Warriors reportedly sign familiar face to training camp contract

The Golden State Warriors have reportedly made another addition to their roster just over two weeks out from the start of training camp in Hawaii on October 1.

According to Keith Smith of Spotrac on Saturday, the Warriors have signed guard Yuri Collins to a training camp deal.

Yuri Collins is a familiar face to the Golden State Warriors, having played with their G League affiliate in Santa Cruz last season

Collins is well known to the Golden State organization after initially going undrafted in 2023 and joining the team for Summer League last year. The 6'0 guard would go on to sign a training camp deal in October last year, but was waived prior to the season before joining the Santa Cruz Warriors in the G League.

Collins would play in 50 combined regular season and showcase games last season, averaging 5.4 points, 2.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists in 22.2 minutes per game. The 23-year-old also shot 45.8% from the floor and 39.7% from three-point range, but is known for being a traditional pass-first point guard having been the NCAA's assist leader in 2022 and 2023.

A four-year college player at St. Louis, Collins again joined Golden State in this year's Summer League where he averaged 8.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 5.0 assists across five games in Las Vegas.

While Collins is still eligible for a two-way contract in the NBA, it's unlikely that the young guard will win a spot over incumbent two-way contracted players Pat Spencer, Daeqwon Plowden and Reece Beekman. Instead, this move has likely come to ensure Collins stays around with Santa Cruz, while also giving the Warriors another genuine point guard to utilize in training camp.

Collins isn't the first Santa Cruz player to have signed a training camp deal with Golden State after Jackson Rowe signed in the immediete aftermath of Summer League in July. The 6'7" forward averaged 11 points and 6.5 rebounds in Vegas, shooting 50% from the floor and 31.8% from three-point range.

The chances of Rowe and Collins staying with Golden State appears bleak given the franchise is still yet to make a decision on 52nd overall pick Quinten Post. The seven-foot big man appeared in the final two games of Summer League and is expected to ultimately take one of the two-way slots, perhaps in place of Beekman who missed the entire Las Vegas stretch of Summer League through injury.