Summer League: Meet the Team
The Warriors kick off their summer league season on Saturday, July 7. Here’s a rundown of who will be hitting the court and what roles they might fill on the team.
The summer league has two main purposes. First, you get some playing time for your prospects with near NBA-level games. Second, you have a chance to search for some diamonds in the rough. For the Warriors, the first purpose is more intriguing. We have a lot of young talent that we’ve either never seen (Wright, Belinelli) or only watched in limited action (Azubuike, POB). As for the second purpose, however, it’s going to be hard for NBA-fringe players to win spots on the roster given the available roster and cap space. Coach Keith Smart will be giving the following some time on the floor:
Guards:
Kelenna Azubuike – Should have a roster spot if he wants it, but solid play in the summer league might earn him some more money as he prepares to sign a deal.
Marco Belinelli – The summer league will give us our second chance to see how he stacks up against NBA strength and speed. If it’s anything like his first performance (against Team USA), the Warriors will be very, very happy.
Toby Bailey – The journeyman swingman will have a hard time making the Warriors’ roster, but Nelson might give him a shot if he plays within his skills, runs, and drains open shots. Never underestimate Nelson’s love of shooters, no matter how old.
Nate Funk – Averaged 17 points his last three seasons with Creighton, but at 6-3 he’ll have a hard time finding a place on the still shooting guard rich Warriors. He went undrafted in 2007. Still, he exploded for some huge offensive performances with the BlueJays.
Pierre Pierce – Less than a year out of a correctional facility and a registered sex offender, Pierce has a rap sheet that makes Stephen Jackson look like Adonal Foyle. His size, speed, and combo guard ability drew a lot of attention before he was kicked off the Iowa basketball team. He probably has NBA skills, but it remains to be seen whether he has the maturity and self-control to make it in the league.
Alpha Bangura – More of a SF in his skills, but undersized at 6-4. A good shooter and decent scorer in the Developmental League last year. His time at St. John’s couldn’t have hurt his chances to make the summer league squad.
Corey Williams – Among the first hits in my google search was the fact that he was 10th in college basketball for turnovers per game (4.5) back in 1998. Warriors trivia: Vonteego Cummings is one spot behind him. Williams didn’t fare much better last year in the Developmental League, with nearly a 1:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. I doubt we’re finding a back-up point guard here.
Forwards:
Josh Powell – I’m guessing the Warriors wait a bit on their free agent / trade moves before deciding whether to bring back Powell (unless another team forces their hand). Given his youth, he’d be worth giving another year so long as he comes cheaply. He needs greater strength to fight for boards in the post. We’ll see if he’s been working since the Warriors’ season ended.
Brendan Wright – According to the Warriors’ summer league blog, he’ll be with the team as soon as JRich clears his Charlotte physical. Still, I’ll be curious to see whether Wright hits the court and gets a contract in the next few days. He can’t be traded for 60 30 days [See Larry Coon's cap FAQ here] after signing his deal, so a contract would be the final nail in the coffin for KG trade rumors for now. To be honest, I could care less about how Wright’s offense looks at the moment. If he’s active on defense and the boards, he’ll be able to help the team immediately.
Stephane Lasme – Lasme’s performance during the summer league and training camp will decide whether he starts the season with the Warriors or in the NDBL. As with Wright, his defense and rebounding will be key for the Warriors. It’ll also be interesting to see if he can run at a Nelson pace. If he looks great, it could spell the end of Powell’s time as a Warrior.
Jerry Dupree – The 6-7 forward was dismissed from the USC team prior to his senior season. Since then he has bounced around various NBA training camps and minor league teams. Seems to have a good nose for rebounds given his height. Played with the AND 1 team the summer of 06. Anyone remember him from his time as a Trojan?
Mindaugas Katelynas – Lithuanian power forward. Put up nice rebounding numbers at the College of Eastern Utah and Tennessee Chattanooga. Scouting reports claim that he loves physical contact, runs well, and can play above the rim. He’s been playing in Italy since college and has a slick personal website (“Favorite animal? Cat. Plays like? Andrei Kirilenko”).
Carlos Powell – Former NIT Tournament MVP while playing at the University of South Carolina. He’s made a career abroad in Portugal and New Zealand as a scorer. At 6-7, he may be a bit of a tweener for the NBA game, but he has a 6-11 wingspan. Showed up on the Lakers’ summer league team two years ago after failing to be drafted.
