A familiar face is coming back to the Warriors next season.
One week after he had his restricted free agency rights renounced, the Warriors have agreed on a contract with James Michael McAdoo.
The Warriors re-sign James Michael McAdoo to a one-year deal, source tells @TheUndefeated.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpearsESPN) July 8, 2016
The one-year deal for James Michael McAdoo with the Warriors is for the league minimum: $980,431.
— Jeff Zillgitt (@JeffZillgitt) July 8, 2016
It’s a good bet that the 6-foot-9 McAdoo will play a much larger role for the Warriors next season. The team lost Andrew Bogut, Harrison Barnes, Festus Ezeli, Leandro Barbosa, Mo Speights and Brandon Rush in free agency.
McAdoo averaged 2.9 points and 1.4 rebounds in 41 games with the Warriors last season. The 23-year-old spent a chunk of his time with the Santa Cruz Warriors in the D-League.
McAdoo’s number was unexpectedly called in the NBA Finals. After sitting out the entire series against both the Blazers and Thunder, McAdoo saw the floor in Games 4, 5 and 6. Although it was limited action, it showed Steve Kerr trusted the 23-year-old in a critical moment.
Ian Clark also rejoined the Warriors on Thursday. Golden State needed some younger players to fill out the rest of their bench. The Warriors are going to blow a lot of teams out, and will need McAdoo and Clark on the court to eat up the minutes. The pair of homegrown players will hold down that role, and in addition, will be expected to further develop in replacing the slew of free agents lost.