Despite closing out their season with an NBA Finals loss and two of their superstars sidelined with serious injuries, the Golden State Warriors have managed to make the most of this offseason. While many expected them to lose Kevin Durant for nothing, they got D’Angelo Russell in return in a sign-and-trade, and have also made a number of other minor improvements to their roster.
Now, the Warriors have also added some notable names and recent ex-players to their front office staff. According to NY Times’ Marc Stein, the Warriors have hired Zaza Pachulia as a team consultant and promoted Mike Dunleavey Jr. to Assistant General Manager. Both players had played for the Warriors during their days in the NBA.
The Warriors have hired Zaza Pachulia as a team consultant and announce they have promoted Mike Dunleavy Jr. to assistant general manager
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) August 29, 2019
Zaza Pachulia and Mike Dunleavy Jr. each spent multiple years within the Golden State Warriors system and know the franchise extremely well.
In fact, Dunleavy was drafted third overall by the Warriors in 2002. He would play there for four and a half seasons before he was dealt to the Indiana Pacers in 2007. Dunleavy would also go on to play for the Bucks, Bulls, Cavs and Hawks before calling it a career in 2017.
Pachulia’s history with Golden State is even more recent, as he was part of two of their championship runs in 2017 and 2018. Pachulia was a defensive anchor at the center position and complemented their immensely skilled starting lineup well.
Now both will operate in Golden State’s front office as they hope to keep themselves in contention with Klay Thompson out for most of next season. Still, the Warriors are the only NBA team to roster four All-Stars and should be one of the most dangerous teams in the postseason.
