How Bjelica and Porter Jr. Will Contribute to Golden State this season

The 33 year-old Serbian, Nemanja Bjelica, was signed to a one-year deal worth $2,089,448 (guaranteed) by the Warriors this offseason. Otto Porter Jr. (who played his college ball with the Georgetown Hoyas) signed a veteran-minimum contract with the Warriors worth $2.4 million dollars. Some may see these two signings as a steal. Although, both players are risky in their respective ways.

For Bjelica, he recently just had one of his worst shooting seasons. Yes, he had a back injury he was dealing with and then he was traded to Miami due to some disagreements with Luke Walton in Sacramento. With all this in mind, Nemanja still has been a streaky shooter throughout his career. When he started out his career in 2015 with the Minnesota Timberwolves, he put together a 46.8%/38.4%/72.7% shooting split his rookie season. The following season, he dropped down to 42.4%/31.6%/73.8%.

After Nemanja was traded to Sacramento, he put together his best season in the league with 48.1%/41.9%/82.1% in 2019-2020. He also played the most minutes per game (27.9) and the best stat line in his career (11.5 points per game, 2.8 assists per game, and 6.4 rebounds per game). Now, looking back at this previous season with all the issues and being traded in the middle of the year, you can only guess how his stats are going to look. A 45.4%/31.8%/72.5% shooting split with only 6.5 PPG, 1.9 APG, and 3.4 RPG in 37 games played. Very up-and-down.

Moving on to Otto Porter Jr.. Remember when he was offered a max contract at four years, $106.5 million by the Brooklyn Nets heading into the 2017-2018 season? Feels like ages ago.

The biggest issue surrounding the eight-year veteran is his injury history and it’s a long one. Just this past season, he only played 25 games with the Bulls while dealing with a back injury. He was then traded to Orlando during the middle of the season and only played 3 games with the Magic while dealing with the lingering back injury as well as some issues with his foot.

And that’s only what he had to deal with this last season alone. A lot more can be traced back to his early Chicago days and even at times during his tenure with the Wizards. Definitely makes you question whether or not this signing is going to be impactful in some sort of way.

I will say that when (and if he can stay) healthy, Otto Porter Jr. can be seen as a steal with his early success in the league. Who can forget his years alongside John Wall, Bradley Beal, and Kelly Oubre in the nation’s capital? It seemed the Wizards were once always competing in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.

Otto put together his best season in 2017-2018. He averaged 14.7 PPG, 1.5 SPG, 2.0 APG, and 6.4 RPG (all career-highs). To go along with that, it was on a very solid shooting split of 50.3%/44.1%/82.8%. The Wizards may have ended up losing to the Raptors in a 4-2 first round playoff series but that was an exciting season to be a basketball fan in Washington D.C. and a fan of Porter Jr..

So (finally), how will Nemanja Bjelica and Otto Porter Jr. help contribute to the Golden State Warriors?

Well, both bring floor-spacing and the ability to hit deep shots in bursts coming off the bench. That’s something that any NBA team could use more of, especially the Dubs. At 6’10” for Bjelica and 6’8” for Porter Jr., they both have an undeniable height advantage for their respective positions at the stretch-four and out on the wing. That’s something you just can’t teach and these two are blessed with that edge.

Bjelica and Porter Jr. playing alongside the likes of Jordan Poole, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Johnathan Kuminga (and others) will be beneficial for everyone within the second unit. A nice mix of veterans and younger players is exactly what the bench needs in order to improve on what was a rocky season for that part of the rotation.

The biggest question heading into the next stage (as I’ve mentioned above) is if these two are able to stay healthy and stay on the floor. If so, expect Golden State’s three-point shooting marks to rise and rise as the season progresses. The Warriors finished with the seventh best three-point percentage at 37.6% in 2020-2021. With this added depth of potential snipers, The Dubs will (once again) be one of the best shooting teams out on the perimeter for the upcoming campaign.

Follow Arden Cravalho on Twitter @a_cravalho.

(Photo via Carlos Osorio/Associated Press)