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It's probably fair to say that the Golden State Warriors gave Jeremy Tyler every opportunity possible to succeed within the organization after buying his rights from the Charlotte Bobcats in the 2011 NBA Draft.
But it had become pretty clear last season that this wasn't going to work out after two years trying and the Warriors officially cut ties with him yesterday.
Again.
After shuttling back and forth between Oakland and Santa Cruz for the first half of last season, the Golden State Warriors sent Tyler to the Atlanta Hawks where he lasted for less than two weeks. Santa Cruz reacquired him when he returned to the D-League and he helped take the team to the 2013 D-League Finals.
This summer Tyler caught on with the New York Knicks, impressing them in summer league and then being invited to their training camp before being waived in part due to being injured. But as Keith Schlosser of SB Nation's Ridiculous Upside has already detailed, the Knicks weren't able to retain Tyler for their D-League team because Santa Cruz still held his returning player rights.
But New York is still very intrigued by Tyler. If and when the young gun gets healthy towards the end of 2013, the Knicks could very well look to make some adjustments to their roster and find a spot for him. But in the meantime, the team desired to monitor his continued rehab and potential subsequent progress in the months to come. Because the (Santa Cruz) Warriors owned Tyler's D-League rights from last season, the two affiliates needed to agree upon a swap so that Tyler can continue to make his strides closer to Knickerbocker base.
So here we are with the Warriors organization making a second Tyler trade this calendar year, although they probably got more out of it the second time around.
Jeremy Tyler traded to Erie Bayhawks in a flurry of deals
As Schlosser has reported previously, the Tyler trade has apparently been in the works for a while along with a number of related trades that weren't able to be announced on draft day. The basics of what the Warriors got out of the flurry of trades was described briefly yesterday, but here's an attempt to breakdown the individual series of trades based on the Santa Cruz press release:
- The Warriors sent third round pick Shane Gibson, first round pick Scott Suggs, and Jeremy Tyler to the Erie Bayhawks in exchange for Reginald Buckner, 2013 first round pick Ryan Evans, and a 2014 draft pick.
- The Warriors sent Buckner and 2013 sixth round pick Garland Judkins to the Iowa Energy in exchange for 2013 first round pick William Buford and 2013 second round pick Abdul Gaddy.
- The Warriors sent Gaddy to the Maine Red Claws in exchange for 2013 seventh round pick Paul Crosby and a 2014 second round pick.
- The Warriors sent 2013 third round pick Jeremy Atkinson and their 2014 third round pick to the Texas Legends in exchange for fourth round pick John Allen and post Dwayne Jones, who played with the Golden State Warriors last season.
- Later, the Warriors announced that they sent second round pick Jon Kreft to the Tulsa 66ers for a 2014 second round pick.
@NateP_SBN You should keep an eye on John Allen if he makes it out of camp in Santa Cruz, too. Pretty good point guard!
— Keith Schlosser (@KnicksJournal) November 4, 2013
John Allen, Jr. is a guard who Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside profiled in advance of the draft, including high praise from Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. And he also brings a cool style to Santa Cruz, as reported by Schlosser.
"I feel like I'm a black belt in basketball," the guard asserted. "The guy I train with teaches the martial arts of basketball.
Who doesn't want a black belt in basketball on their team?
Who's left from their draft?
Clearly Santa Cruz made a ton of moves since the draft, but they actually held on to a few of their own selections:
- Third round pick Orion Outerbridge
- Fifth round pick Earl Pettis
- Seventh round pick Kiwi Gardner
For more on those players, check out our 2013 D-League Draft storystream. For more analysis on the draft as a whole, check out Ridiculous Upside's results guide.
Warriors bring together Santa Cruz Splash Brothers tandem
The acquisition of Mychel Thompson was initially reported on Friday, but the terms of the deal were announced yesterday: the Warriors sent Evans to the Sioux Falls Skyforce in exchange for Thompson's returning player rights.
Cameron Jones returns
Super ready for the season #santacruz
— Cameron Jones (@Cameron_Jones10) November 1, 2013
After a strong showing in summer league and an invite to Golden State Warriors training camp, there was some doubt as to whether Cameron Jones would return to the D-League or look to take his talents overseas. As he tweeted on Friday, he opted to return, which is definitely good news for Santa Cruz fans.
Schlosser has more on the variables that Jones might have weighed in making his decision, but also of note is that he was among those who voiced the need for the D-League to increase salaries last month.
Who else is on their roster?
As the Jones and Tyler situations illustrate, Santa Cruz holds the rights to any player who was on their roster at the end of last season as "returning players" (as long as they haven't traded their rights). Then they also signed the three players Golden State waived as "affiliate players".
So in addition to the nine players above, they have the rights to the following players:
- Joe Alexander
- Seth Curry
- Dewayne Dedmon
- Chris Taft
The full roster will be made available tomorrow. Santa Cruz will play its first preseason game on November 14.
For more on Golden State's D-League affiliate, check out our Santa Cruz Warriors section.