The Warriors are expecting a decision on Bob Myers’ future soon.
Golden State’s front office leader will have his contract expire at the end of June and has reportedly been mulling whether or not to stick around.
While there were initially some questions about the salary being offered, Tim Kawakami of The Athletic said on Murph & Mac on Monday that he believes owner Joe Lacob has offered Myers a “top salary” in the NBA.
The decision, now, is about Myers’ interest level. That’s been the subject of some debate, but Kawakami is leaning towards Myers departing:
Part of this is he might just not want to do this anymore. I think that was always a big part of this. He’s not sure. I think we’ve all been in this position where I probably want to do something new, but I also like what I’m doing, so let’s figure it out. I think he’s in the figuring out stage. I think the longer it goes on, the greater the odds are that he’s leaving.
I think the longer this goes on — certainly the longer it takes for Bob to do his end of season presser, which hasn’t even been announced yet, usually it happens right after the season — it probably leads me to believe that he’s very seriously preparing himself for the possibilities…
You have to be ready to go to even seriously consider it, right? You have to be in your mind, I’m ready to go. Now let’s see what happens. Am I pulled back? We’ll see. But I think he is in his mind preparing to be ready to go and then make the final decision does he want to stay for a year, does he want to stay for two years?
Kawakami also put out the possibility of a “Last Dance”-type deal. Klay Thompson has one year left on his contract. Draymond Green has a one-year, $27.59 million player option, with the Warriors reportedly confident he’ll stick around. Steve Kerr has one year left.
So, why not run it back one more time?
“Let’s just have one big last dance, like really have it,” Kawakami said. “Maybe that has some appeal to him. We’ll see. I don’t think that’s out of the question. And I don’t think it would only be for one year, it could be for two, but let’s say a short-term return. I think that is the way he comes back. I don’t know if he will want to do that.”
If Myers does leave, Kawakami doesn’t see a scenario where he joins another team. He suggested Myers might take a year off or go become an executive in another arena, throwing out Disney as a possibility.
But when he goes, his successor is probably already in place.
Every sign has been for a year or two that Mike Dunleavy [Jr.] was going to be the heir apparent. And there’s nothing that you believe that would change that…
He’s subbed for Myers at the GM meetings in Chicago last week. These are really clear signs. He’s been prepared for this. They believe in him, certainly Bob believes in him. And that’s the other thing I’ve kind of thrown. What if Bob just becomes president and then Dunleavy becomes GM. Could they do it that way?
Clearly, I think Dunleavy would be the guy to be the general manager if Bob is no longer here.
Dunleavy Jr. — who was drafted by Golden State third overall in 2002 — has been the Warriors’ vice president of basketball operations since September of 2021. He began as a pro scout with the organization in 2018 and has risen up the ranks since then.
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