Detroit Pistons: Another former player joins the Warriors

It seems the best path to winning an NBA title is to add as many ex-Detroit Pistons as possible.

Last season it was the Denver Nuggets, who had four ex-Pistons in Bruce Brown, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Reggie Jackson and Ish Smith.

Both Brown and KCP played big roles in the Nuggets’ championship, showing that they were quality role players who just needed to be in the right situation to succeed, which was not the case when they were in Detroit.

Next season, it appears the Golden State Warriors will be the next team to chase a title with the help of some ex-Pistons, though in this case, neither of them are likely to be playing big roles.

Detroit Pistons: Cory Joseph and Rodney McGruder headed to the Golden State Warriors

Over the past couple of seasons, Cory Joseph and Rodney McGruder have been the elder statesman of the Detroit Pistons, the bench veterans who acted as mentors to the young players even though they weren’t playing big roles.

Joseph had already signed as a free agent with the Warriors, likely acting as a third point guard and emergency fill-in should there be any injuries to Stephen Curry or Chris Paul.

Yesterday, Shams Charania of The Athletic announced that McGruder would also be joining the Warrior, hoping to compete for a spot on the roster.

The Warriors are already plenty deep at guard with Curry, Paul, Klay Thompson, Gary Payton III and Moses Moody, so it’s highly unlikely that McGruder sees the court for them if he even ends up making the roster.

However, their top guards are mostly on the older side, so the Warriors may just be looking for some veteran depth in case of injury.

CoJo has proven he can impact games as a reserve guard, shooting over 40 percent from long range and mostly doing an adequate job of running the offense in short spurts. McGruder played even less for Detroit but also showed that he can hit a long-range shot when called upon.

McGruder will have to make nice with Klay Thompson after the two exchanged words after a game, leading to Thompson calling out McGruder publicly.

Both CoJo and McGruder were great professionals with the Detroit Pistons who always did their jobs when called upon, so I wish them well on their quest to add a ring to their resume next season with the Warriors.