The Warriors became the first team to make a roster move after a preseason game, waiving guards Antonius Cleveland and Alex Hamilton. Anthony Slater of The Athletic shares a few more observations about Saturday’s loss to the Nuggets:
- Free agent addition Nick Young has a lot of rust to shake off after not playing since March 17. Golden State is counting on Young to provide scoring off the bench, but he has a new offense to learn and didn’t report to camp in top condition. Slater called Young’s performance “sluggish” in the preseason opener as he sometimes seemed lost in transition and was short of breath as play went on for several possessions without a stoppage. “He’s not shot the ball well in camp,” said Warriors coach Steve Kerr. “He came in a little bit heavy. As he rounds into shape, he’s going to shoot it better.” Young said earlier this week that he “feels like I’m in everyone’s way,” and that was evident Saturday as Kerr, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala all took time to explain principles of the offense to him during the game.
- Kerr gave Jordan Bell some unexpected minutes in the third quarter, letting him play alongside the Warriors’ All-Stars. Bell looked like a rookie at times, but also showed promise on the defensive end. Bell gave himself a C grade for his first NBA experience, saying, “Couple people scored on me that shouldn’t have.”
- Damian Jones missed last year’s training camp and preseason while recovering from a torn pectoral muscle. The second-year center was never able to catch up, playing just 10 games with the Warriors, so he says this feels like his rookie season. Slater notes that Jones might be the team’s best athlete but tends to be overly aggressive on defense, which showed Saturday with three fouls in 11 minutes. “His ability to play vertically defensively without fouling should be a real strength,” Kerr said. “But he came down and swiped down. Little things like that, he has to work on.”
- Green received a surprise Saturday when former Pistons star Ben Wallace showed up to present his Defensive Player of the Year Award. “That was a good one,” said Green, who grew up in Michigan and was a big fan of Wallace as a child. “That was a great feeling. A guy I looked up to growing up.”
Nick Young is not going to make it with the Warriors. He’s not a winner, came in out of shape and has a low BB IQ which will make it hard for him to catch on to their system.
Bet you said the same thing about javale McGee last year
No maybe you did.
Maybe on another team, but the Warriors won’t alienate him because of that and he’ll probably start playing better just based on the expectations in that locker room. Draymond won’t let him get away with being a distraction and once the season starts and he’s around everyone else working hard he’ll have to join them
Nick Young will be fantastic. He takes Ian Clark’s spot in the rotation as a little bit of offensive spark Off the Bench.
He should be a lot better than the six foot two and a half Clark as he can match up better on defense… if he wants to, lol.
I think Young has a lot more ways to score than Clark did as a spot-up shooter and occasional slice to the basket. Young can create his own shot and at 6-6 can score over more types of guys than just the backup 1 on the other team.
Young is an upgrade, just a matter of when he gets with it.
Clark could come in and be faster than the game, which is saying something on that team. It was distressing to opponents who thought something good would happen when a starter rested.
Young may give opponents a breather and a chance. It would be a good bet that he’s back on the Lakers next year!
Bell sounds like a keeper.
Bell takes McAdoo’s spot and should be an upgrade also.
If he’s smart and it sounds like he is, he can provide valuable insurance against a Draymond implosion. As a result, might even keep Draymond a little more grounded, knowing Bell is waiting in the wings.
Nick needs to learn defend