LET’S MAKE A DEAL
Warriors may turn over as many as 6 roster spots, including center, bench roles
The Warriors entered the 2018 offseason with two goals that, when broken down, seem contradictory.
Golden State wants to get younger. They felt like the 82game regular season became a drag because there were too many veterans on the team who paced themselves for the playoffs, and by injecting younger players into the mix, the 2018-19 regular season will have more energy and purpose.
At the same time, the Warriors want to acquire more bat- tle-tested wings for next year’s postseason — a direct response to the team’s struggles to find enough capable players at the position in their seven-game Western Conference finals win over the Rockets.
Regular season versus the playoffs, youth versus experience — Warriors general manager Bob Myers is facing a par- adoxical July. The Warriors could turn over six roster spots this summer, with a starting center job and a few key bench roles in flux.
The Warriors’ first priority, though, is re-signing Kevin Durant. The back-to-back NBA Finals MVP has made it abundantly clear that he will re-sign with the Warriors this July — the only question now is how long the terms of the new contract will be. Durant could sign a one-year, $30 million deal, a four-year deal worth $158 mil- lion, and a variety of deals in between those two bookends this summer.
But no matter what contract Durant signs with the Warriors — and again, despite what some might insinuate, Durant will re-sign with the Warriors in the coming days — it will push Golden State deep into the luxury tax, leaving the team with only minimum-value contracts and a mid-level exception spot, worth $5.3 million a season, to fill out their roster and
an all-in payroll well more than $225 million and perhaps more than $250 million for next year. Both numbers would set an NBA record if LeBron James departs Cleveland.
With the team’s aptly named new arena, the Chase Center, set to start printing money in 2019, the massive payroll isn’t a serious impediment to improving the Warriors’ roster this summer, but frugality is still a virtue. The Warriors may opt to not use that mid-level exception roster spot, as tax payments are not part of the exclusion and would cost the team upward of $20 million, total.
“Being in the tax, there’s an exponential cost to using the taxpayer mid-level for us … we have to be smart and prudent with whatever we spend,” Myers said Monday. “We are not equipped with a lot of money … We’d like to win some ties. If we can offer equal compensation, maybe we get players who want to be a part of our environment.”
Luckily for Myers, the same mechanism that helped them improbably land Durant is likely to help the Warriors out this summer. Behind a massive TV deal, the NBA’s salary cap spiked in 2016, effectively giving every team the space to sign a max-value contract player. While the Lakers signed Luol Deng and Timofey Mozgov, the Warriors used that space to sign Durant.
But with the salary cap remaining relatively static two years after the spike, the NBA free agent market is set for some correction. Durant, James, Chris Paul and Paul George will land big-money deals — as they would in any market — but there won’t be a robust roster of active, cashrich teams placing bids on players this summer, and that is likely to compress the market for players who would normally demand between $5 million and $15 million, possibly putting players presumed to be out of the Warriors’ budget in play.
As such, here are 20 players I’m linking the Warriors to ahead of free agency: JAMALCRAWFORD » A former Warrior and one of the most well-liked guys in the NBA, there is going to be plenty of support for signing Crawford, who averaged 17.9 points per 36 minutes last year. The sense I get is that the Warriors would entertain bringing him in only on a minimum-value contract, though — he simply doesn’t play defense. RUDYGAY » Warriors are concerned about his defense, but he can still get buckets off the bench and would be a strong value on a minimum-value deal. Like Crawford, I can’t imagine Golden State even entertains the mid-level for a one-way player. TYREKEEVANS » Re-established himself as a sevenfigure player last season, but will there be any sevenfigure paydays for him in this market? There’s plenty of interest around the league for him at a midlevel exception price point. Will the Warriors see if they can “break a tie”? TREVORARIZA » A doublewin. The Warriors would add an excellent 3-and-D player while taking something away from the Rockets. Hard to see him leaving Houston for a mid-level exception in California, though. AVERYBRADLEY » He’s been a pain in the Warriors’ side for years and is the kind of two-way player the Warriors would actually consider for their mid-level exception. Will his market be compressed enough to make the Warriors a viable landing spot? SETHCURRY » He can shoot and can probably be had on a minimum contract. Defense? We’ll worry about that later. Curry family re- union! JJREDICK » All signs point to him sticking around in Philadelphia, but if he does hit the market, the Warriors would prioritize him for that mid-level exception. BROOKLOPEZ » TheWarriors might need a center. Lopez can knock down a 3-pointer and give solid starting minutes in the regular season. WAYNEELLINGTON » A perfect 3-and-D candidate who is likely to re-sign with Miami. Warriors would love to see him get knocked down to their mid-level price point. EDDAVIS » The tenacious rebounder is a rock-solid energy guy off the bench. He’s looking for something better than the minimum, but will he find it? JOEHARRIS » At 26, he’s a strong shooter and a versatile wing worthy of the mid-level. Plus, he made only $1.6 million last year. DWIGHTHOWARD » Would the Warriors dare test fate by bringing in the locker- room killer? Probably not, but you can’t totally rule it out. WILLBARTON » Almost certainly out of the Warriors’ price range, but they’d love to have him — he’s a Warriors killer. MARCOBELINELLI » Knocks down 3-pointers and still has fans in the organization. LUCMBAHAMOUTE » A defensive ace whose acquisition would hurt the Rockets. IANCLARK » Find me one person who doesn’t like Ian Clark. MICHAELBEASLEY » If anyone can reform Beasley, it’s the Warriors. He’s close with Durant. KYLEO’QUINN » TheWarriors have flirted with him for so long, it has to happen now. ARONBAYNES » Was solid for the Celtics last year. Again, Warriors might need a bigman. MARIOHEZONJA » A buy-low candidate. I see untapped potential, particularly from beyond the arc.