Ronny Turiaf to the Warriors - Impact

The Golden State Warriors signed French forward Ronny Turiaf to an offer sheet that the Los Angeles Lakers declined to match. Turiaf is now official a member of the Golden State Warriors.

Turiaf isn’t an overly skilled player and he doesn’t have great size, however he hustles and he brings boundless energy to the court. He’s also a good shotblocker and has an emerging jump shot.

While Turiaf likely won’t start for the Warriors, he’ll be one of the first bigs off the bench. And with the way Don Nelson likes to run the ball up and down the court, Turiaf should see his number improve a little bit. That said, Turiaf isn’t quite at the level of being a solid fantasy basketball option. He’d have to win a 25 to 30 minute role, which doesn’t look likely at the moment.

For the Lakers, they won’t miss Turiaf too much — as long as they can stay healthy. In the middle, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum will see most of the minutes. Lamar Odom can also slide over and play as a big. Those three players should eat up most of the minutes at power forward and center.

Photo: Newscom