12 Worst free agent signings in Golden State Warriors history

Worst Warriors free agent signings No. 11: Nick Young, 2017

In a similar vein to DeMarcus Cousins above, the Warriors had very limited assets to use each year to continue supporting their stars and chasing titles. It’s hard to maintain a contender for multiple years, and doing so usually requires hitting on moves on the margin to fill out the bench.

In the summer of 2017, the Warriors were coming off of a dominant playoff run after adding Kevin Durant, winning their second title in three seasons. They stayed over the cap that summer, re-signing Shaun Livingston, Andre Iguodala, and Durant while inking Stephen Curry to a supermax deal.

To cap off their expensive summer, the Warriors used their one exception above the minimum to sign Nick Young. After successfully rehabilitating JaVale McGee the year before, the Warriors called their shot and added a shoot-first, shoot-second scoring guard with plenty of baggage.

Young didn’t have a terrible season, and ultimately his presence on the team didn’t matter; the Warriors went on to sweep the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals that year. Young certainly didn’t move the needle, however, shooting 41.2 percent from the field and averaging 7.3 points per game in a limited role. In the playoffs he played every game but shot just 30.2 percent from the field, averaging 2.6 points. He wasn’t bringing defense or passing or hustle, so the scoring was why he was there, and that was virtually nonexistent.

Thankfully, the Warriors were able to find Quinn Cook, signing him to a two-way contract and eventually elevating him to the full roster and above Young in the playoff rotation. Having Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant gives you plenty of margin for error, but it was clear from the start and by the end that the Young signing was a mistake.