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Five free agents Warriors should stay away from

By Carlos Murillo

Dec 6, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah (13) passes to guard Jimmy Butler (21) with Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut (12) looking on during the second quarter at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 6, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah (13) passes to guard Jimmy Butler (21) with Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut (12) looking on during the second quarter at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports /
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DeMar Derozan

Warriors
May 23, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan (10) drives to the basket as Cleveland Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith (5) tries to defend during the first quarter in game four of the Eastern conference finals of the NBA Playoffs at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports /

The Warriors want another scoring threat and, while DeMar Derozan is great at putting the ball in the basket, he doesn’t fit.

The Toronto Raptors took the eventual-champion Cleveland Cavaliers to six games in the Eastern Conference Finals.

They were one game behind the Cavs in the standings, finishing second in the East. A large part of Toronto’s success relied on Demar Derozan. He was an All-Star this past season as he averaged 23.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 4 assists in 35.9 minutes.

Derozan has established himself as one of the better shooting guards in the NBA. Of course, he’s a tier below James Harden, Klay Thompson, and Jimmy Butler. Despite this, he’s a piece that many teams would like to add. He can take the ball to the basket and take over a game offensively for stretches.

A lot of teams have expressed some kind of interest in Derozan, including the Golden State Warriors. In this scenario, Thompson would most likely slide to the small forward spot and the best shooting backcourt in league history would be broken up as Derozan would slide in between Thompson and Stephen Curry. Generally, adding an All-Star guard who can score the basketball is not a bad idea.

But the Warriors need to stay away from Derozan.

He averaged 23 points per game, but he only shot 33 percent from beyond the arc. The Warriors need more shooters and Derozan prefers the long two over the three, a shot that has become almost a joke in today’s NBA because of it’s inefficiency. He doesn’t give them the space that they would like.

Derozan just doesn’t seem to fit in with what Golden State does. Unless he comes off the bench–which doesn’t seem likely–it doesn’t make sense adding the 26 year old. He needs the ball in his hands. A lot. The Warriors like to move and pass the ball and Derozan has a tendency to kill ball movement with his isolations and poor shot selection.

He’s going to demand a lot of money, dollars that could be spent elsewhere on better players. Luckily, it doesn’t seem like the Toronto Raptors want to let him go and he’s expressed his desire to stay in the Six.

Next: Say no to recency bias

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