After all the hype, Golden State decided against signing big man Dwight Howard before the start of training camp next week.
Dwight trained with Warriors veterans Chris Paul and Draymond Green last week and reportedly met with Steve Kerr.
A telling piece of information was revealed by ESPN’s Kendra Andrews, who said that the Warriors were looking for someone who ‘won’t be a distraction’.
“A source told ESPN that one important piece of criteria for anyone looking to make the roster is someone who will help them build off their already established connectivity — someone who won’t be a distraction and someone happy to be the final member of the team,” Andrews wrote.
Howard is definitely someone that can be distracting, so maybe his larger than life personality wasn’t something the Warriors were willing to handle.
New Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. was asked about Howard and simply explained that the team is keeping their options open.
“I would just say in general, we brought maybe 40 or 50 guys in this summer to get a further look at, knowing agents and people around the league knowing we’ve got two roster spots open,” Dunleavy Jr. told media on Monday. “… The player you mentioned [Howard] is just one of many that we brought in and evaluated, and you know, I think right now you’ll know more about who we’re inviting to camp in a couple of days.
“But overall, we feel good about what we’ve done this summer and we’ll keep our options open in terms of who we need to add.”
With no movement on Dwight, the Warriors decided to bring in 21-year-old center Usman Garuba on a two-way contract.
They also signed Croatian player Dario Saric in July and Dunleavy believes adding these two has addressed the areas the team needed improvement on.
As for any future signings to fill up roster spots, Golden State don’t have a specific criteria in mind.
“I don’t think we have our sights set on any one thing right now in terms of a guard, a big, a wing, a young player, an old player,” Dunleavy said. “We are kind of open, and I think that’s a great position to be in where we have flexibility and can kind of evaluate to see what’s the best for our team.”
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