SAN FRANCISCO – The Golden State Warriors are running out of bodies. In a season that has spiraled from championship aspirations to survival mode, the franchise has been forced to scrape the bottom of the roster barrel just to field a competitive team.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Warriors are signing center Omer Yurtseven to a 10-day contract. The move, confirmed by Yurtseven’s agents Keith Glass and Luke Glass, comes as Golden State navigates one of the most injury-ravaged stretches in recent memory .
“Yurtseven spent the season in the EuroLeague before joining the G League last week, posting 36 points and 12 rebounds Friday night,” Charania reported .
A Night of Carnage in the Bay Area
The signing is a direct response to what can only be described as a medical catastrophe. Friday’s 127-117 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves—the team’s fourth straight defeat—was less a basketball game and more a triage unit .
Warriors Sign 7-Foot Turkish Center Amid Injury Crisis – Heavy Sports
The casualties began before tipoff. Veteran forward Draymond Green was scratched approximately 30 minutes before game time with lower back soreness . Once the game started, the situation deteriorated rapidly.
Al Horford, the steady veteran big man, exited after just five minutes with right calf tightness. Head coach Steve Kerr later confirmed it was a strain, indicating the likelihood that Horford will miss significant time .
The second quarter brought more pain. Seth Curry limped to the locker room with left adductor soreness, while second-year center Quinten Post suffered a left ankle sprain that ended his night .
“We’re going through it,” Kerr said after the game, his voice carrying the weight of a coach watching his season slip away. “We’re about as beaten up as any team I can ever remember” .
This avalanche of injuries compounds an already dire situation. Jimmy Butler tore his ACL in early January and is out for the season. Stephen Curry hasn’t played since Jan. 30, missing 16 straight games with a lingering right knee injury . The Warriors are 5-11 during Curry’s absence .
Who Is Omer Yurtseven?
Into this chaos steps a 27-year-old Turkish center with NBA experience and fresh momentum from the G League.
Yurtseven, 7-foot, played college basketball at NC State and Georgetown before entering the NBA . He spent parts of three seasons with the Miami Heat and Utah Jazz, appearing in 113 games and averaging 5.0 points and 4.6 rebounds in 11.8 minutes per contest .
This season, he played 19 EuroLeague games for Panathinaikos Athens, averaging 6.3 points and 3.5 rebounds in roughly 12 minutes per game before both sides agreed to part ways on Feb. 28 . He shot an efficient 63.5% on two-pointers during his EuroLeague stint .
After returning to the United States, Yurtseven joined the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the G League affiliate of the Houston Rockets. In three games, he has been dominant: 23.0 points, 13.3 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting 56.9% from the field . His Friday night masterpiece—36 points and 12 rebounds in just 28 minutes—was the exclamation point that convinced the Warriors to act .
What makes the signing particularly notable is who the Warriors didn’t sign. According to The Mercury News, Yurtseven’s three straight G League double-doubles helped Golden State choose him over Santa Cruz Warriors center Charles Bassey—who subsequently signed a 10-day deal with the Boston Celtics .
The Rotation Now
With Horford likely out multiple games, Post nursing an ankle sprain, and Green’s status uncertain, Yurtseven provides immediate frontcourt depth. He joins a rotation that now relies heavily on Kristaps Porzingis, Brandin Podziemski, and De’Anthony Melton to carry the load .
The numbers are staggering. According to the official injury report for Sunday’s game, the Warriors will be without Curry, Butler, Green, Horford, Moses Moody (wrist), and Post . Seth Curry is also doubtful. That’s essentially an entire rotation’s worth of players.
Kerr was blunt about Horford’s situation. “With a calf, we’re not going to rush him back,” the coach said .
A Brutal Road Ahead
Yurtseven is expected to be available when the Warriors begin a six-game road trip Sunday against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden . From there, it’s a gauntlet: Boston, Detroit, Atlanta, and more .
The Knicks, sitting comfortably at 43-25 and third in the Eastern Conference, present a brutal opening test. Jalen Brunson is averaging 26.3 points per game, and New York boasts a 23-9 home record . The Warriors, by contrast, are 13-19 on the road .
Golden State currently sits at 32-34, ninth in the Western Conference, clinging to a play-in tournament position . They’ve lost four straight and nine of their last 12 . The margin for error is zero.
What Yurtseven Brings
Yurtseven isn’t a savior. He’s a stopgap. But he brings legitimate NBA size and a skill set that fits a need.
He’s primarily a rim-runner and rebounder, with 63.5% two-point shooting in EuroLeague play this season . He’s not a floor spacer—his game is built around finishing around the basket and cleaning the glass. In an offense that still features shooters like Podziemski and Porzingis, his role will be simple: rebound, defend the paint, and catch what the guards throw near the rim .
His G League numbers—56.9% shooting, 13.3 rebounds—suggest a player who is simply too good for the minor league level . Whether that translates against NBA competition remains to be seen.
The Bigger Picture
For the Warriors, this 10-day contract is both a necessity and a message. The organization is signaling that despite the mounting losses and the brutal injury luck, they will not wave the white flag. Not yet.
But the reality is sobering. There are just 16 games remaining in the regular season. Golden State sits 8.5 games behind the Timberwolves for the final automatic playoff spot . The play-in tournament is their most realistic path to the postseason—if they can hold off the chasing pack.
Kerr’s postgame lament captured the moment perfectly. “You saw how hard the guys played and stayed in it and got the fans into it. We can’t ask anything more of our players right now what they’re giving effort-wise and playing together” .
For Omer Yurtseven, this 10-day contract represents an opportunity. For the Warriors, it represents survival. In a season that has offered little but pain, they’ll take whatever help they can get.