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The Warriors have found another contender in their hunt for wings to replace minutes from Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala.
Alec Burks has agreed to a one-year deal with Golden State, a league source confirmed to Bay Area News Group. The Athletic first reported the news.
Burks had agreed to terms last week with the Oklahoma City Thunder, but after the team agreed to trade star forward Paul George to the Clippers over the weekend, the Thunder allowed Burks to re-evaluate whether he wanted to sign with them, The Athletic reported.
Burks will likely compete for minutes at the small forward spot along with Glenn Robinson III and Alfonzo McKinnie. With Thompson expected to stay sidelined until at least December with an ACL injury in his left knee, Burks may also play minutes at the shooting guard spot.
Combo guard D’Angelo Russell, whom the Warriors acquired in a sign-and-deal with Brooklyn to offset Durant’s departure, will start at shooting guard. First-round pick Jordan Poole is expected to play behind Russell.
As for Burks, he had previously played his entire seven-year career with the Utah Jazz mostly as a reserve. Utah traded Burks to Cleveland last November for Kyle Korver, before Cleveland moved him to Sacramento in February. Burks, the 12th overall pick in 2011 out of Colorado, is a career 9.5 point-per-game scorer, shooting 35.5 percent from three. He’s known as a slashing wing who can create his own shot.
Assuming the Warriors waive or trade Shaun Livingston before his $7 million contract becomes fully guaranteed on Wednesday, the Warriors will have 12 players under contract. An NBA team can field up to 15 players on their regular-season roster and two players on a two-way deals. The Warriors could add up to three more players on veteran’s minimum deals. But it is possible they will leave at least some of the remaining roster spots open, both to fall closer to the NBA’s imposed hard cap and to have flexibility to acquire another player in a mid-season trade.