Marreese Speights set to sign with Golden State

Monday evening the Golden State Warriors and free agent center Marreese Speights agreed in principle on a multi-year contract that can be signed when NBA restrictions are lifted on July 10, according to TNT’s David Aldridge.

Speights, who will be joining his fourth team entering his sixth season in the league, averaged 8.3 points and 4.9 rebounds in 16.5 minutes per game during the 2012-13 regular season. He played mostly as a reserve, starting three total games.

After playing the first 40 games with the Memphis Grizzlies, which signed him to a two-year, $8 million contract in the offseason, Speights was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers where he played the final 39 games of the campaign.

Following the season, he chose to opt out of the second year of his contract in hopes of securing a multi-year deal, leaving $4.5 million on the table.

According to USA Today‘s Sam Amick, Speights’s deal is for three years with the third year being a team option.

Speights appears to have secured the contract he was looking for and joins fellow former Florida Gators power forward David Lee in Golden State’s frontcourt. Lee earned his second career NBA All-Star nod last season as he averaged 18.5 points, 11.2 boards and 3.5 assists last season while starting 79 games for the Warriors.

Lee and Speights never played together at Florida. Lee left as a four-year senior in the spring of 2005; Speights joined the Gators a full season later in the fall of 2006.

The duo is the third pair of former Florida players on an NBA roster together as of press time joining C Joakim Noah and forward Erik Murphy of the Chicago Bulls and guard Mike Miller and PF Udonis Haslem of the Miami Heat.