(snippets: moves awkwardly and is ground-bound, but makes up for it with a high motor and by reading the floor. optimistic about fit with the warriors)
Regarding Garuba: many commenters below have already capably expressed the reasons for my own irrational good feeling regarding this signing. It's my favorite transaction of offseason, maybe just a touch behind the Saric acquisition.
I really hope that we don't sign another center to the 14th spot, and go for a wing instead. That way, if Garuba shows out, he can take the 15th spot late in the season and get locked up for a few more years. I just don't see 5 centers, 6 if we include Dray, on 15-man roster as a viable option.
NBA rule changes just in time for Chris Paul coming to the Warriors:
- Technical fouls for flops that are "secondary theatrical exaggerated movements". Doesn’t count toward a player’s possible ejection. (I don't know if it counts towards the 16 technical foul limit.)
- Tightening up on rip through fouls
Also, coaches can now earn a second video-replay challenge if they are successful with their first.
Holy cannoli, only Klay Thompson (#11) days left until training camp! He chose to wear 11 because he was the 11th pick in the draft, after:
Kyrie Irving
Derrick Williams
Enes Kanter Freedom
Tristan Thompson
Jonas Valančiūnas
Jan Veselý
Bismack Biyombo
Brandon Knight
Kemba Walker
Jimmer Fredette
Yeah, drafting is a challenge, but really guys? Jimmer Fredette? Klay's draft profiles had him down as a great shooter but with athletic limitations that would limit his upside; fortunately the Warriors jumped on him at 11 to form the Splash Brothers, called the "greatest shooting backcourt that has ever played the game" by Mark Jackson, and that's pretty hard to argue with. Draymond called him the most competitive player he has played with.
Klay is the middle son of Mychal Thompson (doesn't Klay totally have middle child energy?), who himself was the #1 overall pick in the 1978 draft by the Blazers, at the time the first foreign-born player to be picked first. He won two rings with the Lakers in the 80s, mostly backing up Kareem and later Vlade Divac. He and Klay are one of two father-son pairs to have both won multiple NBA championships (Bill and Luke Walton being the other). There are only five father-son duos that have both won a championship as a player, and all of them have some connection to the Dubs, proving that it is a family-oriented organization:
Matt Guokas, Sr. / Matt Guokas, Jr. (Senior won a ring with the Philly Warriors in 1947)
Rick Barry / Brent Barry
Bill Walton / Luke Walton (yeah, this one is a stretch since Luke only coached with the Dubs)
Mychal Thompson / Klay Thompson
Gary Payton / Gary Payton II
After retiring, Mychal moved back to Portland where he did sports radio, and a seven or eight year old Klay got to hang out at the Dunleavy's house with Mike Jr., who was about 10 years older, since MD Senior was the head coach of the Blazers. From The Athletic, Anthony Slater reported Klay's thoughts on MDJ becoming GM:
“Well, I love Mike Dunleavy. I grew up watching Mike play in Portland at Jesuit High School. For him to be a McDonald’s (All-American) and then go to Duke and then go to the league, was a huge deal for Oregon. We didn’t have a lot of guys doing that. Now to be working with him, it’s crazy. The world’s so small. Especially in the world of basketball. Now, he’s technically my boss after he was kind of a big brother growing up, going over to his house, having him throw us in the pool and that junk. Now working with him is crazy. I know Mike will do great things.”
Pulling together some videos, there are really too many to link, but it also points out how good he has been, even last year.
Klay also can claim a 60 point game, a 37 point quarter, and 14 threes in 27 minutes (featuring "Headband Klay"). Any one of those would be a career defining night for most any other player.
Of course, not to overlook "Game 6 Klay" (we will, however, overlook the 2023 version). Somewhat bittersweet to see those Toronto game 6 highlights, man, he was cooking.
Finally, on a more serious side, "In 2017, Klay along with father Mychal, mother Julie, brothers Mychel and Trayce, started the Thompson Family Foundation with a goal of enriching the youth in both the United States and Bahamas through education and fitness."
Here is a touching story about a recent donation from his foundation:
Some teams sign free agents swiftly. Others seem to take a more deliberate approach. Both can be effective as well as foolhardy. It can be tempting to be down on the Warriors in the opening days of free agency. In the past, I've been hasty to blame them for being slow. Perhaps some 'misses' are a product of the Dubs not being every free agent's first choice or similarly the 'ideal' target just doesn't want to play here - such cases are just out of the FO's hands. Perhaps there are times they miss the target b/c they misjudged. And sometimes, maybe they just see multiple steps ahead that there will be better targets available if they wait and still have spots open. I feel like Garuba just might be one of those. I've got an irrational good feeling about him.
