It's too early, by most accounts, to give him a thorough analysis. But rookie guard Stephen Curry has members of the Warriors organization feeling good about his development. "He's holding his own very nicely," coach Don Nelson said Wednesday. Members of the coaching staff and some players got to see Curry in summer league and working out at the team's practice facility in Oakland leading up to training camp. But that's different than practicing full bore against a full squad.
Curry was teamed with swingman Kelenna Azubuike, forwards Corey Maggette and Brandan Wright and center Ronny Turiaf.
The consensus among the squad albeit after just two morning practices and one evening practice is Curry looks poised and confident. Most notably, he is handling the ball with authority and passing well. And his shot?
"Nobody shoots it early in training camp as well as they're going to," Nelson said. "But yeah, he made shots."
Defense and being a floor general are still areas the former Davidson College star needs to improve. But the Warriors are excited about Curry's improvement from the time they selected him at No. 7 overall in the draft in June until now.
"He's playing the hardest position in Basketball," Nelson said. "He's never really been a full-time point guard, so this will be his first step at that. We liked his development very much early. He was good this summer, and he continues to be good."
Meanwhile, C.J. Watson is out one to three weeks after an MRI revealed a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee. He sustained the injury during Tuesday's morning practice. Watson, who signed a one-year contract worth just over $1 million this offseason, figures to be the third point guard in a rotation of five on the roster.
The Warriors have 15 guaranteed contracts on the roster. They wanted to go with 14 players for economic reasons, but the Warriors signed center Mikki Moore to a one-year deal to fill out the front line. The Warriors still, feasibly, could move some players. But the likelihood, according to a team source, is that the roster will remain as is until around the trade deadline in February. The Warriors are sitting on some $10 million in expiring contracts in Moore, forward Devean George and point guards Speedy Claxton and Acie Law.
Live Webcasts of the last 30 minutes of the morning practices (about 11:30 a.m. to noon, when the media is allowed to watch) are available on Warriors.com .
