Warriors vindicated for letting former big man walk in free agency

While the likes of Klay Thompson, Chris Paul and Jordan Poole have each made positive starts to the new NBA season, the same can’t be said for former Golden State Warriors big man Dario Saric.

After playing 64 games in one year with the Warriors, Saric signed a two-year, $10.6 million contract with the Denver Nuggets (second-year player option) to help fortify the front court behind 3x MVP Nikola Jokic.

That contract did appear a little surprising though based on how Saric played for the Warriors to end last season. The Croatian played more than 10 minutes just once over the final 22 games, and appeared in just six of those games as he fell out of Steve Kerr’s rotation.

After an impressive start to last season where he was one of Golden State’s best players, the writing was on the wall for Saric and the franchise seemingly had little interest in bringing him back for a second year.

Saric may have taken his talents to Denver regardless, but you’d have to imagine the Warriors weren’t offering a two-year deal nor anything more than the minimum. Their decision to let the 30-year-old walk in free agency appears the right one so far, and has certainly received greater vindication in recent days.

Following a poor start to the season through the first five games, Saric has officially been removed from Mike Malone’s rotation across the Nuggets last two games against the Utah Jazz and Toronto Raptors.