Getty Head coach Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors reacts to a play.
The Golden State Warriors have promoted Steve Kerr‘s son to head coach of their G League affiliate, the team announced on Wednesday.
Nick Kerr will succeed Seth Cooper to steer the Santa Cruz Warriors starting the next G League season. Cooper will join David Fatoki as the Warriors’ director of player development.
While Nick Kerr does not have the championship experience his father had as a player and coach, he had paid his dues starting as a quality assurance assistant with the San Antonio Spurs in the 2017-18 season and three seasons before moving to the Warriors organization in the video and player development.
Nick Kerr was an assistant coach at Santa Cruz for the last two seasons.
He will be tasked to align with his father in terms of seamlessly integrating their playbook to help prepare their young players such as Lester Quiñones, who is back on a two-way contract, and their rookies — first-round selection Brandin Podziemski and second-round draft pick Trayce Jackson-Davis.
At the same time, Nick Kerr will aim to improve Santa Cruz’s 18-14 record as the seventh-seed in the Western Conference last season.
Warriors Bring NBA Veterans for Workout
The Warriors are bringing in a group of NBA veterans to fight for their remaining two roster spots, according to The Athletic.
The group includes familiar faces, Kent Bazemore and Juan Toscano-Anderson, and previously reported Harry Giles III. Joining them are Dion Waiters, Tony Snell and Trey Burke.
Bazemore started his NBA career with the Warriors in 2012 and was credited for recruiting Stephen Curry to sign with Under Armour. He returned to the Warriors during the 2020-21 season after playing for four different teams. He last played for the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2021-22 season.
Toscano-Anderson was part of the Warriors’ bench mob during their title run in the 2021-22 season.
Klay Thompson Sees All-Star Future for Jordan Poole
Curry’s Splash Brother Klay Thompson believes Jordan Poole‘s exit from the Warriors is good for his career.
While he was hurt to see Poole leave, he said on the Aug. 7 episode of the Podcast P with Paul George that he sees a bright future for his former teammate with the rebuilding Washington Wizards.
“Oh, he definitely got an All-Star potential,” Thompson said. “You saw it when we made that finals run [in 2022], right? He averaged 18 [points] shooting 50/40/90. Like that’s hard to do.”
“So, I’m excited to watch him and [Kyle Kuzma]. Those are gonna be the swaggiest buckets ever. Now I’m excited for him. Washington got a good one.”
Poole was traded to the Wizards, along with a top-20 protected first-round pick in 2030, a 2027 second-round draft selection, Ryan Rollins and cash considerations, for the expiring salary of 11-time All-Star point guard Chris Paul.
The move projects to help the Warriors to save millions in luxury taxes moving forward in the face of the more restrictive Collective Bargaining Agreement. It could also open up a cap room for the Warriors to improve their roster next season should they not pick up Paul’s non-guaranteed $30 million salary for the 2024-25 season.