The Bulls made a small move with a potentially useful payoff, and it’s the kind of swing the Warriors could have used.
Chicago signed Jordan Hawkins to a two-way contract after he parted ways with the Memphis Grizzlies last week, adding a still-young former lottery pick at very little risk. For a team looking for shooting help, that’s the sort of transaction that doesn’t come around often once preseason is already rolling.
Golden State, meanwhile, looks like a club that could use exactly that kind of perimeter punch. In Sunday’s preseason opener against the L.A.
Clippers, the Warriors went just 6-of-33 from beyond the arc, a rough 18.2%. That kind of night only sharpens the questions around their outside shooting.
Hawkins fits the mold of a low-risk flier with upside. He was the 14th overall pick and has shot 34.8% from 3-point range in his career, but he’s still viewed as a sharpshooter. There’s also a case that his numbers could climb in a better playmaking environment than the one he had in New Orleans, and now he gets that with Josh Giddey, who is a far better playmaker than anyone on the Pelicans roster.
That’s why he would have made sense for Golden State, too. Steve Kerr’s system could have used another shooter, especially with the Warriors expected to lean even harder on 3-point volume as they try to create offense without injured six-time All-Star Jimmy Butler and with uncertainty surrounding veteran center Kristaps Porzingis.
The bigger issue for the Warriors is whether they can actually be elite from deep. They’re likely to be near the top of the league again in 3-point attempts after leading the NBA last season, but last year they finished 20th in percentage.
Outside of Stephen Curry, and with Moses Moody likely to miss most of the season, there are real questions about who else on the roster can consistently hit 40% over a full year. Hawkins is still trying to prove he belongs in that conversation, but the ceiling is there in the right setting.
For now, Golden State seems committed to its current two-way group. Graham Ike had the strongest showing of the trio in Sunday’s game, posting 11 points and five rebounds against the Clippers.
Malevy Leons didn’t enter until the fourth quarter, but he made the most of his minutes with eight points. LJ Cryer, who had a strong summer league, played fewer than three minutes.
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