Klay Thompson

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6-reasons-why-the-hawks-and-warriors-are-the-nbas-best-teams

6 Reasons Why the Hawks and Warriors Are the NBA's Best Teams

Kyle Korver and Klay Thompson had a friendly three-point shootout after the Team USA training session Wednesday in Las Vegas.

Two of the top shooters in basketball lit it up from seven spots on the floor in a catch-and-shoot format.  Korver won (barely) by beating Thompson at four of the seven spots.

It's pure joy to watch Korver shoot a basketball, and Thompson is pretty fun himself.  Take a look at the mastery below, courtesy of Rich Twu at LetsGoWarriors.com:

kyle-korver-beats-klay-thompson-in-three-point-contest

Kyle Korver Beats Klay Thompson In Three-Point Contest

The USA National Team announced Sunday evening that they had invited Paul Millsap to their training camp in Las Vegas at the eleventh hour.

The Millsap addition makes sense after Kevin Love, Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge all withdrew from the team, and he has a legitimate chance to make the 12-man roster.

After all, only he, Kenneth Faried, Andre Drummond, Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins can be legitimately classified as "big men," and Millsap can stretch the floor better than any of them.  Among that group, only Millsap is a serious three-point threat (he shot 36% from deep last season), adding that to his arsenal in his first season in Coach Bud's system.

The U.S. may be a bit undersized if Millsap is in the game as the team's power forward, but if he's playing alonside Drummond, Davis or even Cousins, they should be okay.  While Drummond, Faried, Davis and Cousins can all play in the post, and guys like Chandler Parsons and Gordon Hayward can stretch defenses with perimeter shooting, only Millsap can do both consistently.

Millsap's teammate Kyle Korver also deserves a decent look.  The U.S. team is filled with terrific shooters, but perhaps no one can put the kind of pressure on a defense that Korver can.  He's a veteran, particularly at creating space for himself in catch-and-shoot situations.  He has arguably the quickest release of anyone in the NBA, and even when he doesn't touch the ball there are times when he should arguably be given an assist because of the lanes he opens up for drivers.

Sure, there are more talented players with the ball in their hands, but Korver is probably the best shooter on the roster, and he could be a lethal bench weapon for head coach Mike Krzyzewski.  Korver's road to the final 12 may be more difficult however, as he'll likely have to beat out some combination of Hayward, Parsons, Bradley Beal, Klay Thompson and DeMar DeRozan.

Krzyzewski will have some tough decisions to make in the next few weeks, and both Millsap and Korver should be right in the discussion.

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Millsap Addition Gives USA Stretch Power Forward

With the draft fast approaching, we will be taking a look at potential draft prospects with writers who have covered the prospects in college or -- in the case of international prospects -- spent a great deal of time scouting them. Today we’ll look at James Young (G/F - Kentucky) with the help of SB Nation NBA draft guru Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie).

James Young is one of the more interesting prospects in this draft, and he's something of a project. His best game this year given the competition level probably came against Florida the first time they played, when he knocked down seven of his 10 shots, including four of five from 3, and scored 19 points. He dropped 20+ points nine times, but never with the type of efficiency that he displayed against what was consistently the best team in the country this season.

Where Young excels is as a jump shooter. His shooting form is pristine, and he gets excellent elevation on his jumper. He's an incredible athlete, and has great length and height for both wing positions. Athletic shooters can make quite a career in the NBA, so it's not hard at all to envision him working out well.

His weaknesses though have to do with those strengths. Young was a shooter that only shot 35 percent this season from 3, although that has more to do with the fact that he was the only spacing option that Kentucky had this past season with the Harrisons, Julius Randle, and Willie Cauley-Stein. He had to take a lot of contested outside jumpers just to keep defenses honest, which slightly depressed his percentages. I'd envision that these will leap in the pros. He already has NBA range (or at least as much as any NBA prospect does).

But that's not his biggest problem. His best way to fit in the NBA is as a "3 and D" guy, but he's not a good defender yet. At all. He doesn't get after it on that end, and doesn't seem to have great instincts there. Of course, most NCAA prospects have poor defensive instincts coming out of college. That's just kind of the way it is. They could come along for Young, and he could be fine on that end. But defensive lapses just seemed more common for him than other guys, and a lot of the time it was effort-related.

How do you think his game translates to the NBA?

Given his athleticism and shooting, his game is extremely translatable, especially once he is put into a slightly better role in the NBA than he was in college. Assuming the shot falls more consistently as I expect it to, I can't see him failing to the point where he doesn't reach a second contract quite yet.

What NBA player would you compare him to?

He's athletic and young enough to the point where he could develop into a Richard Jefferson-type that can both score by shooting and by getting to the rim with his athleticism. Or he could be an big shooting guard like a Klay Thompson. Or maybe he ends up like a C.J. Miles, more of an instant offense in small doses off the bench shooter.

What do you see as his NBA ceiling (All-Star/Starter/Spot-Starter/Rotation Player)?

My guess is that he's closer to the Miles level than peak Jefferson level, but who knows. Young is only 18 and hasn't really been used in a way to maximize his talents yet. I have him at 15th on my big board, just outside the lottery. I tend to think shooting is the easiest thing to project into an NBA role, so Young at worst probably ends up as a solid role player.

Klay Thompson

6 Reasons Why the Hawks and Warriors Are the NBA's Best Teams

Kyle Korver Beats Klay Thompson In Three-Point Contest

Millsap Addition Gives USA Stretch Power Forward

Scouting Profile: James Young