Zaza Pachulia spent last season with the Detroit Pistons. He was a backup, but still gave 12 bruising minutes per night. Blake Griffin, the team’s star, loved him. Andre Drummond, the young center, learned from him. There’s value in that.

So Pachulia, 35, entered this summer believing his 16th NBA season wasn’t his last. He went into July searching for a place to spend his 17th, back in that mentorship role.

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“Free agency started an interesting way,” Pachulia said in a phone interview Thursday. “Got a couple calls. Had some conversations with different teams. I don’t want to mention the teams, but it was good start.”

Pachulia’s first eight seasons were spent in Atlanta. He has a connection with the city. He’s long viewed it as a possible place for his perfect basketball swan song. But the Hawks already have their wily vet, Vince Carter, and are going young at the center spot. No openings there. There weren’t many anywhere.

Free agency moved quick. Most vacancies vanished before the holiday fireworks cracked. The game has modernized away from bigs who bash bodies and stop post scorers. Guys like Joakim Noah and Greg Monroe are still searching for jobs as September nears.

“Toward the end of July, middle of July, it got quiet,” Zaza said. “That’s where I felt (retirement was possible).”

His phone rang. Warriors executive Kirk Lacob was on the other end. The Warriors weren’t offering a backup-center spot. They were hard capped and, in this transitional summer, prioritizing youth. But what about another role in the organization?

“Even though it meant for me to start another chapter, I was as excited as (if) a team (was) calling me to play another year,” Pachulia said. “We’re not talking about just any franchise. We’re talking about the Warriors. Best in the business.”

Pachulia was officially hired by the Warriors on Thursday. They’re calling him a consultant. It was one of a number of announced moves, which included the elevation of former player Mike Dunleavy Jr. (a scout last season) to assistant general manager and the bump of Kirk Lacob’s title to executive vice president of basketball operations.

But Pachulia’s name created the most buzz. He was a beloved figure on the team’s two most recent title teams — the enforcer who’d drop a shoulder if you fouled Steph Curry hard, the fun-loving Georgian who’d go on fishing trips with Klay Thompson.

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He also was thought to still be active. Go search all the available free-agent lists. Pachulia’s still on the list, right near Noah and Mo Speights, who worked out for the Lakers recently in a pursuit of the vacated DeMarcus Cousins slot that Dwight Howard now fills.

But Pachulia’s known for a couple weeks that he was done, even if it wasn’t easy to get there.

“I just tried to be as realistic as possible to myself and do what’s in the best interest of my family and the future,” Pachulia said. “You know, you can’t be selfish in this situation. You can’t just go anywhere. You want to be in the best place possible. I love this game. I love to play. But having kids … and the kids are at a age where it matters where they live and what experience they’re going to get.”

Pachulia’s last four NBA seasons were based in three cities — Dallas, Oakland and Detroit — and always on one-year deals, never with any stability beyond next June. He could’ve kept chasing his first, fading love and tried to hold out for a camp deal or overseas option.

Or he could’ve prioritized family and future with a perfect next-phase opportunity planted right in front of him. His wife loves the Bay Area. His kids were pumped. They made a ton of friends in their two years here.

“Regarding lifestyle, we’re more excited now than when I was playing,” Pachulia said. “This can be a long-term relationship. This chapter is different than what it was. The last few years, it has been one-year deals. This can be different.”

Then Zaza repeated a mindset he’s developed through his time at Harvard, where he has been taking offseason classes in the university’s famed business school.

“You can’t think about today,” Pachulia said. “You gotta think about five years later.”

So Zaza made the jump. He’s done playing hoops. He’s now on the executive side of the game. But consultant? What exactly does that mean? It’s pretty undefined, which was on purpose.

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“Exploring as much as possible,” Zaza said of his plans for the upcoming season. “Getting into different departments. Little things matter. If it’s community relations, front-office management, coaching staff, marketing, business side. It’ll be all interesting and it’ll put value on my career.”

This isn’t a Jerry West front-office maven role or a Steve Nash pop-in-for-a-few-practices-per-year setup. Zaza will be around all the time. He won’t travel to every game, but he’s moving to the Bay Area and immersing himself in all aspects of the organization.

“I believe when you’re all in, you’re all in,” Zaza said.

That could definitely mean helping the coaching staff. You may see Pachulia out there after practice working with Willie Cauley-Stein on defensive positioning or delivering screen-setting tricks to Omari Spellman. Maybe Pachulia will be helping the coaching staff with the game plan on how to stop Nikola Jokic.

But full-time coaching isn’t a path he’s ready to walk down. Pachulia is interested — probably more interested — in the management side of the sport, the cash side of this business. He didn’t take those Harvard classes for nothing.

So coaching or management? Long term, in his gut, what does he expect to be doing?

“That’s a good question,” Pachulia said. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. With the Harvard business programs, if you look it, you might think management is what I’m thinking about, aiming at. But even if you decide you want to go to management, you want to explore and learn all the sides of the business.”

So he’ll spend this first season exploring, officially labeled a consultant. Does that also mean he’s Klay’s boss?

“Ha! You know, giving a hard time to Klay is not going to stop,” Zaza said. “But, no, we’re friends. We’ve been talking. Since he’s been injured, (he has) a lot of time to be around the phone. I talked to him about the opportunity even though I hadn’t made up my mind. Only a few people heard about it and Klay was one of them. He was excited. Excited to be back again together even though it’s a different role.”

(Photo: Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)

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