Golden State Warriors: Free Agency and Summer League Preview

At the end of the season, with $19 million locked up between Richard Jefferson and Andris Biedrins, the Golden State Warriors hopes of making a splash in free agency seemed bleak.

Although the Warriors’ meeting with Dwight Howard, reportedly, went very well, the steps necessary to clear up enough cap space for him were next to impossible.

Enter the Utah Jazz.

In one of the more surprising moves this summer, the Jazz agreed to take Biedrins, Jefferson and Brandon Rush off of Golden State’s hands, clearing up $24 million for the Warriors to spend.

Instead of waiting around for Dwight, the Warriors turned around and immediately picked up Andre Iguodala.

Six minutes, two major Woj bombs. These are the moments “Basketball Twitter” lives for.

Before getting into the Warriors Summer League Roster, let’s evaluate the Iggy signing, along with the rest of their free agency moves.

Free Agency

Andre Iguodala turned down a five-year, $60 million offer ($52 million guaranteed) from his former team, the Denver Nuggets, and instead chose to head west for $48 million. Warriors general manager Bob Myers called this moment “transformative” for the franchise because it indicated that Golden State has now become a desirable destination for free agents.

For a Warriors team that surrendered 100.6 points per game last season, the addition of Iguodala provides a significant defensive upgrade.

According to Synergy, Iguodala only gave up 0.8 points per possession last season, and when defending against isolation, he was the 11th best defender in the league, only allowing 0.58 points per possession.

On the offensive end, Iguodala cuts to the basket as well as anyone. Last season, he averaged 1.38 points per possession on these kinds of plays. He’s also a phenomenal transition scorer, which made up 21.4 percent of his offensive possessions last season, scoring 1.12 points per possession in transition.

Fortunately for the Warriors, where Iguodala struggles on offense, the rest of the Warriors excel.

In 2012-13 Iggy only shot 31.7 percent from behind the arc and an abysmal 19.6 percent (11/56) from the left corner, per Kirk Goldsberry.

Surrounded by Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Harrison Barnes, Iguodala will not be looked on to hit 3-pointers and can maximize his potential when he attacks the rim, where he is a 67.8 percent shooter.

While this move meant that Golden State would not be able to re-sign Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry, the Warriors made a few other free agency signings to help fill these holes.

To replace Landry, the Warriors signed 6’11” forward Jermaine O’Neal. Although O’Neal’s best years are behind him, he proved to be decently effective in limited minutes with the Phoenix Suns.

Last season, O’Neal only played an average of 18.7 minutes in 55 games. However, his stats adjusted per 36 minutes, 15.9 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.7 blocks, were pretty impressive for a 17-year veteran. Comparatively, per 36 minutes, Landry averaged 16.8 points, 9.3 rebounds and 0.6 blocks.

O’Neal lacks the athleticism of Landry and doesn’t have quite the same explosiveness he used to have during his days in Indiana, but he should provide a sufficient spark off the bench.

Since the Warriors won’t be able to rely on O’Neal for long periods of time, they also added Marreese Speights, a 25-year-old, 6’10” forward who played for the Memphis Grizzlies and Cleveland Cavaliers last season. Speights has been in the league for five years, but has only played limited minutes for his teams thus far, with a career average of 16.4 minutes per game. In 18.5 minutes last season, Speights averaged 10.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.

Speights isn’t a flashy player, but will provide tough-nosed play off of the bench by fighting for offensive boards and finishing around the rim.

One of the last additions to the Warriors roster is former Sacramento Kings point guard Toney Douglas.

In 2012-13 with the Rockets and Kings, Douglas shot 38.3 percent from the 3-point line, so the Warriors are hopeful that he will be able to make up for the offensive catalyst off the bench that they lost in Jarrett Jack.

Douglas is another player who has been a career backup through his four years, but will help the Warriors spread the court when Curry is not on the floor as he’s a legitimate threat from long range, shooting 36 percent from long range.

