Cory Joseph has never been the type of player to worry about his role or playing time heading into a new season.
“The way I think is I let it all take care of itself,” Joseph said Tuesday afternoon. “I try to help the team win games. It’s a blessing to be in this league and I don’t take that lightly.”
Joseph’s team-first mentality and 12 years of NBA experience are part of what made him an attractive free-agent target for the Warriors, who officially signed the 31-year-old to a one-year, veteran minimum contract on July 6.
Joseph is expected to be a third-string guard, who will back up Stephen Curry and Chris Paul, similar to the role two-way guard Ty Jerome played behind Curry and Jordan Poole last season. But Joseph said exactly how the Warriors envision he’ll be deployed this season wasn’t the focal point of his conversations with the organization leading up to his signing.
In his mind, this season is “all about winning.”“I think I can add on to what (the veteran leaders) do and the characteristics of who they are out there,” Joseph said. “What I do is not always on the stat sheet every night. But I try to affect winning in any possible way whether that’s behind the scenes sometimes (or) whether that’s when I’m out there playing... I just try to get out there and impact winning as much as I can.”
Joseph has spent the last few seasons as the elder on a Detroit Pistons squad full of 23-and-younger players, but he’s eager to learn and play alongside two future Hall of Fame point guards in Curry and Paul.
“It’s an unbelievable opportunity for me,” he said. “I’m extremely excited.”
Joseph is planning to lean in on his strengths on defense as well as his improved 3-point shooting to help him carve out his spot with the Warriors.
“(I) try to do all the little things,” he said. “I might not be on the stat sheet but I can help winning.”
The Warriors will be Joseph’s sixth NBA team since he was drafted 29th overall in 2011 out of Texas. Joseph started his pro career in San Antonio, where he played four seasons and won a championship with the Spurs in 2014. He believes that experience could help him with the Warriors and he noted the similarities between the two teams.
“They both have won, the core group has been together a long time and have had major success, but I just have to continue to try to add to that,” said Joseph, who also had stops in Toronto, Indianapolis and Sacramento. “We all know that they have a dynasty over there just like San Antonio when I entered, but yeah, just have to add to that.”
He most recently played with the Pistons, who initially acquired him in a trade in March 2021 for Delon Wright and draft picks.
Last season, Joseph averaged 6.9 points while shooting 42.7% from the field and 38.9% from 3-point range. He also notably boasted a 3.88 assist-to-turnover ratio, the eighth-best mark among point guards who played at least 50 games last season.
Joseph described himself as a “guy that people like and they want around to help winning.
“That’s been why I’ve been able to stay around” as long as he has in the league, he said.
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