With Warriors, toss aside skepticism

Summertime with the champions:

Checking this column’s Dead Wrong in Public file, here’s our reaction when the Warriors took a flier on JaVale McGee: “Wow, what a dumb idea.” In the aftermath: “Whoops.” When the Warriors gave Nick Young a one-year contract: “Wouldn’t take him if he came for free.”

Upon hearing that Bob Myers, Steve Kerr, Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Kevin Durant pursued Young with great passion, along with a glowing endorsement from Lakers head coach Luke Walton: “Oh.”

This was the always-acerbic Deadspin.com on Young, then with Washington, in 2012: “His qualifications, such as they are, are his zeal for attempting the most worthless shots imaginable and absolutely nothing else — no particular aptitude for scoring, no refined skill set, no history of efficient production. Nothing. It would be inaccurate to say he’s a bad passer, because this might lead to the mistaken assumption that he ever willfully conveys the ball to another player.”

Deadspin on Wednesday: “It’s probably going to work out great for everyone involved. Look how Kevin Durant greeted the signing. Why wouldn’t Young chill out for the chance to win a title? This is the benefit of crushing everyone in your path.”

Summary: Trust the Warriors’ personnel strategy. Young will get more open shots than he ever imagined, and he’ll put ’em down with regularity. He really likes to have fun, and that’s a prerequisite around here. But if at some point Young is actually described as “selfless” — the Warriors’ credo — that’s an upset of monumental proportions.

Nobody’s had more fun this week than Klay Thompson on his China trip. The videos show him blowing a 360 dunk (and falling to the ground), shooting an airball, dancing wildly in a nightclub and “losing” an arm-wrestling match to a local girl — and he’s loving every minute. Ego factor: none. Very cool.

ESPN’s Zach Lowe on the Warriors’ Omri Casspi signing: “Complete theft. I mean, he is good. He fits what they do perfectly. They got him on the minimum, and they keep doing this. And all of a sudden, they have 10, 11 good players. It’s like not even fair.”