Golden State Warriors: Why Klay Thompson Should Be 6th Man

February 12, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson (11) dunks the ball during the second quarter against the Houston Rockets at Oracle Arena. The Rockets defeated the Warriors 116-107. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

When a new car arrives in your driveway, you don’t move it to the parking spot that’s hidden or never gets used. You move it to your best parking spot which forces your old car into a spot that usually doesn’t see a lot of action. The old car may be moved into a different parking spot but it still we get some use. It may not be your favorite car anymore but it still has some use.

Well for the Golden State Warriors , Andre Iguodala is the team’s new car. Igoudala will slide into the Warriors starting lineup which will force one of the Warriors young pieces, Harrison Barnes or Klay Thompson, to the bench or the other car spot.

But the decision the Warriors have to make is whether to move Thompson or Harrison Barnes to the other car spot.

Here is why Klay moving to the bench makes sense. I preface this by pointing out that David Lee played a ton of minutes last season with both the first and second unit last season.

Thompson played surprisingly well with the bench last season. In a four man lineup consisting of Jarrett Jack, Carl Landry, and David Lee with Klay of course, the four man group shot a better percentage than a four man group of Harrison Barnes, Andrew Bogut, David Lee and Stephen Curry. The Klay Thompson bench group also had a better plus minus 1.0 then the Barnes starter group of 0.1.

Statistically, the Barnes starter group thrived together as well, scoring more efficiently than the Klay bench group. The Barnes group also averaged more assists 7.8 verses 4.2 and was a far superior rebounding group with more than 13 rebounds.

When Barnes played with Curry in three man lineups he was very successful.  A three man group of Lee, Barnes and Curry shot 46.8 percent from the field, averaged 1.2 turnovers per game, and had a plus minus of 1.2. Compare these stats with a Klay Thompson, Jarrett Jack, and David Lee three man group which was actually statistically better. The latter group had a better plus minus 2.1, averaged less turnovers and shot a better percentage from both the field and three.

These lineups illustrate that Thompson does perform well with the Warriors bench. Even though Jack and Landry are now gone, Thompson will continue to be the offensive focal point of the second unit when on the floor with Tony Douglas and Marresse Speights. Barnes would of course also be a good option to come off the bench, but Thompson could do it as well if not better than Barnes.

Klay also is an incredibly streaky scorer. He goes through stretches where it seems as if all of his shots fall. Some of the other best sixth men in the league go through periods where they are incredibly difficult to stop. Think of the flashy Jamal Crawford or crafty Manu Ginobili.

It should be noted that Klay Thompson does perform incredibly well with Stephen Curry and the rest of the starting lineup. But because the new car, Andre Iguodala has arrived in town, someone may be forced to move to the bench and Klay could very well be that guy.