Santa Cruz Warriors bring a promising roster into inaugural season in California

While the Golden State Warriors have had a sort of rocky start to their season, the Santa Cruz Warriors are still basking in the glow of preseason optimism as they look to begin their first season in Northern California.

Keith Schlosser of SB Nation's Ridiculous Upside took a look at the team's roster earlier this week, focusing on an underrated trade for Cameron Jones that went down on the day of the 2012 D-League Draft on November 2 that shouldn't go unnoticed.

Pulling the trigger on perhaps a more underrated deal in has been a busy month on the D-League trade front, the Warriors recently acquired Cameron Jones (cousin of NBA guard Landry Fields) from the Mad Ants.

Jones is a very promising player who is able to shoot the lights out with ease. Draining 43% of his daggers from long range, the young gun was also named to last season's NBADL "All Rookie" first team after averaging 14 points per contest. When it comes to potential, the athletic Jones has a ton. Having the experience of not only a season in the minors, but a previous NBA training camp under his belt, it would seem likely that Jones is only set to build on his already present success.

Other highlights on the roster:

• Three players from the Golden State Warriors' 2012 training camp roster are currently on the Santa Cruz Warriors' roster: Carlon Brown, Lance Goulbourne, and Rick Jackson.
• Former Los Angeles Clippers guard Travis Leslie, who is looking to find his way back into the NBA.
• 2012 D-League Defensive Player of the Year award winner Stefhon Hannah.
• Japeth Aguilar, who is looking to become the first Filipino player in the NBA since former Golden State Warriors guard Raymond Townsend.
• After drafting former Pac-12 player Faisal Aden, Santa Cruz traded him to the Dallas Legends for Dominique Johnson.
  

Don't know anybody on the roster except Taylor Griffin (yes, Blake's brother)? That's understandable as a NBA fan. But knowing all the names isn't what makes this team exciting - it's seeing these guys develop and how they might be able to help the Golden State Warriors franchise as a whole that really matters.

What remains to be seen this season is how the interaction between the Golden State Warriors and Santa Cruz Warriors will look with the teams now so close together: which Santa Cruz players might get a chance at a NBA Call-Up? Will Golden State take advantage of the D-League's new assignment rules - as a few other teams already have - to give a young player an opportunity for seasoning?

The short-term impact on the Golden State franchise might not be huge, but it remains to be seen how well they can use this relationship and relocation to continue pushing the franchise forward.

2012 Santa Cruz Warriors training camp roster

Japeth Aguilar (W. Kentucky), C, 6’10", 210

Carlon Brown (Colorado), G, 6’5", 205

Chris Daniels (Texas A&M-CC), C, 7’0", 265

Lance Goulbourne (Vanderbilt), F, 6’8", 230

Taylor Griffin (Oklahoma), F, 6’8", 230

Stefhon Hannah (Missouri), G, 6’1", 180

Rick Jackson (Syracuse), C, 6’8", 245

Dominique Johnson (Azusa Pacific), G, 6’3", 190

Justin Johnson (Concordia-Irvine), G, 6’2", 180

Cameron Jones (Northern Arizona), G, 6’4", 185

Travis Leslie (Georgia), G, 6’4", 205

Darren Moore (UC-Irvine), G, 6’3", 190

Daniel Nwaelele (Air Force), G, 6’5", 205

T.J. Robinson (Long Beach State), F, 6’8", 205

Steve Tchiengang (Vanderbilt), F, 6’9", 245

For more on the Santa Cruz Warriors, check out our Santa Cruz Warriors 2012 D-League draft storystream.