Warriors Sign Damian Jones
The Warriors have locked up the final pick of the 2016 first round, announcing today in a press release that they’ve signed center Damian Jones to his rookie contract. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but Jones will get a four-year deal that features two guaranteed years and two teams options.
Assuming Jones signed for 120% of the rookie-scale slot for the No. 30 pick, he’ll be in line for a $1,171,560 salary in 2016/17, and a four-year contract worth $5,977,897. The deal will put him in line for a contract extension in 2019, or restricted free agency in 2020.
[RELATED: 2016 Draft Pick Signings]
A seven-footer out of Vanderbilt, Jones averaged 13.9 PPG and 6.9 RPG during his junior year before declaring for the draft. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com ranked him as the 21-best prospect in this year’s draft class.
The Warriors have undergone significant changes at the center position since the offseason began. Festus Ezeli and Andrew Bogut are gone, and Anderson Varejao remains unsigned. The team signed Zaza Pachulia to help fill that opening at center, but Jones figures to compete for a spot in the regular rotation in his rookie year.
A breakdown of the Warriors’ roster and depth chart can be found right here.
Warriors Re-Sign James McAdoo
JULY 13, 2:48pm: The Warriors have officially re-signed McAdoo, the team announced today in a press release.
JULY 8, 2:00pm: It’ll be a minimum-salary deal for McAdoo, who will earn $980,431, tweets Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today.
1:46pm: The Warriors are bringing back another one of their free agents, according to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated, who reports (via Twitter) that James McAdoo is re-signing with the club on a one-year deal. McAdoo had been an unrestricted free agent after Golden State declined to extend him a qualifying offer.
McAdoo, 23, has spent the first two years of his NBA career with the Warriors, but the former UNC forward hasn’t seen much action so far. In 2015/16, he appeared in 41 regular-season games for Golden State, averaging 6.4 minutes in those contests.
While McAdoo has flashed some promise, it remains to be seen whether he’ll get the opportunity to take on a larger role in Golden State going forward. The team has lost several of its free agents – including Harrison Barnes, Festus Ezeli, Marreese Speights, Leandro Barbosa, and Brandon Rush – and traded Andrew Bogut. However, the Warriors have also added a few pieces, re-signing Ian Clark and landing Zaza Pachulia, David West, and – of course – Kevin Durant. in free agency. The club also drafted Damian Jones and Patrick McCaw.
[RELATED: Golden State Warriors’ depth chart at RosterResource.com]
Although they didn’t extend him a qualifying offer, the Warriors still have McAdoo’s Early Bird rights, so they could go over the cap and pay him more than a minimum salary. It’s not yet clear what McAdoo’s new deal will be worth.
Latest On Draymond Green
Warriors forward Draymond Green was arrested over the weekend for an alleged assault, but his attorney stated that Green is completely innocent of any wrongdoing and that his client will be pleading innocent, Brendan F. Quinn of MLive.com relays. A spokesman for the East Lansing Police Department, which handled the arrest, told Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN.com (ESPN Now link), “We are confirming that Draymond Green was arrested for assault in our downtown business district early Sunday morning at around 2:30AM. The victim was a male. It was basically an altercation between two guys. There’s no injuries. He was released with a $200 bond on Sunday. And he’s got 10 days to get arraigned and then prosecution will continue from there.”
- All-Euroleague center Giannis Bourousis has reached a agreement with the Greek club Panathinaikos on a two-year contract, Nikos Varlas of Eurohoops reports. The big man reportedly had contract offers from the Clippers and Warriors, with the Spurs also expressing interest, Varlas adds.
Warriors Sign Zaza Pachulia
JULY 12: More than a week after agreeing to terms with him, the Warriors have officially announced their new deal with Pachulia, via a team release.
JULY 4: The Warriors have reached a one-year contract agreement with Mavericks free agent center Zaza Pachulia, sources tell Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). Pachulia will receive $2.9MM, Charania adds. That puts him in line for Golden State’s mini mid-level exception.
The addition of Pachulia contributes to an already historic day for the franchise, which reached an agreement with top free agent Kevin Durant. Pachulia takes over the starting spot previously held by Andrew Bogut, who was dealt to the Mavs once Durant chose the two-time defending Western Conference champions.
