While the Golden State Warriors may have a couple of more moves to make to finalize their training camp roster, we can already rule out one player who the franchise had shown interest in.
According to NBA insider Chris Haynes, free agent forward Nassir Little has found a new home after signing a one-year deal with the Miami Heat. It will be Little's third NBA team after previous stints with the Portland Trail Blazers and Phoenix Suns.
The Warriors and Nassir Little were never likely to be a good match
After averaging just 3.4 points and 1.7 rebounds in 10.2 minutes during his lone season in the Valley, the Suns chose to waive Little in August despite having three years left on his contract. A number of teams had showed interest in the 24-year-old during the weeks since, including the Warriors who brought Little into their facility for at least one workout.
It's unknown whether Golden State extended a training camp contract to Little given they're now eligible to do so after waiving a trio of players in recent days. Regardless, clearly he and his management believe Miami is the right destination, and probably rightly so.
The Warriors are in a position to sign someone if they waive Gui Santos or Lindy Waters III in the process, but that's far from a guarantee and offers little security to a free agent who may push for a main roster spot in training camp and preseason.
It was hard to see how Little's questionable outside shooting was going to figure into a Golden State front court that already has it's spacing concerns, and how the 6'5" forward was going to fit overall given the depth on the current roster.
Little now joins a Heat team who may be able to provide a better pathway to a consistent role, not to mention the franchise's unbelievably good track record when it comes to player development. The former first-round pick did show positive signs during his time with the Trail Blazers, including in the 2021-22 season where he averaged 9.8 points and 5.6 rebounds in nearly 26 minutes per game.
As for the Warriors, their roster appears to sit at 19 right now, giving them two available spots to reach the maximum 21-man squad allowed for training camp and preseason. They've also been linked to the likes of Justin Holiday, Troy Brown Jr. and Kevin Knox recently, but you can now take Little out of that group of potential additions before training camp starts in Hawaii next week.