Getty Chris Chiozza defends Scottie Barnes during a bout between the Golden State Warriors and the Toronto Raptors.
A member of the Golden State Warriors‘ 2022 NBA championship team will be finishing the current campaign with a brand new team (and in an entirely different league) after failing to secure a spot with the Brooklyn Nets back in October. Namely, point guard Chris Chiozza, who appeared in 34 games as a two-way baller for the Dubs last season.
Per an announcement from the club on Tuesday, the 27-year-old Chiozza has signed a rest-of-season deal with UCAM Murcia CB of La Liga ACB in Spain.
While Murcia just lost Game 1 of its Basketball Champions League quarterfinal series against Unicaja by an 83-67 mark, the team will have a chance to right the ship in the best-of-three tilt on April 12, at which point Chiozza could be available to play.
Chiozza’s new squad also has seven games left to play domestically, beginning with an April 16 home bout with Zaragoza.
Former Warrior Chris Chiozza Showed Signs of Improvement in the G League Before Signing in Spain
When Brooklyn opted not to use a roster spots on Chiozza, the ex-Warrior ultimately found his way to its G League affiliate, the Long Island Nets. He made good use of his time at the developmental level, too.
In a combined 48 games of Showcase Cup and regular-season competition, the diminutive Chiozza averaged 12.6 points, 8.8 assists, 5.2 rebounds and 1.8 steals in 34.1 minutes per contest. He also connected on 40.5% of his six-plus nightly attempts from three-point range.
That conversion rate was a big one for his future NBA prospects. With the Warriors, he connected on just 29.6% of his shot attempts overall and 32.1% from deep. And his three-point percentages through 91 career games at the top level (34.3%) and 139 collegiate games with Florida (32.7%) don’t exactly scream deadeye shooter.
If he can hone that skill, though, and overcome some of the challenges presented by his lack of size/length, Chiozza may one day get another crack at sticking in the Association. He’s definitely not lacking for toughness, and he also showed himself to be a positive sideline presence with the Warriors, even when he wasn’t playing regular minutes.
For his part, Draymond Green credited Chiozza for helping him stay focused amid his Finals slump last season.
“Chris Chiozza was in my ear. Gary Payton II was in my ear. And it was huge because I was able to respond due to their positive energy that they were pouring into me. I was able to respond…” Green said, via NBC Sports Bay Area.
“Credit to those guys. Everyone has an impact and it was huge of them to keep my mind in the game and they kept my mind in the game and I was able to contribute in a way that would help us win.”
Warriors’ Kevon Looney Finishes as NBA Leader in Key Statistic
For the second consecutive year, Warriors pivot Kevon Looney appeared in all 82 games for his team. However, that’s not the only impressive number he logged in 2022-23 — the veteran also led the league in offensive rebounding.
Looney racked up a grand total of 274 offensive boards, just beating out New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson, who finished the campaign with 267. Atlanta Hawks big man Clint Capela was third in total O-Rebs with 258 while Sacramento Kings star Domantas Sabonis finished fourth with 251.
Looney’s total also tied Joe Barry Carroll’s 1980-81 effort for the 12th most in Warriors history and was the franchise’s highest mark since Erick Dampier snagged a whopping 344 offensive rebounds during the 2003-04 campaign.