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The Golden State Warriors Summer League run is coming to an anticlimactic ending. After winning their first four games of the summer, Golden State has lost three in a row, and, win or lose, their summer season will end tonight.
This is hardly anything the team is worried about. In addition to the fact that Summer League results are meaningless, the Warriors have been dealing with minor injuries to their key players, and as a result, they’ve been very cautious and kept people out. Relative to other teams at Summer League, the Warriors have just started to run out of talent.
But that’s okay! Because it’s the games that aren’t played in July that matter, and we all know how the Warriors do in those ones....
Rest for the big three
The Warriors entered Summer League with three players that were both on the summer roster, and the regular roster: Rookie Jacob Evans III, second-year pro Jordan Bell, and third-year center Damian Jones. All three have missed time in July due to injuries, and all three will sit out of the final summer game.
Warriors wrap up summer league tomorrow night in Vegas. Jacob Evans, Jordan Bell and Damian Jones will not play in the finale.
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) July 12, 2018
This is much preferable to risking injury with these three, but it certainly makes the game a bit less intriguing for Warriors fans.
Checking in on the Kings
Golden State played Sacramento in the second game of Summer League, at the California Classic. Since then, the Kings’ young core has had a chance to grow a little bit. The most intriguing players on Sacramento’s roster are Marvin Bagley III, the number-two overall pick in this year’s draft, and Harry Giles, a highly rated rookie who missed last year due to an injury, after being drafted 20th in 2017.
The Kings also have intriguing second-year players in Frank Mason III and Justin Jackson, who are a lot of fun to watch.
It’s unclear how many of these players will play for Sacramento, but hopefully most or all of them. Someone has to play some key players . . . right?!
The final case for a two-way
The Warriors have one two-way contract left to give out. They have two players who have stood out in Summer League and made their case for it in a big way: Kendrick Nunn, and Marcus Derrickson. Tonight’s game against the Kings represents the final chance for one of these players to prove that they would be a key addition to this year’s team.