The Golden State Warriors knew when they signed Dalen Terry to a training camp contract that he was all but set for a move to the G League with Santa Cruz.
However, the Warriors probably didn’t think Terry would produce the type of performance he did against the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night, and now their inability to give the young wing a main roster spot leaves them vulnerable to a rival team coming in to steal him.
Warriors leave themselves vulnerable to rival stealing Dalen Terry
Playing without essentially the entirety of their main rotation, Terry saw his first major opportunity in preseason after garnering only fourth-quarter minutes during the first two hit outs against the L.A. Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers.
The former Chicago Bulls and Philadelphia 76ers wing made the most of it, pouring in 23 points, eight rebounds and nine assists in a sparkling performance that nearly helped the Warriors to an upset victory on the road. Terry showed his adeptness both on the ball with his playmaking and off the ball, going for 4-of-5 from 3-point range in a highly productive, all-around display.
The issue is the Warriors don’t logically have room for Terry on the main roster, and as a fifth-year player he can’t simply take the two-way contract spot of Malevy Lyons which would otherwise be an easy move. He’s going to have to head to Santa Cruz, dominate at that level, and bide this time in the hope that a roster spot becomes available via a Golden State trade.
That is, of course, unless a rival team stood up and took notice of his performance in Portland. There are still teams around the league with available roster spots or flexibility, and Terry certainly looks like a viable NBA player who deserves to be on a roster based not only on Wednesdays performance, but also his limited minutes in the first two games.
Warriors could lose Dalen Terry if another team comes calling
The Warriors will be effectively perilous to stop any rival team from signing Terry once they inevitably waive him at the end of preseason.
If Golden State did feel that pressure, they could make a trade to open up a roster spot and keep him around. Yet given all their players at the end of the roster are ineligible to be traded after only signing deals in the offseason, a trade would seem incredibly unlikely. The only avenue is if there is a 2-for-1 trade or something of that manner where the trade in itself is beneficial to Golden State, and that signing Terry is just a secondary outcome to that.
The Warriors will hope Terry sticks around in the G League and continues to impress, but they’re not going to be able to stop a rival team from coming in and stealing him if they believe his preseason form has warranted a main roster spot.
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