The Golden State Warriors are signing point guard Brad Wanamaker to a one-year deal worth $2.25 million. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski was the first to report the deal.
Free agent G Brad Wanamaker has agreed to a one-year, $2.25M deal to join the Golden State Warriors, his agent Steve McCaskill tells ESPN. Wanamaker played a productive role with Celtics – and now’s expected to see some significant minutes as Steph Curry’s backup.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 22, 2020
Wanamaker, who is 6’3”, is 31 years old, though he’s only been in the NBA for two seasons. He has plenty of veteran experience, however, after spending eight years playing professionally overseas.
He’s spent the last two years with the Boston Celtics, developing in Brad Stevens’ system. Last year he played 19.3 minutes per game, and averaged 6.9 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game. Perhaps most impressive is his shooting ability; Wanamaker shot 41.0% from deep as a rookie, and 36.3% a year ago, and is a career 91.5% shooter from the free throw line.
Add that up and you have a career 58.1% true-shooting percentage, with about 2.5 assists for every turnover. That’s the type of reliable play that the Warriors need to back up Steph Curry.
Wanamaker was also impressive during the Celtics deep run in the playoffs this year, averaging 4.9 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.8 assists, while shooting 44.4% from beyond the arc. Even though Boston had a lot of star talent at the guard positions, Wanamaker kept earning minutes, even in big games.
The Warriors will surely make more moves this offseason, but it now looks like they’ve got their point guard rotation figured out: Curry as the starter, Wanamaker leading the bench unit, and rookie Nico Mannion as the third-stringer who will get a chance to fight for minutes.
