After starting our look at the new players on the Warriors roster by breaking down the newly acquired veterans, we now shift our attention to some younger players who are trying to make the team’s Opening Night roster. If you watched any of the Warriors at this year’s NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, you might already be familiar with the foursome that was invited to the team’s training camp: Aaron Craft, Justin Holiday, James Michael McAdoo and Mitchell Watt.
AARON CRAFT
After becoming the all-time leader in assists (694) and steals (Big Ten-record 337) at Ohio State, Craft led the Summer League Warriors in both categories. A four-time All-Defensive Team selection and two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, Craft also excelled in the classroom during his collegiate career, earning Men’s Basketball Academic All-America Team Member of the Year honors as both a junior and senior.
JUSTIN HOLIDAY
Holiday, who led the Warriors’ summer entry with 14.8 points per game, has previous NBA experience with the 76ers in 2012-13, where he played with his brother and current Pelicans point guard Jrue Holiday. The Washington alum led the NBA D-League in steals that same season and was named to the All-NBA D-League Third Team and All-NBA D-League Defensive Second Team as a member of the Idaho Stampede. He spent the 2013-14 season in Hungary and made his professional debut in Belgium in 2011-12.
JAMES MICHAEL MCADOO
McAdoo’s name might be familiar to some basketball fans— NBA legend Bob McAdoo is his dad’s second cousin—but he’s looking to make a name for himself with the Warriors. He led the summer squad with 29.0 minutes per game, tallying 9.0 points and 5.4 rebounds in five contests (all starts). A former teammate of Harrison Barnes at North Carolina (2011-12), McAdoo earned Second Team All-ACC honors in each of his last two seasons with the Tar Heels before declaring for the 2014 NBA Draft as an early entry candidate.
MITCHELL WATT
The Warriors have deep ties to the State of Arizona—coaches Steve Kerr, Luke Walton and Bruce Fraser and guard/forward Andre Iguodala all hail from the University of Arizona—and Watt can be counted among them. The Goodyear, Ariz., native won a state championship at Desert Edge High School before a productive collegiate career at Buffalo, where he was MAC Player of the Year as a senior in 2011-12. Watt, who was just the second player in the school’s Division I era to earn All-American Honorable Mention honors, has spent the past two seasons playing professionally in Israel.