Headline Sports with Amaury Pi-Gonzalez for Tony Renteria: US Women’s team set to meet the Netherlands Sunday; Will Angels regroup and battle for a playoff spot?; plus more

Photo credit: @dabeard

On Headline Sports with Amaury Pi Gonzalez for Tony Renteria:

#1 The US Women’s soccer team will be playing the Netherlands Women’s team on Sunday. The US Team has had a great ride to get into the finals the last game they played they defeated the English Women’s team 2-1.

#2 Megan Rapinoe has been the face of the team politically. She said she won’t go to the White House and would put her hand over her heart during the anthem, and accepted an invitation from NY Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to meet at the House of Representatives after the finals. How much of a influence was Rapinoe for the women’s team during this World Cup?

#3 The LA Angels’ Tommy LaStella fouled a pitch off his right leg breaking his fibula and will be out for six weeks of action and will miss the All-Star break. This came right after the Angels lost pitcher Tyler Skaggs, who died in his sleep on Monday.

#4 The Oakland A’s are coming on after taking three of four from the Angels and winning the first game against the Minnesota Twins 8-6 — one of baseball’s best teams on Tuesday night.

#5 With the departures of Jordan Bell, Kevin Durant and Andre Iguodala from the Golden State Warriors, are the Warriors now considered just an average NBA team?

Tony does Headline Sports each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Kevin Durant signs four-year $164 million deal to play with the Brooklyn Nets

file photo from sfgate.com: Former Golden State Warrior Kevin Durant #35 gets help off the floor in his last hurrah for Golden State with the injured Achilles tendon in the first half of game 5 against the Toronto Raptors.

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND–The Golden State Warriors lost a key player to free agency on Sunday. Superstar forward Kevin Durant decided to leave the Warriors, a team that he won two championships with, to play for the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets were active Sunday signing point guard Kyrie Irving and center DeAndre Jordan. They will have to wait a year for Durant to play for them as he will be recovering from an Achilles tendon injury that will sideline him for the entire 2019-2020 season.

The big question is, why did Durant decide to leave the Warriors. Golden State offered him a five-year deal worth $ 221 Million. The answer has to be that he was unhappy here with the Warriors. He had a massive dustup with Draymond Green early in the season. The two players didn’t speak for a while, and that may have been a factor even though Green apologized to Durant. Another factor may have been the injury that he sustained in Game Five of the NBA Finals with Toronto. Durant had suffered a calf injury in the series with the Houston Rockets. The team may have asked him to return to action before that injury was healed. No one knows what the Warriors’ doctors told him about the possibility that he might make it worse if he played.

The Warriors did agree to terms with a five -year $190 million contract with Klay Thompson. Klay will be out for at least nine months as he recovers from surgery to fix a torn ACL in his left knee. The Warriors want to re-sign Kevon Looney.  Looney is being courted by the Houston Rockets. Looney proved his worth as he played inspired basketball in the Finals after suffering an injury to his collarbone. The Warriors may try to get DeMarcus Cousins back. The most the can offer Cousins is about 6.3 million. Cousins could help fill the gap left by Durant’s departure. Cousins may stay to get a better deal a year from now. Shaun Livingston may retire, and that is another hole that the W’s will have to fill.

The Warriors should be competitive next year with Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Andre Iguodala still on the roster. Players such as Damian Jones, Jordan Bell, Alonzo McKinnie, and Quinn Cook will have to step up if the Warriors are to be successful next season. The fans are hoping the GM Bob Myers might have something rolled up in his sleeves to help make the team better. It will be a very different season for the Warriors as they start to play next year at the Chase Center in San Francisco.

Warriors buy the number 38 draft pick and select Jordan Bell from Oregon

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The NBA Champion Golden State Warriors entered the 2017 NBA Draft in the same condition they did in 2016. The Warriors had no selection available to them in either round.

So, the Dubs were merely spectators on Thursday night. But wait, there’s more.

Just as they had in 2016 the Warriors reached into their bank, grabbed some cash and declared they wanted to be players in this year’s draft.

GSW found a trading partner in the Bulls

The Chicago Bulls had experienced a disaster on Thursday night that included trading Jimmy Butler to the Timberwolves for what most experts believe was way under value. If the rumors are to be believed, Chicago had a much better offer from Boston before the start of the draft.

For some reason, the Bulls did not think they needed the number 38 pick (8th selection in the 2nd round), so they accepted $3.5-million from the Warriors in exchange for the pick. The $3.5-million figure is the maximum amount of money a team can accept for a second-round selection.

The Warriors found their man in Oregon

The Warriors selected 6-foot-9, Junior power forward/center Jordan Bell out the University of Oregon. Bell was definitely a value pick as a number of draft experts had predicted he would be selected late in the first round.

Bell is a defensive player first. He has a nose for the ball and is a strong rebounder. He is also a known as having good instincts as a shot blocker. Bell has the ability to protect the paint and is willing cover any assignment given to him on defense.

Bell is seen a strong player but if he going defend on the front line in “the association” he will need to add some weight.

As with many shot blockers, Bell has tendency to go for the block and end up out of position for the rebound. He will need work on that at the next level.

On offense

Bell runs the floor well and finishes strong at the rim. He is a real threat to score near the basket. Bell also has the ability to score on offensive rebounds. He also moves well without the ball and sets a good screen.

Bell has worked hard and improved as a free throw shooter. He went from a 50-percent FT shooter to shooting 70.5-percent from the line in his junior season.

Bell averaged 10.9 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.3 steals and 2.2 blocks in 28.7 minutes per game in the 2016-17 season.

Bell will need to work on becoming a scoring threat outside the paint.

Is Bell the next McCaw

The Warriors are hoping that Bell will be this year’s version of Patrick McCaw whom they obtained the same way last season. With the expanded rosters, Bell will be able to spend time at Santa Cruz and in Oakland as he develops his talents.