OAKLAND >> Damian Lillard has worn the No. 0 for his entire Hall of Fame career as an homage to Oakland, the city he still considers home.

Milwaukee released Lillard on Tuesday morning, which brings up a fascinating question.

Should the hometown Warriors seriously pursue the 34-year-old who will likely miss the entire upcoming 2025-26 season with an Achilles injury?

Multiple outlets have reported that the Bucks will pay Lillard $22 million per year for the next five seasons after stretching the rest of his two-year, $113 million contract, and that there is interest from around the league.

This gives Lillard flexibility when deciding what he wants to do next.

“He receives all of his money guaranteed, and it provides him an opportunity to decide his next destination as an unrestricted free agent,” Lillard’s agent Aaron Goodwin told the Oregonian. “He gets a chance to rehab at home if he chooses to, and be with his family and his kids for the next year.”So why shouldn’t the Warriors kick the tires on a two-year, veteran minimum contract for the best player to come out of the Town in decades?

After not making any signings during the first 24 hours of free agency, that would be a way for general manager Mike Dunleavy to make a splash regardless of what happens with restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga.

Lillard could spend next season rehabilitating with the team — or his family — while Milwaukee pays his salary, and then play for Golden State for almost nothing during the 2026-27 season.

LOONEY LEAVES FOR NO >> Warriors big man Kevon Looney is set to leave the only NBA team he has known.

After a decade in the Bay Area, the 29-year-old center often called “Loon” has agreed to a two-year, $16 million deal with New Orleans, according to ESPN.

Looney joins a center rotation that includes second-year big Yves Missi, veteran stretch five Kelly Olynyk and the No. 13 overall pick in this year’s draft in Derik Queen.

The Warriors’ current center rotation consists of Draymond Green and sophomore shooting center Quinten Post. Trayce Jackson-Davis was in and out of the rotation throughout the season.

Looney was drafted No. 30 overall in 2015, joining the squad after Golden State had won its first title of the Steph Curry era. He then proceeded to become a member of three more championship-winning teams in Golden State, and averaged 4.5 points and 6.1 rebounds per game in his 10th season in the Bay Area.

Just three other players in the NBA had enjoyed longer tenures with one organization, and two were teammates with Looney — Curry (17 years) and Green (13). Devin Booker, Nikola Jokic and Miles Turner are the only others with 10 years on one team.

Looney made $8 million last season, but the Warriors likely did not have the ability to bring him back for anywhere near that yearly salary.

SANTOS, POST WILL RETURN >> Less than a week after the Warriors picked two players in the second round of the NBA draft, a few of the team’s previous second-rounders were brought back for the upcoming season.

Gui Santos, a 2022 selection, and Quinten Post, taken in 2024, were brought back for a combined $4.1 million after Golden State exercised their team options, per reports on Sunday afternoon.

Santos’ contract of $2.2 million is non-guaranteed.

Post was the No. 52 pick out of Boston College last season, averaging 8.1 points per game and shooting 40.8% from 3-point range as a stretch five. The 25-year-old became a fixture in the rotation during the second half of the season, starting 14 games and playing in 42.

Santos, who turned 23 on Monday, earned a spot in coach Steve Kerr’s rotation as a high-energy forward.

The Brazilian wing played in 56 games, averaging 4.1 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 13.6 minutes per game.