3-Time NBA champion DITCHED Steph Curry and Warriors to join Western Conference rival

Big man JaVale McGee outwits the Warriors and makes a move to sign with the up-and-coming Sacramento Kings.

3-Time NBA champion DITCHED Steph Curry and Warriors to join Western Conference rival

Steph Curry and JaVale McGee (Credits: ABC News)

The NBA off-season is close to coming to an end, with training camp right around the corner. It seems that even though the majority of the trades and signings have been completed, teams are making some last-minute pickups, which provides for more drama. The Los Angeles Lakers rounded out their roster by signing Christian Wood. He helps provide the Lakers with more depth in the center position. Included in these last-minute signings is veteran big man JaVale McGee. He shocked the league by making an unexpected choice when deciding who he would play for.

McGee decided to sign with the Sacramento Kings despite the Golden State Warriors showing interest in the 35-year-old. This move shocked a lot of people, as McGee has a well-established history of being a part of the Warriors squad when they won the NBA championship in 2017 and 2018. Allegedly, his choice was centered around the fact that he would have a more prominent role with the Kings, as they are a young squad and require front-court depth when Damontas Sabonis is off the court. McGee only averaged around nine minutes per game when playing for the Warriors.

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JaVale McGee signed a 1-year, $3 million contract with the Sacramento Kings, including $3,196,448 guaranteed and an annual average salary of $3,196,448. It is worthy noting that Mike Brown, the head coach of the Kings, might have played an instrumental role in his signing, as Brown was a part of the Warriors coaching staff during his stint with the franchise. McGee was promised a “significant role” when signing with the Kings.

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The Warriors had knocked out the Kings in the first round of the playoffs behind a monstrous 50-point showing from Steph Curry in Game 7. The Kings have a bright future ahead of them, with De’Aaron Fox and Sabonis leading the fray. They made the playoffs for the first time in a record 16 years. The playoff drought is one season longer than the previous NBA record held by the Los Angeles Clippers franchise, which missed the playoffs from 1977–1991. Now that they have tasted what it’s like to be in the playoffs, the Kings will go into next year hungry to prove themselves and make a deep run.

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What were the off-season moves made by the Warriors?

Stephen Curry
Stephen Curry in action for the Golden State Warriors (Image via Twitter/ Warriors Talk)

The Golden State Warriors failed to sign McGee but have made some pretty monumental moves, shaking up their roster quite a bit. There was a lot of controversy surrounding who the franchise would side with due to a pre-season scuffle occurring between their star players, Jordan Poole and Draymond Green. Apparently, there were tensions rising between the two as Poole was a young star who had developed his game and was instrumental in their 2022 championship. He had freshly signed a $100 M contract with the franchise, whereas Green was an old veteran coming into the last season of his contract.

It seems the Warriors decided to go with their trusty championship core, signing Green to a new four-year $100 M deal. They traded away Poole to the Washington Wizards and brought in Veteran point guard Chris Paul in exchange from the Phoenix Suns. Along with this, the Warriors signed F Dario Saric. The Warriors made some interesting draft picks as well, putting to use their picks by selecting Brandin Podziemski with the 19th overall pick in the first round of the 2023 NBA draft.

Podziemski averaged 19.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game his sophomore year while shooting 43.8% from 3 and 48.3% from the field. The Golden State Warriors only had one pick when the 2023 NBA Draft began, but they snatched the 57th pick from the Washington Wizards late in the evening and used it to choose four-year collegiate big man Trayce Jackson-Davis. 

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