The Golden State Warriors will sign guard Jose Calderon after his buyout with the Los Angeles Lakers is complete, according to the San Jose Mercury News’ Anthony Slater. Calderon, 35, has mostly been out of the Lakers’ rotation this season. He will replace guard Briante Weber, who had signed two 10-day contracts with the Warriors. Golden State coach Steve Kerr let Weber know that the team was letting him go moments after its 112-95 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday, Kerr told reporters.
Briante Weber finished up the Warriors’ Saturday night game against the Nets and was then informed of his release. The Warriors are going elsewhere with that 15th roster spot.
That elsewhere is expected to be veteran guard Jose Calderon, according to team sources. Calderon must first officially come to terms on a buyout and release from the Lakers, which is expected to happen in the coming days. But his partnership with the Warriors is already in motion.
Calderon will be the Warriors’ third point guard; barring injury, he likely won’t play a non-garbage time minute in the playoffs. Evidently, though, they decided that they’d be more comfortable with the veteran running the offense than Weber if an injury were to hit them. Calderon is a poor defender, but he can move the ball and make open 3-pointers. He also rarely turns the ball over. In their system, the ability to make 3s and not get in the way might be perfect attributes for a deep bench player.
If Golden State was thinking long-term, it would have kept Weber, a far superior defender who will be an NBA regular as soon as he has a consistent outside shot. Given that Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston are hitting free agency this summer, it might have made sense to keep Weber around purely to have a young ballhandler on the roster for next season. Instead, he will either latch on with another NBA team or return to the D-League, where he came one steal shy of recording a quadruple-double before joining the Warriors.
