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The Golden State Warriors are roughly 24 hours away from making the Andrew Bogut signing official, after dealing with a release clause from the Sydney Kings of the Australian Basketball League. Yet as much as the signing strikes most as sudden, this is a move the Warriors had kept their eyes on for a while.
The 33-year-old center who played four seasons at Oracle Arena has now been rejuvenated — all after playing only 51 games in his last two seasons in the NBA.
Bogut, who was traded to the Dallas Mavericks in the summer of 2016, only to link up with the Cleveland Cavaliers for one hot minute (literally), soon found himself looking to regain his best form.
It didn't happen.
Bogut signed with the Los Angeles Lakers and only mustered nine minutes per game in 24 appearances — a sign the NBA might not be an option for him any longer.
The 7-footer turned back to his homeland of Australia and played a full season of basketball with the Sydney Kings, finding not only his game, but some hardware as well — garnering the title of league MVP.
Bogut has looked crisp, playing a less-grueling season than the 82-game toll the NBA season takes on players, but just as physical, if not more:
“Seems like he’s in a really good place,” a team source told Anthony Slater of The Athletic. “Physically and mentally. Shorter, less demanding season did wonders for him.”
This is exactly what will be needed of the former starting center: a concentrated effort during the last few games of the regular season and some of his best performances for the postseason.
Before his body started to slow down, Bogut was an uncanny screen-setter and a deft passer from the pivot position, often darting outlet passes and finding cutters backdoor with relative ease. If the Warriors can get that magic back in play, the next few months will get a lot easier for them.
