Zaza Pachulia agreed to a one-year, $2.9 million contract with the Golden State Warriors to become the starting center for a title contender.

“Of course money is important,” Zaza says. “Very important. Important to everybody. If I said it wasn’t, I’d be lying. Especially because it’s not like I’ve made hundreds of millions of dollars in my career.”

Pachulia has never made more than $5.2 million in a single season.

“A pretty significant amount,” Pachulia said when asked the exact dollar amount he left on the table. “Don’t want to get into the details. But a pretty significant amount. I’ll be a free agent next year, so we’ll see again. But first of all, I’m not thinking about next year. I’m all in on this year. That’s the reason why I sacrificed financially. It’s not because of next summer. It’s because of this season.”

Bob Myers almost reluctantly reached out to Pachulia figuring he'd be out of their price range.

“I didn’t really want to call his agent,” Myers joked. “Because I didn’t think it was going to happen.”

Steve Kerr helped close the deal with Pachulia.

“We closed the deal basically after I talked to coach,” Pachulia said. “He’s a good salesman. Good guy. You can tell from interviews what kind of person he is. Trustable. Honest. You can tell from his tone, from his manners. After our phone conversation, I knew I wanted to be part of it.”