Despite not currently having the financial capacity to sign a free agent, the Golden State Warriors are clearly doing their diligence on a number of available players less than two weeks before training camp starts in Hawaii.
None of the players reported to have held workouts with the Warriors have actually signed a training camp contract at this stage. Brazilian big man Bruno Caboclo and Latvian sharpshooter Davis Bertans have signed overseason, while we're none the wiser on Troy Brown Jr.'s next move.
The latest player to be linked with Golden State is Nassir Little, with Keith Smith of Spotrac reporting on Monday that they're one of four teams that have, or will hold a workout with the former first-round pick.
It's very difficult to see Nassir Little turning his career around with the Warriors
Little could be viewed as the most intriguing player the Warriors have seemingly shown interest in over the past few weeks. At 24-years-old he's young enough to suggest there's some upside, particularly given he did show periods of promise with the Portland Trail Blazers after being drafted with the 25th overall pick in 2019.
Yet Golden State are evidently not the team that should be looking to turn Little's career around -- why would they believe they can turn the Phoenix Suns' trash into their own treasure? That may be a blunt and brutal definition of the situation, but it's also fairly true.
Little joined the Suns via trade last offseason having yet to start a four-year, $28 million contract. After just one season and less than 500 minutes with the franchise, Phoenix chose to waive Little in August with three years left on his contract.
This wasn't a case of having non-guarateed years -- the Suns will literally pay Little just over $3 million per year until 2030. Should his NBA career be over after that harsh decision? No. He should get an opportunity elsewhere.
But this is a Warriors team that's deep, and Little doesn't particularly hold a quality that's going to seperate him from players five through 14 on the roster. At least Bertans is a 6'10" shooter and therefore someone Golden State could have explored further considering their need for spacing in the front court.
Little, on the other hand, is 6'5" and has shot 33% from beyond the arc in his career. That's not to say he doesn't have upside given his interior scoring, physicality and rebounding, but that overlaps too much with what the Warriors already have.
Of course, there's no suggestion that Golden State will look at Little further than just this reported offseason workout. But even just from his own perspective, there are a myriad of better options around the league than trying to rejuvenate his career with the Warriors.