The Golden State Warriors have signed free agent guard DeMarcus Nelson, free agent guard/forward Dion Dowell and free agent forward Rob Kurz to contracts, Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Mullin announced today. Per team policy, terms of the deals were not announced.
InsideHoops.com says: It’s quite likely that all three are just going to be around for training camp, then cut.
All three players went undrafted in the 2008 NBA Draft and participated on the Warriors Summer League team at the 2008 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas and the Rocky Mountain Revue in Salt Lake City.
Nelson, 22, played four seasons at Duke, becoming one of only six players in school history to record over 1,300 points, 600 rebounds, 200 assists and 125 steals in a career. As a senior, the 6-4 guard was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, while also being chosen to the All-ACC First Team after averaging 14.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.56 steals per contest. In nine games with Golden State’s Summer League team in July, Nelson averaged 8.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 19.0 minutes per game. In four games at the Rocky Mountain Revue, he averaged 12.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.25 steals in 27.8 minutes.
A Bay Area native, Nelson was born in Oakland and grew up in Vallejo, where he played his first three high school seasons at Vallejo High School before transferring to Sheldon High School in Sacramento for his senior season. Following his senior season at Sheldon, in which he averaged over 30 points per game, Nelson was named Mr. Basketball in the State of California and received second team Parade All-America honors. He holds the California state high school record for scoring with 3,462 career points.
Dowell, 23, spent his final two collegiate seasons at the University of Houston after spending two years at the University of Texas. As a senior at Houston, the 6-7 swingman averaged 10.9 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, while shooting 42.6% (120-282 FG) from the field and a team-leading 40.8% (73-179 3FG) from three-point range. In eight games on the Warriors Summer League squad, Dowell averaged 4.9 points and 3.9 rebounds in 16.9 minutes.
Kurz, 23, played four seasons at Notre Dame, where he averaged 12.5 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 33 games as a senior. Additionally, the 6-9 forward also averaged a team-high 1.45 blocks per contest. In nine games with the Warriors Summer League team, he averaged 7.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.11 blocks in 16.4 minutes per contest, while shooting 54.2% (26-48 FG) from the field. In four games at the Rocky Mountain Revue, Kurz averaged 12.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.25 blocks in 24.5 minutes, while shooting 62.5% (20-32 FG) from the field.
Nelson will wear uniform #20, Dowell #11 and Kurz #31.
With the signings, Golden State now has 18 players under contract.
