the city that replaced in the NBA. Oklahoma City ranks 45th in that category, according to stationindex.com, ahead of only Memphis (48th) and New Orleans (53rd) in the league.

The Sonics generally fielded quality teams, from the Gus Williams-Dennis Johnson era in the late 1970s -- they won the NBA Finals in 1979 -- to the Gary Payton-Shawn Kemp teams in the 1990s. And, of course, current Warriors star Kevin Durant played his first NBA season, 2007-08, in Seattle.

“Everybody knows the Reign Man and The Glove,” said Livingston, referring to the nickname bestowed upon Kemp and Payton. “That’s iconic.

“They’re very loyal. It’s just a free-spirit type of fan base up there. I love it. It’s the land of the hippies. It’s dope. It’s just a dope environment. I’d love for a franchise to go back up there, just to be a part of the city.”

Kerr compared fans in Seattle to those in the Bay Area supporting the Warriors.

“There’s an organic energy that comes from the fan base where you know they just love basketball,” he said. “I always felt that way when I went to Seattle as a player. You could feel the buzz when you walked out onto the floor. They love their Sonics, but they love the game. I’m looking forward to feeling that buzz again.”

Damion Lee still working under restrictions

DeMarcus Cousins, who mostly works out on his own as he continues to rehabilitate from surgery to repair his ruptured left Achilles tendon, isn't the only Warrior who has been unable to participate in practices. Damion Lee, a 6-foot-6 wing, is in the same fix.

Lee is limited because of plantar fasciitis, the medical term for inflammation in the bottom of the foot that can stretch from heel to toes.

“He’s going through some non-contact stuff on the floor,” Kerr said. “But he’s not scrimmaging.”

This matters because Lee, who has one year of NBA experience, was signed to a two-way contract, meaning he has a direct path to a standard NBA contract. That’s the route point guard Quinn Cook took last season with the Warriors, and he earned a two-year contract.

Moreover, the ongoing absence of third-year wing Patrick McCaw continues to provide an opportunity for the wings in camp to show their stuff.

Lee’s contract gives him a running start against the likes of 6-7 Danuel House (entering his third season) and 6-7 Alfonzo McKinnie (entering his second season). Rookie Jacob Evans III, the only hopeful with a guaranteed contract, also is competing for minutes.

There is no timeline for when Lee -- perhaps best known as Stephen Curry’s brother-in-law -- might be cleared to practice.

Warriors do well in annual GM survey

NBA.com conducted its 17th annual survey of the league’s general managers and, as expected, the Warriors made some impressive showings. Here are some of the highlights:

-- 87 percent of the GMs picked the Warriors to win The NBA Finals for the third consecutive season. The Celtics and Rockets split the remaining votes.

-- 90 percent picked the Warriors as the best team in the Western Conference. The Rockets nabbed the other 10 percent.

-- Kevin Durant finished second in the league MVP poll, with 27 percent, just behind leader LeBron James, who was at 30 percent.

-- To the question of which player would you choose to start a franchise today, Durant finished third with 20 percent. Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Bucks was first with 30 percent.

-- Stephen Curry finished third in the category “which player forces opposing coaches to make the most adjustments” with 10 percent. James was first (60 percent), followed by James Harden (20 percent).

-- Curry was named best point guard, with 57 percent of the vote. Thunder guard Russell Westbrook finished second with 17 percent.

-- Klay Thompson finished second in the best shooting guard category with 10 percent. Harden topped it with 73 percent.

-- Best small forward? Durant polled at 40 percent, behind James’ 57 percent.

-- Durant, somewhat surprisingly, finished fourth in the polling for best power forward, with 17 percent. Pelicans star Anthony Davis finished first (37 percent).

-- Most surprising offseason move? The Warriors, with their acquisition of Cousins, topped the poll with 35 percent.

-- Curry and Thompson went 1-2 in the category of “best pure shooter,” Steph with 73 percent and Klay with 20 percent.

-- Draymond Green finished third in the polling for best defensive player (17 percent), well behind Jazz center Rudy Gobert’s 37 percent. Green did, however, top the polling for “most versatile” defender, at 53 percent. Kawhi Leonard, now with the Raptors, was second with 30 percent.

-- Kerr finished No. 1 for running the “best offense,” with 40 percent. He also finished in a third-place tie with the Rockets' Mike D’Antoni for best coach, each at 7 percent. Celtics coach Brad Stevens was No. 1, at 47 percent.

-- Kerr finished second in the category of “best manager/motivator” with 20 percent, behind Spurs coach Gregg Popovich’s 47 percent.

Other categories won by the Warriors include: Most fun to watch (60 percent), best home-court advantage (50 percent), best assistant coach (Ron Adams, 17 percent), best at moving without the ball (Thompson, 53 percent) and best clutch shooter (Durant, 40 percent; Curry was second at 27 percent).