Tre Mann & Cam Thomas: workouts with first-rounders pickup steam

Warriors check out a couple “bucket-getters”

(Photo: Golden State Warriors Zoom call)

The Golden State Warriors finally worked out two projected first-round Draft picks yesterday: Tre Mann and Cam Thomas. The Warriors had held a handful of workouts for mostly probable undrafted players, and we will report on this later.

With exactly two weeks to go before the 2021 NBA Draft, this begins the process of evaluating legitimate candidates for the Warriors’ 7th and 14th picks, assuming they keep them. While Mann and Thomas show up on Draft boards outside of the Lottery range (1 through 14), the Warriors have to see if they’re good enough to move up and use the 14th pick on.

Today, the Warriors will also work out projected Lottery picks Davion Mitchell, Moses Moody, Kai Jones and Jalen Johnson. The latter three are all Klutch clients, and GSW PR has announced that Mitchell will workout at 2pm, while Moody, Jones and Johnson will be at 3pm. The Zoom call is at 4pm and we will have detailed notes from that call on this website.

The Klutch clients all attended the Draft Combine last month — Mitchell did not and is represented by CAA — and we have their Zoom Q&As on our YouTube channel already: Moody | Jones | Johnson

Back to Mann and Thomas, these two players happen to fall under the “bucket-getter” or scorer need. On the three major Draft boards (we’ll also go over this in a future post), Babcock/BBN has Mann at 22 and Thomas at 29. ESPN has them at 22 and 26, respectively, although ESPN’s board is currently only listed as Best Player Available and not adjusted toward NBA team needs. NBADraft.net has Mann and Thomas at 28 and 20, respectively. Self-proclaimed “Yoda” of AAU/NBA prospects, Rashad Phillips has highly praised Thomas on Twitter.

Every year, the Warriors obviously have needs, be they wings, veterans, backup point guard, backup center, bench scorer, and/or some combination of the above and in no particular order.

The lack of offense experienced by the team in 2020-21 has opened up a need for a bench scorer, although this was in the absence of Klay Thompson. What remains to be seen is how high of a priority this category will be and if the Draft picks will be used for this, versus signing a free agent, for example. There a lot of variables in play and we will address as many of these as we can in the lead-up to the Draft, as well as afterwards as we approach free agency.

In the meantime, prospects are coming through the Chase Center doors, so we’ll provide some quick-hit reporting. Let’s start with scouting reports, followed by notes and quotes from the Zoom calls, which you can view partially here:

CAM THOMAS

Strengths: Outstanding one-on-one player. Solid athlete, great body control. Can score on 3 levels. Has solid size at 6’3”. Has the makings of a professional scorer, similar to Alec Burks or Jordan Clarkson. He averaged 23 points per game as a freshman at LSU and showed a nice mid-range jumper and crafty finishes around the rim. Adept at drawing fouls and hits free throws at an 88% clip.

Weaknesses: Ball-stopper and below average passer. Scoring mindset will miss teammates while trying to go one-on-one. Shot 32% on threes despite having solid form. Poor shot choices and easily settles for contested jumpers. Doesn't give effort on defense. Won't move his feet to stop dribble penetration. Average size and length a potential impediment on defense. A turnstile on the perimeter. 

Warriors fit: Not sure if he can play in a motion offense since he is solely focused on scoring but would add some scoring juice off the bench if they add him. Teams will target him in his minutes on defense to exploit him. His ability and determination to score will keep him in a rotation for years because scorers always have a role. Can have a Lou Williams or Jamal Crawford type of career. Withdrew from Combine, potentially indicating a first-round promise.

TRE MANN

[Our report on Mann is a little less in volume, but was covered already on our Discord server.]

A taller Patty Mills, jack-of-all-trades, master of none offensively. Valuable rotation guy who can get 8 to 12 points per game on a second unit.

ZOOM CALL: TRE MANN

- how did it go? Went well.

- Chicago comp? “Didn’t go” to Combine

- how many workouts so far? “…6th or 7th workout…”

- Similar or different workout? “…only difference was the 2-on-2s we played…”

- GSW fit: “…my game kinda fits into their offense…with the ball in your hands…create…move the ball…”

- when knew NBA: “high school, my 11th grade year, I grew a couple inches…separated myself (AAU)…sophomore year of college…put in a lot of work…biggest jump.”

- NBA comps? “Steph Curry was early…picking more pieces from more players…Beal, Devin Booker, CJ McCollum, Damian Lillard, Trae Young…finesse with a little bit of athleticism.”

- ball handling? “Best handle in the Draft class”

- Steve/Bob? “No sir, not Steve”

- Bob? “It was a meeting. I met with a lot of the staff…trying to get to know me…my jump from sophomore year…”

- weaknesses: “No sir, I didn’t talk to him about that.”

- floater/shifty: “I feel like that’s what the NBA game is turning into, guards that can create like (Steph/Trae)…”

- floater for NBA? “Always taught to have a floater, my AAU coach in fifth grade…sophomore year I was able to use it a lot more…reps…”

- workout schedule: Clippers, Lakers then Sacramento”

- defense? “Really underrated…I know I have a lot of flaws but I’m (better) than people think…get stronger and faster.”

- defending 1on1 or team? “I’ll say team…Coach White talked to us about team defense…”

- 2-on-2 feelings? “Teams have watched me a lot enough to know…showing that I can play defense and I can make the right play coming in playing point guard…I’ve been playing in front of big crowds my whole life.”

- PNR: “Coach White told me that, told me I had to make better reads…I was able to do it pretty well this year.”

ZOOM CALL: CAM THOMAS

- how it go? “A lot of shooting…3on3 2on2…”

- shooting? “I shot great…”

- where else? NYK ATL GSW

- “secondary slash primary ball handler…fill in player off the bench.”

- off the dribble: “people are really impressed with my range…feedback I’ve been getting has been i shoot the ball really well…better than my percentage…”

- bucket-getter

- Oak Hill: “national stage with that high level competition really prepares you for this moment.”

- workout different? “About the same. Shooting, conditioning, going hard…”

- interview: “…what I stand for as a person …went really great.”

- guard? “Really didn’t show too much…”

- pg vs sg? “…I’m a guard. I’m a basketball player.”

- Next? “LA…home base…”

- weaknesses? “Just want to show that…I’m an underrated play maker…stay locked in on defense…just gotta show it more…”

- NBA comps: “James Harden, Devin Booker, Kyrie…”

- which traits each? “Harden everything…Booker I try to take his midrange game…same thing from all three guys…bucket-getters…”

- Kyrie handle? “Not yet…”

- Coach Wade: “…always keep in contact…”

- where for Draft: “idk yet”