Warriors May Look to Familiar Faces in Free Agency

The Warriors are currently entering a very important off-season. You could say that just about any year, but this is the off-season that the Warriors need to nail if they want to rejoin the NBA’s elite and compete for a title next year.

We have talked about the draft before, but free agency is just as important for the Warriors short-term hopes. First, the Warriors will need to decide if they want to bring back any of their own impending free agents. They only have two: Kent Bazemore and Kelly Oubre Jr,. Bazemore should be a relatively easy decision, as he and the Warriors seem to mutually enjoy their partnership and he was a huge piece off the bench for the Warriors this past year.

Oubre will be a tougher decision. The Warriors have his bird rights, so despite being well over the salary cap limit, they will be able to resign him if they so choose. Doing so would cost a significant amount of money in the luxury tax, but the Warriors owners have not been deterred by luxury tax penalties in the past.

It is certainly a possibility that Oubre will want to go elsewhere even if the Warriors do want him back. Regardless, it is probably worth at least trying to resign him since he is by far the most expensive player the Warriors could afford in free agency.

After those two, they will probably be limited to mostly minimum-level free agents. However, these players can be big time pieces on championship teams, as we have seen in the past with veterans being willing to take the minimum in order to chase a ring.

Out of all the minimum free agents that they could target, Andre Iguodala is the most obvious match. Miami has a $15 million team option on him for the upcoming season, and I certainly wouldn’t expect them to pick that up. If Iguodala would take a pay cut to return to Golden State, the Warriors would be ecstatic to have him back.

Outside of Iguodala, the Warriors would probably be looking to add either some extra shooters, a backup point guard, and/or some big men. They are most likely to address those first two needs through the draft, but there still will be options in free agency should they decide to upgrade via that route.

In terms of shooters, I think JJ Redick could be an interesting fit. He isn’t the player he once was, but he still could be a valuable addition off the bench and someone who could provide decent playoff experience as well.

At center, I could see the Warriors looking into Dwayne Dedmon, who was rumored to come to the Warriors after the Marquises Chriss injury. Speaking of Chriss, how about bringing him back? He was a fan-favorite, especially during the otherwise very boring 2019 season. He also has a very unique skill set that allows him to play small forward, power forward, and center. The whole Warriors organization loved him, so he definitely could be a return candidate.

In terms of guard help, I could see Avery Bradley being a fit if the Heat decline his option. Another fit should he be willing to take a pay cut would be Patty Mills. He would have no trouble jumping from the Spurs system to the Warriors, and could definitely be a player who could handle heavy, important minutes off the bench.