Erudite Warrior: Gary Payton or Avery Bradley?
[UPDATE 10/17/2021: Check the comments below for tons of updates since the original post…]
Tonight is the last Golden State Warriors preseason game, one of the better preseasons I can remember in terms of entertainment as well as “actual basketball results” value.
The biggest debate remaining is probably the 15th and last spot. Does it go to Avery Bradley or Gary Payton, Jr.? Sure, Jordan Bell has an outside chance if only because with James Wiseman and even Jonathan Kuminga as a potential stretch-5 out, the Warriors are really thin at the center spot. And the last option: do they even need to sign a 15th player?
Also, does Bob Myers waive (from the training camp roster, officially) one or the other after tonight or does he wait until the last possible moment, which would be Opening Night?
As far as the two most obvious in the running, “GP2” (whose other nickname is “Mitten” btw) and “AB”, here are our thoughts, as previously discussed on our Discord server. It should also be noted that we’ve seen GP2 as the “fan favorite” both on our YouTube channel in the comments as well as our Discord server.
Also, wish I had some Payton video to share, but I never got around to it and the Bradley stuff is already on the channel. GP2 basically said, “Take it one day at a time.” Bradley was equally deflective and even said he would root for whomever the 15th player ends up to be, citing God’s plan as well.
Also, Andre Iguodala listed Bradley as a guy he would want to be a championship contending roster, although not in so many words as to throw anybody (i.e., GP2) under the bus — I haven’t gotten around to that video either, and probably won’t. You can probably look some of these up on the Warriors SoundCloud page.
Dulow Twist: GP looks like a better player but AB is a better back up point guard ....the ball handling and decision making make a difference. To be honest, neither should be on the roster at this time.
Jonah (from Discord): IMO, Iguodala is the backup "point guard" along with Jordan Poole. Juan Toscano-Anderson, Damion Lee, and Nemanja Bjelica are the secondary options when Stephen Curry and Draymond Green are not on the floor.
Poor Man’s Commish (me): Sooner or later the experience and length and just being taller and more likely to get off a three will surface. Besides, just do a non-guaranteed and see what happens in Dec-Jan-Feb (I could be wrong about these transactional issues, as I’ve not a full understanding of the Collective Bargaining Agreement). You never know, maybe Lakers are dominating with their big men and we call Marc Gasol. It’s not like this 15th spot is a ball-and-chain situation. Plus, injuries. Bradley is much more versatile whereas GP is only so tall, can only backup a pg whereas AB is pg/sg. It’s no knock on GP. It’s just practicality. I’ve also mentioned GP and JB are likely to still be available on a whim more so than AB would if you were to cut these guys. The 15th spot is really just insurance. It’s the backup to the backup of Steph if we are looking at it from a rotational standpoint. I still think AB provides more “hard-to-find” versatility, just in case, than GP or JB (or any 6’10” guy off the street, e.g., Cavs just signed Ed Davis although I don’t know the context of that or how things led up to it).
What’s your take? See you in the Comments!…
I think that players like DLee and Iggy can eat the minutes that either Bradley or GP2 would get so I can see them wanting to save $6M. It's not chump change. For me, the biggest need is a big fella, but I can see the Warriors wanting to go with what they have and maybe bring someone in near the trade deadline. If they can survive the bigger teams it will say a lot for us. If not, we done fugged up. So, I will sit back and see how the FO decide to play this out. GP2 has always had my vote. Inspired D is rare.
Neither.
Keep the 15th spot open for the maximum flexibility of getting a qualified Big (such as Marc Gasol or equivalent). It's not a money issue. Got Iggy for a reason. Iggy needs to deliver more just like Draymond needs to score for himself on the Offensive side. That helps keep every opponent honest. As the new season progresses, not having a qualified Big in the backup (or starting position), can be do or die for the purpose of getting into the playoffs, or not. Not dream about Championship as yet. Dubs need to get into the post season somehow, then dream about the Championship as a legit dream. Jordan Bell has a lot of needed development in terms of playing legit NBA games. He may not have the aptitude to be developed. I don't think JB is a factor. Remember Bogut? By his presence on the roster, opponent teams need to prepare a game plan against him. That's a huge distraction against the opponents even Bogut did not play any meaningful minutes. Hate to see our beloved Dubs get bullied out of the full 7-games series post season playoffs. My 2 cents.