The Golden State Warriors closed out a mostly quiet offseason with a flurry of activity on Tuesday, agreeing to terms with forward Georges Niang and guard Brandon Williams to fill out their 15-man roster for the 2026-27 season.
Golden State moved fast once free agency talks with the two players heated up. In the morning, the Warriors locked in Brandon Williams on a one-year, veteran-minimum deal worth roughly $2.6 million. By afternoon, they’d added Georges Niang on a one-year, $3.9 million contract. Both moves were first reported by ESPN’s Shams Charania, with Niang’s camp — agents Mark Bartelstein and Andy Shiffman of Priority Sports — confirming the news directly.
Golden State GM Mike Dunleavy had been targeting both players for roughly a month before finally getting deals done, and together they close out an offseason that otherwise saw the Warriors largely retain their existing core, including re-signings for Kristaps Porziņģis (two years, $40 million) and De’Anthony Melton.
Niang
Niang’s connection to the Warriors actually dates back nearly a decade. He first signed with Golden State on an Exhibit 10 deal in 2017, got waived out of training camp, and then spent time with the G League’s Santa Cruz Warriors before catching on elsewhere. Now, at 33 and entering his 11th NBA season, he’s back with the organization that gave him his first real NBA look.
The appeal is simple: shooting. Niang is a career 39.9% three-point shooter, and before missing the entire 2025-26 season with a fractured left foot, he’d been remarkably durable, appearing in 72, 76, 78, 82, and 79 games across five straight seasons. He’s expected to slot in as a reserve stretch-four behind Draymond Green, Porziņģis, and Al Horford, giving Steve Kerr another floor-spacing option off the bench.
The obvious question mark is defense. Niang has posted four straight seasons with a Defensive EPM in the 24th percentile or worse, per Dunks and Threes, and that concern is amplified by Golden State already expecting to be without two of its top wing defenders, Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody, for at least the first half of the season. There’s also the matter of rust — a full year away from game action at age 33 is no small thing.
Williams
Williams, 26, joins after three productive seasons carving out a role with the Dallas Mavericks. Last season he averaged 13 points and 3.9 assists in 22.2 minutes across 66 games. He went undrafted in 2021, making his rise into a rotation-caliber NBA point guard a notable development arc.
He’ll have some familiarity built in — Williams and Melton have a prior relationship, and Williams posted on social media referencing their reunion shortly after his deal was announced.
Analysts view Williams as the more clearly positive value signing of the two. At the veteran minimum, he was widely considered the best point guard left on the free-agent market, ahead of names like Gabe Vincent and Aaron Holiday. At 6’1″, he’ll face some size disadvantages defensively, and his tendency to over-dribble could occasionally clash with Kerr’s motion-heavy system — but locking in a 26-year-old on an affordable deal is generally a low-risk, potentially high-reward move.
The Complete Roster
With both signings finalized, Golden State’s 15-man roster is set heading into the 2026-27 season:
- Stephen Curry
- De’Anthony Melton
- Yaxel Lendeborg
- Draymond Green
- Kristaps Porziņģis
- Brandon Williams
- Moses Podziemski
- Jimmy Butler (injured)
- Moses Moody (injured)
- Buddy Hield / Gui Santos
- Georges Niang
- Al Horford
(Golden State also retains two-way spots for Lajae Jones and LJ Cryer, who will split time with the Santa Cruz Warriors.)
With Butler and Moody both expected to miss significant time, Kerr’s likely Opening Night starting five is Curry, Podziemski, Lendeborg, Green, and Porziņģis — putting extra weight on the bench depth Niang and Williams were brought in to provide. Golden State opens the season on October 21 against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Neither signing is the kind of move that generates headlines. As one radio commentator put it, they’re “not overly exciting names” — but they’re proven NBA rotation players, not projects, and they give Kerr the two things this roster needed most: a reliable shooter for the frontcourt and a steady ball-handler for a second unit that will lean heavily on its depth while the Warriors wait for Butler and Moody to return.
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