4:54pm: The Warriors have formally announced in a press release that Myers will step down at the conclusion of his contract.
11:27pm: Warriors president of basketball operations and general manager Bob Myers has decided to step down from his position with the franchise, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
“It’s just time,” Myers told Wojnarowski.
Myers’ contract with the Warriors is set to expire in June and there had been uncertainty in recent months about whether or not he would reach an agreement to remain with the team. According to Wojnarowski, Myers turned down multiple offers from Warriors ownership that would have made him one of the NBA’s highest-paid executives.
Myers, who told Woj that several factors besides money went into his decision and that he’s unsure about his next move, is scheduled to speak to reporters at 3:00 pm CT for his end-of-season press conference. He’ll presumably go into more detail at that time about his decision to give up his front office position in Golden State, but previous reports have indicated he may step away from the NBA to spend more time with family.
A player agent before he transitioned to the team side of the business, Myers joined the Warriors as an assistant general manager in 2011. He was promoted to GM in 2012 and president of basketball operations in 2016, overseeing the most successful run in franchise history.
Although Stephen Curry was drafted before he arrived in Golden State, Myers was largely responsible for building the rosters that won titles in 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2022. He was named the NBA’s Executive Year in both ’15 and ’17.
As Wojnarowski notes, Myers built strong relationships with Warriors franchise cornerstones Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green over the years, so his departure will add more uncertainty to an offseason that was already expected to be an eventful one in Golden State.
Thompson is extension-eligible as he enters a contract year, while Green still has to make a decision on a 2023/24 player option. Jordan Poole‘s lucrative new extension will also go into effect in July as more punitive penalties loom for the NBA’s biggest spenders in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Warriors VP of basketball operations Mike Dunleavy Jr. has been repeatedly mentioned as a possible successor for Myers. According to Wojnarowski, team owner Joe Lacob is also expected to seek a more prominent role for his son Kirk Lacob, who is the club’s executive VP of basketball operations.
Now if only Draymond would step down
This is your best post in a long time…
I’m sure they will survive. Other than Green and Poole, his picks have been eh at best. He’s a bit overrated IMHO.
And Looney, Harrison Barnes, Kuminga, and Moody? Eh at best, really? He gets more credit than he probably deserves, but he’s far from a bad drafter.
He didn’t say he was a bad drafter, just that he’s a bit overrated (which I agree with).
“[…] his picks have been eh at best […]”
Exactly what have Kuminga and Moody proven thus far? They have potential, sure, but that’s it for now. Jury is still out.
Bruh, they’re 20 years old. Both of them. What exactly do they need to prove at that age, right now?
You can not judge Myers primarily by the drafts (especially since many of his picks were late in the 1st round). His best work was in finding the right veteran guys to fill out the roster around the core. The Durant signing was obviously his best work without which there is good chance they have one fewer championship if not two fewer.
You should always judge a GM on non-lottery picks and undrafted rookies. Yes, he got Durant, but he was chasing a ring. After he left, they drafted Looney and Poole and beat the Celtics in the Finals. That Warriors title was the most impressive of them all. If you want to criticize Myers, do it for drafting Wiseman. Myers’ brain was out to lunch that night.
The Durant signing would’ve happened if Golden State had Scott Perry as GM and he thought he was still working for the Kings.
Myers was largely responsible for building the rosters that won titles in 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2022
2012 – Harrison Barnes 7th, Ezeli 30th, Green 35th
2013 – No Pick
2014 – No Pick
2015 – Kevin Looney 28th
2016 – Damian Jones 30th
2017 – No Pick
2018 – Jacob Evans 28th
2019 – Jordan Poole 28th
2020 – James Wiseman 2nd
2021- Kuminga 7th and Moody 14th
2022 – Baldwin 28th
I mean, hard to draft well when you’re picking 28-30th or don’t have any picks during your tenure.
Wiseman 2nd. Kuminga 7th. Barnes 7th. He botched those. Three picks. Barnes is the best of those three and it’s not like anyone is writing him up for any awards.
Not many players after the lottery work out. Especially if you draft for upside at all later instead of just pure ready made bench role player.
Kuminga and Moody are still 2 years into their careers and cant legally drink yet so lets pump the breaks on judging them just yet!
If nepo-boy Kirk Lacob takes over for Meyers things will decline rapidly. Between the new CBA rules and the lack of basketball knowledge possessed by the “light years” family, the Warriors are screwed if it becomes the Lacob show.
Meyer more or less inherited a very good team. West was doing the drafting that brought them some great players. Meyers drafting has seen a waste of a lot of picks.
