The Golden State Warriors, by any measure imaginable, need to maximize every spot on their roster this season. They're starting the campaign with close to $90 million in salary on the bench, and that's before factoring in the mandatory games missed for veterans like Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Al Horford.
For most teams, the three two-way contract spots don't often hold that much weight outside of long-term organizational flexibility. For the Warriors, there's a chance that all three of these players—Malevy Leons, LJ Cryer, and Graham Ike—will see semi-significant roles at some point over the duration of this campaign.
It would make sense, then, if the Warriors were to look to the post-roster cut market to try to maximize their talent in those three contract spots. Leons, first and foremost, was highly disappointing in the preseason, and he would be the obvious piece to swap out if the opportunity presented itself.
But Golden State has long favored continuity within its system, and Leons, at the very least, has some experience playing under Steve Kerr. Even with players like Walter Clayton Jr. and Koby Brea now available, it's hard to see this organization making that sort of move.
The Warriors seem to trust Malevy Leons—for better or for worse
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Again, Leons' production in the preseason was more than underwhelming—especially because it was easy to pin the blame for his sub-par play during his extensive minutes last season on his wrist injury. Across six preseason outings with Golden State, Leons averaged just 3.3 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 0.7 assists while shooting 28% from the field.
It seems as though he has a solid understanding of when to cut along the baseline in a Curry-led offense. But apart from that, [you have to seriously squint](https://bluemanhoop.com/malevy-leons-preseason-dud-exposes-a-quiet-warriors-contract-problem) to see the upside in keeping this sort of player on a two-way deal.
Steve Kerr, though, said in a press conference last week that he sees Leons playing at least a moderate role at the NBA level this season:
> Roster note for [#Warriors](https://x.com/hashtag/Warriors?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw): Steve Kerr made pretty clear today he's expecting Malevy Leons to play a good amount of games up with GS this season.
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> "I think he can help us win some games, and he’ll also play some games in Santa Cruz. And we’ll see how it goes."