Award-winning Myers sets team’s priorities
DANVILLE >> Draymond Green has been publicly pleading for Bob Myers to get credit for constructing one of the greatest rosters in NBA history despite zero top-five picks in any recent draft.
Some of that credit rolled in this week.
On Monday, Myers was named Executive of the Year for the second time in three seasons. Then on Wednesday, the Warriors threw him and Green, who won Defensive Player of the Year, a celebratory news conference at Monte Vista High in Danville, Myers’ alma mater.
“I’ll take credit for him getting credit,” Green joked.
The award is voted on by fellow general managers at the end of the regular season in mid-April. But Myers basically won this award back in July when he helped convince Kevin Durant to join the star-loaded roster he’d constructed and then, facing severe financial constraints, capably filled in the rest of the rotation, snagging Patrick McCaw, an immediate contributor, 38th overall and forming a cheap and productive enough three-headed center rotation of Zaza Pachulia, David West and JaVale McGee.
But for Myers, there’s little time to celebrate. The draft was 10 days after the Warriors won the title. Free agency strikes nine days after that, starting at midnight this Saturday, July 1.
“Pretty frantic,” Myers said. “The window of time between the end of the season, the draft and free agency is short. It’s pretty intense right now.”
Myers is the architect of this era’s most dominant NBA empire. Now his responsibility is ensuring it lasts as long as possible. That’s what this July is about, an enviable but still tricky challenge.
Ten of the Warriors’ 15 players are free agents. Not all 10 will be back. He’s already given one of the available roster spots to rookie Jordan Bell, another 38th overall pick who many believe, like McCaw, will also be an immediate contributor.
But the first order of free agency business is likely to be Stephen Curry. The Warriors franchise player will be an unrestricted free agent for the first time. Because of the timing of his rookie extension, he was woefully underpaid on his last contract, making only $12 million last season and less before that.
Now he’s eligible for a mega max that’ll start around $34.5 million. Conversations have already taken place. There’s not a person in the league that thinks Curry will even entertain leaving the only franchise he’s ever known. But come midnight on Saturday, as an act of good faith, you’d expect the Warriors to lay whatever offer Curry wants into his hands.
“Yeah, he’s gotta be (top priority),” Myers said. “We have a lot of priorities, touching all of them, making sure we do our job and making sure they know we want them is important. But he knows how we feel about him and he’s happy. Yeah, he’s a huge priority.”
Durant, you’d think, would be a close second. But Durant has already told reporters publicly and the Warriors privately that he has no plans of leaving. And ESPN’s Marc Stein reported that Durant has indicated to the Warriors that he’s willing to wait to officially sign until later in July, allowing Myers to line up his dominos exactly right before knocking them down in the necessary financial order.
That’s important news because Durant’s situation is tricky. If he’s willing to take only a 20 percent raise on last season’s salary ($31.8 million next year) instead of the maximum $34.5 million first year salary he could command, the Warriors don’t have to open up cap space to sign him. That means they can retain Andre Iguodala’s rights and go over the cap to re-sign him before moving on to negotiate with Durant.
“It’s just a puzzle that all has to fall into place,” Myers said. “There’s unpredictability to it.”
That’s where his personality and the relationships he’s built will help. Myers is beloved by many that know him. One of the many reasons Durant made the controversial decision to join the Warriors was his connection with Myers, who spent the days after Durant’s decision visiting and chatting with him in the Hamptons.
On Wednesday, Green called Myers a “life coach” and “big brother” figure.
“This award is great, but it still doesn’t do justice for the impact he’s had,” Green said. “We’re trying to build a dynasty here. Executive of the Year award is great, but I won’t be satisfied until he’s heading to the Hall of Fame. Because that’s where I think he’s headed.”