Summer League 1. Warriors vs. Heat, 3:30 p.m.
Summer League 1. Warriors vs. Heat, 3:30 p.m.
Time to overreact
The master Summer League post index has links to all the game previews and reports, and the full Summer League schedule.
Schedule
California Classic Summer League, July 6-7 & 9
Saturday, July 6
Kings vs. Lakers | 1:30 p.m.
Warriors vs. Heat | 3:30 p.m.
Sunday, July 7
Kings vs. Heat | 1:30 p.m.
Warriors vs. Lakers | 3:30 p.m.
Wednesday, July 10
Battle of NorCal: Warriors vs. Kings | 7 p.m.
Note: also USA vs Canada MBB, friendly game
Las Vegas Summer League, July 12-22
Sat 7/13/24. Phoenix at Golden State, 8:00 PM - 11:00 PM, ESPN2
Sun 7/14/24. Chicago at Golden State, 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM, ESPN2
Wed 7/17/24. Golden State at Cleveland, 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM, NBA TV
Fri 7/19/24. Golden State at Oklahoma City, 7:30 PM - 10:30 PM, NBA TV
Summer League Roster
Warriors
Heat
Players to Watch
Current Warriors
These guys are already on the GSW roster.
Brandin Podziemski. 2023 #19 pick. Says he wants to play to practice being an on-ball point guard. I assume he won’t play much.
Johnson: Brandin Podziemski says "scoring the ball more" and defense has been his main offseason focus. Steve Kerr has encouraged him to shoot more 3s.
Podziemski and Jackson-Davis are part of USA Select who are scrimmaging the USA Olympic Men’s Basketball team, so they will be away Jul 5 - 8. Podz plans to play in the Jul 10 CA Classic and at least two games in Las Vegas. I assume TJD has the same schedule.
Trayce Jackson-Davis. 2023 #57 pick.
I assume he won’t play much. See Podziemski notes above.
Gui Santos. 2022 #55 pick.
Local cult hero for his aggressive, wild, and charismatic play with the Warriors. He was under contract in Brazil for multiple years, but came over to play on the Santa Cruz Warriors in the G-League, and made it to the All-Star Weekend G-League Next Up Game.
He might get some run. Staff may want to see if Gui can dominate Summer League.
However, Gui is with the Brazilian Olympic team during the CA Classic dates so if he plays, it will probably be in Las Vegas.
Quinten Post. 2024 #52 pick.
Johnson: Quinten Post has a minor left leg injury he’s getting over from a pre-draft workout. Post doesn’t know if he’ll be able to play in the California Classic but “really hopes” to play in the Las Vegas Summer League
Quinten Post is the most accomplished Stretch 5 in the second round of the Draft. The offense at Boston College often ran through Post at the high or low post with numerous off-ball cutters, so I think Post would fit in quickly in the Kerrball system. He also is a legit 7-0 in socks who was #2 in blocks in the ACC so there is rim protection there. Did I mention he shot a stunning 43.1% and 42.6% 3P in his last two years? That’s over 170 3PA. His career FT% is 80.1%, so that shooting looks real. The big question is whether he’s athletic enough to stay on the court. Let’s see if he can hang with the highly athletic (if disorganized) players of Summer League.
Reece Beekman. Undrafted in 2024, joined on a two-way.
I rather dismissively called him too small in the DNHQ Draft Tourney Group C. But he’s definitely worth a shot to see if he can play bigger than his size. At least in college, his wingspan allowed him to be a plus defender (ACC Defensive Player of the Year, TWICE). The dream would be that he develops into a point of attack defender like GP2 but healthy and someone who can really run an offense well.
Pat Spencer. May be auditioning to keep his two-way contract with GSW or at least catch on with another team.
Lindy Waters III. Traded from OKC for 2024 #52 pick. New, but as he’s already a three-year NBA pro, MDJ says he WON’T play Summer League.
Usman Garuba.
There were reports that Garuba was headed back to Real Madrid, but Garuba said he hadn’t decided. As of Jul 4, he still had not signed with anyone yet, hoping to get back to the NBA.
GSW had an extended look at Garuba in the G-League and also had him on a minimum at the end of the season, and did not give him much playing time.
I haven’t found a direct confirmation, but we can infer that GSW did not extend a qualifying offer and Garuba is now an unrestricted free agent. He is definitely not playing on the GSW Summer League teams.
Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody. Too old for summer league.
Anthony Vereen is an Assistant Coach with GSW and he is serving as SL head coach.
The Santa Cruz Guys
These guys were on the Santa Cruz Warriors last year, and are fighting for a two-way contract (or more).
Yuri Collins. 6-0 but he can play. Pass-first with 5+ assists per game, shoots 39.7% 3P. (G-League stats)
Jackson Rowe. 6-7 wing who shoots 6+ 3PA per game and hit 35.6% of them. (G-League stats)
Jimmy Whitt. I admit I know little about Jimmy. Only played 22 of the 31 games.
