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Golden State Warriors Sign Point Guard Juwan Staten

By Angelo Mendoza

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Per Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports, the Golden State Warriors have signed 5-foot-11-inch point guard Juwan Staten to a one-year contract.

For those unfamiliar with Staten, the 23-year-old started his collegiate basketball career at Dayton for the 2010-11 NCAA season before transferring to West Virginia, where he played from 2012 to 2015.

He had a breakout season as a junior, averaging 18.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.2 steals on 48.6 percent shooting from the field. As a senior, he averaged 14.2 points, 2.7 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.1 steals on 42.1 percent shooting from the field.

In his two years as an upperclassman, Staten earned First Team All Big-12 honors consecutively, becoming the first player from West Virginia in over 30 years to do so.

Following his stint at West Virginia, Staten went undrafted in 2015, later signing with the Sacramento Kings and playing for their Summer League squad. He managed only one game for the Kings due to knee soreness, posting a stat line of just two points, three rebounds and two assists.

Though undersized, Staten’s natural speed and quickness coupled with his 6-foot-3-inch wingspan made him an excellent defender in college, winning Big-12 All-Defensive Team honors as a junior. Some NBA scouts, however, still question whether Staten’s defensive ability translates to the NBA level.

On the offensive end, Staten fits the mold of a more “classic” NBA point guard.

He’s a great ball handler and lightning quick, able to beat his man off the dribble with relative ease. One of his most exciting highlights while playing with West Virginia was this dunk he had over 6-foot-10-inch center, Joey van Zegeren.

He has a strong ability to see the floor and hit the open man, averaging 5.9 assists per 40 minutes and boasting a 31.8 assist percentage according to Sports-Reference. Within his conference, Staten’s assist percentage was ranked 1st last year, and his 4.6 assists per game was ranked 2nd.

Staten’s main weakness happens to be his shooting, which is certainly a notable factor when considering the past couple training camp signees that Golden State has gone after this offseason have been long range bombers (Ian Clark, Jarell Eddie). Even Chris Babb, whom Golden State received via the David Lee trade, is considered a long range shooter and will be competing with Staten for the final roster spot.

Much of Staten’s offense comes within the arc, whether it be a pull up jumper or some form of finish inside the paint. Behind the arc, Staten averaged a solid looking 36.2 percent shooting from behind the arc, but he only had 58 attempts from outside.

Seeing as Golden State is very much in the market for another floor spacer to add to the bench, it’s tough to see Staten making the team if he isn’t able to prove he’s made drastic improvements to his outside shooting.

Also to be considered is the current make up of the team, with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Shaun Livingston, Leandro Barbosa and Andre Iguodala filling up the backcourt. Without the need for another point guard, it’s more likely than not Staten ends up with Golden State’s D-League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors, who are in need of a point guard now that Aaron Craft and Kiwi Gardner are playing overseas.

Further details regarding Staten’s deal with Golden State are unknown.

Next: Warriors Searching for a Second Unit Shooter

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