Golden State Warriors should be wary of signing newly-available free agent

Veteran forward Rudy Gay has firmed as a name to monitor for the Golden State Warriors’ 14th roster spot, with the 36-year-old reportedly waived by the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania. 

The move is hardly a surprise given the Thunder’s surplus of contracted players, leaving Gay as a free agent after he was initially dealt by the Utah Jazz to the Atlanta Hawks in a trade for John Collins.

Despite his experience and potential fit with the franchise, the Golden State Warriors should be wary of signing newly-available free agent Rudy Gay.

According to The Athletic’s Anthony Slater last week, Gay is “someone the Warriors have had interest in in the past” and that “he’s a name to monitor”. With their guard rotation appearing sorted, the 16-year NBA veteran could fit the bill as Golden State seek further frontcourt depth.

Gay’s combination of 6’8″ size and perimeter shooting threat, along with his vast experience, will certainly have some appeal to the Warriors and other potential championship contenders. But that’s not to say his acquisition wouldn’t come with risk.

Golden State have recently signed another power-forward/small-ball center, Dario Saric, that will fill a similar role to that of what Gay theoretically could. The Warriors now have to be wary in pinpointing the margin between securing frontcourt depth, while also ensuring they don’t overload their choices to a point where it could inhibit the development of their younger players.

At the front-and-center of that is Jonathan Kuminga, the talented two-way forward who appears raring to go for greater opportunities despite a disappointing postseason. The Warriors reportedly understand that desire with an anonymous insider stating, “we need him to be ready for a full rotation role in our frontcourt”.

Whether it’s Gay or anyone else, any signing for the the franchise is now about providing insurance and depth rather than the set ability to provide 15-20+ minutes each night. Given Gay’s decline over the past two seasons, there’s genuine question marks on how much impact he can have regardless.

Perhaps that’s the perfect result — maybe Gay isn’t a regular rotation player anymore and can simply fill in for a few minutes at a pinch when injury and/or foul trouble hits. Still on the lookout for his first NBA championship, is he really going to be happy in signing up for that role?

Gay averaged 14.6 minutes with the Jazz last season across 56 games, recording 5.2 points, 2.9 rebounds and one assist per game. He shot just 38% from the floor and 25.4% from three-point range, percentages that would have to lift for him to provide impact on the Warriors should he join the franchise.