BOSTON _ In a lottery-bound season, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr isn't concerned about maintaining favorable odds to land the No. 1 draft pick. Not if it means delaying the return of Stephen Curry.
In other words, he's not succumbing to tanking: "We haven't spent one second discussing that dynamic, that winning could hurt us," Kerr said. "When you're 10-38, winning sounds really good."
After undergoing left hand surgery in November, Curry will be re-evaluated on Feb. 1 and is expected to play again this season. If he returns in March, he would be available for more than 20 games, during which he would increase Golden State's chances of winning.
The Warriors are on pace to win 17 games this season and currently hold the best odds for May's draft lottery, with a 14% chance to land the No. 1 pick and a guarantee to select in the top five.
However, after the league smoothed out the lottery odds last year, both the Atlanta Hawks (12-36) and New York Knicks (13-36) also have a 14% chance at choosing first overall.
Last season, the team with the worst record _ the 17-65 Knicks _ ended up picking third. Meanwhile, the New Orleans Pelicans, with the seventh-best odds, vaulted to No. 1 and drafted 19-year-old phenom Zion Williamson.
Klay Thompson, Kerr said, is unlikely to play after tearing his ACL in June _ an injury that typically takes at least a year to heal fully. Still, he will be re-evaluated during the All-Star break (Feb. 14-16).
"The players are going to play when they're ready to play," Kerr said. "And we're going to try to win every game that we can.
"I don't think there's a whole lot of value in doing anything else other than that."
