It’s rare when the Summer League ever matters much for an NBA team.
Head coaches, like Steve Kerr, will sip coffee and watch from the stands. The week-long event is seen as a chance for assistant coaches to practice calling the shots, for rookies to get their feet wet and for other undrafted and recycled veterans to keep chasing their professional dreams.
This year? The Summer League matters for Golden State. The Warriors are in a salary cap pinch and need to find cheap labor to fill a variety of empty holes off the bench.
Currently, the team has 10 players under contract: Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Shaun Livingston, Zaza Pachulia, David West, Kevan Looney and Patrick McCaw. First round pick Damian Jones is expected to sign his contract soon. That still leaves four open roster spots.
The NBA’s salary cap increase from $79 million to $94 million has skyrocketed contracts around the league. There’s no guaranteeing which players will come for the $1.5 million veteran minimum contract. Selling championship aspirations over cold hard cash will not whet the appetite of many of the remaining free agents.
Names such as Ray Allen, Jermaine O’Neal and Stephen Jackson — all currently retired — have been floated around. The Cleveland Cavaliers used quality minutes from 36-year-old Richard Jefferson to topple the Warriors in the championship. He also helped bring the Cavs together as a team using Snapchat. Veterans can be a stabilizing force and Steve Kerr has an affinity for them.
But you don’t want too many veterans on the backend of your bench.
Which is exactly why the Warriors’ summer league players will be under a heavy microscope.
There are three intriguing names to keep an eye on. The first two are both five-year veterans hanging onto their NBA careers by a thread — but both might be more valuable surrounded by talent.
Landry Fields and Xavier Henry.
After storming out of the gates to begin his career with the Knicks, Fields has crashed back down to earth. He had hip surgery last offseason and spent the entire 2015-16 season sidelined. The 28-year-old isn’t much of a scorer or a three-point shooter, but he’s a 6-foot-7 defender and has passing skills. He’s an energy player, and with Mo Speights likely gone, the Warriors are in need of that emotional boost.
Henry, on the other hand, is the cautionary tale of why leaving college too early can spiral your career out of control. The No. 12 overall pick out of Kansas in the 2010 draft — just two picks after Paul George — and was traded just one season into his career from Memphis to New Orleans. He briefly had a renaissance in 2013-14 with the Lakers, averaging 10.0 points per game. He spent last season with the Santa Cruz Warriors. This could be the end of the line for him.
On the younger front, Robert Carter Jr. is the name to watch. It was surprising when the University of Maryland product went undrafted last month. He’s a 6-foot-9 power forward with a face-up game, ball handling skills and a soft touch around the rim. Conditioning was his knock, but the Warriors won’t need him in large doses.
With so much on the line, maybe somebody unlikely will rise from the fray. For the first time in awhile, the Warriors’ summer league team is worth watching.
|
25 |
Rosco Allen |
F |
6-9 |
215 |
5/5/93 |
Stanford/Hungary |
Stanford |
R |
|
50 |
Darion Atkins |
F |
6-8 |
241 |
9/17/92 |
Virginia/USA |
Westchester Knicks |
R |
|
44 |
Robert Carter |
F |
6-9 |
240 |
4/4/94 |
Maryland/USA |
Maryland |
R |
|
55 |
A.J. English |
G |
6-4 |
190 |
7/10/92 |
Iona/USA |
Iona |
R |
|
2 |
Landry Fields |
G/F |
6-7 |
210 |
6/27/88 |
Stanford/USA |
Toronto Raptors |
5 |
|
3 |
Corey Hawkins |
G |
6-3 |
195 |
8/10/91 |
UC Davis/USA |
Idaho Stampede |
R |
|
7 |
Xavier Henry |
G/F |
6-6 |
220 |
3/15/91 |
Kansas/USA |
Santa Cruz Warriors |
5 |
|
15 |
Damian Jones |
C |
7-0 |
245 |
6/30/95 |
Vanderbilt/USA |
Vanderbilt |
R |
|
1 |
Ognjen Kuzmic^ |
C |
7-0 |
251 |
5/16/90 |
Bosnia & Herzegovina |
Panathinaikos |
2 |
|
43 |
David Laury |
F |
6-9 |
245 |
4/9/90 |
Iona/USA |
Delaware 87ers |
R |
|
0 |
Patrick McCaw |
G |
6-7 |
185 |
10/25/95 |
UNLV/USA |
UNLV |
R |
|
33 |
Mamadou Ndiaye |
C |
7-6 |
300 |
9/14/93 |
UC Irvine/Senegal |
UC Irvine |
R |
|
45 |
Royce O’Neale^ |
F |
6-6 |
215 |
6/5/93 |
Baylor/USA |
MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg |
R |
|
32 |
Winston Shepard |
F |
6-8 |
210 |
9/22/93 |
San Diego State/USA |
San Diego State |
R |
|
22 |
Keifer Sykes |
G |
6-0 |
180 |
12/30/93 |
Wisconsin-Green Bay/USA |
Austin Spurs |
R |
|
10 |
Thomas Walkup |
G/F |
6-4 |
195 |
12/30/92 |
Stephen F. Austin/USA |
Stephen F. Austin |
R |