Assistant GM Larry Harris assesses Daeqwon Plowden as a prospect
Mr. Plow is our latest GSW two-way contract
Apricot on Daeqwon Plowden
Plowden is 25 and has already spent two seasons in the G-League for NOP and ORL. Every G-League player who is not on a two-way contract is free to sign with any NBA team. So it is natural to wonder why no other team has offered him a two-way to date.
I do not settle for the wishful thinking that all 30 NBA teams have been stupid for two years. It might be enough to have deterred teams that he is an older prospect and his self-creation still needs work.
As for reasons why he might be a better prospect now with GSW than in the past, I note that in interviews he speaks consistently about (1) having worked to improve areas of his game that had been criticized in previous years, and (2) that much of his spectacular summer play has been within the flow of the offense.
As for (1), he raised his 3P% shooting in year 1 36.8% on 5.0 3PA per 36 min to year 2’s shooting of 39.0% on higher volume of 7.7 3PA per 36, so he has shown improvement.
For (2), I thought Plowden was just being polite by crediting the system, but in fact, most of his baskets have indeed come in the flow of the offense. He is skilled at off-ball cutting and opportunistically finding putbacks and transition scores. It is possible that GSW’s motion offense takes better advantage of Plowden’s strengths than other systems, and also relies less on his relative weaknesses.
Assistant GM Larry Harris interview on Warriors radio, 2024-07-17
After I wrote the above, Larry Harris gave this interesting interview which hit a few of the same points about improvement in 3P%, etc.
Larry Harris: What I was telling Joe [Lacob] is that I don’t know, I mean, there are many Summer Leagues I’ve been to, and I’ve been with the Warriors now just finishing my 16th year. This is one of the better cohesive teams we’ve had. The synergy is great.
I think what Ryan Atkinson, David Fatoki [the Santa Cruz general manager], and Kent Lacob put together, adding our G League guys, plus our two young players in Brandin and Trayce, and then just supplemented with some guys they really found in free agency that they kind of like. Here, we end up with Daeqwon Plowden.
It’s just an interesting mix with some veterans and some young guys, and I think they took kind of an onus, like, “Hey, let’s put a team we can be proud of on the floor.” These guys have really been good at both ends of the floor. I was at practice yesterday, and you can just tell that they all like playing with each other. For the fans, you know, when you put 16, 17 guys together, they all have different agendas. Like, “I want to, I’ve got to get paid,” and all this stuff. But these guys have kind of been selfless, which is really kind of hard to find when you’re putting Summer League teams together so quickly with just a few practices.
Interviewer: You mentioned Daeqwon Plowden, and that’s where I wanted to start because that’s the big personnel move to come out of this week for Golden State. He got signed to a two-way contract officially yesterday. He’s been fantastic in Summer League. What do you like about him being able to contribute to an NBA roster on a two-way contract?
Larry Harris: Well, I think the first thing that’s interesting about him is Ryan Atkinson and our group that identified these free agents. He was one of the first guys they wanted to bring in at this free agent minicamp we had prior to the draft, and he certainly established himself there.
But he had been playing in the minor league system, so our guys knew him fairly well. He came out here and has continued to improve as a three-point shooter. I don’t care what NBA team you’re talking to, they’re all looking for 3-and-D wings, guys that can defend the wing, go out there, and spot up to make some threes. If he continues to shoot the ball the way we think he can, with his athleticism and ability to rebound, and defensively, I think he’s going to be someone that Steve can look to on nights when he needs someone to give him some energy off the bench, whether to rest a player or if someone is injured. This guy has the ability to get on the floor athletically with a defensive mindset, which I think Steve would be comfortable playing him.
Interviewer: You mentioned the shooting. He raised his three-point percentage six percentage points from 33-34% to 39-40% in the G League this year, shooting 48% from three in Summer League. How much stock do you put into Summer League shooting percentages? Because, of course, Brandon Podziemski last year, the fans were worried about his shooting because he was 25% from three. Of course, it didn’t stop him from being first team all-rookie. And then on the other end, you have Plowden who can’t miss in Summer League. How much do you really look into the Summer League shooting?
Larry Harris: I think the thing we look at is the quality of shots he’s getting. Sometimes if you look at guys whose three-point percentages are a little bit lower, it’s about the quality of threes they’re getting. Are they contested? Is he wide open? Does he have time? With Daeqwon, what we’ve seen is a number of his three-point attempts are catch-and-shoot. There aren’t a lot of tough, contested threes. So for us, we just feel like that progression is getting better. He’s shooting on a decent number of attempts. I think the shot looks good. As you can tell, it’s got great arc, rain every time he shoots it. But I think the biggest thing about him is he fits our culture, he’s going to put the time in, and he’s going to get a chance to probably shoot a few wide-open threes every now and then.
Steph getting the Beyonce treatment in China. Chaos ensued
https://www.sfgate.com/warriors/article/warriors-steph-curry-china-shoe-trip-19772087.php
Ever since stumbling onto Paul Millsap in 2008 while watching the Jazz and becoming a truther, I've developed a taste for identifying the under the radar NBA stars. There's something electrifying about finding the steal that most haven't realized and feeling the sweet song of victory when you're proven right.
While I've had my insane highs like calling Jokic a future All Star after his rookie year, I've also had my misses like Evan Fournier/Kylian Hayes. Still, I've gotten more hits than misses, and now I have a Hartenstein shaped hole in my heart. Hence, I gotta ask y'all, whose a under the radar role player who you believe would flourish with more minutes?