As has become September tradition, the Golden State Warriors’ practice facility is currently filled with high-energy scrimmages on a regular basis, mixing roster guys with younger players and veteran free agents still in search of a camp invite. Justin Holiday and Nassir Little, league sources told The Athletic, are among the several experienced wings who have shuffled through San Francisco in recent weeks.
Three Septembers ago, this process led to a training camp invite for Avery Bradley and a legitimate chance to make the roster. He nearly did. Stephen Curry and Draymond Green pushed for it. But Gary Payton II, with a powerful preseason cameo and the front office’s backing, beat Bradley out for the 15th spot and quickly became a rotation fixture.
Rudy Gay was the big veteran name who latched on last September. Players raved about his presence in preseason. But Gay was cut loose before the roster was finalized. The Warriors instead opted to enter the season with only 14 roster players and the extra third two-way contract, a predictable outcome considering the extra chunk of luxury-tax savings the vacancy provided.
As 2024 training camp nears, there’s even less drama about the Warriors’ open 15th spot. It won’t be filled. Because of the new collective bargaining agreement rules, it can’t. Because of the Klay Thompson sign-and-trade that brought back Kyle Anderson and Buddy Hield, the Warriors have locked themselves at the just-created first apron. The team’s collective salary can’t exceed $178.1 million. They are currently less than $1 million under it, leaving no room for a 15th player.
That is the reality that any veteran free agent — like Holiday, Little or someone like Kevin Knox, who flashed at times for the Warriors’ summer league team — must face when deciding whether to pursue a camp invite from the Warriors or elsewhere. The path to a regular-season roster spot is impeded.
It isn’t impossible, though. There’s a level of flexibility. Two of the Warriors’ 14 current roster players are on non-guaranteed contracts: Gui Santos and Lindy Waters III. If a player lit it up enough for the Warriors in camp and preseason, the front office could flip out Santos or Waters for them.
But that will be a high bar to clear. The Warriors have put a ton of developmental time into Santos, who they drafted 55th overall in 2022, and started to see NBA results from last season. He helped them win a pair of road games in Indianapolis and Brooklyn (famously closing over Thompson) and continued that momentum into the Olympics for Brazil. Waters, meanwhile, was identified as a bargain target prior to the draft and the Warriors traded the 52nd pick to get him from the Oklahoma City Thunder. Golden State views him as a capable fringe rotation option.
So not much roster movement or drama is expected for the Warriors come October. They’re still finalizing which young players (ticketed for Santa Cruz) and a possible veteran or two they want to bring into camp. The only extra slice of business to finalize is in regards to their draft pick.
After trading the 52nd pick for Waters, the Warriors actually purchased it back from Portland and selected Quinten Post, a 7-foot stretch center out of Boston College. Even his cheaper rookie deal wouldn’t fit under their financial constraints, so Post is expected to be on a two-way contract to open the upcoming season.
The current problem: all three of the Warriors’ two-way contracts are filled by Pat Spencer, Reece Beekman and Daeqwon Plowden, who was excellent for the Warriors in summer league, powering his way into their plans. The Warriors must release one of those three from their two-way deal in the upcoming days to make room for Post, who is still very much in their two-way plans.
(Photo of Joe Lacob and Mike Dunleavy: Rocky Widner / NBAE via Getty Images)
