Write back at you: NBA 101 in session, Josh Smith and the Warriors' depth

July 24, 11:05 AMGolden State Warriors ExaminerMatt Steinmetz

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Anderson: Struggling

Here we go:

JID WROTE: But Ryan Anderson is shooting a high percentage from 3-point range. This article makes no sense. Brook Lopez? A defensive specialist? is Steinmetz being sarcastic. He’s all offense.

MS: I feel very fortunate at times having this website because it gives me an opportunity to teach NBA 101 to beginners. Jid, take a seat next to Cary Salsberg … school in session.

Anderson is 7-for-27 from the field and 1-for-10 from 3-point range so far at the Rocky Mountain Review in Salt Lake City. So, tell me again what makes no sense?

As for Brook Lopez, if you think he’s all offense then he has very little chance of succeeding at the NBA level. I think Brook Lopez has a good chance to be a 12-year pro as an NBA center. He's got size, strength and a chip-on-shoulder attitude.

But he better do it defensively, first, because his post-up game (at least not now) isn’t going net many positive results. The Warriors’ Richard Hendrix, a natural power forward, contained Lopez on Monday.

Josh Smith: Budding superstar? 

Another 15 years of mediocrity is ahead wrote: Hey, Steinmetz, why didn’t the Warriors go after Josh Smith? Are we the only club in the league that doesn’t realize this guy is going to be a superstar in another season or two? We even made a point to say we’re not going to go after him which just makes no sense. Then we dumped $10 million on Corey Maggette, who by the way, plays the same position as Stephen Jackson.

MS: I’m sure one of the reasons the Warriors didn’t make an offer to Smith is because they felt Atlanta would match. And had the Warriors made an offer to Smith in the wake of Baron Davis’ departure, it likely would have constrained them for a week while the Hawks stewed on things.

After Davis walked, the Warriors needed to do something … and they felt they needed to do it quickly. I think Warriors executive vice president of basketball ops Chris Mullin took a look at the available point guards and realized he wasn’t going to find anyone out there as good as Davis or who could score as much.

He then likely concentrated on finding a way to replace Davis’ 20 points per game rather than dealing with a point guard _ because he wasn’t going to find a PG who could do both.

Maggette was being offered around the mid-level by the Spurs and Celtics. The Warriors knew that he would take a contract starting at more than that and that’s what they did. And because Maggette was unrestricted it made the whole process quicker.

As for Smith, I like him, too. A lot of people like him. But I’m a little worried about his penchant for floating through games. But the guy is a hell of a talent and, yes, he would have been perfect in a Warriors uniform. You also bring up a good point about Jackson and Maggette playing together. When I wrote about that specific issue, I was criticized for conjecture.

Don Nelson: Lots of pieces 

Squall wrote: The Warriors are putting together quite a deep team here. Very interesting. Don Nelson is going to have a lot of chess pieces here to move around to his liking. I still don’t believe this will be Nelson’s last year. Look how many young 20 year olds we have now. How can he walk away from all this potential one year after gelling?

MS: The Warriors do appear to be deep, no doubt. It should allow them to try to play at a faster pace than a year ago, and they won’t have to solely rely on Davis to push it. On the other hand, while depth is nice I’d rather see an impact player on the roster.

I think as the Warriors stand right now, they’re looking at one of those years where they’re hoping to overachieve, stay in the playoff race and maybe get in with 42-45 wins. Is it possible? Yes.

Nelson does love coaching underdog type teams. And this year, he’ll have  one. But I agree, it doesn't make sense that this would be his final season. Here's proof.