OAKLAND, Calif. _ The fifth member of the Warriors' starting lineup is officially returning to the Bay Area.
Zaza Pachulia, the team's starting center and nightly enforcer, re-signed on a one-year deal Friday afternoon. It is for $3.5 million, as first reported by USA Today's Sam Amick.
Because the Warriors are capped out, this was the highest salary figure the team could offer Pachulia, a 20 percent raise on his salary from last season using his non-Bird rights.
The signing gives the Warriors 14 guys locked into the roster, including 11 from last season: Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, Patrick McCaw, Damian Jones, Kevon Looney, David West and Pachulia. Recently signed Omri Casspi, Nick Young and rookie Jordan Bell are the three newcomers.
So that leaves one available slot for the Warriors and no guarantee that they'll use it. But if the team does, it's likely to be for another center, said Bob Myers. The team can only offer the minimum, even to JaVale McGee, who they are interested in retaining. A 20 percent raise on McGee's contract from last season doesn't even rise above the new minimum under the new CBA.
But everything, at this point, is far more expensive for the Warriors than it appears on face value. Because they have dipped so deep into the luxury tax _ their bill now sits at $29.1 million _ Pachulia's $3.4 million contract actually cost the Warriors $12.4 million total, according to ESPN's cap expert Bobby Marks, because of penalties.
