The Warriors signed a former Rockets heart of their hunt for a backup massive man, however it was not Dwight Howard, whose assembly with the group final week drew curiosity on-line.
As an alternative, Golden State has signed Usman Garuba to a two-way contract, which means he can bounce between the NBA and the Warriors’ G League group in Santa Cruz.
Garuba, 21, is a 2021 first-round choose who performed backup minutes for Houston final season after splitting time between the NBA and G League as a rookie.
He performed in 75 video games for the Rockets in 2022-23, averaging 12.9 minutes per recreation. He scored solely 3.0 factors per recreation however averaged 4.1 rebounds in these restricted minutes. Moreover, one-third of his shot makes an attempt had been 3-pointers, and he made 41% of them, although the pattern is small (24-of-59).
Garuba was traded twice this summer time and in the end launched by Oklahoma Metropolis final month. He performed for his native Spain within the FIBA World Cup, averaging 8.2 factors in 16.8 minutes over 5 video games.
The Warriors’ big-man rotation is more likely to characteristic Draymond Inexperienced and Kevon Looney in heavy minutes, with free-agent addition Dario Saric main the bench. JaMychal Inexperienced, Jonathan Kuminga, and Anthony Lamb all stuffed in some minutes final season and return to the roster, however it’s clear the Warriors sought another choice after dropping Nemanja Bjelica from the 2022 NBA Finals group.
The Warriors additionally drafted Indiana combo massive Trayce Jackson-Davis in June.