As free-agency approached, a number of things became clear for the Golden State Warriors. First, cornerstone shooting guard Klay Thompson would be staying put, agreeing to a five-year max contract, never even negotiating with other teams. Second, they were willing to spend. Ownership, led by Joe Lacob, understood that relevance doesn’t come cheap. Bringing Kevin Durant and Kevon Looney back would be expensive, but it would also keep a championship core together.
Still, Durant had to want to stay. He saw a chance to play with close friends Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan in Brooklyn and took it. It wasn’t a surprise even though it felt that way. Somehow, as amazing as the Warriors three-year run with Durant was, it remains unfulfilled. It left the Warriors somewhat stuck. Between the contracts committed to their remaining core pieces (Stephen Curry, Thompson, Draymond Green, and Andre Igoudala) they did not have any remaining cap space. They had a $5.7m mid-level exception, bird-rights on their own free-agents (a group headlined by Kevon Looney), and minimum contracts to offer. No one would have batted an eye had the Warriors signed someone like Wesley Matthews for the full MLE. He would have fit perfectly as the shooting guard while Thompson recovered from his ACL injury, sustained in the NBA Finals, and then would have made an excellent bench piece once Klay returned. Furthermore, as reports suggest there is no market for DeMarcus Cousins, bringing him back at the $6.4m they could offer would make sense for both sides. The final roster would have looked something like this: PG: Stephen Curry, Quinn Cook, Jacob Evans SG: Klay Thompson, Wesley Matthews, Jordan Poole SF: Andre Igoudala, Alfonzo McKinnie PF: Draymond Green, Jordan Bell, Eric Paschall C: DeMarcus Cousins, Kevon Looney, Damion Jones, Alen Smailagic That team wouldn’t have been bad. It would have been competitive in the Western Conference (probably for a 6-seed, but in the playoffs nonetheless). There may have been even more upside with the chance of Cousins rebounding to his old form. After next season, Igoudala will likely retire and Green will need a new contract (that will at least approach max-money). Unless Cousins found his old form, the Warriors would be stuck in basketball purgatory. With an aging competitive core that lacked the flexibility to make upgrades in free-agency, but wouldn’t be bad enough to get lottery picks to draft elite talent. Granted, the Warriors have shown in the past with the selection of Green in the second round and Looney at the end of the first that they can add contributors via the draft outside the lottery. They could put trust in their scouting and player development to find the replacements for their core. It would have been simple, gone unquestioned, but it probably would have been the greatest risk. While cross-sport analogies have their flaws, take a look at the Warriors soon to be neighbors in San Francisco. The Giants built a championship team of their own that won three championships in a five-year span. They made sure to keep their core at all costs and most of them remain on the team today, far beyond their primes. The Giants unwillingness to risk moving a piece of their core had a large impact on their record as the worst team in baseball over the last few seasons. Lacob believes the Warriors dynasty is rooted beyond the players, even Stephen Curry. His famous “light years” comment didn’t come out of nowhere, it is Lacob’s belief that you must always chase innovation to remain above the competition. Bob Myers, Warriors’ president of basketball operations, signed an extension before free-agency kicked off reiterating his status as their essential figure. Lacob, Myers, and head coach Steve Kerr all deserve credit for the Warriors dynastic run. However, this is still Curry’s era. The Chase Center will always be the house that Steph built. It was his ankles that led him to sign what would become a team-friendly extension, his ascendance to greatest shooter of all-time, and his personality that formed the most essential pieces for the Warriors run. Whether the past 5 seasons will be remembered as the peak in Warriors franchise history or the dawn of Golden State becoming one of the NBA blue bloods will fall on Myers’ shoulders. How he maneuvers the transition over the next five years could leave the Warriors in shambles or back at the top. After Durant announced he would be signing with the Brooklyn Nets, Myers let that plan begin. It had been speculated that the Warriors would attempt to work out a sign-and-trade if Durant left to try and either recoup some assets or at the very least acquire a large trade exception they could use over the next year. They didn’t keep it small. The Warriors signed Nets free-agent point guard D’Angelo Russell to a 4 year/$117m max-contract and agreed to acquire him in a sign-and-trade with Brooklyn that would send Durant and a future Golden State first their way and Russell to the Warriors. Guard Shabazz Napier, forward Traveon Graham, and cash will head to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The roster fit is obviously unnatural. Russell plays the same position as Curry and when Thompson returns from his injury he would be forced down to small forward. However, the salary cap rules are the largest complication. Since the Warriors will acquire Russell via a sign-and-trade, they