After confirming the returns of De'Anthony Melton and Gary Payton II, the Golden State Warriors now have two open roster spots with which to identify and address issues entering next season.
One of those spots could be used on having insurance for veteran center Al Horford, and to a lesser extent fellow Boston Celtics championship teammate Kristaps Porzingis, with the Warriors reportedly showing interest in another experienced big man in Kelly Olynyk.
Kelly Olynyk signing will give Warriors needed Al Horford insurance
Signing Olynyk would be purely a depth move that reflects the concern over the availability of Horford and Porzingis. Horford played in 45 games last season after missing time with two seperate injuries, while also not appearing in any back-to-backs which will continue for the remainder of his career.
Entering his 20th season as a 40-year-old, it's unlikely that Horford plays much more than those 45 appearances in his first year with Golden State. That makes the Olynyk interest, as reiterated by Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints on Saturday, understandable albeit uninspiring after the 35-year-old found himself out of the rotation for the San Antonio Spurs during the playoffs and for much of last season.
Signing Gary Payton II takes the Warriors to 13 players with standard deals and roughly $6M from the second apron hard cap.
— Brett Siegel (@BrettSiegelNBA) August 1, 2026
The Warriors have been eyeing extra backcourt help and also have interest in Kelly Olynyk, as reported yesterday on @ClutchPoints.
Horford is certainly the better and more valuable player based on last season's form, but the Warriors would hope Olynyk can provide a similar impression given the offensive parallels of being able to stretch the floor while also possessing strong passing feel. Whether Olynyk can stand up defensively like Horford is another question entirely.
Golden State would have hoped to have Quinten Post in this role as a younger player with more upside, but they lost him to the Memphis Grizzlies after choosing not to match a three-year, $30 million offer sheet as a restricted free agent.
The Warriors quickly re-signed Charles Bassey in the wake of Post's departure, but the 26-year-old offers a complementary skillset as an athletic, interior big man rather the floor spacing skill of Porzingis, Horford and potentially Olynyk.
Kelly Olynyk signing would come three years too late
Golden State's interest in Olynyk also isn't surprising considering they've inquired about him as a trade target in the past. The problem now is last season's form would suggest he may have little left to give as an NBA player, compared to two or three years ago when he was a bonafide 20-25 minute rotation player.
The positive is that the Warriors won't necessarily need that from Olynyk should a signing take place, though that may change and the Canadian could still find himself in a big role given the aging and injury-prone nature of the roster.
Olynyk averaged just 3.2 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 42 games with the Spurs last season, shooting 49% from the floor and 25.5% from 3-point range. He previously averaged 8.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists on 50/42/77 shooting splits with the Toronto Raptors and New Orleans Pelicans during the 2024-25 season.
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