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After the Golden State Warriors free agent bonanza — addressing not only their max players and the key cogs to return, but adding a couple of free agents to bolster their depth — one roster spot remains vacant before the team is locked at 15.
While the Warriors aren't necessarily obligated to use this last minimum contract, it could potentially be JaVale McGee‘s to slide into, just as he did last season, making the cut prior to the start of the regular season.
Head coach Steve Kerr, would personally love to see the big man back with team.
“I’d like to see JaVale back, and we’ll see how that shakes out,” Kerr told Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area over the weekend.
McGee went from a back-of-the-roster kind of player to a spark plug off the bench, outlasting Anderson Varejao and becoming Zaza Pachulia‘s primary backup.
His energetic play on the defensive end and active transition play made him a team favorite from the start, developing a particular chemistry with forward Draymond Green, often at the finishing end of his alley-oop passes.
A $2.3 million minimum contract would be more than the 20 percent raise that the team would be obligated to give him if he was to re-sign, thanks to the new collective bargaining agreement.
The 7-footer had 10 starts through 77 games player, averaging 6.1 points, on a career-high 65.2 percent shooting from the floor, and 3.2 rebounds through a limited 9.6 minutes per game.
“We’d love to have him back,” Kerr said. “If he doesn’t come back, then I think we would be patient and explore our options.
“But we feel great about what we have heading into the season.”
