The Golden State Warriors went from playing a 12-man rotation to missing three key players, including Stephen Curry, heading into a home game vs the New Orleans Pelicans. It was an open question where the Warriors would get enough offense to keep up with Zion Williamson and the Pelicans.
The answer was not a single player, of course, but multiple players stepping up. Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski, Moses Moody and especially Buddy Hield all had big nights scoring in the Warriors' 124-106 win.
Yet after one quarter, none of those players had found their rhythm. The Warriors trailed 31-14, with just two assists. Then, to start the second, the "13th man" of their 12-man rotation checked into the game: Lindy Waters III.
What followed was one of the greatest and most unexpected performances in modern Warriors history. Waters, who had logged all of 12 minutes thus far this season, all of them in garbage time, became the catalyst that turned the game completely around.
Lindy Waters III was incredible
Waters made a layup, then a transition jumper with a toe on the line. Seconds later it was a 3-pointer off a Kyle Anderson pass. When he crashed the glass, pulled down an offensive rebound and was fouled by Zion Williamson, it started to become clear that this was going to be the Lindy Waters game.
He was everywhere on both ends of the court, diving on the floor for loose balls and setting screens for teammates to spring them open. He scored 21 points on 8-for-13 shooting, had a whopping nine rebounds, four assists, a block and a steal. He was a key part of the Warriors going from down 20 to winning the game by 18 points, and he was a +26 on the night, by far the best on the team.
Steve Kerr rode the hot hand, giving Waters 31 minutes. It will be hard to keep him out of the rotation moving forward, although as the roster gets healthy it will only get that much more difficult to find minutes for everyone.
Many Warriors fans are left wondering who Lindy Waters III is, and they can be forgiven for not remembering how he came to the team, because it was a quiet trade that didn't seem like it would lead to a career moment on national television.
The Warriors fleeced the Thunder
At the time, it seemed quite unremarkable.
Then again, it seemed unremarkable when the Warriors took a short, rotund big who couldn't shoot out of Michigan State with the 35th pick. Then he turned into the greatest defensive player of his generation.
So unremarkable things can certainly turn into remarkable moments, and it appears that the Warriors made a gem of a trade during the 2024 NBA Draft. It was quite simple: the Warriors traded the 52nd pick in the draft to the Oklahoma City Thunder for fourth-year guard Lindy Waters III.
Waters went undrafted out of Oklahoma State in 2020 and slowly made his way through a variety of basketball leagues before catching on with the Oklahoma City Blue. He earned a two-way contract with the Thunder and logged a total of 104 games in three seasons with OKC.
The depth of the Thunder, especially as they built a contender through a plethora of draft picks, meant there wasn't a role for Waters. When the Warriors came and offered a second-round pick for a player they may have to cut anyway, the Thunder took the deal.
It appears clear that the Thunder dropped the ball on that one, because the Lindy Waters who exploded on Wednesday night was worth much more than a throwaway pick - a pick that the Warriors ended up buying back later in the draft merely for cash.
The Thunder once scooped a sharpshooting wing off the scrap heap in Isaiah Joe and found a rotation player; it's painful that they had another one in their organization and traded him away for peanuts.
Lindy Waters had the game of his life against the Pelicans, complete with big shots, marquee moments and the signature dunk as the Warriors blew the game open.
It was a special moment, and one that highlighted the savvy of Mike Dunleavy Jr. and the Warriors' front office in finding yet another player ready to blossom. Last year they used a late second to draft Trayce Jackson-Davis, who is now their starting center. This year they used a late second to land a do-it-all guard who should factor moving forward.
Lindy Waters had an incredible game - and it was the sign of another big win for the Warriors organization.
