When the Dallas Mavericks waived former NBA champion JaVale McGee recently, it was fair to wonder whether there might be a reunion with the Golden State Warriors in the cards.
For better or for worse, there was not. Instead, the veteran center signed with the Sacramento Kings, where he’ll be reunited with former Warriors assistant coach and current Kings head coach Mike Brown, on a Kings team that also features former Warrior Harrison Barnes.
With the Kings fortifying their center depth behind All-Star Domantas Sabonis (they also have Alex Len in addition to McGee), they had no need for some of the fringe players on their roster. And as a result, they waived intriguing young big Neemias Queta.
Queta, a 24 year old who was selected in the second round in the 2021 NBA Draft, only played in 20 games over two years for the Kings. But the 7-footer has plenty of skills, and showed them off for the Kings G League affiliate last year, where he averaged 16.8 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.9 blocks per game, while shooting 68% from the field. And he did plenty of damage when he faced the Santa Cruz Warriors.
Warriors GM Mike Dunleavy Jr. has said the team would ideally like some additional size to go alongside Kevon Looney, Dario Šarić, and rookie Trayce Jackson-Davis. But Dunleavy has also made it clear that the team is happy with their lineup construction.
Signing Queta to a guaranteed deal would be very surprising, but I don’t think anyone would be shocked if Golden State inked the big man to a two-way contract, of which they currently have two available.
The Kings also waived center Nerlens Noel. I’d be surprised if the Warriors went in that direction, but Noel would certainly be a good player to add on a training camp contract.
