The Golden State Warriors are a bottom-10 rebounding team who struggle to block shots, defend in the post, or get shots near the basket. Al Horford has a sore back, Trayce Jackson-Davis has a sore knee, and the Warriors sorely need a player who’s taller than 6-foot-7. Naturally, they signed a 6-foot-1 point guard to their recently-vacated two-way contract slot.
Positional fits aside, LJ Cryer rules. He won an NCAA title as a freshman at Baylor and lost a close NCAA final to Will Richard’s Florida Gators last season in a game where Cryer scored a game-high 19 points. Cryer is an assassin from three-point range, shooting 41.3% from deep in his college career, landing 3.1 threes per game on 42.4% shooting last year.
He’s played seven games for the Santa Cruz Warriors, averaging 24.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 6.1 assists while making 5.1 threes at a 41.4% clip. Friday, he just missed a triple-double with a 28-point, 10-assist, 9-rebound game in 126-112 loss to a shockingly-loaded Salt Lake City Stars team featuring lottery picks Taylor Hendricks and Cody Williams, along with seven-year NBA veteran Mo Bamba.
That performance might have inspired the Warriors to waive Jackson Rowe, for fear that another team would try to poach Cryer. Coupled with the signing of Seth Curry, the Warriors have seriously beefed up their three-point shooting. For a team that’s second in the NBA in three-points attempts (44.2 per game) but only 15th in three-point percentage (35.9%), they’re essentially deciding to go ahead with massive three-point volume and hope the improved percentages pay off.
Do the Warriors need another big man? Almost certainly. Was there another two-way option at center that was better than Trayce Jackson-Davis or Quinten Post that Steve Kerr would actually play? Probably not. Jackson Rowe was a loyal organizational soldier that rarely played. Cryer should at least see the floor more often. And if the Warriors really do remain shorthanded in the front court, they can always waive Alex Toohey!