(Photo: Xavier Henry: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports, Marcus Thornton pic: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images North America)
In Part One of this article, we discussed how the Golden State Warriors bench needs someone like a “Poor Man’s” Jamal Crawford.
The starters would be able to rest more with this kind of player on the roster, and this would also allow Mark Jackson to more comfortably rest Klay Thompson at times when he’s struggling to shoot the ball.
This player could fill the role that Jarrett Jack had last season, except with less point-guard duties. Jack would come in to the game and was fearless. He wasn’t afraid to take a big shot, he could initiate his own offense, and he could score in a variety of ways. That’s what the Warriors are lacking.
A couple shooting guards that the Warriors could potentially try to acquire are Xavier Henry and Marcus Thornton. These are two players who provide instant offense and can take over a game with their scoring or shooting ability.
Henry has matured as a player and is starting to develop into the type of player that many NBA scouts thought he could be coming out of Kansas. This season with the Los Angeles Lakers, he’s averaging 10.1 points in 21.8 minutes per game.
With Kobe Bryant out for an extended period of time with a fractured left knee, Henry will be expected to play more minutes for the Lakers.
However, the Lakers also have a few other players who could take some of those minutes too. Nick Young, Wesley Johnson, and Jodie Meeks have all seen an increase in minutes since Bryant went down with his injury.
Henry has a one-year, $916,099 contract with the Lakers, which is pretty small and movable. Because of this, there’s a chance that the Lakers would be willing to part ways with Henry, especially when Bryant returns.
Thornton has seen a decrease in his minutes with the Sacramento Kings this season due to the emergence of rookie Ben McLemore, but he’s still a legitimate three-point shooting threat.
He’s only shooting 29.9 percent from three and averaging 8.4 points per game in 23.8 minutes per game this season, but he’s always a threat to catch fire from three. Last season, he shot 37.2 percent from three and averaged 12.7 points per game.
He had his best season in the 2010-2011 season when he averaged 21.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 3.4 assists on 45 percent shooting from the field and 36.1 percent shooting from three.
Because of his smaller role this season, it’s quite possible that the Kings would want to deal him, especially because of McLemore’s emergence.
Thornton’s contract is much larger than Henry’s, as he’s more of an established player in the NBA. He’s earning $8.05 million this year, and he’s set to make $8.575 million next season. It’s unclear if the Warriors would want to take on that type of contract, but he’s an option worth considering.
The Warriors are a quality team. They haven’t quite lived up to expectations this season, mostly because of injuries. They have a lot of talent, but they could still use an upgrade to their bench.
They need a backup shooting guard who can provide some scoring off the bench. The Warriors aren’t likely to make a trade until their whole roster is healthy, but it might make sense for them to look into signing a shooting guard like Henry or Thornton.
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