Was the Warriors’ signing of Jason Kapono necessary?
By Ryan Hurlow
Making one of the quietest free agent signings this offseason, the Warriors added veteran sharpshooter Jason Kapono to their roster.
Kapono hasn’t made any significant impact on any NBA team during his career and played overseas on Panathinaikos at one point. His most notable achievements include winning the NBA 3-Point Shootout Contest two times and earing a ring with the Miami Heat in 2006. If anything, Kapono is a legitimate threat beyond the arc as he ranks fifth all-time on NBA’s three-point percentage list, shooting 43.4 percent. He made it to first on the list at one point, shooting just over 50 percent before dropping off again. However, he has had trouble finding an important role during his career in the league despite being the leading scorer at UCLA for four straight years.
Kapono joins an already guard-heavy lineup. While he has proven to be an accurate shooter, he will be playing behind Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, the two best shooters in the league. Even Shaun Livingston, Brandon Rush and Leandro Barbosa will more than likely see more minutes than Kapono.
Steve Kerr might eventually decide to give playing time to Aaron Craft or Nemanja Nedovic for a chance to develop. The Warriors roster is fairly deep so it’s hard to predict if Kapono will get a significant role this season. If Kapono does end up seeing time on the court, he could be used to space the floor and possibly relieve some pressure off Curry and Klay. If Kerr’s offense proves to be as efficient as he hopes, we will probably see the ball move more often as opposed to the simplistic dribble-heavy plays from Mark Jackson. Kapono could potentially fit Kerr’s offensive schemes fairly well if he can knock down his shots at a decent rate and swing the ball around when needed.
Another possibility is that Rush doesn’t return to full form and Kapono will be used to fulfill his role (minus the defense and almost everything else). It would be nice to see Kapono play on the level of someone like JJ Redick or Kyle Korver, but he hasn’t shown that he can move nearly as well as they do and has failed to diversify his game over the years. Kapono is already 33, so improvements to any facet of his game will be limited.
The season hasn’t started yet so it is very unclear what lineups Kerr will run with. Kapono brings more three-point shooting to a team that doesn’t necessarily need more. It is nice to see the Warriors add some more depth but it doesn’t solve the problem of the desperate lack of a backup big man. Jermaine O’Neal won’t be returning and Festus Ezeli has faced terrible luck in regards to his recovering knee. The Warriors need another center to relieve Bogut of his duties to allow him to stay healthy over the course of the season as he was the missing piece the team needed to overcome the Clippers.
With a deeper roster and Kerr and his coaching staff revamping the offense, we can hope to see the Warriors improve this season. Kapono might be able to prove doubters wrong if he gets any minutes, but he wasn’t the free agent most fans were looking to sign.