Latest free agent signing possesses ability to buck recent Golden State Warriors trend

The Golden State Warriors’ recent trend with young big men doesn’t make for overly great reading. Since Kevon Looney was drafted in 2015, the franchise has seen a raft of talented centers come-and-go without any meaningful impact.

The likes of Jordan Bell, Damian Jones, Alen Smailagic and most notably James Wiseman have all ultimately resulted as disappointments, even if three of those four were actually crowned as NBA champions.

Given the franchise’s inability to develop big men in recent years, why would results be different for Usman Garuba at the Golden State Warriors?

On Friday the Warriors signed former first-round pick Usman Garuba to a two-way contract, according to Shams Charania and Anthony Slater of The Athletic. While it’s unlikely to reap immediate benefits, it’s a savvy signing from Golden State who have further solidified their frontcourt depth.

Will Garuba develop into a long-term player for the Warriors? Maybe not. Even still, there’s clear upside not only in him as a player, but more importantly in him as a fit in the Golden State system under Steve Kerr.

Looking back at Wiseman, Jones and Bell, they were all young centers who lacked versatility on both ends of the floor. Offensively they used their size and athleticism to be threats around the rim, whether in rare pick-and-roll scenarios or in transition. Beyond that there was little that was going to result in positive, efficient scoring from a team perspective.

Defensively they had elements of shot-blocking but never positioned themselves effectively to provide consistent rim protection. Combine that with their inability to switch out onto the perimeter and you’ve got players who were never going thrive in the way once hoped.

The Warriors aren’t shirking away from trying to develop young big men, but they’re certainly changing their approach towards it. Rather than focusing on size, they’re prioritizing versatile skill sets that can be more easily moulded into the way they play.

That begun with the selection of Trayce Jackson-Davis with the 57th overall pick, and now extends to adding Garuba on a two-way deal. Those like Looney and previously Andrew Bogut flourished because of their passing ability, an element Garuba and Jackson-Davis possess albeit are far from polished.

Garuba also has defensive upside that makes him an intriguing acquisition. On paper at 6’8″ he’s slightly undersized, but he’s a bigger body like Looney that allows him to play well above what the height may suggest. The 21-year-old has also shown flashes of defending in space out on the perimeter and becoming a smart mover within a defensive scheme.

Garuba is still raw and won’t get the same opportunities as he had in his first two seasons with the Houston Rockets, but it’s clear why the franchise has held interest in adding him to the books for 2023-24.