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The Warriors reached out to Lakers free agent guard Kent Bazemore today about the possibility of bringing him back, a source said.
— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) July 3, 2014
The Golden State Warriors have reached out to Kent Bazemore about making a return to the Bay Area, according to a report tweeted by Marc Spears today.
Bazemore bounced between the NBA and D-League for much of his time with the Warriors in addition to anchoring a DOMINANT Warriors summer league squad that went undefeated over two seasons and won the Las Vegas Summer League title last year. Yet in a reminder that this is just a business that requires making tough decisions, the Warriors traded Bazemore to the L.A. Lakers back in February in the deal that returned Steve Blake, in an effort to solve their bench woes. That, of course, didn't go so well.
Why Bazemore makes sense for the Warriors
One reason for bringing Bazemore back? Some Warrior wearing number 30 was extremely unhappy when he was dealt.
— Fast Break (@GSWFastBreak) July 3, 2014
Steph Curry was reportedly "angered" by the trade that sent Bazemore to SoCal, according to Ric Bucher. And a happy Steph is a happy Warriors franchise.
So there's that.
And this:
Why the Warriors don't make sense for Bazemore
Realistically though, Bazemore reportedly has had at least eight other teams pursuing him early in the free agency negotiation period: the Lakers, Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks, Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns, San Antonio Spurs and Utah Jazz. Granted, some of those teams have since made moves for guards that might preclude them continuing to pursue Bazemore, but that's a lot of interest to compete with.
Unfortunately, the Warriors don't have much money to compete with that.
Warriors only talking minimum to Kent Bazemore. That's not going to fly unless his current options fall apart
— Marcus Thompson (@ThompsonScribe) July 3, 2014
And to be quite honest, if there's anyone I want to see getting paid this offseason - maybe even overpaid - it's Bazemore. It just so happens that it's even easier to say that when it's likely not my favorite team that is likely to do that.
Ultimately, this probably doesn't make much sense for the Warriors anyway: after signing Shaun Livingston to bolster the guard rotation and triggering a hard cap, they have to be looking for shooters or post players to fill their remaining gaps. As Evanz has pointed out on Twitter, other highly likeable former Warriors like Brandon Rush or Ekpe Udoh probably make more sense if they'll accept minimum contracts.
Really, I just wanted an excuse to reminisce about Bazemore as summer league approaches.