Golden State Warriors fans, I know you’re holding your breath on this one. This is the player you’ve been hearing tantalizing rumors about and hoping for. He’s the player you’ve wanted above all others. For days on end, you’ve been dreaming of the possibilities if this catch somehow worked his was to the Bay Area. That’s right folks, your favorite towel-waving, bench-rallying Kent Bazemore could be coming home soon!
According to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, the Warriors have reached out to Bazemore about the possibility of bringing him back to Golden State:
The Warriors reached out to Lakers free agent guard Kent Bazemore today about the possibility of bringing him back, a source said.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) July 3, 2014
Bazemore, an unrestricted free agent who played for the Dubs from 2012 until he was traded halfway through the 2013-14 season, averaged a career-best 13.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.3 steals per game last season with the Los Angeles Lakers. He shot 45 percent from the floor, 37 percent from three-point range and in general, proved that when given enough minutes, he could be a productive NBA player.
This isn’t the sexiest potential signing in the world, but the Warriors are now hard-capped at $81 million after using the full mid-level exception to sign Shaun Livingston. If they want to keep their hopes of a Kevin Love trade alive, the Dubs would need a to keep that wiggle room alive.
The Warriors would probably love to add that kind of production to their bench since Blake and Jordan Crawford will be gone as free agents. Unfortunately, the Dubs can’t offer Kent Bazemore as much as some of his other suitors, which include the Utah Jazz, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. With a number of suitors lining up for Bazemore, the Warriors might not be able to give him a good enough offer:
Warriors only talking minimum to Kent Bazemore. That's not going to fly unless his current options fall apart
— Marcus Thompson II (@ThompsonScribe) July 3, 2014
Golden State should be an attractive free agency to Bazemore, whose epic towel-waving and animated sideline celebrations fueled the Dubs in the playoffs almost as much as Steph Curry’s third quarter supernovas. As much as we joke about Bazemore celebrating from the bench, he has the exact kind of team spirit you like to see from your role players. If Bazemore decides that feeling of brotherhood of being on a Western contender is more important to him than money, who knows?
Just don’t hold your breath, Dubs fans. Better offers are coming to Kent Bazemore, so maybe all his days of towel-waving are about to give way to something more special and…maybe (gasp) someone waving a towel for him one day.