Summer league is over, and now we enter the NBA’s quiet period.
Of course, the NBA’s quiet period is a lot louder than it used to be.
The champions still have plenty of questions to answer between now and the start of training camp in September. Let’s run through them.
Return of the Mac?
— There’s little question that point guard Mac McClung played well in summer league.
The question is if McClung played well enough to earn a roster spot.
I don’t think so. But he did well enough that he should be given a chance to win a roster spot in training camp.
The Warriors tried to run their trademark, motion offense in summer league. The organization believes in the vertical integration of tactics.
And the one-time viral sensation point guard doesn’t really fit the Warriors mold. These aren’t the direct pick-and-roll sets that the vast majority of teams run, and that means different skill sets are required. Successful point guards for the Warriors are a bit idiosyncratic. Jordan Poole learned to do a Steph Curry impression. Sean Livingston was basically a power forward.
McClung might have a serious following — there sure were a lot of people emailing me about how much he deserved a chance — but his game, while likely NBA-worthy, is straightforward, direct. Yes, the Warriors could use a third ball handler on the team, but simply put, McClung might dribble too much for the Warriors’ liking.
Now, that’s only what we saw in summer league — a strange tournament and something quite less than the real deal of the NBA.
So while the likelihood is that McClung will be playing somewhere other than San Francisco this upcoming season — be it the G League or another NBA team — he should (and I expect will) be offered a chance to make this Warriors roster in training camp.
He could see the writing on the wall and take a different NBA training camp invite, but if he can play well in the preseason, McClung still has a chance to pull a Gary Payton II and make the roster as the Warriors’ 15th man with a non-guaranteed salary.
I think we’ve seen the end of McClung with the Warriors — it was a fun little run that I’m sure people will cite for months, if not years, to come — but I could be very, very wrong about that.
Is Kuminga ready to make the jump?
— Moses Moody did exactly what you’d want a second-year, lottery-pick player to do in summer league: he dominated, leading the entire Las Vegas tournament in points per game.
Fellow second-year wing Jonathan Kuminga was not as impressive in the desert. Yes, there were still flashes of downright brilliance, and he didn’t do anything to make one question his development path, but I didn’t see anything that made me think that Kuminga was poised to take the leap and fill much-needed minutes vacated by top-eight rotation players this upcoming season.
It’s summer league. It’s not a big deal. But the Warriors appear to be banking on Kuminga being a big-time player next season.
It would have been nice for him to match Moody’s domination.
As such, his role — or rather his ability to fulfill it — will remain a question heading into his sophomore season.
Is this it? (This can’t be it.)
— By this time of the summer, NBA rosters should be close to complete.
That’s not the case for the Warriors, and they can thank their old friend Kevin for that.
Kevin Durant’s trade request from the Brooklyn Nets has put much of league business on hold. One of the league’s high-end players being available means that low-end, veteran-minimum guys — players the Warriors need to fill their roster — are on hold, too. They’re the remora fish of the NBA — attached to the sharks.
At some point, there will be clarity as to what Durant will do. Right now, staying with the Nets seems to be the most likely option, but that can change in an instant.
The Warriors don’t need to wait on Durant — they’re not going to acquire him unless Brooklyn suddenly wants to take 10 cents on the dollar — but it takes two to tango, and veteran-minimum-contract players are in no rush to sign a set deal.
So once that Durant move is made (or it’s made clear that it will not be made) the Warriors can fill out their roster, which stands at 12 players Tuesday and will likely only include 14 players because of the team’s large luxury tax bill.
One roster spot is Andre Iguodala’s, if he wants it. The veteran forward has no overt lean as to whether he wants to return to the Warriors for another season.
Quinndary Weatherspoon has played well enough in both the G League last season and summer league this season to be a full-time NBA player, but the Warriors are keen to keep him on a two-way deal. Again, luxury-tax considerations.
The Warriors’ two big needs are a third-string ball-handler and a stretch-five big man. As much as it might be needed, there isn’t an Otto Porter replacement on the market at the Warriors’ price point of “as little as possible.”
As long as they remain unsigned, some of the former big names on the market will be tied to the Dubs — Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge, Eric Bledsoe. While a solid chunk of the Warriors’ bench is young enough to be in daycare, that’s by design. The Warriors are diving even deeper into the “two timelines” plan in 2023.
That makes it difficult for me to imagine any of those three veteran free agents wanting to take on the role that would be waiting for them here in the Bay.
Here’s a name to keep in mind, though: Rodney McGruder.
Yes, the same Rodney McGruder that Draymond Green unceremoniously roasted in Jan. 2021.
The combo guard can knock down a 3, moves well without the ball, and has a bit of handle. Think of him like a Damion Lee replacement with more offensive versatility.
That is if you can think of anything else but Green saying “Rodney.”
