Warriors considering calling up Jessup

By Liam Santamaria.

The Golden State Warriors are looking closely at the possibility of calling up Illawarra Hawks sharpshooter Justinian Jessup to fill one of two open roster spots.

The news comes after the Warriors traded two players, Brad Wanamaker and Marquese Chriss, in separate deals during the week with no significant pieces obtained in return.

They were moves made to free up roster spots for the upcoming buyout market and to shave money from their sizeable luxury tax bill this season.

The result is that the Warriors now have two open spots on their roster and General Manager Bob Myers told media today that bringing in Jessup is one of the options the organisation is currently considering.

“We’ll look at all of it,” Myers said.

“We’ve looked at our player in Australia, we talked about potential buy-out guys… we will look at those things and make a decision, I think, in the next week or so.”

Jessup was selected by the Warriors with the 51^st overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft and is currently averaging 14.5 points per game for Illawarra as a ‘draft-and-stash’ Next Stars player.

The 22-year-old has been a vital contributor for the Hawks who currently sit just outside the NBL top four with a 9-8 record.

The Warriors, who currently sit in tenth place in the NBA’s Western Conference with a 22-23 record, have a number of options for filling out their roster.

One is to use a Disabled Player Exemption they possess to potentially add a veteran impact player on the buyout market. While another would be to move one or both of their two-way players, Juan Toscano-Anderson and Nico Mannion, into their 15-man roster.

However, according to Myers, the organisation is also looking closely at the possibility of bringing Jessup into the mix.

“We talked about that a little bit yesterday and a lot of things would have to align,” Myers explained.

“Not having talked to him or his agent personally, needing to know what they want. Also considering his development. Is he going to continue to develop better there or here? It’s a question.

“It’s something you put up on the whiteboard and everyone gets a say in it – his representation, he would – and then you make the best call.”

Jessup has started all 17 of Illawarra’s games so far this season, and is the team’s second-leading scorer behind back-court partner Tyler Harvey.

He has been one of the NBL’s top long range shooters across the first half of the season, connecting on 45.1 percent of his 5.4 three-point attempts per game.

All of which has clearly impressed the Warriors, who have add one of their scouts in Australia recently to evaluate Jessup’s development.

The question is: will they decide to call him up?

“It’s one of the things we’re looking at,” Myers added.

“It’s not the only thing, it’s one of many things. We’ll get clarity on that in the next couple of weeks.”