The other guys
These three guys had pre-draft workouts, so GSW must have seen something interesting. They’ll be possibly fighting for a spot on the Santa Cruz Warriors.
Mantas Rubstavicius, NZ Breakers
6'6 G/F, 43% 3P, 81% FT in NBL, really fast in transition, super quick release from deep, high arching shot. - OriiBeruu https://x.com/oriiberuu/status/1809600749304967583?s=46&t=pGy9wNsvqkAwaVVSUg9n2Q
Allen Flanigan, Ole Miss
Santiago Vescovi, Tennessee
Kevin Knox II, Rip City Remix2018 #9 pick by NYK. It never worked out for him, and he’s bounced around four teams in six years playing 306 games. He’s still grinding. I hope things come together for him.Update: Donta Scott is replacing former No. 9 overall pick Kevin Knox on the Warriors' summer league team, the team announces. Knox out with a strained calf.
Marques Bolden, Charlotte Hornets
Played in 18 NBA games across 5 years, played in the G-League. Grinding, trying to make his dream com true.
I know nothing about these guys:
Daeqwon Plowden, Osceola Magic
Roman Sorkin, Maccabi Tel Aviv
OriiBeruu https://x.com/oriiberuu/status/1809600749304967583?s=46&t=pGy9wNsvqkAwaVVSUg9n2Q
Roman Sorkin - 16/6 in 23mpg in Maccabi, 41% 3P, 6'10 PF/C, 3&D center
Christian Terrell, Lahti Basketball*
Ethan Thompson, Osos de Manatí
Heat
This is a big reunion of the DNHQ Draft Tourney. It’s striking how consistently the Heat draft the people that I’ve modeled in the Tourney as being special. (Last year it was Jaime Jaquez.)
Keshad Johnson, Arizona. 2024 undrafted, two way contract. Scouted at our Draft Tourney.
Pelle Larsson, Arizona. 2024 #44. Scouted at our Draft Tourney.
Zyon Pullin, Florida. 2024 undrafted, two way contract. Scouted at our Draft Tourney.
Isaiah Stevens, Colorado State. 2024 undrafted, summer league contract. He was worked out by GSW. He statistically qualified for our Draft Tourney but I made the executive decision to kick him out because he is 6-0. He might still be awesome, but I was right that he wasn’t going to be drafted.
Kel’el Ware, Indiana. 2024 #15. Old teammate of Trayce Jackson-Davis.
Alondes Williams, two way contract. the infamous prospect who wore a giant Pablo Escobar T-shirt to his Warriors interview at the NBA Combine.
On the Klay thread ... we could never compete with Dallas because they DIDN'T HAVE something we DID HAVE: the giant freakin' ghost of Klay's past wondering the halls and locker room in the Chase Center. 941 days spent coming back from two devastating injuries took its toll. That had to be a physical, mental and spiritual journey through hell and back for a guy like Klay smack in the middle years of his prime.
We are hearing a lot of stories about Klay not feeling the love, etc., but I think deep down, for his soul, Klay just needed a change of scenery. Frankly, I think if he stayed, it would have been a mistake, it would have been him doing what the world expected him to do. But the best version of Klay always zigs when the world zags and all the negative stories about what led up to his departure were just breadcrumbs meant to lead Klay back to himself. We all wanted to write Klay's story, we all wanted to write that happy ending in a Warrior's uniform FOR HIM. But if anyone has to write his own story, it's Klay.
And for that, I'm thankful. Because whatever it is, it will be new. It will be original. It will be Klay being Klay and that is good enough for me.
Heard what I thought was a really good comp for Quentin Post from Larry Krueger: Bill Laimbeer. I thought that was a good pull. Big, unathletic 'looking', but an ornery sneaky good defender with a great 3 point shot and high IQ player who can be a hub on offense. One can only hope.
Statistically, Looney was pretty much the same Looney last year as he has been the last few. Did he regress last year or did he just stop to tie his shoes and the league just whizzed by? Recent addition bigs in the league: Wemby, Chet, Lively, Kessler, JJJ3, Sengun. And that is just the Western Conference. How do you keep pace with that if you're Loon? If Post can shoot 3s above league average, I think he will fully displace Loon by the end of the season. My hope is we get Loon to a young upcoming team that needs that high IQ vet leader in the locker room. Joining CP3 in San Antonio, helping to mentor Wemby, something like that. He still has a lot to offer the league from a character standpoint for sure. But I think his offensive limitations are going to push him out of this particular Warriors roster.
However, if he became our Udonis Haslem, and just rode the last roster spot for the next several years and even retire a Warrior, I would be very happy with that, too. There's only one Loon.