$441 million tied up in 4 players: What’s next for Warriors?
The Warriors took a calculated risk by trading for forward Andrew Wiggins last week.
Given that he’s owed $94.7 million through 202223, Wiggins could be tough to move elsewhere even if he excels as a complementary player alongside Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. This puts more pressure on general manager Bob Myers to hit on draft picks and budget acquisitions.
The Warriors have $441 million tied up in Wiggins, Curry, Thompson and Green over the
next four years — and that doesn’t even account for what they’ll pay Curry after his current contract ends in 202122. Those four players will cost Golden State roughly $130 million next season — $15 million more than the salary cap for the
entire 15man roster and just $9 million under the luxurytax threshold.
Though majority owner Joe Lacob has spent big for championship pursuits, the Warriors will have limited avenues to add players this summer: a likely top5 draft pick, two secondround picks, the $6 million taxpayer midlevel exception and minimum contracts. Golden State also has a $17 million trade exception from the Andre Iguodala deal with Memphis that allows it to acquire salaries without having to send out salaries to match.
With 28 games left in this lotterybound season, the Warriors have 12 players under contract for 202021. The deals of Damion Lee, Marquese Chriss, Ky Bowman and Juan ToscanoAnderson, however, are only partially guaranteed.
As the Warriors prepare to enter AllStar weekend without an AllStar for the first time since 2013, their focus is on positioning themselves for a return to contention next season. Here are five questions that will determine whether Golden State can follow the 199697 Spurs’ model and parlay one atrocious season into relevance:
How will Wiggins fit?
Wiggins struggled at times as the Timberwolves’ goto option, but he’ll have much less offensive responsibility with the
Warriors. To make good on Golden State’s faith in him, Wiggins must benefit from the spacing Curry and Thompson provide, run the floor and, perhaps most important, be at least an aboveaverage defender.
Wiggins’ size and quickness suggest he can be far more consistent on that side of the court than he showed in Minnesota. Though no one expects Wiggins to become the next Iguodala, the Warriors would be pleased if he could fill a role similar to the one Harrison Barnes once occupied: a solid small forward who can guard bigger players, move off the ball and knock down open jumpers.
Can this season’s hidden gems become valued rotation players on a winning team?
The biggest positive Golden State can take away from this season is the emergence of several young players. Eric Paschall, the No. 41 pick in June’s draft, is an AllRookie team candidate. Chriss, a trainingcamp invitee after receiving no guaranteed offers in free agency, has become a capable starting center.
Lee, who opened the season on his second twoway contract, is an important floorspacing option along the wing. An undrafted rookie out of Boston College, Bowman blossomed into an instantenergy point guard who can defend fullcourt, find the open man and score in a variety of ways.
But as heartwarming as each of those stories has been, Paschall, Chriss, Lee and Bowman know they’ll face heightened expectations next season. It’s one thing to put up numbers on the NBA’s worst team. It’s another matter to be a reliable rotation player on a team expected to return to contention.
What will the Warriors do with their draft pick?
When Myers dealt six rotation players before the trade deadline, he ensured that, even if Curry returns from left hand surgery next month as expected, Golden State will remain one of the NBA’s worst teams. At 1242, the Warriors are wellpositioned for a top5 pick and 14% odds at getting the No. 1 selection.
The unfortunate thing for Golden State is that this year’s draft is widely considered the worst in more than a halfdecade. The three players being mentioned as the potential No. 1 pick — Georgia guard Anthony Edwards, former Memphis center James Wiseman and guard LaMelo Ball, who played in Australia — are each quite flawed.
According to league sources, the Warriors probably would try to trade down or out of the draft if they landed the top selection. The problem is that the market value for that pick won’t be nearly as high as it is in stronger drafts.
But even if this is an especially weak pool of prospects, Golden State realizes that at least a couple of future AllStars likely will be selected. The key will be identifying them.
Can Golden State find help in free agency?
The biggest losers of a chaotic trade deadline were players poised to hit free agency this summer. Only five teams — Atlanta, Charlotte, Detroit, Miami and New York — are expected to have salarycap space, which means even established NBA contributors might have to settle for the midlevel exception.
That bodes well for the Warriors, who likely will try to use that $6 million contract on a center or backup small forward. One name that has been mentioned as a possibility on the midlevel front is forward Glenn Robinson III.
Before being traded last week to Philadelphia, Robinson resuscitated his career with the Warriors, setting career highs on offense and routinely guarding the opponent’s best scorer. Even if Golden State decides to use its midlevel on someone else, it might be able to sign him on a minimum contract. Robinson told The Chronicle last month, “I feel like I’ve found a home here, and I’d be open to doing whatever it took to resign here.”
Will Kevon Looney return to form?
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr wasn’t being hyperbolic when he called Looney a “foundational piece” last spring. Though a belowaverage athlete by NBA standards, Looney was Golden State’s most dependable center last season.
But after signing a threeyear, $15 million contract in July, Looney dealt with health problems — namely, a mysterious neuropathic condition in his leg — that threatened to derail his career. In just 15 games this season, he is averaging 2.9 points and 3.1 rebounds.
If he can at least be 75% of the player he was in the 2019 playoffs, Looney would help stabilize a center rotation low on proven commodities. The Warriors prefer not to spend a lot on big men. By getting Looney back to normal, they could focus on other needs in free agency.