Warriors Sign Jermaine O’Neal

JULY 23RD: The Warriors have officially signed O'Neal, the team announced today in a press release.

JULY 9TH: Free agent big man Jermaine O'Neal will sign with the Warriors on a one-year deal, reports ESPN.com's Marc Stein (Twitter links). We had heard over the weekend that Golden State had interest in the Arn Tellem client, and that he was expected to make a decision soon.

The agreement with O'Neal is the latest move in a busy week for the Warriors. In addition to coming to terms with O'Neal, Golden State agreed to sign Andre Iguodala, Toney Douglas, and Marreese Speights, and will send $24MM+ in expiring contracts to the Jazz.

According to Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com (via Twitter), O'Neal's contract will be worth $2MM, which exceeds the minimum salary for a veteran with his experience. That means Golden State will either be signing O'Neal using the bi-annual exception or part of the mid-level exception. A sign-and-trade is also a possibility, but appears much less likely.

O'Neal, 34, has had problems staying on the court throughout his NBA career, but was productive in the games he played for the Suns last year. In 55 contests (18.7 MPG), O'Neal averaged 8.3 PPG and 5.3 RPG to go along with a 16.7 PER.

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