5 Moves Warriors Should Make After Missing on Klay Thompson, DeMar DeRozan

Godlen State Warriors fans have reason to be disappointed after Friday's news.

First, Klay Thompson was bought out by the Mavericks before agreeing to sign a two-year, nearly $13 million deal with Heat.

I was among the people who thought Thompson was ineligible to sign with the Warriors due to CBA rules, but he actually could've joined them on a veteran minimum contract.

But instead, he chose a higher salary and better contention chances with the Heat.

On the same day, DeMar DeRozan agreed to a veteran minimum contract with the Nuggets.

The Dubs would have offered a bigger role for DeRozan, but he chose better contention chances too.

The Warriors have two standard contract roster spots to fill and one two-way roster spot unoccupied.

Here is how the Warriors should fill out the rest of their roster.

Sign Brandon Williams

Williams is the best point guard left on the free-agent market, and the Warriors could use a backup point guard and have reportedly shown interest in him.

The only major issue with Williams is his lack of three-point shooting, which could make him harder to play in lineups with Draymond Green and generally cramp the offense.

But for their 14th roster spot, the Warriors should be looking for a young player with talent who could be on the precipice of a career-best season of impact. Something like what happened with Gary Payton II during the 2021-22 season.

At 26 years old, Williams could be that guy.

Release Leons and Give Two-Way Spots to Ike, Jones

The Warriors currently have LJ Cryer and Malevy Leons on two-way deals. I'm sure they'd love to have Cryer, Leons, Graham Ike and Lajae Jones on two-ways, but each team gets only three two-ways to use.

Unless the Warriors give a standard contract to one of them, one has to go.

So I have the Warriors making three moves here. They release Leons and sign Ike and Jones to give themselves a two-way group of Cryer, Ike and Jones.

Leons' defensive versatility should allow him to find a new two-way home, but he's lacking potential offensively that the others have.

Sign Georges Niang

This last spot could go a number of ways.

Perhaps Dalen Terry will join the Warriors at training camp and win a role. Maybe Kelly Olynyk will prove too good to pass up.

Between, Niang and Olynyk, it's a very close call. But the reason I have the Warriors favoring Niang here is that they would have Ike on a two-way deal as a fourth-string center.

Having Olynyk would give them five centers, which is overkill, even for a team with age and injury concerns.

As a stretch-4 who could play the 3 when needed, Niang would play more than Olynyk would.

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