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Golden State can finally play the part of "vet team who players want to join to chase the title". This season has seen the buyouts of David Lee (rumored to go to Dallas), Joe Johnson (rumored to go to a contender, which could be scary) and Anderson Varajeao, who is expected to clear waivers over the weekend. Upon that release, ESPN's Marc Stein reportsts that he could land in Oakland, and though Varajeao's best days are behind him, having another veteran body on the floor could be a huge help.
As Festus Ezeli's knee heals, Marreese Speights has continued to fill in as the back up five. Andrew Bogut had a particularly ineffective game last night, showing a relatively weak 15 minutes of play and some horrible defense. ESPN's Ethan Sherwood Strauss elaborated on the situation in his recap of the loss to the Portland Trail Blazers:
Friday was a reminder of what the Warriors are missing as Festus Ezeli recovers from arthroscopic knee surgery. Golden State is now heavily reliant on Andrew Bogut at center. Bogut is having a fine season, but he’s not exactly an every-game player at this point. Marreese Speights provides spacing off the bench, but when a team is shelling your defense, as the Blazers were on Friday night, he’s no bulwark against the artillery.
In short, the Warriors might just need a big. They’re loathe to mess with success, but complacency can be just as dangerous — even when you’re great. Slip a bit and suddenly you’re losing the "biggest game of the year" multiple times.
Varajeao ends up as a negative factor on the offensive side of the ball, but still represents a positive on the defensive side and could provide some depth with the bench scorers. Even Kerr was quoted in Stein's article as saying, "I have not been notified of that but it makes perfect sense, right?"
New blood could bring new energy, and the Warriors could need this as the season stretches on.
Ezeli's absence has been obscured by those awesome Dray-at-the-5 lineups, but it's certainly a void. Thin up front now
— Ethan Strauss (@SherwoodStrauss) February 20, 2016
Chances that a Varejao addition helps are very slim, but there isn't much trust in the other backup bigs right now
— Ethan Strauss (@SherwoodStrauss) February 20, 2016
Ever sprain a toe? It's an incredibly hard injury to get healed up https://t.co/pAKiwab1PA
— Ethan Strauss (@SherwoodStrauss) February 20, 2016
(h/t Eran5 for posting this as a FanShot first)