Who should the Golden State Warriors still look to sign?
The Golden State Warriors have had a busy offseason, largely taking care of their own players.
They re-signed Kristaps Porzingis to a two-year deal worth $40 million, retaining the 2024 NBA champion after acquiring him at the 2025 trade deadline from the Atlanta Hawks.
They also re-signed Al Horford on a two-year deal worth $14 million, bringing him back after one season with the team.
Finally, they re-signed De'Anthony Melton on a two-year deal worth $11.2 million. He's spent the last two seasons with Golden State.
The team is still waiting to re-sign Draymond Green, who opted out of his player option that would've paid him $27.6 million, likely to take a more team-friendly deal as they keep money open for other free agents.
The Warriors have $9 million left in their non-taxpayer mid-level exception, and for the purposes of this exercise, we're going to leave out LeBron James since that is an obvious and linked target.
Gary Payton II
If the Warriors want to keep bringing back established team players, Gary Payton II has to be their top option. He's spent six of his ten years in Golden State, including the last four.
He played in 73 games last season, averaging 7.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.7 assists. He's still a good defender and a respected voice in the locker room and on the court.
The drawback to Payton II is that he's not a good three-point shooter, and despite playing 72 games last season, he does have an injury history.
Bruce Brown
Brown might be a better fit than Payton II at this point as he's younger and is a better shooter from three, though he doesn't shoot at volume.
He's also a good defender and rebounder.
He played in all 82 games this past season with the Denver Nuggets, averaging 7.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.1 assists.
He's a connector on both ends of the floor, but he doesn't have the familiarity with the Warriors team and system the way Payton II does.
Matisse Thybulle
Individually, he's the best player of the three, but he hasn't been in an environment like the Warriors have cultivated to see how he'd do in a strong team setting. There are health concerns, as he's played just 45 games over the past two seasons.
He's an excellent defender and disrupter, and the best three-point shooter of the bunch on the most volume.
In 30 games with the Portland Trail Blazers last season, he averaged 5.8 points, two rebounds, and 0.9 assists.
