Marreese Speights: Latest News, Rumors, Speculation Surrounding Free-Agent C
Since Kevin Durant announced on the Players' Tribune on Monday that he plans to sign with the Golden State Warriors, the team has had to rethink some of its offseason plans.
Marreese Speights is one of the players from last year's team whose futures could be altered this summer.
Continue for updates.
Warriors Looking to Re-Sign Speights
Monday, July 4
On Monday, The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Golden State will trade starting center Andrew Bogut to the Dallas Mavericks and renounce their cap hold on backup center Festus Ezeli, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Wojnarowski added Golden State would like to bring Speights back.
The Warriors' desire to re-sign the 28-year-old might have lessened, though, after they landed big man Zaza Pachulia with a one-year, $2.9 million offer, per Shams Charania of The Vertical.
Pachulia averaged 11.7 points and 12.9 rebounds per 36 minutes for the Dallas Mavericks last year, per Basketball-Reference.com. While Golden State may view Pachulia as only a backup, he'll likely be the team's starting center.
As a result, Speights would likely have to continue coming off the bench in order to stay with the Warriors. Given his age, getting Speights to take less money than he's worth and a lesser role than he might have elsewhere could be a tough sell, even for Golden State. His value may never be higher than it is now, so he could be keen to capitalize on the league's rising salary cap.
Holding on to Speights would be a nice luxury for the Warriors, since he'd add depth to the frontcourt. But signing Durant means sacrificing a lot of the depth that helped the team become one of the best in the league, and Speights could join Bogut and Ezeli as a cap casualty.
