Golden State Warriors legend Stephen Curry was expected to make his return from a knee injury on Sunday, after missing his team’s last 27 games. But first, the Warriors made a roster move, adding a former Boston Celtics big man as a backup to Kristaps Porzingis, another former Celtic.
Before the big moment, when the Warriors tip off against the Houston Rockets, the Warriors were working to finalize a deal with 25-year-old Charles Bassey, a 6-foot-10, 230-pound center whose second 10-day contract with the Celtics expired after Boston’s 32-point win over the Milwaukee Bucks Friday night.
The Warriors face the Rockets on national television, with Curry’s expected return, and Bassey’s potential debut, carried on NBC’s Sunday Night Basketball.
Why the Warriors Are Signing Bassey
With the Warriors sitting in 10th place in the NBA Western Conference at 36-41 with five games remaining, the six-time NBA champions have already clinched a spot in the play-in tournament. But at 10 games behind the sixth-place Minnesota Timberwolves, the Warriors have long since been eliminated from a direct entry into the playoffs.
So what do they want with Bassey, who will be playing for his fourth team this season alone?
“Bassey will essentially replace Turkish big man Omer Yurtseven, whose second 10-day contract with Golden State expired on Friday night,” explained Rory Maher of Hoops Rumors on Sunday. “If Basseyâs deal is completed on Sunday, he would be eligible to appear in five games over the last eight days of the regular season. Heâll likely earn the veteranâs minimum due to the Warriorsâ cap situation.”
According to a CBS Sports report, however, Bassey was considered a candidate to have his 10-day contract with the Celtics converted to a contract for the remainder of the season.
But ultimately, the Celtics simply did not think highly enough of Bassey to keep him around, and allowed his 10-day deal to run out with no further offer.
Celtics Went With Ron Harper Jr. Instead
Instead of retaining Bassey, the Celtics signed forward Ron Harper Jr. to a standard, two-year contract after keeping the 25-year-old on a two-way deal throughout the season.
The Celtics were required to make a signing before the end of the day on Saturday, to comply with NBA rules requiring teams to have at least 14 players under contract.
Though Harper’s numbers have not been overwhelming, with 3.4 points and 1.6 rebounds per game in an average of 10.3 minutes. But in his 26 games with the Celtics, he provides energy off the bench and fills a role that Bassey did not, especially with bigs Neemias Queta, Luka Garza and Nikola VuÄeviÄ ahead of him on the Boston depth chart.
Bassey averaged 2.8 points and 1.2 rebounds in five games with the Celtics this season. But he showed his potential in the G League, where Bassey was averaging 20.4 points and 12.2 rebounds in 20 games between the Santa Cruz Warriors and Delaware Blue Coats.
In their final five games, the Warriors will be hoping to see that more productive version of Bassey win what will certainly be limited playing time.
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