Welcome to Chris Chiozza, Nico Mannion’s replacement
He's the newest GSW two-way contract signing
Who is Chris Chiozza?
Okay, I don’t know much about him. He’s the latest two-way contract signing with GSW.
What does this mean for Nico Mannion and the roster?
You may remember GSW already has a PG on a two-way, Nico Mannion.
GSW have already offered a two-way qualifying offer to Mannion to make him a restricted free agent, but Mannion seems to have played himself into a decent contract as he is now an Italian Olympics hero:
This would mean Mannion would decline the qualifying offer and GSW will keep the NBA rights to Mannion.
Nico will be joining Warriors, Italian Branch:
Christos Tsaltas @Tsaltas46
2021-22 Virtus Bologna depth chart: PG: Milos Teodosic, Nico Mannion, Michele Ruzzier SG: Marco Belinelli, Alessando Pajola SF: Kyle Weems, Awudu Abass PF: Kevin Hervey, Amar Alibegovic C: Ekpe Udoh, Mouhammadou Jaiteh, Amedeo Tessitori #blackisblack @VirtusboJordan Poole will likely be backup PG and Andre Iguodala can serve as third pseudo-PG in a pinch, but Chiozza will be the proper third PG.
What kind of player is Chris Chiozza?
You can look up your own highlights videos.
I went back to look at Bball-Index’s 2019-20 profile, his year under Kenny Atkinson, as last year was pretty rough under Nash (the reason that he’s fallen out of the league into a two-way contract).
At least on paper, he fits what GSW needs, as he was good at catch and shoot threes, passing and perimeter defense.
And here are some nice BBall-Index comparisons between Chris and Nico via Adel, this time using 2020-21 Chris:
hammystyle adds:
Here's a piece on Chris Chiozza from NetsDaily. My take is that he's a player you have to see to appreciate. A small JJ-Barea-esque energetic guard who plays with a lot of speed and chutzpah.
https://www.netsdaily.com/2020/3/6/21167542/film-study-whats-a-chiozza-were-all-finding-out-together
I remember hearing about him late last year (19-20) because when he got a chance to play he really opened some eyes. They had a stretch in March and then the bubble where they had a few players hurt, but he stepped into a 20+ mpg role and played a pretty big role in them winning the majority of those games. There was some buzz of "the Nets have done it again" in finding an off the street guy who can really play
In the end
But in the end he’s a 5-11 backup point guard. And even if you want a guard, we are in the midst of checking out exciting guards in Summer League like Gary Payton II, Jaquori McLaughlin, Jeff Dowtin, Jordan Schakel, and even Kyle Guy.
It’s fair to say the Chiozza signing is perplexing, but it is a certainty that Kenny Atkinson endorsed this move, or even was the driving force. It will be interesting to see how this pans out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpYT_emftgM
Looks like the Warriors are working on changing Wiggins' shot form.
Just in case no one noticed, Schakel is playing with Sacramento now. That makes two players that have fled the Warriors Summer League roster. The other is Dowtin. I imagine both players felt there was no way of sticking with the team considering the Chiozzi signing and no room for another wing player who was not clearly dominating in games. Makes sense to me, but I would have loved to see Dowtin playing for us. He seemed to have all the makings of a PG, checking many boxes that our current hopefuls don't check like GP2 and Mannion. I am hoping that Chiozzi is a better player than I have been led to believe. Dowtin could shoot, pass, & rebound.