Drafting was the least important thing that Myers had to do for the championship teams. Also, it is not clear who had the final say on the most recent lottery pick drafts that are looking more and more like big swings and misses.
His signing of Durant and the trade for Wiggins were instrumental in 3 championships.
Durant came way of Green recruiting him and Wiggins came on the awful signing of D’lo
The signing of DLo was not awful it was needed to get something in a sign and trade of Durant. It was expected from day 1 that they were going to flip DLo and it got them a championship because they don’t win last year without Wiggins.
Good luck with that one EKPE
No they were talking D’Lo taking Durant place on offense until they found out he could play defense. D’lo flip was lucky that Wiggins found a team he fit so good on.
The dlo shuffle should be taught in training videos for future nba gms , that was a master stroke
Ofc it falls on deaf ears if you don’t understand how the sausage is made ( it’s ok if ya don’t want to know but it’s going to cause problems when putting takes like this out there )
@ARC Wrong. He was not going to replace Durant’s offense. He was a fill in for Klay who was out for the year. Remember that? Or are you even more recent of a bandwagon fan than you seem . There was no way DLo was going to fit with Steph and Klay once he came back. They knew that. Look up the reports from back then and you can read why they did that sign and trade deal with Durant and DLo. It was not a secret. It was really about preserving the flexibility to acquire a max player which turned out to be Wiggins.
No they wanted him to help on the offense. Unfortunately his defense is so bad he is a negative on the court. They looked at Wiggins to fill Barnes position that was never replaced. They was no predetermined trade D’lo for Wiggins.
Dlo was gone after 5 months of games for a good return. Dont be such a hater!!!
The illegal sign and trade Durant didn’t even know of
A new day has dawned for the Warriors.
The Warriors are Steph Curry. That’s the truth of the matter. Without him none of this happens. Myers is not a great GM, Draymond is not a championship leader, and Klay Thompson is not a perfect Mate in the back court. Suddenly things become very ordinary if Curry is not there.
Yeah of course. You can say the same for every other dynastic team. The Bulls were Jordan. The showtime Lakers were Magic. The Spurs were Duncan. etc. etc.. That is basketball.
I disagree. The Bulls don’t win without Phil Jackson as coach. How long did Jordan play before winning? I guess the roster improved also but I think Phil put him over the top and same with the Lakers a few years afterwards.
The Spurs were more than Duncan as Gregg Popovich was a major major part of that. The Lakers with Magic couldn’t win with Paul Westhead.., ran him out of town and Pat Riley helped get five championship banners. Well that and James Worthy fell into their laps in 1982.
You could say the same applies to Steve Kerr but my assertion is that Curry is way bigger to the Warriors than any of the folks you’ve mentioned here. Just my opinion.
Pop was in San Antonio for five years before they won a title, to be fair. I would say Duncan made the difference in that specific scenario. But I agree with the rest.
@Gary: I’ll disagree slightly on Jordan/Bulls. Collins took them to the ECF in Pippen’s first full season as a starter, then he was fired. In Jackson’s first season, they again lost in the ECF. It wasn’t until the following season, when Pippen really came into his own, that the Bulls finally won.
I don’t think it was as much Jackson as it was Pippen improving (and of course, other teams like the Pistons, Celtics, and Lakers aging out). imo, Bulls would have won championships with Doug Collins. Maybe not six (because that is still a crazy amount) but definitely a few.
The Bulls dynasty had more to do with age and injuries catching up to Boston’s big 3 of McHale, Bird and Parrish along with the downfall of the Bad Boys.
The Lakers drafted Magic to pair with Kareem who was already in place. Magic didn’t like Westhead but they still would’ve won a lot of games with him in place.
Sure Pops got lucky with Duncan, but he was great at finding diamonds in the rough. Parker, Leonard and especially Ginobli(57th overall in a 58 player draft) were all drafted under his watch.
I was good too.
– David Robinson
He was, however he was drafted before Pops became coach.
Hakeem O doesn’t think so
Celtics, Lakers, and Pistons declined. That made things easier on Jordan. That, and removing a hands-on coach like Collins also helped. Post Duncan, Popovich can’t lead his team to a play-in game. Coaches and managers can’t win games, but they can lose them.
The Lakers won with Westhead in 1979-80.
Curry 100% has more than 4 rings if Kerr never replaced Jackson, or if literally anyone with NBA playoffs experience replaced Jackson.
We still dont know if Jackson is a worse coach than Kerr, thats never been officially proven in any way, shape or form.
Are you saying that he’d have more rings of Kerr wasn’t coach? How about Jackson never coaching since he got fired? I would say that speaks loud enough, especially when the players were the ones that complained about him.
