Carneyvale

Lucky Warrior #13, come on down! We're looking at you, Rodney Carney. And as with so many other Golden State moves this summer, we're seeing something of a mixed bag.

The good news here is pretty straightforward: Carney is a solid commodity as cheap bench pieces go, a useful 26-year-old with some athleticism and upside. His career per-36 numbers -- 13.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.0 assists against 1.2 turnovers, a .510 TS% -- scream "slightly below average", and his plus-minus numbers more or less echo that take. He probably is who he is at this point, but he did record career-best marks in rebounding, passing efficiency and free-throw shooting last year, so you could at least plausibly wishcast him into an average player down the road. Even without improvement, the guy should make a good third-string small forward this season.

But the signing of Rodney Carney begs a smack-your-forehead obvious question: Why is the front office worried about the third string when the second string is so horrible? As things stand, the Warriors' B-team includes Jeremy Lin, Charlie Bell and Dan Gadzuric... this is a team with gaping holes in its second unit, and meaningful patches like Louis Amundson and Earl Watson are still available. Instead of locking those guys in, the Dubs have done what they always seem to do when they have a roster quandary: they've shrugged and grabbed a swingman.

Rodney Carney isn't any sort of problem. But for this team, at this time, he isn't any sort of solution, either. The Warriors need another bench big and another bench guard, and if this signing precludes the acquisitions of guys like Watson and Amundson, it's money very poorly spent.