The band is getting back together. With their 15th and final roster spot, it appears the Warriors are bringing back a familiar face as ESPN is reporting they will re-sign center JaVale McGee.
Free agent center JaVale McGee has agreed to re-sign with the Golden State Warriors, league sources tell ESPN.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) July 27, 2017
McGee marks the seventh different Warrior to re-sign with the team after winning the championship last month. Ian Clark, Matt Barnes and James Michael McAdoo are the only title-winning team members who appear set to move on from the Dubs next season. Coming in to take their spots are Nick Young, Omri Casspi and rookie Jordan Bell. Not a bad offseason of upgrades.
There had been plenty of controversy surrounding McGee’s free agency in recent weeks, with a report surfacing that the center was upset about Golden State using its full mid-level exception to sign Nick Young rather than saving some of that money for him. It appears that McGee and the Warriors worked things out though, which makes sense for both sides. Golden State needed another big man and McGee found a perfect fit with the team and system last season.
Given how far over the salary cap the Warriors are, McGee will only be able to receive the veteran’s minimum of about $2.1 million, though it will ultimately cost the team much more than that to have McGee on the roster given its luxury tax situation.
The 29-year-old McGee had a career renaissance last year in Golden State, averaging 6.1 points, 3.2 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per game in less than 10 minutes per contest. He didn’t play in the closeout Game 5 of the Finals against Cleveland, but came off the bench for 9.3 minutes per game in the playoffs and continued to provide the spark he gave throughout the regular season.
Bringing McGee back fits the need of filling another backup big man spot, though the minutes of youngsters Damian Jones and Bell may be hampered next season given the return of most of last year’s veteran forwards and centers.
With McGee in the fold and all 15 roster spots filled, don’t expect any more big names to join the Warriors this offseason, though the team may keep gathering training camp players and potential two-way deal signees, as they did earlier today. As July winds down with the McGee signing, Bob Myers and company appear to have their squad set for the run at defending the league title.
JaVale, for his part, looks to be quite happy with his return to Golden State. He posted an Instagram video of himself around the time the news broke about his re-signing.