Getty Juan Toscano-Anderson and Jordan Poole laugh before a game between the Golden State Warriors and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Few players have earned a spot in the collective hearts of Dub Nation like Juan Toscano-Anderson. After all, the Oakland-born baller — who was put on the hardwood path as a child by the wife of Golden State Warriors legend Al Attles — is one of the Association’s ultimate rags-to-riches tales.
He reached new heights just a few, short weeks ago, too, when he became only the second Mexican-American to win an NBA championship, and he celebrated by taking the Larry O’Brien Trophy to Mexico for the first time.
Alas, the 29-year-old looks to be moving on to the next phase of his hardwood journey after his storybook rise to prominence.
Per a report from team insider Anthony Slater, the Warriors just made a decision that likely means his run with Stephen Curry and Co. is coming to an end.
JTA Set to Become Unrestricted Free Agent
According to Slater, the Warriors will not be tendering qualifying offers to either Toscano-Anderson or two-way guard Chris Chiozza. Had they done so, both players would have become restricted free agents, giving the Dubs an opportunity to match any offer sheets they signed.
Instead, Toscano-Anderson and Chiozza will become unrestricted free agents on June 30 at 6 pm ET. Per Slater, the two are “unlikely to return to the Warriors.”
The 6-foot-6 Toscano-Anderson appeared in 139 games with Golden State from February of 2020 to the end of the 2021-22 campaign. Over that period, he averaged 4.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 17.1 minutes per contest. He also connected on 36.1% of his triples.
He finished second to Knicks forward Obi Toppin in February’s Slam Dunk Contest.
While his time in the Bay Area looks to be done, Toscano-Anderson should be in a position to land a gig elsewhere in the NBA. The feel, awareness and ability to defend players of varying sizes that he showed as a rotational player on a championship team bodes well for his future prospects.
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Chiozza At a Glance
For his part, Chiozza had some struggles when he got onto the court for the Warriors this past season. The fourth-year pro appeared in 34 games for the Warriors as a two-way signee, but he averaged just 2.0 points and 1.9 assists per outing with shooting splits of 30-32-67.
In spite of that, as well as the fact that he’ll be looking for a fifth NBA team to join this summer, the 26-year-old clearly doesn’t hold any ill will towards the Warriors for letting him go. When prodded on Instagram for a negative response, Chiozza chimed in with the following:
“Y’all always want stuff to be personal. It’s business Ima be good trust me I still got love for the whole organization and the Bay except for the folks that gotta talk off fake pages.”
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