Inside the Warriors' 2008 NBA draft preview [Inside Bay Area]

"Here's the thing about Wright and Belinelli: Most guys who play significant minutes in their second season already played decent minutes as rookies. In the last 20 years, there have been 663 rookies who played 376 minutes or less (376 being how many Wright played last season). Only 44 of those became rotation players in their second year (rotation=1,200 minutes). That's 6.6 percent. And that number's inflated by guys like Charlie Bell and Mo Evans who went to Europe for three years between their first and second NBA seasons.

So in short, it's hard for me to think that the Warriors will bump one guy -- let alone two -- who didn't play as rookies into their rotation."-- Geoff Lepper

----------------------------------------------------------

I'll put the over/under on combined minutes of playing time next season for Wright/ Belinelli next season at 17mpg.

Definitely check out the rest of Lepper's and MT's chat for more insights.

3 months ago Atma Brother ONE Comment 4 comments 0 recs |

Read Related

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

I don't think any will be superstars any time soon...

As a Warriors fan, I’m sticking by those two young guys, but they just haven’t shown enough during their rookie season to really merit any consideration as valuable players. Wright is athletically gifted but just hasn’t shown much potential when he’s gotten the playing time. He could turn out to be a good player who utilizes his athleticism and skills but for now, it seems like he could just be another athletic big man who lacked the drive to really improve himself.

Belinelli, on the other hand, I feel could be a good bench player. He’d shown during the summer league last year that he could definitely play on some level. Maybe he just hasn’t gotten the playing time he deserves. Both young guys could be good role players for us this year, (especially since we’ll be needing a good bench!) but I totally agree with the stats you gave. If new players to the League don’t really show early during their career that they don’t really merit PT, the trend is very likely to continue.

by The Daydreamer on Jun 20, 2008 4:05 PM PDT 0 recs

Hey Atma...you missed one -> Jason Thompson

Posted: Friday June 20, 2008 2:02PM; Updated: Friday June 20, 2008 3:10PM
Ian Thomsen > INSIDE THE NBA

(b) The Warriors are strongly considering Jason Thompson at No. 14. Thompson, a senior power forward at Rider, is listed as a second-round pick in many mock drafts. The Warriors were so impressed by his performance in a 24-player workout last week (attended by more than a dozen teams) that Thompson was reportedly headed back to Oakland for a second workout this weekend.

“I’m not so surprised,’’ a Western Conference GM said. “He’s pretty versatile, and he can shoot it a little bit, so I can see why Nellie [coach Don Nelson] likes him.’‘

“I’ve heard from another team in the top 15 that they’re looking at Thompson too,’’ a team president said.

Said another GM: “Golden State is all over the map. “They have that big trade exception [of $9.9 million from last year’s trade of Jason Richardson to Charlotte; the exception expires June 30] and there are 900 ways they could go.’‘

by streetballer on Jun 20, 2008 5:58 PM PDT 0 recs

maybe not belinelli

but wright deserves a significant bump in playing time

by AJC3317 on Jun 20, 2008 6:11 PM PDT 0 recs

wright was hurt

during camp and at the end of the season, so i’ll say that his game minutes would have been greater than those used in the article, which failed to mention this fact and its impact in wrights PT.

the stop calling him "beans" movement

by pervisNeverNervous on Jun 23, 2008 11:46 AM PDT 0 recs