A discussion about an extension between the Warriors and Andrew Bogut will take place in the offseason ahead, Bogut said to USA Today’s Sam Amick in his NBA A-to-Z podcast. The client of Relativity Sports agent David Bauman isn’t eligible to sign an extension until October 25th next year, the three-year anniversary of his last extension with the Warriors and a date that’s close to the October 31st deadline for players eligible to receive rookie scale extensions. The 31-year-old former No. 1 overall pick is making $13.8MM this season and is scheduled for a salary of $12.681MM next season, though bonus clauses tied to the number of games he plays could affect those numbers.
“Look, we’ll definitely have the discussion,” Bogut said to Amick. “There’s no doubt about it. I’m not a greedy guy. … I know at what point in my career I am, and I definitely want some stability and to remain in the same place if I can. Obviously this is a great team we have going, and I want to remain here. There’s no doubt about that. But we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. I’d love to stay. I’d love to never be a free agent. … I’m happy to stay here if it’s good for both parties, and we’ll see where we’re at.”
Bogut signed a three-year extension in the fall of 2013 with a base salary of $36MM. He already triggered a 15% bonus for last season when he played 65 games and made the NBA’s All-Defensive Second Team. His cap figure for this season reflects the money he’d make if he earns that bonus again, so the oft-injured Bogut, who’s already missed seven games this year, could end up making less than $13.8MM for 2015/16. He has to pull off the double of hitting the games-played mark and receiving the defensive honor to cash in.
His ability to trigger the bonus next season will have an effect on how much he can see in an extension. Veteran extensions can’t contain starting salaries of more than 7.5% of the value of the final season of the existing pact, unless the team is under the cap. Bogut can’t tack any more than three seasons onto his contract, either, but if he were to hit free agency, he could re-sign with the Warriors for five years and up to the maximum salary. However, it’s unlikely he could command max money, and Golden State would probably be reluctant to commit more than three years to a player of his age and injury history.
Bogut told Amick he believes backup center Festus Ezeli, who’s set for restricted free agency this summer, will eventually become a starter and displace him from that role. Harrison Barnes will join Ezeli in 2016 restricted free agency, but the Warriors otherwise have most of their core together through next season. The Warriors only have about $34MM committed for the season in which an extension for Bogut would kick in, but that doesn’t include any money for Stephen Curry, whose contract expires in 2017.
What would a fair extension for Bogut look like? Leave a comment to share your thoughts?
Conidering what his age will be, I would probably say something like 3 years/$25 million added on to those final 2 years should be fair…that being said, I might have miscalculated on his age, and the time his first contract is expiring b/c I didn’t actually check