Zaza Pachulia Agrees To 1-Year Deal With Warriors
The Golden State Warriors agreed to terms with Zaza Pachulia as their likely starter at center.
As the world buzzes about Kevin Durant joining forces with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, the Warriors quietly found their starting center for cheap.
Assembling a team with four highly paid players, the Warriors need to find a few veterans willing to take less to chase a ring.
Zaza Pachulia finishes off their starting lineup, replacing the traded Andrew Bogut, to the Dallas Mavericks, and free agent Festus Ezeli, whom the Warriors renounced his rights to have room for Durant.
Vertical Sources: Free agent center Zaza Pachulia has agreed to a one-year, $2.9M deal to sign with the Golden State Warriors.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 4, 2016
At 6’11” and 275 pounds, Zaza adds toughness and size on the interior. The 32-year-old averaged 8.6 points and 9.4 rebounds for the Mavs last season. His scoring was the highest since the 2006-07 season with the Atlanta Hawks when he averaged 12.2.
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He set a career high in boards for the Mavs last year.
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Offensively, Pachulia does not add much but he won’t be asked to. He shot 46 percent from the field, but is limited in his ability to stretch the floor. He sets solid screens but is not a threat to hit on a pick and pop and will clog the lane on rim runs.
Defensively, the Warriors new center does little to protect the rim. According to Nylon Calculus, Zaza allowed 52.4 percent field goal allowed compared to Ezeli’s 44 percent and Bogut’s 45.1 percent.
The former Warriors centers were sixth and seventh in the league in that category while their new center was more similar to noted rim protector Kevin Love (54.3 percent).
With the salary cap skyrocketing, the Warriors seem lucky to get Pachulia to sign with them. In a world where Timofey Mozgov is signing for four years, $64 million, Zaza looks like a steal at $2.9 million.
With only minimum contracts available to upgrade their team around the Death Star Lineup, Golden State is welcoming Pachulia with open arms.
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The Warriors are expected to continue to push the small ball lineup next season, possibly even more with the addition of Durant. Veterans Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala will likely soak up minutes with Draymond, and even Durant, sliding down to the 5 spot.
Pachulia should expect similar minutes to last year’s starter, Bogut, at around 20 per game.
Expecting anything more out of Zaza on a nightly basis would be asking too much.
The Warriors still need to add size to their roster but Pachulia is a start. He adds size, toughness and experience. Golden State will not rely on him too much so the slight downgrade from Bogut will be negligible, especially on such a small salary.
In a salary cap sport, the team with the best record in NBA history have added one of the Top 3 players in the league and then found an acceptable starting center for $2.9 million.
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Not too shabby for Golden State.