For the next few weeks I am going to be posting one piece per day profiling each member of the Warriors roster for this upcoming season. Some days there will be more than one in order to get them all in by the start of the season on October 30th against the Los Angeles Lakers. I’m going to start with the bench and work my way up so we will kick things of with Toney Douglas.
Toney Douglas
Early Life
Toney Douglas was born on March 16, 1986 in Tampa, Florida before eventually moving with his family to Jonesboro, Georgia. He is the younger brother of Atlant Falcons Wide Receiver, Harry Douglas. Douglas was named a McDonalds All-American in 2004 before accepting a scholarship to play at Auburn University.
Collegiate Career
Douglas led the Auburn Tigers as a freshman with 16.9 ppg and was named to the All-SEC Freshmen Team, All-American Freshmen 3rd Team, and All-SEC 3rd Team during his freshmen season, but was unhappy with his role as the team’s starting SG. Douglas saw himself as a PG if he were to make it to the NBA and transferred to Florida State University where he could play that position.
After having to sit out the 05-06 season and struggling to transition to the PG position; Douglas found his knack during his junior season. Douglas led his team in points (16.9), assists (2.6) and steals (2.6.) His 2.6 spg also led the ACC and he was named to the ACC-All Defensive team and All-ACC 3rd Team for his efforts. Douglas’ senior season showed him take another step in his career. He led Florida State to their first NCAA Tournament in 11 years while leading his team and the ACC in points with 21.5 ppg. His honors from his senior season include ACC-All Defensive Team, All-ACC 1st Team, ACC Defensive Player of the Year while also finishing 2nd in ACC Player of the Year voting losing to then North Carolina PG Ty Lawson.
Professional Career
On June 25, 2009 Douglas was selected 29th Overall by the Los Angeles Lakers before being traded to the New York Knicks later that night. With the selection he became the first Florida State guard drafted in the 1st Round since former Warrior Bob Sura was selected 17th Overall in 1995.
After spending his first 3 seasons with the Knicks, Douglas bounced around last season. After following Jeremy Lin to Houston and signing as a Free Agent with the Rockets during the 2012 offseason Douglas was acquired by the Sacramento Kings in a 6 player deal at the 2013 trade deadline.
In his first 4 seasons Douglas has only started 30 of the 246 games he has played in. He is viewed as a backup PG that is a streaky scorer and a good defender that can sometimes be hurt by taking too many risks. He is also an above average 3-point shooter with a career 36% mark. Douglas’ best season was his second where he started 9 of 81 games with the Knicks and finished with averages of 10.6 ppg, 3 apg, 3 rpg, and 1.1 spg in 24.3 minutes.
Toney Douglas agreed to a contract with the Warriors on July 18, 2013 and will help fill the backup PG duties left by Jarrett Jack’s departure. He can also help the Warriors defensively off the bench as he has been known as a tenacious defender (albeit one that takes unnecessary gambles at times) throughout his career while being tasked to guard Stephen Curry every day in practice.
Douglas was ranked 295 in ESPN’s #NBARank of the top-500 players for the 2013-2014 season.
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