Warrior Mulder a ‘3-and-D’ prospect.
Mulder shows he can do much more than score
SAN FRANCISCO >> After missing his first four shots in his secondever NBA game, Mychal Mulder decided to take on a tougher assignment: defending one of the league’s top scorers.
Feeling the urgency that comes with signing a 10-day contract, Mulder knew he needed to make an impression on Warriors’ coaches and teammates on Feb. 29 against the Suns.
So he confidently picked up Devin Booker — already with eight points midway through the second quarter as the Suns led by nine.
“People know that I can shoot the ball, but one thing I don’t think people know is I can defend the ball as well,” Mulder said. “I want to be able to show that, no matter who I’m put up against, I’m going to fight hard, play good defense, and do whatever it takes to help the team win.”
Booker took the ball down to the right block and posted up Mulder, who contested a turnaround jumper that clanged off the back iron. A few moments later, he forced Booker to miss a layup. Booker finished with 21 points on 6-for-16 shooting, but missed all four of his shots with Mulder defending him.
This was the first of an impressive five-game stretch. Though Mulder’s first 10-day contract expired on Sunday, he has emerged as a promising “3-and-D” prospect and is expected to stay with the Warriors on another contract this season.
A 25-year-old guard from Windsor, Ontario, who went undrafted out of Kentucky in 2017, Mulder signed two weeks ago
with Golden State, which was intrigued by his shotmaking ability. However, it's the work he's done to improve defensively that could help him land a long-term job in the NBA.
In 39 games with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Mulder shot 39.7% from 3-point range on 9.7 attempts — figures that resemble Houston's James Harden and Portland's Damian Lillard.
But when the Skyforce's defense had slipped to near the bottom of the G League, Mulder took it upon himself to cram additional film sessions into his schedule. After all, there wasn't much else to do in the quiet South Dakota town where the Miami Heat keeps its G League affiliate.
“They're not in Palm Beach and not in Fort Lauderdale. It's really far from the big team. It just gives you an opportunity to lock in,” Mulder said. “It was a long grind out there. A lot of cold days, early morning bus rides, you know, all the typical G League stuff. If that doesn't motivate you, I don't know what will.”
His willingness to pick up Booker, take a Hardenesque amount of 3-pointers and spend several additional hours studying film shows that Mulder is used to betting on himself.
A top-10 Canadian prospect in 2013, Mulder received only one Division I scholarship offer from nearby Detroit Mercy. He enrolled at Vincennes, a junior college in Indiana with a track record for turning out NBA players. In his sophomore season, Mulder shot 46.3% from 3-point range and led the Trailblazers to a 33-2 record.
This caught the attention of major programs such as Kentucky. Mulder signed on with John Calipari's program — a well established pipeline to the NBA.
However, in his two seasons in Kentucky, Mulder was buried on the depth chart behind future lottery picks Jamal Murray (Nuggets), De'Aaron Fox (Kings) and Malik Monk (Hornets).
After averaging 4.7 points in 10.6 minutes per game as a senior, Mulder went undrafted in the 2017 NBA Draft and landed with the G League's Windy City
Bulls, where he spent two seasons before joining the Heat for training camp last September.
“I remember (Calipari) was impressed with my shooting, but he would say I couldn't play defense and I felt like I could,” Mulder, who claims to have nearly a 6-foot-10 wingpsan, said. “So I kind of had a chip on my shoulder going pro. I wanted to show that I could guard.”
Mulder's shooting may have gotten him noticed, but it's his defense that will take him from G Leaguer to a rotation player in the NBA.
“He's out there defending, not backing down from the challenge, and I think that's great for a guy in his position,” Draymond Green said. “You're trying to make a name for yourself. He somehow every night is finding himself on the best player on the floor — that's not a coincidence.”
After Mulder's film work in Sioux Falls, the Skyforce defense improved from 18th in rating to fifth. On the morning of Feb. 26, he got a call that the Warriors wanted to sign him to a 10day contract.
The night before, the Skyforce had beaten the Austin Spurs, holding San Antonio's G League affiliate to nearly 14 points below its scoring average. With a first-class ticket to San Francisco, Mulder walked by Austin's team during his layover in Denver.
“I saw them kind of looking like, ‘Where's this guy going?',” Mulder said.
In six games in Golden State, Mulder is averaging 12.3 points on 35.6% shooting from 3-point range, 3.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 29.5 minutes per game; and has helped the Warriors win three of their last five games.
“A really good player, and good defensively as well,” Kerr said. “We are lucky to have him.”
Soon, the Warriors will re-sign Mulder, either to a second 10-day contract or a prorated minimum. Either way, the shooter from Windsor who cut his teeth in Sioux Falls has done enough to earn another contract this season, and possibly a spot on the Warriors' 2020-21 roster.
“This is where I want to be,” Mulder said. “There couldn't be a better place, a better fit, for my skill set than Golden State.”