Dub’s Youngsters Ready For Summer Foes

Ben BreinerJul 10, 2008

This year’s Golden State Warriors' summer league team presents a very different scenario than last year.

In 2007, many of the more unknown players had a chance to make the team and a high percentage of the contract players stopped playing after a few games.

In contrast, this year there are five players who are all but guaranteed to make the team and two who have a shot. The rest are basically playing to be seen. The top five will likely start and give fans a chance to see new and developing players.

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Richard Hendrix, Brandan Wright, Marco Belinelli, C.J. Watson and Anthony Randolph are those top players and hopefully should get a lot of court time.

Wright and Belinelli are expected to step into the rotation next season. Dominating a few summer leaguers and rookies would be a pretty nice way to start that.

For Hendrix and Randolph this will be their first work against NBA competition Randolph’s handle will be of special interest because his ceiling gets much higher if he can slash to the basket. Hendrix’s rebounding will also warrant attention since he might be on the short side.

However this summer will be most important for C.J. Watson, who is fighting to be the top reserve at the Warrior’s thinnest position.

He was a dynamite D-leaguer but never asserted him self as a consistent reserve point guard. If he shows more in terms of running the offense Chris Mullin might be willing to go into the season with Watson and Monta at point guard (though he is still working the market for another option).

On the roster there are really only two players who could fight their way onto the Warriors. Mykal Riley is a sharp-shooting swingman with poor handle and little defensive skills. The addition of Corey Maggette takes means less room for 6’6" players but spot up three—point shooters always seem to carve out roles on teams.

DeMarcus Nelson could make the team on defensive skills and athletic ability alone. He is a good finisher and is capable of exciting power dunks but his jumper will need work.

He is under 6’3” but a 6’10” wingspan combined with good coaching and a defensive mindset give him the potential to make a team as a fourth defensive guard. Golden State can always use more defense so they will likely give this Oakland native a long look in the coming weeks.

The Dubs will be participating in both the Utah and Las Vegas summer leagues, so that means more time for these players with coaches and more games for fans to take in.

Roster

20 Louis Amundson F 6-9 225 12/7/82 UNLV 2
18 Marco Belinelli G 6-5 192 3/25/86 Italy 1
11 Dion Dowell G/F 6-7 205 6/11/85 Houston R
35 Richard Hendrix F 6-9 255 11/15/86 Alabama R
31 Robert Kurz F 6-9 232 3/5/85 Notre Dame R
12 Reggie Larry F 6-6 225 10/20/86 Boise State R
28 Jamaal Moore G/F 6-6 195 7/6/83 Rice R
25 Anthony Morrow G 6-5 210 9/27/85 Georgia Tech R
21 DeMarcus Nelson G 6-4 200 11/2/85 Duke R
4 Anthony Randolph F 6-10 205 7/15/89 LSU R
10 Mykal Riley F 6-6 185 7/14/85 Alabama R
33 Tamar Slay G/F 6-8 215 4/2/80 Marshall 3
23 C.J. Watson G 6-2 175 4/17/84 Tennessee 1
32 Brandan Wright F 6-9 205 10/5/87 North Carolina 1
6 Ian Young G 6-3 200 9/27/81 Auburn R
Coach Keith Smart