Golden State Warriors: 3 candidates for a breakout season in 2019-20

3. Alen Smailagic

The 19-year-old Serbian native Alen Smailagic was reportedly the Golden State Warriors’ best-kept secret since last year.

When Smailagic joined the Santa Cruz Warriors last year, he became the youngest G League player ever at 18 years old.

There’s a reason why the Warriors didn’t want any other team to uncover Smailagic’s talents; they purposely didn’t let him play two Summer League games where many scouts were in attendance.

Furthermore, he’s a 6-10 versatile combo-forward that has upside on both ends of the floor which can turn into a reckoning off the bench or at the starting small forward slot.

In 47 G League appearances, Smailagic averaged  9.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.0 assist, 0.9 steals, 0.9 blocks, on 49.7 shooting overall, 24.4 percent from 3-point range and 65.9 percent at the line in 17.4 minutes a game.

While his 3-point and free throw percentages may sound alarming, Smailagic was only 18 at the time and has time on his side to improve his shooting and other areas of his game.

Two particular stats that were impressive, however, were his steal and block percentages; which were 2.4 and 4.8, respectively.

These percentages have only been reproduced 23 times since the 2010-11 season, mainly led by the NBA’s top bigs. If Smailagic is able to reproduce these numbers on the Warriors, coach Steve Kerr will not hesitate to include him in key crunch-time situations.

Smailagic’s intensity and production has to be a breath of fresh air for the Warriors’ organization, as they will need all the help they can get in order to compete with a stronger and more-balanced NBA.

Other areas that Smailagic doesn’t lack in is hustle and confidence. Combined with his intensity on both ends of the floor, the Serbian combo-forward will give the Warriors the versatility they need this upcoming season.