Golden State rounded out its roster this week, and the depth chart finally has a clear shape about a month before training camp opens.
The Golden State Warriors spent most of the summer keeping their own group together, re-signing Draymond Green, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, De'Anthony Melton and Gary Payton II to short-term deals after missing out on LeBron James in free agency.
This week they finally went shopping outside the building, and the roster now sits at a full 15 players.
Brandon Williams agreed to a one-year minimum deal worth about $2.6 million, as his agents told ESPN's Shams Charania, and the team then made the Georges Niang signing official on a one-year contract reported at $3.9 million.
Those are the first two outside free agents Golden State has added all offseason.
What Each Signing Brings
Williams gives Stephen Curry a true backup at the point.
He averaged 13.0 points and 3.9 assists in 66 games with Dallas last season, starting 15 of them, and he arrives with a built-in connection because he won back-to-back state titles at Crespi High School alongside Melton.
Niang adds shooting to the frontcourt, having hit 39.9 percent from three across his 544-game career, though he last appeared in an NBA game in 2024-25.
The Warriors board already covered the move when the team signed the former Jazz forward earlier this week.
General manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. explained the thinking behind a roster with this much injury history earlier this month.
"We are taking on some risk there, but I think we value the talent over maybe finding guys that were perfectly healthy," he said, per ESPN's Anthony Slater.
How the Rotation Stacks Up
The projected depth chart runs Curry, Williams and Payton II at point guard, Brandin Podziemski, Moses Moody and Melton at shooting guard, Jimmy Butler, rookie Yaxel Lendeborg and Will Richard at small forward, Green, Gui Santos and Niang at power forward, and Porzingis, Horford and Charles Bassey at center, with Lajae Jones and LJ Cryer filling the two-way spots.
On paper the group runs three deep at every spot, which was the point of the whole exercise, and it hands Steve Kerr real lineup options on nights when the injury report gets long, something this roster badly needed.
The health notes are the catch.
Butler and Moody are both expected to miss at least the first half of the season, with Moody recovering from surgery on a torn left patellar tendon and Butler working back from the knee injury that ended his season.
There is reported optimism Butler could return around the marquee holiday game.
That is why Lendeborg, the 23-year-old lottery pick, is expected to carry a big load right away, and some project him in the opening-night starting five.
Why It Could Work
Golden State went 37-45 and finished 10th in the Western Conference last season, so nobody is promising a smooth ride.
The path forward depends on internal growth, and Santos, Podziemski and Richard were all named breakout candidates on this roster.
Curry becomes eligible for a contract extension on Saturday, camp opens September 29, and the Warriors will find out quickly whether betting on talent over health was the right call.