are hard-capped at a payroll of $138.9m. Even if ownership is willing to open their checkbooks and the Warriors have a necessary exception, the team is not allowed to have a payroll a dollar above that threshold. This immediately created a problem for Golden State. Curry, Thompson, Russell, Green, and Igoudala will combine to make over $135.9m next season, not leaving the team enough space to fill out their roster. Someone had to go and the obvious choice was Igoudala. He only had one year remaining on his contract and is at the tail-end of his career. Once Durant left, Igoudala was never going to be a core piece on a champion in Golden State again. I had suggested the Warriors look at moving Igoudala on draft night to try to get a late 1st or early 2nd round pick, but before free-agency, with the Warriors still hoping for KD to return, and other teams with eyes on stars of their own, the possibility was low. Now, even though if Igoudala been a free-agent he probably could have received a multi-year deal with an annual value in excess of $10m, the Warriors had to attach a future first-round pick to get Memphis to take his contract. Cap-space dries up quickly in the NBA, and once the Russell news broke, other teams knew the Warriors had to move Iggy. In a flash the Warriors became something they hadn’t been for years, a series of unknowns. Somehow, they were able to keep Kevon Looney for an incredible 3 year/$15m contract. Ironically, the hard-cap may have helped the Warriors in negotiations. Since they were unable to offer any more money and Looney has always been clear about wanting to stay with the organization there wasn’t much room for negotiation. The Warriors still need to fill out their roster with a few minimum salary spots, but the core of the roster is clear and the cost of investing in Russell is as well. Forward Jordan Bell and guard Quinn Cook had to have their rights renounced to fit below the hard-cap. In essence the Warriors traded Igoudala, Bell, Cook, 2 future first round picks and cash for Russell, a $17.2m trade exception (via Igoudala trade), and a trade exception between $7m-$11m (depending on the specifics of Russell and Durant’s contracts). Mark Stein of The New York Times reported soon after news broke that Russell is not a part of Golden State’s long-term plans and that they will trade him at some point over the next season. In reality, we won’t be able to fully evaluate the decision for another year. After the Warriors trade Russell and use (or don’t use) the trade exceptions. They are gambling on Russell, if he continues his development over the next season in Golden State, it will be easy for the Warriors to recoup what they lost and add more without the hard-cap restrictions (they only last one league year). However, if he is injured or stalls, they could be stuck paying someone $30m a year for three more years that doesn’t fit their roster. The loss of Igoudala is far more sentimental than anything else. Once Thompson and Durant both suffered injuries that put their 2019-20 seasons in jeopardy, next season was going to be a reset for the Warriors whether they re-signed or not. They essentially traded a first-round pick for the $17.2m trade exception, which could give them the flexibility to add a quality contributor or take on someone else’s unwanted contract to recoup the pick in a year. Given how little cap space remains available around the league that’s not a bad place to be. Had they not signed Russell; the Warriors still could have sent a first-round pick to Brooklyn to acquire a massive $38m trade exception for KD. They would not have faced the hard cap, but trade exceptions expire in one league year, so the Warriors would have had to fill it by the first week of next year’s free-agency. They could have split it up to acquire multiple role players, but if they wanted to add another star, the most likely avenue to do so would have been through a sign-and-trade bringing the hard-cap into play for 2020-21 league year. This way, the Warriors end up with multiple trade exceptions to play with, but also an actual player. Someone needed to play alongside Curry while Thompson recovered from injury, Golden State would love to load manage Curry anyway next season and Russell will allow him to play off-ball even more, and don’t rule out the chance that this just works. Imagine Klay and Curry running off-ball, while Russell and Green run a pick-and-roll, there is a ton of potential for creativity. Defense will be a problem. Green and Looney will only be able to do so much to cover for their guards and Thompson, while a great perimeter defender, will be coming back from an ACL and forced against larger players. Igoudala won’t be available off the bench anymore, and that entire unit will be filled with young players. Development will be vital. One question has been answered, Kevin Durant will no longer play for the Warriors, but now so many more have emerged. The next year will answer many of them and the fate of Golden State depends on how they turn out.
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About MeI have been a die-hard fan of the San Francisco Giants, San Francisco 49ers, and Golden State Warriors my entire life. Following them (and the surrounding leagues) have given me a lot of strong opinions on sports. Links to some of Marc's Articles around the Web:
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