Almost a complete 540 degrees from that Two Timeline plan lol. Reminds me of when they got scarred from drafting Jacob Evans and went high upside low ceiling in the next few first rounds then they got scarred from Kelly Oubre and decided to try and sign a whole bunch of higher IQ vets and now they’ve shifted once more back to drafting higher ceiling players and signing a whole bunch of old dudes LMAO
Not enthused about signing Dwight Howard, I'd rather they just sign Dedmon who was also on that list (not that Dedmon is anything special but at least he knows that).
Looking forward to the battle for minutes between Garuba and TJD. From the little on court I've seen of both, I think TJD has the edge despite his lack of an outside shot, but I'm rooting for either/both to blossom in the Dubs' system. Like Mr. Pinckney, I hope to see some old-style suffocating D from our team this year, and both these guys bring it on that end.
All about Usman Garuba, the newest Warrior two-way contract
Whoaaa... been out of the loop. We got Garuba??
https://twitter.com/TheWarriorsTalk/status/1705044150482280495
Dwight Howard teaming up with Chris Paul and Draymond Green.... on the football field.
Funny segment on Light Years pod by the self-declared "foremost Usman Garuba expert":
https://www.youtube.com/live/bsvVGmOa9Bk?si=FTF_a4y50jjMwJA4&t=611
(snippets: moves awkwardly and is ground-bound, but makes up for it with a high motor and by reading the floor. optimistic about fit with the warriors)
Regarding Garuba: many commenters below have already capably expressed the reasons for my own irrational good feeling regarding this signing. It's my favorite transaction of offseason, maybe just a touch behind the Saric acquisition.
I really hope that we don't sign another center to the 14th spot, and go for a wing instead. That way, if Garuba shows out, he can take the 15th spot late in the season and get locked up for a few more years. I just don't see 5 centers, 6 if we include Dray, on 15-man roster as a viable option.
NBA rule changes just in time for Chris Paul coming to the Warriors:
- Technical fouls for flops that are "secondary theatrical exaggerated movements". Doesn’t count toward a player’s possible ejection. (I don't know if it counts towards the 16 technical foul limit.)
- Tightening up on rip through fouls
Also, coaches can now earn a second video-replay challenge if they are successful with their first.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdNP0dhnoLw
Andre Iguodala Gets Real About Jordan Poole
Holy cannoli, only Klay Thompson (#11) days left until training camp! He chose to wear 11 because he was the 11th pick in the draft, after:
Kyrie Irving
Derrick Williams
Enes Kanter Freedom
Tristan Thompson
Jonas Valančiūnas
Jan Veselý
Bismack Biyombo
Brandon Knight
Kemba Walker
Jimmer Fredette
Yeah, drafting is a challenge, but really guys? Jimmer Fredette? Klay's draft profiles had him down as a great shooter but with athletic limitations that would limit his upside; fortunately the Warriors jumped on him at 11 to form the Splash Brothers, called the "greatest shooting backcourt that has ever played the game" by Mark Jackson, and that's pretty hard to argue with. Draymond called him the most competitive player he has played with.
Klay is the middle son of Mychal Thompson (doesn't Klay totally have middle child energy?), who himself was the #1 overall pick in the 1978 draft by the Blazers, at the time the first foreign-born player to be picked first. He won two rings with the Lakers in the 80s, mostly backing up Kareem and later Vlade Divac. He and Klay are one of two father-son pairs to have both won multiple NBA championships (Bill and Luke Walton being the other). There are only five father-son duos that have both won a championship as a player, and all of them have some connection to the Dubs, proving that it is a family-oriented organization:
Matt Guokas, Sr. / Matt Guokas, Jr. (Senior won a ring with the Philly Warriors in 1947)
Rick Barry / Brent Barry
Bill Walton / Luke Walton (yeah, this one is a stretch since Luke only coached with the Dubs)
Mychal Thompson / Klay Thompson
Gary Payton / Gary Payton II
After retiring, Mychal moved back to Portland where he did sports radio, and a seven or eight year old Klay got to hang out at the Dunleavy's house with Mike Jr., who was about 10 years older, since MD Senior was the head coach of the Blazers. From The Athletic, Anthony Slater reported Klay's thoughts on MDJ becoming GM:
“Well, I love Mike Dunleavy. I grew up watching Mike play in Portland at Jesuit High School. For him to be a McDonald’s (All-American) and then go to Duke and then go to the league, was a huge deal for Oregon. We didn’t have a lot of guys doing that. Now to be working with him, it’s crazy. The world’s so small. Especially in the world of basketball. Now, he’s technically my boss after he was kind of a big brother growing up, going over to his house, having him throw us in the pool and that junk. Now working with him is crazy. I know Mike will do great things.”
