The Golden State Warriors are adding a familiar name to their depth at guard. Lester Quinones will make his return for the Dubs, per reports.
Here’s Shams Charania on the defending NBA champs’ latest roster move:
“The Golden State Warriors are signing guard Lester Quinones on two-way NBA deal using the open roster from Anthony Lamb’s standard contract, sources tell me and @anthonyVslater.”
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Lester Quinones was an undrafted rookie in 2022 and quickly signed his first two-way NBA contract with the Warriors in July. He played for the team during the 2022 Summer League in Las Vegas before getting waived on Oct. 13.
He signed with the Santa Cruz Warriors two days later and has been playing for them in the G League. Earlier this month, Golden State came calling again and signed him to a 10-day contract. With not much playing time, he went back to Santa Cruz.
It remains to be seen if something will change for Quinones regarding his opportunities to play, particularly during this season’s stretch run. The Golden State Warriors are loaded on the perimeter with Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Jordan Poole, Donte DiVincenzo and Anthony Lamb all available.
The Warriors may just be covering their bases as injuries could strike at a moment’s notice. Curry is banged up while Thompson has had a long list of injuries. Golden State probably feels like Lester Quinones is ready to contribute if and when the situation calls for it.
The Golden State Warriors can still grab a top-four seed or fall into the play-in tournament
Steph Curry dropped 50 points on the LA Clippers on Wednesday night. Despite his explosion, the Golden State Warriors lost for the eighth straight time on the road.
The loss complicated the Warriors’ playoff hopes. They now hold a 36-34 record, which puts them in sixth spot in the Western Conference. Golden State is two games behind the Phoenix Suns (38-32) for the fourth seed.
The Bay Area team is also just 3.5 games ahead of the Utah Jazz (33-36) who are in 11th place. Dropping out of the top 10 means the Warriors are embarrassingly eliminated from the postseason a year after winning the championship.
The Golden State Warriors will take on the Atlanta Hawks on Friday. They will be without Draymond Green, who will be suspended against the Hawks after accumulating his 16th technical foul versus the Clippers.
Steve Kerr’s squad will also be without Andrew Wiggins, who has not seen action for over a month already. Gary Payton II is also out indefinitely as he is still recovering from a right adductor injury.
The Warriors still have 12 games left in the regular season with seven to be played outside of Chase Center, where they have been terrible. Only two of the teams they will be facing will not have playoff aspirations.
The Golden State Warriors are built for tough and high-stakes situations. They have four weeks to prove that they can still do it and finish the season strong.
