The Golden State Warriors look like a team that could do with more high level perimeter shooting after going just 6-of-33 (18.2%) from beyond the arc during Sunday’s preseason opener against the L.A. Clippers.
They’ve since missed an opportunity to address this with an intriguing low-risk signing, having seen the Chicago Bulls swoop into to grab Jordan Hawkins on a two-way contract after he parted ways with the Memphis Grizzlies last week.
Bulls make low-risk Jordan Hawkins move Warriors should have made
Chicago getting a still young former lottery pick on a two-way deal is an excellent move, and not one that suddenly comes around very often just as preseason gets underway.
It’s the kind of signing the Warriors should have made to address their shooting issues, particularly when Hawkins was evidently willing to take a two-way contract, making it a low-risk move with the potential of the former 14th overall pick working his way up onto the main roster.
Hawkins has shot just 34.8% from 3-point range over his career but is a noted sharpshooter, and there’s optimism that his percentages could rise sharply on a team with better playmaking and facilitating than what he had in New Orleans. He now gets that considering Josh Giddey is a far better playmaker than anyone on the Pelicans roster.
Hawkins could have been valuable for the Warriors in Steve Kerr’s system, with the team likely to lean even more on 3-point shooting as they try to manufacture offense without injured six-time All-Star Jimmy Butler, and with uncertainty surrounding veteran center Kristaps Porzingis.
Warriors may struggle to be elite 3-point shooting team
While Golden State are likely to rank toward the top again in 3-point attempts after leading the league last season, questions remain on whether they can lift themselves up from 20th in percentage.
Beyond Stephen Curry, and with Moses Moody likely to miss most of the season, who are the Warriors’ elite 3-point shooters? They have a lot of league average shooters, but who exactly is capable of hitting 40% across a season? While the jury is still out on Hawkins, he does have upside of reaching that mark in a different environment.
Instead the Warriors appear wedded to their current two-way contacted trio. Graham Ike impressed in his first outing to finish with 11 points and five rebounds against the Clippers on Sunday. Malevy Leons didn’t play until the fourth-quarter but made the most of his playing time with eight points, while LJ Cryer surprisingly played less than three minutes after an impressive summer league campaign.
Add us as a preferred source on Google