As part of the salary-cap machinations to sign Kevin Durant, the Warriors will lose both of their primary centers, trading Andrew Bogut to Dallas and letting Festus Ezeli walk in free agency. They have at least one low-cost replacement lined up, as The Vertical‘s Shams Charania is reporting that they’re using their room exception to sign Georgian center Zaza Pachulia.
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
Pachulia isn’t as good as Bogut, but he’s a big body and had a solid year in Dallas. Much of the time, the Warriors will play Draymond Green at center in a reconstituted “Death Lineup” that slots in Durant for Harrison Barnes. But Pachulia can soak up some of those extra minutes. If they can get anything at all out of rookie Damian James, they should be able to fill the void left by Bogut and Ezeli.
