As the Golden State Warriors attempt to re-tool around their veteran core of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler, their reported interest in free agent point guard Ty Jerome, if true, could be a massive sign of improvement for the team's roster.
Jerome, who had a breakout year with the Cleveland Cavaliers last season, is now in line for a significant pay raise. Through 70 games with Cleveland, Jerome averaged 12.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists off the bench, gradually becoming one of the more valuable players on his team.
However, following a disappointing second-round defeat to the Indiana Pacers, the Cavaliers must now reckon with their salary situation, and, given the price of their star players, Jerome could be a cap casualty, giving the Warriors the opportunity to swoop in and add the dynamic guard to their roster.
A former Warrior could ease the team's scoring gap
Jerome, 27, played one season with Golden State in 2022-23, playing in 45 games and averaging just 6.9 points, 1.7 rebounds and three assists.
At the time, he was seen largely as a fringe rotation contributor, leading to his signing a miniscule two-year, $5 million contract with Cleveland prior to the 2023-24 season.
While he played only 15 minutes in his first season with the Cavaliers as the result of an ankle injury, Golden State's regret in not retaining him grew mightily this year as Jerome emerged as a Sixth Man of the Year Candidate and solidified Cleveland's bench unit en route to a 64-18 regular season record.
While he is certainly in line for a large pay increase, his inconsistent play in the playoffs could give many teams pause, perhaps allowing the Warriors to sign the guard to a more reasonable contract. Through five games against Indiana, Jerome scored in double digits only once, in Game 1, and failed to step up when the team's stars were struggling with injuries, leading to his team's elimination.
Yet, as was made evident in the series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Golden State desperately needs a player that can create offense when Curry is off the court, and Jerome's excellent handling of Cleveland's bench unit could be enticing to the Warriors.
While young guard Brandin Podziemski has shown flashes of aggression and creative offensive abilities, he is clearly more comfortable as a playmaker rather than a scorer, and much of his game is dependent upon the spacing that Curry's presence creates.
Buddy Hield, additionally, is more suited as a shooting guard with a role purely based in his catch-and-shoot abilities.
Therefore, it is certainly very possible that Golden State could capitalize upon the Cavaliers' current cap situation, adding one of their most important players in order to solidify their own roster.