The Warriors’ youngest player is headed overseas.
Lajae Jones, the team’s second round pick (No. 54) in the 2026 draft, signed with Italian club Pallacanestro Trieste on Monday morning. The 22-year-old was a long shot to make the Golden State roster after the organization agreed to sign summer league standout Graham Ike to the team’s final two-way contract slot, a move confirmed by the Bay Area News Group.
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The 22-year-old forward will now spend the season in Italy’s top league, but his new squad noted that the Warriors have not yet given up on the two-way forward.
“Our collaboration throughout the season with staff of the Golden State Warriors as regards Lajae’s development is an incredibly exciting development and opportunity for our own staff and organization,” Trieste general manager Michael Arcieri said in a press release released by the Italian team. “It gives me great satisfaction to see our organization’s talented and dedicated staff recognized in such a way.”
The top Italian pro league, called Serie A, runs from Sept. 27 until May 9. Trieste is located in the northeast of Italy close to the border with Slovenia, and the team is owned by Cotogna Sports Group, a San Francisco-based company. Former Warrior and Oakland native Juan Toscano-Anderson played for the team last season.
Jones played for four different college programs, concluding his career at Florida State. After being picked by Golden State, Jones worked through an up-and-down summer league in July, where he averaged 7.0 points per game but also made just 25% of his 3-pointers.
Ike, who joined LJ Cryer and Malevy Leons as two-way players, is a rookie center out of Gonzaga. He started all nine games in summer league, where he averaged 10 points and 7.2 rebounds per game for the eventual summer league champs.
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The Warriors begin training camp in Hawai’i on Sept. 29.
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