Getty Phoenix Suns guard Eric Gordon when he was with the Houston Rockets.
Aside from re-signing Draymond Green and landing free agent guard Cory Joseph, the Golden State Warriors haven’t been all that successful so far in recruiting new players this summer. The lack of new faces heading to the Bay doesn’t seem to stem from a lack of effort from the front office.
Shortly after news broke that free agent guard Eric Gordon would sign with the Phoenix Suns, The Athletics reported that the Warriors were among the finalists to sign him.
“Gordon had recently narrowed his choices down to Phoenix, Golden State and had even considered a reunion in Houston, sources said,” The Athletic wrote in a July 2 story.
The 34-year-old split his time between the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Clippers in the 2022-23 season. He averaged 12.4 points, 2.7 assists and 1.9 rebounds in 69 total appearances. The 2016-17 NBA Sixth Man of the Year had an efficient season as well, converting on 44.6% of his attempts from the field and 37.1% of those from beyond the arc.
Because of his ability to be reliable from distance, Gordon could’ve been a terrific fit with the perimeter-centric Warriors. He likely could’ve filled a void off the bench left by Donte DiVincenzo, who left town to sign with the New York Knicks on July 1.
Instead, the veteran sharpshooter heads to Phoenix to join Kevin Durant, an NBA Finals MVP with the Warriors, in Phoenix.
Warriors Interested in Malik Beasley: Report
Despite missing out on Gordon, the Warriors can still add shooting in other ways. According to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto, the Dubs have their eyes on another sharpshooter.
On July 2, Scotto included Golden State among teams interested in Los Angeles Lakers free agent guard Malik Beasley.
“Lakers free agent guard Malik Beasley has drawn interest from the Sixers, Suns, Raptors, Mavericks, Bucks, and Warriors, league sources told HoopsHype,” Scotto wrote. “Beasley led the NBA in three-pointers made off the bench last season and is a career 37.8 percent shooter from beyond the arc.”
Despite a solid percentage for his career, Beasley hasn’t been the best in recent seasons in terms of shooting. Last year with L.A. he knocked down just 35.3% of his shots from 3-point land, and made 35.9% the year prior. This is all while playing alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis, two players who require a bulk of the opposing side’s defensive focus.
Even though the 26-year-old has seemingly taken a step back in his reliability, he could still be a great pickup for the Warriors for the right price.
Warriors Felt Jordan Poole was ‘Inefficient’
The Warriors did make a big splash prior to the free agent period, trading Jordan Poole away to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Chris Paul.
Shortly after the deal was announced The Athletic’s Tim Kawakami went into detail about Golden State’s thought process when it came to shipping out the 23-year-old, revealing that the front office felt that Poole was “inefficient.”
“What’s clear to me after a few days of checking around is that this all began when the Warriors decided that Poole was an extraneous and inefficient member of their roster,” Kawakami wrote. “That was the precipitating issue. The Warriors wanted out of the $123 million deal they gave Poole only eight months earlier because his play last season didn’t meet that value, especially given their extreme luxury-tax pressures. They knew he wanted a bigger role and they knew that almost certainly wouldn’t happen as long as Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were on the team.”
The Warriors just won’t admit it that Klay has passed his peak. He more than any other player cost them the final two losses to the Lakers in the palyoffs. His shooting was pathetic, even missing layups and 2 point jumpers to the tune of 35% completions. It pains me to write this. But if Bill Walsh could cut Montana, two seasons early, the Dubs need to make the hard choice and trade Klay for a big that costs less. Thus, they start Curry and Paul, Wiggins and Kuminga and Green. Off the bench comes Looney, another big they get from trading Klay, Saric, Moody, and GP2 as needed. This would be a powerfull roster not totally dependent on guards for scoring.