The Charlotte Bobcats took 20-year old, 6′10″, 255 pound PF/C Jeremy Tyler with the #39 overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. The Bobcats then sold Tyler to the Warriors for some cold, hard cash. Jeremy Tyler played 33 games for a team in Japan last year and he averaged 15.4 minutes, 9.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. Tyler played two years of professional basketball in Israel and Japan, appearing in 43 games in which he averaged 13.6 minutes, 8.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. The Warriors were looking for a big guy to bang inside in the paint and they might have found one in Tyler.

The Golden State Warriors took 21-year old, 6′6″, 202 pound shooting guard Klay Thompson with the 11th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. Thompson played in 34 games at Washington State last year and he averaged 34.7 minutes, 21.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.6 steals per game. Thompson played in 98 games in his three years in college and he averaged 34.4 minutes, 17.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.3 steals per game. This was an excellent pick for the Warriors as Thompson will likely be the first guard off the bench for the Warriors this year (unless Monta Ellis is dealt) and a starter down the road for them. He was one of the best offensive players in this draft.

The Warriors have six total free agents but two of them control their own destiny. Forward Louis Amundson has a player option and SG Charlie Bell has a early termination option. I see both of those guys coming back to the Warriors in 2011-12. Acie Law, Al Thornton and Vladimir Radmanovic are all unrestricted free agents and I think that Thornton could come back if the price is right. SF Reggie Williams is a restricted free agent and I think he’s going to get more offers than the Warriors think. The Warriors would be smart to bring Williams back in 2011-12, but they are going to have to give him a lot more money.

The Golden State Warriors have hired 46-year old Mark Jackson to be their new head coach. They gave him a 3-year, $6 million dollar deal. Jackson has no coaching experience, so the Warriors are taking a leap of faith in hiring him. He did play 17 years as a point guard in the NBA. He played in 1,296 games (1,091 starts) in his NBA career and he averaged 30.2 minutes, 9.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 8.0 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Jackson is #3 in NBA history in assists (10,334) and he’s also tied for 24th (with Kevin Garnett) in steals with 1,608. Jackson has been a T.V. announcer for quite a while, but that’s not coaching. It will be interesting to see how well Jackson does with the Warriors as they will likely look like a completely different team style wise starting in 2011-12. Will that mean more wins? Only time will tell.

The Golden State Warriors have declined head coach Keith Smart’s option for the 2011-12 season. He was 36-46 (43.9%) in his only year on the job for the Warriors. He seems to have gotten the short end of the stick, but that’s because the Warriors are looking at replacing him with a big name coach. Lawrence Frank, Mike Brown and Jerry Sloan are all likely going to be considered to replace Smart and each one of those guys is a upgrade.