Swingman Led All NBA Starting Guards In Shooting Percentage Last Season

The Golden State Warriors have signed free agent guard/forward Calbert Cheaney to a contract, general manager Garry St. Jean announced today. Per team policy, terms of the deals were not announced.

"We feel fortunate to add another player who was a starter for a playoff team last season," said St. Jean. "Calbert adds more depth to our squad and is another player who can play two positions, shooting guard and small forward. In the overall scheme of things, we've not only improved our team's long term flexibility in recent weeks, but we've acquired four players - Speedy Claxton, Nick Van Exel, Clifford Robinson and Calbert - who played significant roles on playoff teams last season."

Cheaney, 32, has spent 10 seasons in the NBA, averaging 10.6 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 649 career games with Washington, Boston, Denver and Utah. This past season, he appeared in 81 regular season games for the Jazz, starting 74 contests and averaging 8.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 29.0 minutes overall. In the postseason, Cheaney started all five of Utah's playoff games, posting a 15-point effort in Game 3 vs. Sacramento, helping the Jazz to their only win in the series.

The 2002-03 season was statistically his finest in five years, as he posted his highest marks in games played, points, rebounds, assists, shooting percentage in minutes since the 1997-98 campaign. His .499 field goal percentage this past season ranked 14th in the NBA and was tops among all starting guards.

Originally selected by the Washington Bullets with the sixth overall pick of the 1993 NBA Draft, Cheaney averaged double figures in each of his first five seasons, including a career-high 16.6 points per game mark in 1994-95.