If the Warriors want to seriously contend for a title next season, there is a lot that needs to be addressed this summer.
Some are questioning whether the team should begin a rebuild or just hold onto their veteran core until they can’t give anymore.
Let’s take a look at the latest reports about the Dubs players and front office staff.
BOB MYERS
Bob Myers started with the Warriors franchise in 2011 as general manager and now that his contract is up, he is very much undecided on his future, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
“With his contract expiring at the end of June, Bob Myers told me last night that he plans to take a couple of weeks to make a decision about his future running the Golden State Warriors,” Wojnarowski said. “And it’s a decision that he says he’s torn about, in large part because of his relationships, he said, with the core three of Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, and his coach Steve Kerr.”
If Myers does decide to leave, it is widely expected that his replacement will be internal. Their current vice president of basketball operations, Mike Dunleavy Jr., has been flagged for the job, according to The Athletic.
During the season, Warriors owner Joe Lacob was so keen for him to stay that he presented multiple contract extension offers to Myers that would make him one of the highest paid executives in the NBA.
Myers has started his own podcast with ESPN called Lead by Example with Bob Myers, so could this be the beginning of him focusing on other things?
DRAYMOND GREEN
Winning a championship without Draymond Green would be tough. He has the drive, energy and enthusiasm to swing a game, which is why Golden State intend to speak to him about a multi-year contract.
The deal would be either via an opt in and extend or an totally new deal after an opt out, The Athletic reports.
Green has a player option in his contract – which will see him earn $27.4 million next season and expires in 2024, so he certainly has leverage if he enters the open market.
Teams like the Lakers have been named as suitors but after the dust settled from Game 6, Green has made it clear where his loyalties lie.
“I don’t know what the options will be, I don’t know what my option will be here, I don’t know any of those things,” Green said on his podcast on May 13.
“What I can tell you is I want to be here. I’ve been here 11 years and you just don’t throw that away and, quite frankly, I think we still have more championships that we can and will win.”
JORDAN POOLE
If the Warriors were to retain Jordan Poole with his $27.4 million contract extension next season, plus Green, their luxury tax would be eye-watering.
Since Poole was punched by Green, he hasn’t been the same. His fourth NBA season has been forgettable and his postseason was even worse.
Poole was seen as a long-term player who could develop under the tutelage of Steph Curry but due to his lackluster performances, his average of 30 minutes per game dropped to 21.8 in the postseason.
But as the Warriors core ages, would it be smart to move him on for low value this summer, after just one year of disappointment?
The Athletic’s Tim Kawakami, for one, is a big fan of shopping Poole around.
“I think the Warriors will see what the market is for Poole,” Kawakami said. “They could use a tougher backup guard. They could use somebody who can score tough points….The Warriors need a scrambler. Maybe they can trade Poole for a scrambler who doesn’t make as much money, which would check two boxes.”
KLAY THOMPSON
Klay Thompson is eligible for an extension over the summer and he’s making $43.2 million on the final year of his deal next season.
Klay would have to accept a paycut if he was to extend with his beloved Warriors, just like Andrew Wiggins did last summer.
Unfortunately for Klay, he has been quite inconsistent this season and the playoffs were the perfect example of that.
In 13 postseason games, he averaged 18.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists on 36.8 percent shooting from three and when the team needed him the most, he was nowhere to be found.
Game 6 Klay is dead. Thompson had eight points, three rebounds and five assists in 38 minutes during a do-or-die clash against the Lakers.
Golden State are at a crossroads. It might be time to farewell one of the best three-point shooters in history, if they want to secure a bright future.
NEW CBA’S LIMITATIONS
Amid all of these decisions, the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement is also a pressing issue for the Warriors dynasty.
There is no way they can keep all their key players with the new luxury tax rules.
“Teams above the second apron will lose access to the taxpayer mid-level exception in free agency, and they’ll face a host of additional restrictions as well, particularly beginning in the 2024-25 offseason,” Forbes’ Bryan Toporek explained.
The team needs to decide if they are comfortable trudging on with the same group that only managed to win 44 regular season games and went to seven games with the most inexperienced playoffs team in years.
It is likely that one or more players like Thompson, Wiggins, Poole and Green won’t be back next season.
Watch this space this summer.
