Tax could push Warriors to trade
WASHINGTON — The Warriors are looking into ways to avoid the repeater tax, multiple league sources told The Chronicle.
The repeater tax is the penalty teams must pay when their payroll exceeds the luxurytax threshold in three of the previous four years. If the Warriors fail to avoid the luxury tax this season, they’ll have to pay the repeater tax — somewhere in the neighborhood of an extra $40 million.
Even with the added revenue Chase Center is bringing in, that’s a hefty sum for a team not guaranteed to vault back into contention next season. With three days until the trade deadline, the Warriors are interested in shedding another $3.7 million in salary to dip below the luxurytax threshold and sidestep the penalty.
Golden State could trade point guard D’Angelo Russell to avoid the luxury tax, but that looks increasingly unlikely. As The Chronicle has reported, the Warriors would like a larger sample size of Russell alongside Stephen Curry, who is expected to return from left hand surgery next month.
To trade Russell before Thursday’s deadline, Golden State would need to be blown away by an offer, a long shot given the lessthanstellar packages they’ve fielded. If the Warriors don’t move Russell, their easiest way to get under the luxurytax threshold would be to trade Kevon Looney.
When at his best, Looney is a reliable smallball center who can defend multiple positions and rebound at a high rate. But due to a neuropathic condition in his body and left abdominal soreness, Looney, 23, has appeared in just 11 games this season, averaging 2.5 points on 32.4% shooting, three rebounds and 0.4 assists.
Even if Golden State were willing to part with Looney, it might be tough for it to unload his salary (he’s making $4.6 million this season, the first year in a threeyear, $15 million contract). Though he showed some promise Saturday in his first game since late December, Looney has no guarantee of returning to be the player Warriors head coach Steve Kerr once called a “foundational piece.”
Perhaps the most logical way for Golden State to avoid the luxury tax is to shed several smaller contracts.
Journeymen Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III, though helpful rotation players this season, don’t necessarily figure into the Warriors’ longterm plans. Secondyear guard Jacob Evans could struggle to find a spot on next season’s roster. Center Omari Spellman — a floorspacing big man with some upside — wouldn’t be Golden State’s first choice to move, but he could also be traded to make the numbers work.
After a halfdecade of letting the trade deadline pass without making any notable trades, Warriors general manager Bob Myers is gearing up for what could be a chaotic next few days. As Golden State tries to assemble a 202021 roster capable of contending for a title, it is a seller, a distinction it made clear by recently trading center Willie CauleyStein to Dallas for a secondround pick.