Centers:
Patrick O’Bryant – After Wright, he’ll be the most watched player on the Warriors team. In terms of expectations, he’ll probably have the most to prove. From the beginning, POB has shown a nice offensive touch around the basket. He’ll have to demonstrate that he’s improved the other areas of his game – defense, strength, speed, and rebounding – to get a real shot with the Warriors. I wouldn’t be shocked if the Warriors try to use the summer league as an exhibition to drive up his trade value. With a few nice games, his contract and age could make him an interesting piece for many teams.
Brian Cusworth – At 7-0 and 255 he has a legitimate NBA body. He’s been focusing exclusively on getting in NBA shape since the college season ended (he graduated from Harvard in 2006 but stuck around to finish his eligibility in the 07 season). DraftExpress gushes over his offensive skills. He’s a hard worker and has been impressing people with his agility. If you want a dark horse from the summer league team to make the regular season roster, Cusworth may be your guy.
Kosta Perovic – Although nothing official has come down, it sounds like he’s heading to the Warriors this year. I presume he’ll join the summer league team if the contract gets worked out in time. If Kosta, Wright, Lasme, and POB all look decent, the Warriors could have a surprising amount of frontcourt depth next year. Of course, that’s no guarantee that Nelson would actually play them.
The first game is on Saturday. If anyone makes it in person, be sure to drop a recap.
Mullin and Nellie, PLEASE DON’T TRADE WRIGHT.
That’s an interesting point about Wright, that he cannot be traded until 60 days after he signs. Good. He could still be traded before pre-season practices, but not until after the Ws have given him a long look. With so many guys worthy of making the team, the summer league games should be worth watching. As you note, Wright, Belinelli and O’Bryant are of particular interest. I hope they get tested with some good competition.
Deano, one of two things will happen in that scenario:
1) Wright is all he’s cracked up to be and Mulin sees that along with the rest of the league
2) He’s not all he’s cracked up to be and Mulin sees that along with the rest of the league
So, in one case he’s legit and he has high trade value. But, if he’s legit, why do we want to trade him? So we can “win now” and by win I mean 2nd place in the Pacific division and 4th place at best in the conf.? If he shows that he can contribute, we better keep him instead of mortgaging the future for K-here and playing well for only 2 more years tops-G.
In the other case, Wright shows to be a dud as a rookie, a la POB last year, and therefore his trade value shrinks and we can’t get much for him. Unless someone sees great potential that we don’t, we get little for him in a trade.
Wright’s value as feasible trade bait, meaing both the W’s want to trade him and other teams are willing to get him by giving up a player the W’s want, drops significantly as soon as he plays his first summer league game.
Keep all the young players. Accepting 7th or 8th in the conf. for 2 years will mean 2nd, 3rd or who knows for the next 5 years after that.
Good stuff!
Warrior Nation,
The time is now. The Warriors needs to make a push deeper in the playoffs or Last year will be viewed as a fluke. I have been a Warrior fan for sometime now since Mullin was a star. What I noticed over the years is that when playoff contender must make a change to go to the top or fall back to mediocrity. I think that Branden Wright is a future star but not a change for the Warrors to go deeper into the playoffs. What will happen is we will end up trading Baron Davis, Al Harrington and Stephen Jackson and what we are left is a team rebuilding again. I believe this team have enough midichlorians to go all the way but we need keep/change the players and management that will put it all on the line in the next few seasons. Make the trade for Kevin Garnett, he needs to prove that he is a star, a history maker like Shaq, Kobe, Duncan, Billups and Wallace. Baron Davis, Kevin Garnett and company will make NBA history for themselves and the Warriors. Just one good season. Forget long term goals, just get a team that will just do it.
-go Warriors
Please don’t sign Kevin Garnett. Yes, he’s is a star but I promise you that he’s not going to take us to the finals. He’s is heading downward from his prime. Don’t mortgage our future, let’s first give the rookies a look and then make the trade that makes more sense.
Warriors fan
Agree with Brian’s take. Team is young, especially without JRich. However, I would contend the most important position, that being point guard, is filled by one of the best, most seasoned veterans in the NBA (notch below Nash and Kidd). Two other starting spots are occupied by capable veterans. We all seem to love Monta and Biedrins because they are young, exciting and developing. Look, as long as Spurs and Suns remain intact, there is a slim chance of the W’s ever making it to the finals. Just think - when Duncan, Nash, Iverson & Shaq retire, the league is wide open, just in time for our core of youngs to be in their prime. Following this strong draft, the league is getting younger and the West, in particular will be tougher in a couple of years. Face it - Nellie is around for one, maybe two years at best. I say stay away from KG, develop the talent we have to become perennial contenders in 2-3 years to competete with the Sonics,Blazers, and Bulls. If we were to trade for KG, we have only one year to make it happen (Nellie and BD health in question). Do you want to mortgage the future for one shot at the title, with the Spurs and perhaps Suns in the way? Not this fan!
