Myers, Warriors look ahead to offseason plans
After the Warriors posted a league-worst record of 15-50 before COVID-19 shut down the NBA season, president of basketball operations Bob Myers prefers to look forward.
“Watching our team lose 50 games was no fun,” Myers said on a conference call Monday. “I probably learned more this season than I have in the last five, as far as how to approach things, how to do things, what I think we need to do better.
“I think losing helps that, ironically. The more adversity or failure you face, the more you examine your process. When you win, it does cover up quite a bit.”
As 22 teams prepare to resume their season in Orlando in July, the Warriors are one of eight that have officially started their offseason. They will have a top-five pick and money to spend to improve a team that will return Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and An
drew Wiggins. Here are the key takeaways from Myers’ call with reporters:
THE WARRIORS HOPE TO PARTICIPATE IN BASKETBALL ACTIVITIES THIS SUMMER >> Facing a possible nine-month hiatus between games, teams left out of the regular-season resumption in Orlando are concerned about setbacks in the development of young players. With six players age 23 or younger, the Warriors would be a willing participant if the NBA organized some sort of team activities over the summer.
“I think we’ll get it in some capacity,” Myers said. “But, as far as what it will exactly look like, I’m not sure what we’re choosing from at this point.”
Wiggins, acquired in February, has played only a handful of minutes with Curry and Green, and not at all with Thompson. His fitting in is a vital step in Golden State returning to contention. Even if the NBA is unable to organize a mini-summer league, Myers said the Warriors would still hope to do something internally, such as scrimmages and team activities.
“My hope or goal would be that in three or four months, whenever the next season starts, we’ve had time and we’ve properly put in place plans for everybody that is on our roster,” Myers said. “Get all these guys together and see what that looks like.”
KLAY THOMPSON’S HEALTH STATUS IS UNKNOWN >> Eleven months after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ACL, Thompson has spent the hiatus rehabilitating in Southern California while the Warriors’ San Francisco facility was closed up until last week.
Head coach Steve Kerr has long asserted that Thompson would need about a year to fully heal but he, nor Myers, have been able to evaluate Thompson since midMarch.
“As far as I heard, he’s recovering fine, there hasn’t been a setback,” Myers said. “That’s one thing that’s been a little bit difficult in the last couple months is our ability to oversee those things as much as you might normally would.” MYERS STILL HOPES TO EVALUATE NBA DRAFT PROSPECTS IN PERSON >> With the NBA draft set for Oct. 15, the Warriors have ample time to prepare for their top-five pick. Golden State has been scouting the draft’s top prospects for months, and the front office and coaching staff have spent the hiatus watching film.
However, with the draft combine yet to be rescheduled, they still hope to be able to conduct in-person interviews and evaluations before making the franchise’s earliest pick since 2002.
“The difficult part is that you can watch film all day long, and we’ve been able to do that and talk and look at the analytics, but there’s still some missing pieces that you’d love to get to see, whether that’s talking to somebody in person or watching them in person,” Myers said. “Hopefully we’ll get an opportunity like that.”
IT’S UNCLEAR IF THE WARRIORS WILL SPEND BIG THIS OFFSEASON >> In addition to a top-five pick, the Warriors will have the taxpayer mid-level exception and a $17.2 million trade exception to use this offseason. But with millions of dollars lost in gate revenue due to the truncated season, it’s unclear if ownership would be willing to use the full spending power of those exceptions.
The Warriors are already poised to pay out upwards of $148 million in salary next season, making it the most expensive roster in the NBA and footing ownership with what was expected to be a $45 million luxury-tax bill.
If the salary cap decreases like many experts predict it will, that tax penalty will increase, which could curb ownership’s willingness to spend big this offseason.
“Depending on the economics, we have to be smart and pragmatic,” Myers said. “If something makes sense, I can only look at past history where (majority owner Joe Lacob) has always been receptive to spending if it helps us win.”