<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Most college kids don't leave school after four years and walk into a job that pays over $400,000 - but that is what the future likely holds for Jose Juan Barea. The former Miami Christian High and Northeastern University star was not selected in Wednesday's NBA Draft. But after the initial disappointment wore off, Barea realized his options are strong. Barea's agent, Richard Katz, told Hoop-Rap Thursday night that his star point guard has accepted an offer to join the Golden State Warriors' summer-league team next month in Las Vegas. "I anticipate that he will play well in the five games in Las Vegas just as he always does," Katz said. "After that, I am hoping that he gets invited to the Warriors' veteran camp in October." Asked how Barea's spirits were after not being drafted, Katz said it was positive. "He is excited," Katz said. "From an emotional and ego standpoint, not getting drafted is tough to deal with. But after that initial shock, he told me: "I'm ready to go. I'm ready to go to work." "And that is Jose Juan. He has always been an underdog because of his size (5-11), and he has always come out on top. I expect the same thing to happen in the NBA." Katz said that once the first round and the first few picks of the second round passed, Barea was better off going undrafted. "Being undrafted, you can pick your spot as far as what team has the best fit," Katz said. "And Golden State is a great situation. They really don't have a {backup} point guard with the vision and floor skills of Jose Juan." The Warriors' starter is Baron Davis, 27, who averaged 17.9 points and 8.9 assists last season. The backup is ex-Laker Derek Fisher, 31, who averaged 13.3 points and 4.3 assists last season. But the Warriors obviously want to develop a young point guard for the future, which is where Barea comes in. His competition for that role will likely be Will Bynum, a 6-0 second-year pro from Georgia Tech who played in just 15 games last season. Katz said Golden State was one of 10 NBA teams that worked out Barea prior to the draft. "They wanted to draft Barea, but they needed bigs and got two of them {Patrick O'Bryant and Kosta Perovic}," Katz said. "But the Warriors' personnel people have loved Barea ever since they saw him play internationally in Greece awhile back." Here is how much they love Barea. The Warriors' coach is Mike Montgomery, formerly of Stanford. When Barea worked out for the Warriors, he went up against former Stanford guard Chris Hernandez. And they picked Barea over Hernandez." If everything goes well for Barea, he could sign a one-year contract or a one-year deal with a one-year club option. Minimum salary is about $410,000 per season. Then he could really cash in with his second pro contract in a couple years. Many players have followed that undrafted-to-rich road map, including Carlos Arroyo, Barea's countryman from Puerto Rico. Arroyo was not drafted out of Miami's Florida International University but battled his way into the NBA and eventually signed a four-year, $16-million deal. Another local example is former Miami High star Udonis Haslem, who went undrafted despite an excellent college career at Florida. Haslem played in Europe for a bit, came back, won a job with the Heat and is now the starting power forward on the NBA champions. Barea could take the same route. He has a standing offer for more than the NBA minimum in Spain, where he would be wildly popular as a Hispanic in a Latin country. But he is not thinking about Europe at all. "Europe and Spain will always be there, and it is obviously a great fallback option," Katz said. "But Barea is an NBA player. I think he will prove that."</div> http://www.hoop-rap.com/news/newsview.php?getstory=714 I'm pumped that we got this guy, hes a great pure PG and I'm very surprised he went undrafted.
Sweet, thanks for the news. Its always good to hear that the W's scouting is actually working and spotting guys that the W's can pick up and use. Judging from the past few years, the W's have had success bringing in guys who can actually make the roster and contribute. Of course, except for lasy year when Ray Young and Davis didn't do anything except break Diogu's hand.
Our summer league team will be better than our regular season roster. JJB/Monta/undrafted SF/Ike/Biedrins with Will Bynum and Cheesecakes off he bench.
This is probably off topic but I had a weird dream that we got Jermaine O'neil for Baron Davis. So having Ellis/Bynum/Fisher/Barea would be nice depth. I'm still profess that Derek Fisher isn't as bad as he seems as long as the shooting guard does most of the playmaking. When guys are bricking catch and shoot shots that's when Dfish is really appreciated. Anything else though... yuck.
Now I hope we get Eric Hicks to remake into a defense+rebounds SF,and somehow clear some deadweight. 3 guys I liked as rd 2's slipped through,Barea,Gansey and Hicks. Each can bring something good.
Curtis Stinson and Steven Smith are also joining the Summer league team. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">In addition to O'Bryant, Monta Ellis, Ike Diogu and Will Bynum, Biedrins and undrafted Iowa State guard Curtis Stinson are among those expected to join the Warriors' summer league contingent.</div> http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c...SPG6PJNV7O1.DTL <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">La Salle’s Steven Smith, who also was snubbed in the draft, will get a chance to showcase his skills in Las Vegas. The 6-9, 235-pound forward will play for the Golden State Warriors entry in the Las Vegas Summer League.</div> http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=..._id=18170&rfi=6 I feel like some of these undrafted FAs we're signing are going to get screwed. Ike, Monta, Bynum, and POB will probably take alot of shots and JJB will probably dominate the ball. Stinson is a combo guard who really doesnt do anything but score, Steven Smith is a combo forward and a good scorer but he can also rebound well.
