Before the garish paychecks, before the questions about his attitude, before the four teams in three years, Marquese Chriss was a baby-faced college freshman who prioritized extra jumpers over a comfortable bed.

He and Washington teammate Dejounte Murray spent most nights getting up shots at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. On the numerous occasions their workouts slipped into early-morning hours, they slept on a beanbag chair or couch in the Huskies’ locker room, awaking when coaches and players arrived for 6 a.m. practices.

“I do miss those days sometimes,” said Chriss, 22, who’s in training camp with the Warriors after not receiving any guaranteed contract offers in free agency. “That’s when it was all about your love for the game, you know? We loved basketball so much that we were willing not to sleep in our own beds.”

“Those days” were less than four years ago, but Chriss should be forgiven if it feels much longer. Since the Suns drafted him eighth overall in 2016, he has struggled to find his professional footing, surfacing on the Rockets and Cavaliers before he turned down multiple two-way-contract offers for a training-camp invite with Golden State.

With his career on life support, Chriss knows he faces long odds of making the Warriors’ roster. In the wake of the D’Angelo Russell sign-and-trade with Brooklyn, they don’t have enough room under the hard cap to add a 15th and final player, meaning Chriss will probably play this preseason to entice another team into signing him.

But given the lean state of Golden State’s frontcourt, general manager Bob Myers might be interested in adding the 6-foot-10, 240-pound former lottery pick with a 7-foot wingspan and a 38½-inch vertical leap.

Willie Cauley-Stein, the Warriors’ projected starting center, will miss at least the first four games of the regular season with a mid-foot strain. If Kevon Looney (tweaked hamstring) and Alen Smailagic (rolled ankle) sit out Saturday’s preseason opener against the Lakers, Chriss — a big man who moves like a guard — will probably be Omari Spellman’s primary backup at center.

A couple memorable performances could help Chriss convince Myers to shed a player and give him a regular-season roster spot. Alfonzo McKinnie, whose contract is non-guaranteed until Jan. 10, might be the most logical casualty under that scenario.

“There’s pressure, but at the same time, there’s not,” Chriss said. “I understand what kind of situation they’re in, so I’m just playing to put myself in the best situation to succeed and to put pressure on them. I want to be the type of person that they want to put on the floor and that they need on their team.”

That has been a tricky proposition for Chriss. He was named second-team All-Rookie in 2017 with Phoenix, only to be traded a year later to Houston after he developed a reputation for not listening to coaches and coasting in games.

The Rockets quickly anchored Chriss to the bench. After asking them for a trade, he was dealt at the deadline to Cleveland, where his uneven effort and temper continued to overshadow highlight-worthy dunks.

Little more than a month after joining the Cavaliers, he got into an on-court fight with Raptors center Serge Ibaka. During free-agency this past summer, Chriss saw just how little patience front offices have for fringe players with red flags.

Instead of taking a two-way contract with another team, he signed a training-camp deal last week with Golden State for the chance at extended preseason minutes. After practice Wednesday, Steve Kerr called Chriss “receptive to coaching,” a sound-bite sure to buoy his chances of latching on elsewhere should the Warriors cut him.

“He’s a guy that’s kind of been bouncing around, but understands he has talent,” Stephen Curry said. “He’s been playing with his head down in training camp so far, just trying to contribute. He has an opportunity, for sure, and I’m excited to see him when he gets out on the court.”

Chriss remains close with Murray, who has blossomed into a franchise cornerstone with the Spurs despite going 21 picks after him in the 2016 draft. This past summer, while working out together in Seattle, Murray scolded his buddy whenever Chriss began to get angry.

The message never changed: To get where Murray is, Chriss must control his temper.

“When it comes from somebody that you love and is like your brother, you just take it and you listen,” Chriss said. “I would never think he’s telling me something that’s detrimental to me. Because since I met him, he’s wanted me to be the best me.”

Connor Letourneau is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cletourneau@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @Con_Chron