Pulling together some videos, there are really too many to link, but it also points out how good he has been, even last year.
Here are some highlights from the past season:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkkQc4Pb6bA
including 301 threes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWgMuKUDrpE
Klay also can claim a 60 point game, a 37 point quarter, and 14 threes in 27 minutes (featuring "Headband Klay"). Any one of those would be a career defining night for most any other player.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQaGX4-Sfvg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXWTMFJlk_s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoqR1_UJjbk
Of course, not to overlook "Game 6 Klay" (we will, however, overlook the 2023 version). Somewhat bittersweet to see those Toronto game 6 highlights, man, he was cooking.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgVK8HLtk3k
Here are more career highlights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JQ89g1xdSQ
And, beyond his flame-throwing, we have all the Klay personalities:
"China Klay":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdMzbduEj7Y
and a pretty interesting interview while in China a few years ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y77IOYclvcg
"Captain Klay" on All the Smoke
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-JZrDvJwbw&t=30s
"Paper Airplanes Klay"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu7oIJVIWYA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5evX-tB6tc&t=987s
"Scaffold Klay"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t40e3kaHmrs
"Toaster Klay"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubqijkjc4rQ
and just Klay being Klay
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haLpJmt_Ps0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcPyFatNb8o
Besides his boat, he also has a very clean looking 60s Lincoln Continental:
https://www.topgear.com.ph/features/feature-articles/klay-thompson-lincoln-continental-a962-20220601
We can't talk about Klay without also linking to a few clips of Rocco:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT7_Nxk89Ik
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAgn_tlM-J4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVTXyEOAQ3Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEMZbS3PoIc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6fjMe50Emk
Finally, on a more serious side, "In 2017, Klay along with father Mychal, mother Julie, brothers Mychel and Trayce, started the Thompson Family Foundation with a goal of enriching the youth in both the United States and Bahamas through education and fitness."
Here is a touching story about a recent donation from his foundation:
https://abc7news.com/warriors-klay-thompson-wheelchair-giveaway-family-foundation-game-tonight/12999926/
You can read a bit more about his foundation here:
https://www.thompsonfamily.foundation/
And, if you hadn't seen it already, there was an ESPN clip about Klay granting a make-a-wish:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx_9LwGATds
Just don't ask him to babysit (nor JK either):
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kXxQVAN3JDU
Man, if I was the Warriors, I'd be pulling some Tyrion Lannister shit in order to figure out whose the Warrior leak.
Give different info to a bunch of different people and step back to see what leaks. Depending on what is made public, make an example of them.
Andre Iguodala & Evan Turner: An Epic NBA Chat On Their Careers, Jordan Poole, Bad Cultures & More | JJ Redick: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkpPPxJbUIQ
Interesting take on Dwight to the Dubs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdoRI6Ky9PI
Klay rounding into form? His C&S 3's looked nice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24nEUr7fsK0
Some teams sign free agents swiftly. Others seem to take a more deliberate approach. Both can be effective as well as foolhardy. It can be tempting to be down on the Warriors in the opening days of free agency. In the past, I've been hasty to blame them for being slow. Perhaps some 'misses' are a product of the Dubs not being every free agent's first choice or similarly the 'ideal' target just doesn't want to play here - such cases are just out of the FO's hands. Perhaps there are times they miss the target b/c they misjudged. And sometimes, maybe they just see multiple steps ahead that there will be better targets available if they wait and still have spots open. I feel like Garuba just might be one of those. I've got an irrational good feeling about him.
Almost a complete 540 degrees from that Two Timeline plan lol. Reminds me of when they got scarred from drafting Jacob Evans and went high upside low ceiling in the next few first rounds then they got scarred from Kelly Oubre and decided to try and sign a whole bunch of higher IQ vets and now they’ve shifted once more back to drafting higher ceiling players and signing a whole bunch of old dudes LMAO
Not enthused about signing Dwight Howard, I'd rather they just sign Dedmon who was also on that list (not that Dedmon is anything special but at least he knows that).
Looking forward to the battle for minutes between Garuba and TJD. From the little on court I've seen of both, I think TJD has the edge despite his lack of an outside shot, but I'm rooting for either/both to blossom in the Dubs' system. Like Mr. Pinckney, I hope to see some old-style suffocating D from our team this year, and both these guys bring it on that end.
https://twitter.com/JDumasReports/status/1704651588542058537
Not signed but Dwight heading to LA to work out with CP3 & Dray... maybe the last unofficial part of the interview process?