You’ve heard of his uncle. You’ve likely never heard of him. Kavion Pippen, the nephew of NBA Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen, is a 6-foot-10, 240-pound big man out of Southern Illinois. He scored 12.8 points per game last season for the Salukis. He spent two years prior to that playing at a community college. He went undrafted this past June. 

Now the Golden State Warriors, per a team press release, have signed him. 

It’s a non-guaranteed deal for Pippen, who is likely being added as as stopgap until Kevin Looney, Willie Cauley-Stein and this year’s second-round pick Alan Smailagic get healthy. Cauley-Stein is expected to miss all of preseason and probably, at least, the first four games of the regular season with a foot strain, while Looney (hamstring) and Smailagic (rolled ankle) don’t yet have a timetable for a return from their respective injuries. 

You certainly can’t make too much of a preseason game, but watching the Warriors get manhandled by the Lakers on Saturday brought into bright focus their lack of size and toughness. We’ll see if Pippen actually ends up making the final roster (he almost certainly won’t), but for now, he’s at least a big body in camp.