Honorary Warrior For Life? Vote on Trayce Jackson-Davis
our way of paying tribute
The index article for Honorary Warriors For Life lists everyone already polled.
Introducing Honorary Warriors For Life
The concept is simple. You get to vote on the question “Is X an Honorary Warrior For Life?”
What does that phrase mean? I once tried to define it, and people found it more fun to bring in their own definitions, so it is now back to being kept vague, like “Most Valuable Player” or “Greatest Of All Time” or “sandwich”.
“Is X an Honorary Warrior For Life?”
I now only poll players who have played more than 1 year with GSW. This isn’t a rule I wanted, but the people have spoken and I made the unwritten rule a formal rule. The link at the top links to an index for all previous player votes.
And now for our nominee…
Trayce Jackson-Davis
It’s a mark of high honor for Trayce Jackson-Davis that he has gone all the way from an almost undrafted unknown to becoming regarded as just another frustrating talented youngster.
He was drafted with very very low expectations as an undersized center, which I remember keenly as I took the usual flack for my irrational good feelings for him. I’m also attached to him because I predicted that GSW would draft him or Podziemski:
If you can’t crow when you get lucky and predict the future, then when can you?
(June 18 2023, four days before the draft) Eric Apricot (11 ♡):
My gut tells me (i.e. I have zero proof of this) that GSW strongly prefers a more mature prospect (like Trayce Jackson-Davis, Jaime Jaquez, or sort of Podziemski) that are seen as a reach at #19, so they are trying to see if they can trade down a few spots and pick up some assets. But it’s a dangerous game as all these guys seem to be quietly rising into the range where it would be no surprise to see them go #16-#30. I wouldn’t be surprised if GSW can’t move the pick and end up “reaching”.
Just about got every sentence right (Larry Harris confirmed they chose to not move down because of intel that they would lose Podz) and nailed the two draft picks. Whew!
Disclaimer: Past results are not indicative of future performance.
In my piece on Irrational Good Feelings guys, I made the case for TJD:
Trayce on the other hand… hugely productive college player, looked good in the NCAA tournament game vs Miami which I rewatched, where he was a good rim deterrent, a good team leader and maybe should have demanded the ball even harder. The main knocks seem to be that he’s old and he’s a tweener. But is that a reason to fall so far down he draft that he was practically undrafted? To be offered no more than a two-way by every team besides the Warriors?
From my draft night comment, this doesn’t sound delusional about the #57 pick, does it? DOES IT??
I can easily imagine TJD passing out of the post to all the off-ball cutters and then making actual post moves to bail out the possession. I can imagine him being effective on the short roll. I can also imagine him being a rim protector. I don’t know if he’ll stick or be overwhelmed by game speed, but he’s just perfect for what the Warriors want to do. He just might be too short to guard centers and too slow to stop getting picked on by guards.
Trayce was drafted #57 through some GSW draft maneuvering. Here’s the story of how GSW ended up drafting Trayce:
#57 picks rarely stay in the league. Trayce has already played 2,533 NBA minutes. The #54, #55, #56, #58 picks have played about 500 NBA minutes combined. So Trayce beat the odds to be a factor in Warriors planning. He was a spot starter, and was an upstanding teammate. He has dealt with wildly swinging usage with grace and readiness and was praised for this publicly by Draymond Green and others.
Good luck in Toronto, Trayce! I hope you find your place in the NBA.
Your Vote
You can vote by poll and/or by comment (which counts as ten poll votes) with an explanation and a single #YES or #NO. A straight 75% vote will qualify the player for HWFL status.
I know you may feel creative and want to do other funny hashtags, but this will only cause me more work and annoyance, so please redirect your creativity.
Bonus Poll
Dub Nation, imagine you see Trayce in a game with no practical implications for the Warriors. (So not against GSW, ignore draft picks, playoff seeding, etc.) Do you want them to do well or poorly?
My personal criteria for HWFL is: Do I still root for them? And if they have success, do I feel some reflected glory for Dub Nation? So I definitely have a Big Tent HWFL compared to most DNHQers. Everyone is allowed their own criteria… but for me it is
#YES
It’s always very interesting to watch the poll results come in over the first few days and how stable they are after a very very small number of responses (like around 20). I know the math reasons, I know from life that it always happens, but I still find it kind of amazing.
#NO
TJD seemed like a good guy and did some nice things for the Dubs on the floor (and also in celebration audits). His problem was that his game never evolved - he never developed a shot outside of dunks/layups and never improved his FT shooting. At least he hit that half-court three-pointer a few weeks back for his only professional or college three. I hope he does well with Toronto but wonder if he'll be in the league next year.