OAKLAND–Everyone knows the story of the “Hamptons 5.”
The Warriors’ core of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Igoudala traveled to the Hamptons to recruit Kevin Durant, and on July 4, 2016, Durant announced he was signing with Golden State. Instantly, the “Hamptons 5” was born, and the rest is history.
This offseason, the Warriors didn’t send their entire core to Southern California to recruit free agent Nick Young, but they did travel some heavy hitters.
Green, Durant and head coach Steve Kerr all met with Young this summer, and their active recruitment and the Warriors’ signature pitch helped convince Young to sign with the reigning NBA Champions.
At Warriors’ Media Day on Friday, Green detailed why he feels it’s imperative he takes a leading role in recruiting free agents, and explained what’s important to him about the process of building a championship culture.
”I just love to win,” Green said. “Actually I hate to lose. And in hating to lose, you’ve got to find ways to get better. Helping recruit guys is one of the ways that you get better. I don’t take it for granted, or take it, oh it’s Steve’s job or it’s Bob’s (Myers) job. At the end of the day, Nick will never step on the floor with Steve and he’ll never step on the floor with Bob.”
Kerr said that he foresees Young stepping into a role similar to the one Ian Clark played for Golden State last season, and reiterated his belief that Young can provide the team with a strong defensive presence.
”Our message to Nick was you’re perfect for us,” Kerr said. “You can shoot, you’re 6-foot-7, you can guard multiple spots. He was much better defensively last season than he’s ever been. People may not have recognized it.” He has the potential to fit in beautifully with us and we have the idea of winning a championship to offer to him.”
Kerr said one of the most important aspects of Young’s transition to Golden State is to understand that he won’t be relied on to score on a nightly basis. While Young was a centerpiece of the Lakers’ offense earlier in his career, he’s moving to a team with a plethora of proven scoring options who will cut into the shot count Young is accustomed to racking up.
“I think the appeal to Nick was to come play with this group of players, he’s a great fit,” Kerr said. “We’ve got a lot of people, and I explained to Nick that the numbers are probably going to be different, but over the course of the season, resting guys, he’s going to get his chance to play.”