Claxton, who had been a backup with the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs, was signed to help the Warriors replace…
By Anthony Bosco
Former Christ the King High School basketball standout Craig “Speedy” Claxton signed as a free agent with the Golden State Warriors last week.
Claxton, who had been a backup with the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs, was signed to help the Warriors replace Gilbert Arenas, also a free agent, who priced himself out of staying with Golden State by averaging more than 18 points per game in just his second season this past year.
“It’ll be a change,” said Golden State General Manager Garry St. Jean. “We are going to miss Gilbert Arenas. We’re grateful for what Gilbert brought to us for two years. He played some terrific basketball and he really connected with the fans.
“With that said, this guy (Claxton), he’s exciting,” St. Jean added. “We did our homework. I think he’s really excited being in a prominent role with a bunch of young players. He will be a major factor for our club.”
The 25-year-old Claxton, who brought Hofstra University to two NCAA appearances, averaged 5.8 points, 1.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 15.7 minutes in 30 regular season games with the Spurs last season. In his third year in the NBA, Claxton missed 48 regular season games after dislocating his right shoulder in the third game of the season against Toronto.
But Claxton bounced back from the injury to become a crucial part of the Spurs’ championship run, appearing in each of San Antonio’s 24 playoff games, averaging 5.2 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 13.6 minutes. During the NBA Finals, he averaged 6.2 points, 1.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 12.5 minutes. In the sixth and deciding game of the finals, Claxton scored 13 points in 23 minutes.
“We felt like this was a player who could come in and really help us,” St. Jean said. “We really love his ability to play in the transition game. We love his quickness. We think he has a real upside playing with our group of players. We see a guy who played on a championship team who’s young, who ties in with what we’re trying to do.”
Prior to joining the Spurs, Claxton spent the previous two seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers, who selected him with the 20th overall pick in the 2000 NBA Draft.
After suffering a torn left ACL in the preseason of his rookie campaign — which caused him to miss the entire 2000-2001 season — Claxton returned the following year (2001-2002), averaging 7.2 points, 2.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.42 steals in 67 games with the Sixers.
He appeared as a starter in 18 games that season with Philadelphia, averaging 12.4 points and 4.3 assists in those outings. Additionally, he led all rookies in free throw percentage (.838), ranked eighth in the NBA in steal-to-turnover ratio (1.00-to-1.00) and owned a 3.0-to-1.4 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Overall, Claxton has averaged 6.7 points and 2.8 assists in 97 career NBA games, including 13.1 points and 5.4 assists when logging 30-plus minutes (17 times).
Claxton will be hard-pressed, however, to match the numbers put up by Arenas, who earned the 2002-2003 Most Improved Award Winner while averaging 18.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game.
St. Jean, however, said he isn’t counting on Claxton to pick up the entire load.
“You had a big, strong, powerful and quick point guard who was explosive (with Arenas),” St. Jean said. “Now you’re getting a diminutive one who is real quick, who flourishes in the open game. I wouldn’t make comparisons.”
Reach Sports Editor Anthony Bosco by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 130.