Pachulia could have taken a much bigger offer in this free agent climate. The lure of playing for a team that will be heavily favored to regain the crown next season was too great for him to pass up. The Hornets were reportedly in hot pursuit for Pachulia’s services. The 32-year-old Pachulia had a very productive season with Dallas, averaging 8.6 points and a career-high 9.4 rebounds in 76 games.
Bogut will make $12.68MM next season, so Pachulia’s decision to take a pay cut — he made $5.2MM a year ago — gives them a huge bargain for a rotation player. The biggest downgrade for the Warriors is that Pachulia, unlike Bogut, is not a shot blocker. He has averaged 0.3 blocks per game during his career.
Pacific Notes: Sanders, Kings, Joerger, Smith
Despite losing two centers this summer, the Warriors haven’t reached out to Larry Sanders, writes Monte Poole of CSNBayArea. The former Bucks big man was an elite rim protector before he walked away from the game in December of 2014, citing anxiety and depression. Sanders is considering a comeback and sparked speculation on Saturday when he sent out two messages on Twitter: an image of a cavalier and a scene from a 1979 movie titled “The Warriors.” Golden State needs to find replacements for Andrew Bogut, who was traded to Dallas to create cap room for Kevin Durant, and Festus Ezeli, who signed with the Trail Blazers as a free agent.
There’s more news from the Pacific Division:
- The Kings are getting plenty of calls from teams interested in Rudy Gay, Kosta Koufos and Ben McLemore, tweets James Ham of CSNCalifornia. So far, they haven’t heard an offer they like.
- New Kings coach Dave Joerger doesn’t plan to coach any more summer league games, tweets Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. Joerger said he started out in that role to set the tone for the rest of the staff.
- The Kings and Clippers are among the teams that worked out J.R. Smith‘s brother this weekend in Las Vegas, tweets Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com. Chris Smith‘s only NBA experience came in two games with the Knicks in 2013.
- Ryan McDonough’s first plan for a quick turnaround in Phoenix didn’t work, so now he’s rebuilding through the draft, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. With two picks in the top eight, the Suns grabbed highly regarded power forward prospects Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss. Their only free agent pickup so far this summer is veteran shooting guard Jared Dudley for $30MM over three years, a modest sum in this year’s market. “That’s certainly the most sustainable way to do it,” McDonough said about his draft strategy. “If you can draft those guys and have them under control for four years on the rookie scale and then have a bunch of advantages in terms of contract extensions and full Bird rights, that really helps.”
Knee Concerns Hurt Ezeli's Value
- Festus Ezeli‘s deal with the Blazers contained less money than expected because of concerns about his knees, tweets Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. The former Warriors center signed a two-year, $16MM contract with Portland on Friday, with a team option for the second season. Ezeli had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in February, and a source told Spears that teams are worried about his durability.
Coaching Notes: Lue, Jones, Walton, Kings
A delay in working out an extension with Tyronn Lue has several Cavaliers assistants working in the summer league without contracts, according to Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com. The deals for Jim Boylan, Phil Handy, James Posey and Vitaly Potapenko expired July 1st. Lue, who has promised they will all be kept on his staff, is negotiating an extension after winning an NBA title in his first season as a head coach. He is still under a four-year, $6.5MM contract that he had as an assistant after refusing a three-year, $9.5MM offer when he replaced David Blatt in midseason. Lue has a year left on his current deal and said he isn’t worried about the status of the extension. “It’ll eventually get done,” he said.
There’s more coaching news around the league:
- The Cavaliers are expected to make Damon Jones an assistant coach, Haynes writes in the same piece. Jones will replace Bret Brielmaier, who recently joined the Nets‘ staff.
- After a two-month wait while the Warriors made their way through the playoffs, former Golden State assistant Luke Walton finally got to coach the Lakers, writes Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. Walton made his debut Friday night in the Las Vegas Summer League and received a rousing ovation from Lakers fans in attendance. “I know I still have a lot to learn, but I think everybody does, no matter how long you’ve been doing any job,” Walton said. “I’m excited and I feel like I’m ready for this and I’m looking forward to it.”
- The Lakers did not keep player development coach Thomas Scott, tweets Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News. Scott is expected to pursue other opportunities.
- The Kings have added Bob Thornton and Larry Lewis as assistants to new head coach Dave Joerger, tweets Sean Cunningham of KXTV in Sacramento.
