The Golden State Warriors completed their first day of training camp in Hawaii on Tuesday, with all players in full participation outside forward Andrew Wiggins who is battling a minor illness.
For many training camp and preseason is an opportunity to try to earn a role and consistent minutes in Steve Kerr's rotation, but for others it's more about just securing a place on the roster ahead of the regular season opener on October 23.
Between the end of the roster and two-way contracts, the Warriors still have roster uncertainties as training camp gets underway
Mike Dunleavy Jr. and the Warriors front office will still have some decisions to make by the end of the preseason, so let's have a look at each of those and who exactly is battling for what.
1. Could Warriors use vacant spot?
At one point a couple of weeks ago the Warriors appeared to have 22 signed players, but a number of cuts meant their official training camp roster sits at 20. That's actually one less than the maximum allowed, leaving one spot available in which to be able to make a move.
It's unlikely that any addition would be for the purpose of making the Golden State roster, but as pointed out by @gswcba on X (Twitter), it could be used to sign-and-waive a player or two to fill out the G League roster in Santa Cruz.
2. Which two of Lindy Waters III, Gui Santos and Kevin Knox II?
Now onto more important business, the real roster intrigue currently surrounds whether former ninth overall pick Kevin Knox II can impress enough to win a main roster spot over Lindy Waters III or Gui Santos.
Waters and Santos both have non-guaranteed contracts, while Knox is on a E-10 deal. It's perhaps unlikely at this stage that Knox will earn a deal to stick with Golden State beyond preseason, but some impressive performances in the next couple of weeks could shift that entirely.
For what it's worth Waters was traded for during the offseason and did do a press conference during media day, suggesting that the Warriors choice might come down to Santos or Knox.
3. Can Hinson or Rowe steal two-way spot?
It may not be quite as important as the main roster uncertainty above, but fans will still be interested to see if Golden State make any changes to their two-way contracts -- one only has to look at the backlash the franchise received for waiving Daeqwon Plowden to understand the interest.
Plowden made way for 52nd overall pick Quinten Post who is certain to remain. However, former Lakers sharpshooter Blake Hinson, or forward Jackson Rowe -- both on training camp contracts -- have the opportunity to impress enough to win a spot over incumbent two-way contracted players Pat Spencer and Reece Beekman. Knox cannot be on a two-way contract given his six years of NBA experience already.
