Golden State Warriors: Does Jason Kapono Have A Shot?

When news broke last week that the Golden State Warriors offered a training camp deal to sharpshooting veteran Jason Kapono, Dubs fans’ mixed emotions spread quickly. Twitter buzz began to circulate and NBA fans quickly took interest in the two-time Three-Point Shootout champion possibly donning a Warriors jersey come October.

The more seasoned NBA fan may have expressed interest in seeing such a prolific three-point man come off the bench on a team that already shoots the lights out from deep. Perhaps younger fans may be wondering, “Who is this guy and why does he use so much hair gel?”

The most popular question being pondered is most likely something along the lines of: Can this guy still play at a high enough level to play a key role on a playoff team? To answer that, let’s first take a look at where he’s been since disappearing from the NBA.

Kapono played his last NBA season during the 2011-12 campaign for the Los Angeles Lakers, who were ousted in the Western Conference semifinals by the deadly combination of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Kapono did not look good off the bench for the Lakers. In his final NBA season, he averaged just 2.0 points in 10 minutes per game over a stretch of 27 appearances for LA. What’s worse is Kapono shot a rough 29 percent from three-point range (8-for-27). That means he was hoisting up one deep ball per game, and actually sinking one every three or four games.

Not exactly what you want out of a guy making $1.2 million in salary for that year alone.

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Kapono was traded away to the Cleveland Cavaliers about a month before the playoffs started, and was swiftly waived by the Cavs just two days later.

Kapono took eight months off before inking his next contract with Panathinaikos Athens of the Greek League, where he helped his team to the Greek League title in early 2013. Kapono then announced his retirement earlier this year, and this would mark his curtain call as a professional basketball player — or so we thought.

Last week, the NBA universe was collectively awoken to a name it hadn’t heard in years. Jason Kapono signed a deal with the Golden State Warriors? I had the same reaction when I heard Stephon Marbury tweeted at Mark Jackson a few weeks ago, suggesting the Warriors “did him dirty.”

So back to that question of whether or not a 33-year-old Jason Kapono can revive himself with the Golden State Warriors. Can he even make it out of training camp alongside a bunch of guys ten years younger than him?

Kapono isn’t a guy that’s going to look to take over a game; he’s only averaged double-digit scoring once in his career, during the 2006-07 season with the Miami Heat where he started 35 games and appeared in 67. That happened to be his best three-point shooting season where he hit a ridiculous 51 percent of his threes, then proceeded to win the Three Point Shootout the next two straight All-Star Weekends.

Going into training camp with the Golden State Warriors is a pressure-free scenario for Jason Kapono. Completely off the NBA radar for the better part of three years, he’s got nothing to lose with this opportunity. The pressure is completely off him, and shifted to the younger guys that still have everything to prove to Steve Kerr and the Warriors front office.

If the three-point specialist can show that he’s in decent physical condition and can obviously still dial it up from deep, he may indeed earn a spot on the Golden State bench. Fans would love to see Kapono assume a Mike Miller-type role. He’s not gonna blow you away with his stat sheets, but he’ll make some big shots when it counts.

Time will tell, but I for one would love to see Jason Kapono in a role with the Dubs come October.