Warriors Rumors: 2016 1st-Round Pick Marquese Chriss Signs Contract with GSW

The Golden State Warriors have reached an agreement with free-agent forward Marquese Chriss, Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes reported first Tuesday evening. 

However, while Haynes reported it to be a one-year deal, The Athletic's Anthony Slater reported that it's a non-guaranteed training camp invite:

Chriss, the eighth pick of the 2016 draft, was part of a draft-day trade between the Sacramento Kings and the Phoenix Suns, where he spent two seasons. In Phoenix, the 22-year-old Washington product averaged 8.5 points and 4.8 rebounds across 154 games (124 starts). 

The Suns traded Chriss to Houston as part of a larger deal ahead of last season. Chriss appeared in 16 games for the Rockets before a three-team trade sent him to the Cleveland Cavaliers in February.

Chriss' tenure with the Rockets ended after his agent, Aaron Goodwin, requested either more playing time in Houston or a trade elsewhere. 

"Marquese didn't ask to be traded to Houston," Goodwin told Haynes in January. "The Rockets are a great organization and the kid has done everything they’ve asked of him to get on the floor. If it's not going to happen there, we just want him to be treated fairly."

Chriss got his wish and landed elsewhere, but The Athletic's Jason Lloyd reported in March that it wasn't necessarily smoother sailing in Cleveland: 

"He has the reputation of not playing hard and not listening to his coaches. He was banished in Phoenix for throwing fits at coaches, and then the Rockets quickly moved on from him. One league source outside of the Cavs wondered whether his career is in jeopardy, even at this young of an age, because of his reputation and habits. If he can’t make it here, on one of the worst teams in the league where playing time is plentiful, where exactly can he fit?"

Lloyd also noted that "a handful of players" within the Cavs said Chriss hadn't been an issue, and Chriss told Lloyd he didn't think his NBA career was "even close to being over." 

The Cavaliers let Chriss become a free agent following last season. Overall in 2018-19, Chriss appeared in 43 games, including two starts for the Cavs, and averaged 4.2 points as well as 3.3 rebounds.

With the Warriors, as Slater pointed out, Chriss will have a short window to impress and earn a spot on a roster that already includes "eight new players, three rookies and nine guys under the age of 26."

Golden State opens training camp Tuesday, Oct. 1, in San Francisco.