If the Warriors can avoid injury trouble next season, they have positioned themselves nicely to make a deep run in the playoffs.

Summer League

The Warriors recently announced their Summer League roster, which includes a few familiar faces like Kent Bazemore and Draymond Green alongside their first-round draft pick, Nemanja Nedovic.

According to Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Warriors second-round pick, Ognjen Kuzmic will not play in Vegas due to an ankle injury.

Kent Bazemore

This past season, Bazemore was better known for what he did off the court and not in a bad way.

Usually when a player is said to have had a video game like performance, it’s in reference to how well he played, but Bazemore’s energetic celebrations give a new meaning to the term.

Summer League will give the guard out of Old Dominion a chance to display what he’s capable of. At 6’5” and with a 6’11” wingspan, Bazemore’s length and athleticism means that, with some development, he could potentially become a decent defender at the professional level.

In five games for Golden State’s D-League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors, Bazemore averaged 21.6 points, 2.8 assists, 4.4 steals and 7.6 rebounds in 34 minutes per game. Although he struggled offensively in the few minutes he played with Golden State, he’s shown flashes of potential on the defensive end of the ball.

Since Bazemore’s contract next season isn’t guaranteed, his performance this summer will determine whether or not Golden State decides to pay him $762,195 next season. As evidenced by his bench performances, Bazemore is a very energetic player and could potentially come off the bench for the Warriors next season, especially if Curry takes some games off to rest his ankles.

Draymond Green

Another player to watch for this summer is Draymond Green.

Green, a 23-year-old, 6’7” forward out of Michigan State University came off the bench for the Warriors last season, and played 18.6 minutes per game during the playoffs, sometimes at power forward, due to Festus Ezeli’s and David Lee’s injuries.

Although Green shot an abysmal 32.7 percent from the field during the regular season, when his minutes increased in the playoffs, his shooting percentage increased to 43 percent and he shot 39 percent from behind the 3-point line. While these numbers don’t jump off the page, the Warriors are watching Green this summer to see if his offense can continue to develop, providing them more depth off the bench.

Green isn’t an astounding defender, especially when playing power forward due to his lack of size, but at Michigan State he was an efficient rebounder, averaging 10.6 rebounds per game his senior year and 8.8 rebounds per 36 minutes last season.

Green isn’t exceptional at anything in particular, but what he lacks in overall skill, he makes up for with unrelenting hustle. In a game against the Heat last December, Green was tasked with the responsibility of guarding LeBron James and hit the game-winning layup for Golden State.

Green’s $875,500 is guaranteed next season, and if he can produce like he did during the Warriors playoff run, he could prove to be a valuable asset for this young team.

Nemanja Nedovic

When the Warriors drafted Nedovic with the 30th overall pick, it appeared as if they might not have the cap room to bring him over this season. However, after the deal that brought Iguodala to the Warriors, Golden State had the flexibility to sign Nedovic.

As I discussed when reviewing the Warriors pick, Golden State’s front office is very high on Nedovic and his potential. In Europe, Nedovic was dubbed the “European Derrick Rose” due to his solid athleticism, quick first step and incredible leaping ability (his vertical was measured at 41 inches during an Adidas EuroCamp event in 2011).

While he isn’t a great outside shooter, Nedovic’s offensive skills contrast nicely with the styles of Curry and Thompson. This could afford the Warriors the ability to throw opposing defenses different looks and open up more shots from the corner as defenses would be forced to play a little closer to the paint in order to defend against Nedovic’s aggressive drives to the hole.

Nedovic’s relative lack of length (6’6.75” wingspan) might make it difficult to guard against NBA shooting guards, but his lateral quickness and height should allow him to match up well against point guards.

The Summer League will give the Warriors their first glimpse at just how well Nedovic stacks up to his fellow draftees and if all goes well, Golden State hopes that he will be able to run the offense when Curry needs to rest.

For a team that seemed locked into a few bad contracts, the Warriors refused to accept their current situation and with a few big moves, set themselves up to be a serious threat next season in the Western Conference.