Ahead of their regular-season opener Tuesday at Brooklyn, the Warriors cut their last roster, releasing Juan Toscano-Anderson and giving Mychal Mulder their last 15-man spot spot.
Mulder, 26, had been widely regarded as the starter to win Golden State’s last 15-man spot roster after winning a 10-day contract last season. On a “3-and-D” wing, he averaged 4.3 points on a 44.4% shot (66.7% from a 3-point range) through three preseason games. When Mulder is on the Warriors record on opening night, he will definitely have $ 200,000 of his $ 1.5 million contract for this season.
But with Golden State potentially wanting to use its $ 9.3 million disabled player exception to get someone at the trade date or on the buying market, Mulder must continue to make his case for a place. in the team’s long-term plans. It can be waived at no more than that $ 200,000 permit under February 27th.
“It’s on the roster for a reason,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said of Mulder. “We really enjoyed it a year ago. He was able to enter, play instantly, take pictures, defend and understand the game plan. We love Mike, and there’s a reason he’s still standing. ”
To get down to 15 players on the 15-man roster spot, the Warriors passed Toscano-Anderson, an East Oakland native who scored an average of 5.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 13 games with Golden State last season after being signed from the club’s G. League affiliation in Santa Cruz.
While a high IQ player who can defend a number of positions, Toscano-Anderson, 27, often struggled with offense, making up one point in 44 minutes through the Warriors ’three preseason games. There is still a chance, if not raised by another team about bids, he could fill Golden State’s open two-way contract.
That allowed him to play in as many as 50 of 72 potential games with the Warriors this season. Unlike years ago, when players had to sit out a two-way contract to reveal the maximum number of NBA games in which they could appear, Toscano-Anderson would not be on those days. his travel and practice with the Warriors counted as active days.
“Juan prefers me because he knows how to play basketball, and he’s a winner,” Kerr said. “He makes plays. He’s not one to fill the stat page, but he’s just making plays, competing and making the team better.
“Unfortunately, we do not have a total number of roster spots that would allow us to hold everyone. So this is the side we are going with as it relates to the last part of the roster. ”
Golden State may choose to sign someone to the two-way open contract from outside the organization, or it may choose to enter the regular season with that vacancy. If Toscano-Anderson does not sign up for the Warriors’ two-way open contract and chooses to play in the G League, he will have to play for the South Bay Lakers because the Lakers have G League rights.
The decision to cut Toscano-Anderson comes a day after Golden State strikes Dwayne Sutton, Axel Toupane and Kaleb Wesson.
Connor Letourneau is a staff writer in the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected]. Twitter: @Con_Chron