The Golden State Warriors only needed to play five summer games to decide that they didn’t want to lose Daeqwon Plowden.
For the Warriors, who have won five straight summer games in the California Classic and Las Vegas Summer League, Plowden has been a standout. In his five games, he has averaged 16.6 points, but his performance from behind the three-point line, where he has made 13 of his 27 attempts, has been particularly noteworthy.
Plowden is the ill-defined “three-and-D wing,” a player that every NBA team needs. Standing at 6-foot-6 with a 6-foot-10 wingspan and a vertical leap of 36.5 inches, he is fairly large for a shooting guard. With Plowden’s propensity to cause havoc and draw deflections for other teams, it’s the exact kind of frame that the Warriors have been searching for for the last ten years. Although he isn’t a true stopper, he was named to the MAC All-Defensive team and only really falters when facing athletes with extraordinary quickness.
For the Warriors, he won’t touch the ball or dribble much, but he has demonstrated the ability to act quickly when the ball is delivered to him. When he’s open, Plowden doesn’t hesitate to make threes, and he’s been quite successful on fast breaks. Plowden’s
In addition, he plays physically, which comes naturally to an experienced Summer League player. Plowden is capable of deflecting weak-side attempts and almost stole a game last season while playing for the Orlando Magic’s G League club.
In other words, the Warriors have acquired a player who, in all likelihood, won’t harm them if he or she is forced to play next season. Despite his excellent summer in that regard, they are not expecting big-time scoring. However, the squad is in need of an athletic guy who can play strong defense and make threes when he is open. Plowden is that.
Plowden, Virginia point guard Reece Beekman, and converted lacrosse star Pat Spencer—whose brother Cam recently inked a two-way contract with the Memphis Grizzlies—are the current holders of two-way deals with the Warriors. However, things can always change. For example, prior to the 2022–2023 season, the Warriors dismissed two-way players Quinndary Weatherspoon and Lester Quinones in favor of Ty Jerome and Anthony Lamb.
It’s not a particularly noteworthy deal; the Warriors would be overjoyed if Plowden could reach the caliber of Juan Toscano-Anderson, for instance. However, it’s a wise addition that will also benefit the squad in the long run when it comes to acquiring players on the fringes. Since 2018, Golden State has converted the two-way contracts of seven players—Quinones being the most recent—into regular NBA contracts. In the future, recruiting undrafted college players and Summer Leaguers should be made easier with the help of this possibility for progress.
Additionally, he is on the verge of being the first “Daeqwon” player in NBA history. He now joins Draymond Green, Kevon Looney, Festus Ezeli, Ognjen Kuzmić, and Alen Smailagic as the only Warriors player to have a first name debut that is truly unique (Quinndary Weatherspoon started with the San Antonio Spurs).
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