Jan 25, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Golden State Warriors power forward Carl Landry (left) and point guard Jarrett Jack (right) battle for the ball with Chicago Bulls small forward Jimmy Butler (center) during the second half at the United Center. The Bulls won 103-87. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry have been a potent duo off the bench for the Golden State Warriors. The two have put in strong Sixth Man of the Year caliber seasons, which has led to Golden State having one of the best bench units in the league. The strangest part of this fact is both players were acquired just in this recent off season.
Jack was traded to the Warriors this summer in a three team deal where Golden State sent out Dorell Wright. He has always been a borderline starter, who enjoyed one of his better seasons last year in New Orleans. Many predicted that he would fall off this year, but Jarrett has been productive off the bench and filling in as a starter when Steph Curry has been injured.
As a member of the Warriors this year, Jack has been every bit as productive as last year. The second string point guard has posted a PER similar to last season (17.41 to 17.97). Much of his other numbers are similar to the ones he had last season. In fact, he is posting the 3rd best simple rating (+3.1) of any Golden State player who has played significant minutes. This means the Warriors miss his production when he’s off the court. This is impressive coming from the 6th man, regardless if it has to do with playing against opposing team’s bench players.
Landry was a free agent that took forever to sign with a team this summer. Each passing day I was curious why he hadn’t found a team until he signed with the Warriors. Carl had always been a productive member of different team’s benches, so I thought Golden State found a bargain getting him for $4 million this season.
On the floor, Landry is 4th (+1.8) in simple rating out of Warriors’ players with significant playing time. His PER is also at a level of an above average player, coming in at a number of 17.51. Landry is posting numbers much similar to the rest of his career, where he has always been considered one of the best bench players. He may not have the most diverse game for a front court player, but he is easily the best 7th man in the league. In fact, Landry is probably the best big man coming off any bench in the league. 29 teams really missed out on getting a quality player at a good price.
No other Warrior player on the team has more than 30% of the total minutes, which means Jack and Landry are a giant part of the bench. Other teams don’t have a single player coming off the bench with a positive simple net rating, meanwhile both parts of this dynamic duo do. There is no secret that these players are two of the best bench players in the league, and Golden State is lucky enough to feature both.