© Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
The Warriors have launched a dynasty. Now they will work to maintain it.
The first step is having a productive offseason, which is shaping up as a busy one, in terms of player management. If there is one potential issue surrounding the Warriors, it’s that their four All-Stars are simply too expensive to retain long-term. In the recent past, the Warriors brass and those players have compromised by rewarding them without digging too deep into the front office’s pockets.
The Warriors have to decide which of their seven free agents they want to re-sign. They will also look to add a contributor with the No. 28 pick in the NBA Draft, where they have hit the lottery in the past decade.
Let’s review Golden State’s check list entering the summer.
Re-signing Kevin Durant
This is all but a foregone conclusion. Earlier this week, general manager Bob Myers said he would give Kevin Durant “whatever he wants” when asked about money and length of a newly structured contract. Myers partially rescinded the comment at the championship parade one day later, making for a weird, awkward encounter on a day that did not call for it.
Bottomline: Durant is going to get paid, regardless of the conflicting comments. He is expected to opt out of his contract, just as he did last summer when he took a $10 million pay cut to make room for Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston’s contracts. Durant will not do so again.
There are a number of ways this could play out.
- Sign Durant to a four-year supermax deal worth around $158 million. He can not sign a five-year deal because the Warriors don’t have his Bird Rights yet.
- Sign him to a two-year deal with a player option in 2019.
- Sign him to a three-year deal with an opt-out after the second season.
In any of the above scenarios, Durant is going to get paid. As Myers said, for a moment, the back-to-back NBA Finals MVP deserves it, especially after sacrificing money for the team to retain important pieces last offseason.
Finding the right balance with Draymond Green and Klay Thompson’s contracts
Like Durant, Draymond Green is not expected to take a pay cut this offseason. And like Durant, Green did so when he signed a five-year, $82 million contract in 2015, missing out on potentially $12 million to make room for Durant.
Green is set to make $36 million in the two years left on his deal. If he agrees to an extension, he could sign a three-year, $72 million extension beginning in 2020. According to ESPN, he is eyeing a supermax contract, which would only be possible if he wins the Defensive Player of the Year Award. (He did not make any of the All-NBA teams and will almost surely not win the MVP Award, both of which would have deemed him eligible for a supermax deal.)
With Durant also seeking a max deal, and Stephen Curry eating up about 35 percent of the team’s salary cap in 2018-19, the Warriors will have to decide how deep they are willing to dig into their pockets to retain Green for the foreseeable future.
Fortunately for the Warriors, Klay Thompson seems content with his current deal. All signs point to Thompson waiting until his contract expires in 2019 to sign a new deal, rather than signing an extension this summer, which would cost him millions.
Managing six additional free agents
Golden State’s ability to find short-term value out of complementary players is one of the many geniuses of its burgeoning dynasty. Myers has been tremendous at acquiring important pieces for cheap, then shipping them away in exchange for a new batch.
Only five players have been on all three championship teams. Eight players have been on two championship teams, and 13 players on one. The core is solidified, while the complements are ever-changing.
Six Warriors will hit free agency this summer, including Kevon Looney, Patrick McCaw, JaVale McGee, Zaza Pachulia, David West, and Nick Young.
Out of that group, it seems Looney is the most valuable. He played important minutes throughout the playoffs, especially in the Western Conference Finals, where he defended tremendously. Looney is set to become an unrestricted free agent after the Warriors did not pick up his fourth-year option. The most the center could make with the Warriors in 2018-19 is around $2.23 million. This comes down to Looney’s priorities: Does he want to play for a winner for less money this year, or sign a more lucrative deal with another squad?
McCaw overcame a scary-looking back injury on March 31 to later appear in the Western Conference Finals and NBA Finals. The 22-year-old will be a restricted free agent this summer. His future with Golden State hinges on the offers, and the type of money thrown at him, from other squads. If it’s too expensive for the Warriors to match, a real possibility, he could sign elsewhere.
After taking a backseat to Golden State’s younger, more athletic big men throughout the playoffs, Pachulia will enter his 16th NBA season in 2018-19. Steve Kerr jokingly said Pachulia should blame small-ball heavy teams for ruining his career. It’s hard to see Pachulia back with the Warriors next season.
West is the perfect veteran — those are Durant’s words — and has brought value to the Warriors with shooting, passing, and a general rugged attitude. He turns 38 in August, deeming a contract greater than one year as unlikely.
McGee played his role very well in the 2018 NBA Finals. He is only 30 years old and still bouncy enough to attack and protect the rim on both ends, but his game is relatively similar to the younger Jordan Bell and Damian Jones.
Young got his long-awaited championship, and celebrated with typical Swaggy revelry. While he supplied bench scoring, he has always struggled defensively, and the Warriors could very well use their first-round pick in the upcoming draft on a three-and-D guy to replace Young.
Speaking of the draft…
Finding value with the No. 28 pick
Their excellence in the NBA Draft is the primary reason why the Warriors have reached such great success. The core of Curry, Thompson, and Green were all drafted within four years of each other.
The Warriors have had only two draft picks in the past five years combined, taking Kevon Looney in 2015 and Damian Jones in 2016. They bought McCaw, taken 38th overall in 2016, from the Bucks, and did the same with Jordan Bell last year.
Myers and company have surrounded Golden State’s core with important pieces in recent years. Out of all of Golden State’s needs, adding an athletic wing with the No. 28 overall selection, Golden State’s lone pick in the draft, to come off the bench would make sense. Depending on how many of the Warriors big men with expiring contracts are dealt, they could also restock at center.
Exploring free agent market
There are a handful of proven players set to become free agents this summer. The Warriors will survey the landscape to round out their roster.
Warriors owner Joe Lacob expects to be in the luxury tax, meaning he doesn’t have much leeway with money distribution when it comes to free agency. Look for the Warriors to use the mid-level exception, similar to what they did with Shaun Livingston, to sign a veteran willing to take a pay cut, such as Trevor Ariza.