Knicks Notes: Thomas, Durant, Jackson, Jennings
Lance Thomas decided to re-sign with the Knicks because he didn’t want to be known as a “loser” in New York, relays Ian Begley of ESPN.com. Thomas, a restricted free agent, agreed to a four-year deal worth about $27.3MM. The fifth-year combo forward was born in Brooklyn and was concerned about his legacy after the Knicks finished far out of the playoff race during his two seasons with the team. “I grew up a Knicks fan; this is the team I grew up watching,” Thomas said. “Me being from the area and planning on being in the area for the majority of my life, I didn’t want my legacy as a Knick to be a loser.”
There’s more news out of New York:
- The Knicks were hoping to meet with Kevin Durant to establish a relationship in case he tried free agency again next summer, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post. Durant can still opt out of his new contract with the Warriors in 2017, but he indicated this week that he expects to stay in Golden State for a long time. New York wasn’t one of the five teams that Durant met with last weekend, but GM Steve Mills said he was encouraged by the process. “We knew KD wanted to pick a team that had a chance to win a championship this upcoming season,” Mills said. “We didn’t fit that bill. We know if he made a decision to do a 1-and-1, we would’ve had a meeting with him. The idea he did a 1-and-1 with Golden State, my assumption is he’ll stay there.”
- “Super teams” like the one created with Durant’s move to the Warriors, are an inevitable consequence of the sudden rise in the salary cap, Knicks president Phil Jackson says in the same story. “That’s the way it’s going to be for a while — players allowed this to go forward instead of smoothing it, so there’s tons of money,” Jackson said. “There’s an opportunity to do major moves in the NBA.”
- Jackson expects newly signed guard Brandon Jennings to be Sixth Man of the Year next season, Begley writes in a separate piece. Jennings, who spent this season with the Pistons and Magic, inked a one-year deal with the Knicks this week for $5MM. He doesn’t mind taking on a reserve role and said he will try to live up to Jackson’s expectations. “I’m definitely gonna embrace that role,” Jennings said. “I don’t see why I can’t be in that conversation, and I’m fine with it. I’m definitely fine with it.”
Warriors Sign David West
JULY 9th, 5:22pm: The signing is official, the team announced via press release.
JULY 5th, 3:21pm: A year after taking a significant pay cut to sign with the Spurs, David West has once again decided to forgo a major payday in order to join a title contender. According to David Aldridge of NBA.com (via Twitter), West has agreed to terms on a one-year, minimum-salary contract with the Warriors. The minimum salary for a player with West’s experience is $1,551,659.
[RELATED: Kevin Durant to sign with Warriors]
West, the 18th overall pick in 2003, spent eight years with New Orleans to start his NBA career before joining the Pacers for four seasons. Last summer, the veteran forward declined a player option worth $12MM+ with Indiana, instead signing a minimum-salary contract with the Spurs in the hopes of winning a championship.
West, 35, played just 18 minutes per game for San Antonio during the 2015/16 regular season, his lowest mark since his rookie year. He was still fairly effective in that limited role, recording a career-best .545 FG%. However, he and the Spurs fell short of a championship having been eliminated in the second round by the Thunder. West subsequently declined his player option for the coming season.
In 2016/17, West will take another shot at a ring with the Warriors, who are huge title favorites after agreeing to sign Kevin Durant. In addition to striking a deal with Durant and now landing West, Golden State also got Zaza Pachulia to agree to a below-market contract to join the roster, fortifying the team’s frontcourt.
The Warriors have limited flexibility to fill out their roster, but as the Pachulia and West deals show, there are veteran free agents willing to take less money to join Golden State’s stacked squad. Even longtime players who have been out of the NBA for the last couple years have been linked to the Dubs — one report suggested the club would give Ray Allen a call, while another report indicated Jermaine O’Neal is open to a return for the Warriors. The team has also been linked to younger free agents such as Willie Reed and Dewayne Dedmon.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Warriors Interested in Kendrick Perkins
- The Warriors didn’t make a contract offer to Marreese Speights, who inked a one-year deal with the Division-rival Clippers on Friday, Marcus Thompson of The Bay Area News Group relays (on Twitter).
- One big man the Warriors have expressed interest in adding to the roster is veteran Kendrick Perkins, who is friends with newly signed Kevin Durant, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders tweets. The 31-year-old appeared in 37 games for the Pelicans last season, averaging 2.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in 14.6 minutes per outing.