The Alex Toohey two-way contract experiment is over for the Golden State Warriors. Marc Stein reports that the team is signing Malevy Leons to a two-way contract and waiving the No. 52 pick to make room.
Toohey was a promising forward for the Sydney Kings of the National Basketball League from 2023-25 who won the Australian League’s “Next Generation” Award last season, given to the league’s best player under the age of 25. The Warriors traded back from No. 41 on draft night to get the No. 52 and No. 56 picks, which they used on Toohey and Will Richard.
But Toohey has struggled with injuries, shooting, and keeping up with the pace and athleticism of the American game. Granted, he was also hurt, so it’s hard to judge him too severely. Toohey needs knee surgery which will keep him out for the season, so waiving the 21-year-old Canberran was an easy decision. This doesn’t mean Toohey is out of the Dubs’ future plans entirely, but there’s no reason to keep him on a two-way deal if he can’t play this year.
Instead, they’ll be taking a flyer on Malevy Leons, a 6-foot-9 forward that they’re poaching from the Oklahoma City Blue, the G League affiliate of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Leons was a bit of a late bloomer, moving to the United States from the Netherlands at age 21 and winning the Junior College Player of the Year in 2021 after leading his team to an undefeated 20-0 season.
Leons then transferred to Bradley University, where he was the Missouri Valley Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year in both 2023 and 2024, at age 23 and 24. He went undrafted, but signed with the Thunder, where he played 21 minutes in parts of six November games for the eventual champions. Let’s hope they gave him a ring!
What does Leons bring the Warriors? Shot-blocking and shooting. He averaged 1.4 per game for his college career and has blocked a shot per game in two seasons with the Blue. Leons is averaging 13.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.8 steals this season, while shooting 43.8 percent on 2.7 three-point attempts per game. That’s the kind of stretch big man that the Warriors have tried to utilize this season with Al Horford and Quinten Post. with varying degrees of success.
Speaking of Post, he’s the only other player from the Netherlands in the NBA right now, so perhaps they can hang out, share some stroopwafels, reminisce about canals, go out to eat and split the bill. You know, go Dutch.
Leons is 26, an advanced age for an NBA prospect, but Steve Kerr is a lot like The Outfield: He likes them a little bit older. He’s very mobile, reliable on defense, and has a little bit of a post game involving turnaround shots, but his main job on offense is going to be setting screens, running the floor, and spotting up behind the arc. Leons gets a lot of offensive rebounds, another element that’s been missing from the team in recent weeks.
Amazingly, Leons may be the second-tallest player on the roster behind post, though he and Trayce Jackson-Davis would have to stand back-to-back to determine this.
Will this be a hugely significant signing? Probably not, since he’s a two-way player. But Leons is an intriguing player who fits a need on this small Warriors roster and should be fun to watch, while helping make the Warriors the most popular NBA team in Amsterdam.
With Toohey waived, the Warriors have said goodbye to a second Australian two-way player, after last year’s Tasmanian import, Taran Armstrong, left to play in Dubai after allegedly putting on 17 pounds of muscle training with the Warriors. Toohey will have plenty of time to beef up while rehabbing the injury, but for now, we’ll say “Hooroo” to Toohey for the 2025-26 season.