Midichlorians? So we’re Jedi now? If that’s the case I think SJax and apparently Pierre Pierce have gone to the Dark Side.
I’m with most of the fans so far, save Wright and draft smart and we should be peaking in 2-4 years, which just happens to coincide with the downside, if not the end, of Duncan and Nash’s careers. We’re trying to build dynasties, not a one shot wonder.
Great blog, Adam. The summer roster is intriguing. Looks like the Dubs have a lot dark horse talent to watch and mull over. The Lithuanian kid, Katelynas, is an impressive physical specimen. Can he play at the next level is the question. I’ll also be interested in seeing the Harvard kid, Cusworth.
This league will be heated and competitive for guys on the roster given that there are few spots available. Should be interesting.
Brian is right. Summer League is usually a pretty good predictor of a player’s star potential. The blue chippers always stand out in the overall mediocrity that is the summer league. IF Wright and Belinelli are going to be impact players in their rookie year, we’re likely to know this month because they will shine. I hope that dubs sign Wright so that we get a chance to see him play this summer. I think that he will show well. Just a hunch.
I went to USC when Jerry Dupree was playing there. He was always hurt or had some sort of off court issue preventing him from playing, but when he did play, he was great. A monster athlete. I sent my old roommate (who was a walkon on the basketball team and saw Jerry play in practice all the time) an email saying that Jerry was on our summer league team, and this was his response:
” Jerry Dupree can be your Matt Barnes for next year! Definitely athletic and long…its amazing to me how he is not in the league with his freakish athletic ability…he was raw 5 years ago, but I assume he has changed…he apparently played well in the D-League and the ABA and was on the Lakers summer squad a couple years ago. So the guy can play, if he is gonna make a team it would be the Warriors just because it fits his style of play.”
So that could be a good sign. I guess we will just have to wait and see. No reason why he can’t help with our rebounding and overall defense.
NATE FUNK all the way!
Paydays for the rotation wings, Lasme and co. to take their spots for less cash.
Mini-Money(basket)ball.
PS: ‘wings’ include occasional ‘PFs’ Barnes and Pietrus. Lasme: PF, yes. Much better longterm prospect than Barnes for that role.
Belinelli > Pietrus… problem?
Sign. Trade. Stir. Enjoy.
I like Nate Funk just for his name…
If its Oakland, its got to be FUNKy.
Lasme looks like he can do a lot of things like Shawn Marion does for Phoenix to a lesser degree. He moves a lot like him and he was able to contribute on defense and on the boards in college. How this translates to the NBA game is unknown but I am interested to see how he performs in the summer league.
I also want to see how Kosta performs and if he can actually play in the league. Kosta versus POB in practice must be pretty entertaining.
I think Lasme could end up being 7th or 8th man this season even. He seems like a perfect sub: high energy, solid on the boards, solid on D. I think the Marion comparison is some hardcore wishful thinking, but I do think Lasme ends up contributing right away. I mean, if our starting 4 ends up being Harrington (that is if Wright doesn’t show he deserves to start, which is likely knowing how Nellie feels about rookies) then I think Lasme sees solid minutes as he brings skills to the table, especially on D and on the boards, that Harrington just outright doesn’t have.
I could see Nellie bringing lasme off the bench to just wear out opposing SF’s and PF’s with his energy.
Does anyone know if NBA.com charges for the summer league webcasts? Or, by jove, could the NBA actually give something away for free?
Brian, if they keep Wright, start him. Here’s my vote for a starting lineup.
Davis pg
Jax og
AB C
Harrington sf
Wright pw
Ellis 6th man
That is a long, athletic, defensive unit that can run. They’re bigger than last year without having compromising athleticism. Gotta love it.
I don’t see Wright playing long minutes this season, but I see him starting and playing a significant role and improving the team’s inside presence while giving balance to the team.
I doubt Lasme will see many minutes, though I wouldn’t mind being proven wrong.
FREE!
http://www.nba.com/summerleague2007/scoreboard.jsp
Marco Belinelli – The summer league will give us our second chance to see how he stacks up against NBA strength and speed. If it’s anything like his first performance (against Team USA), the Warriors will be very, very happy.
Er, I’m gonna go with VERY, VERY HAPPY right now…Hot Damn, 37 points? They say Kobe is the Marco Belinelli of the United States.
Too soon? Sorry, I just watched the whole game on the NBA site. He already looks like a real player. BTW POB is a LONG way off. He has no hands whatsoever. Ugh…
Test 2