Thompson was the perfect back court mate for Curry. He doesn’t need the ball in his hands to make stuff happen, he’s very good at swinging the ball if the shots not there, he’s great at faking a 3 sidestepping than knocking it down. Age has caught up on defense but he was also great at taking on the opposing PG on defense so Curry could save his energy for offense and be free to roam the passing lanes and create turnovers.
Green isn’t a leader off the court but there’s nobody better at getting guys in the right place on defense, he’s also a hell of a passer from the elbow, great at getting Curry the ball when he comes off 17 screens.
Those guys and obviously Curry were keys to the Warriors dynasty and without any one of them they wouldn’t have won 1 championship let alone 4. A lot of credit goes to Kerr as well for unleashing Curry.
@tacocat People always forget that a large part of the Warriors success was built on ball movement. And the key to that ball movement is Draymond.
Disagree respectfully Gary w a lot of that
Gotta give some credit to that motion offence and especially Dray for being the guy in the middle of all of it
GM needs superstar to help win titles. Wow what an observation.
Superstar doesn’t care who the GM is to win titles is the observation.
Great timing. Walk away once the roster is old and ineffective.
Just when it’s time to make real moves for the team he’s quitting … Bye Dray
Thanks for everything, now take Kerr with you!!!
Who would you rather have as Headcoach? Don’t say Iggy. He doesn’t seem the least bit interested in coaching Basketball.
@Giants74 literally anyone with NBA playoffs experience, or any of these coaches who regularly outcoach Kerr when Steph isnt there to bail him out.
I heard Myers is looking for a team that will allow him to suit up and come off the bench!
Cracks are starting in the foundation
Roster wise, the Warriors aren’t in bad shape. Santos is likely to get a two-way contract next season. That gives them 7 players under the age of 23. Wiggins and Looney are 28 and 27, respectively. Can Poole turn it around and earn that pay check?
You never know, Wiggins might just decide to take most of the year off for himself again.
Is Kirk Lacob more of a Kendall or a Roman?
Cousin Greg?
Greg.
Myers is staying one step ahead of the law. It’s NOT that the team is about to fall off a cliff anytime soon, it’s that its no longer ascending. His Big Idea of a two timeline roster has pretty much failed, and with it has gone the best last resources to extend the team’s current window.
What’s left for him here? Presiding over the decline of a dynasty that few people in the know believe he built? Probably not, but I can think of two things: (1) money, and (2) an opportunity to build it back, but for that he’d need an unusually long commitment of time (which is also really money as well) since the current group’s window hasn’t even closed yet. His sundae or it makes no sense for him to stay. Apparently, Lacob, knowing this, decided against giving him that sort of deal. I’m guessing he has well developed opinions on how much Myers did, and did not, contribute to the cause. If I were a GSW fan, I’d trust his judgement.
The 2 timelines failed ONLY because Steve Kerr was too incompetent and too obsessed with losing games by playing 3-guard, all under 6’9″ lineups, which lost because thats a dumb tactic, because Kerr is bad at coaching he does these dumb things. Also he let the punch thing get out, because he’s useless on every level and has never once coached any basketball team that didnt have Steph Curry on it, and has like a 20-90 record without him. He refuses to play players over 40 MPG for any reason, its ludicrous and Lebron wont stand for it. Kerr leaving will causing GSW to win at least 5 more rings.
No, it’s inherently flawed, as the NBA contract/payroll system can’t support it.
@8rings
You know your bs, complaining about Kerr is getting old and stale with your opinions solely based on your vast video games and fantasy sports experience. Perhaps you should come out of your parents basement, get a life and open your eyes to reality?
So if he takes another job right away he’s a coward. NBA changed the rules to clamp down on teams like Golden State so he bails?
2020 and 2021 drafts were a complete failure. That just shows you how good he really is at evaluating talent.
Drafts are so unpredictable and maybe one of the worst ways to evaluate a Gm ( it’s really the scouts job )
Meyers won 4 rings in a time where it’s harder to win them
Dudes a baller plain and simple
Last season Warriors struggled big time with Green out with injury. It wasn’t until his return when they took off, and won a title. Doesn’t happen without him. It amazes me how soon that’s forgotten. If he goes, and Poole stays, theyre a lottery team.
My question is was he pushed out or not? Was he not happy working for Lacob ot not? Did he have authority or not?? Did he have too much pressure and strss?? Was he really offered $10m or that was just PR stunt and not a genuine offer?? I kind of understand why he is leaving, but hard to believe he is leaving before the all star trio and/or Kerr.
I believe he was as high on Wiseman as lacob was. That is not my opinion. That was mentioned by media. And I think lacob was instrumental in Poole extension. So, Michol, I do think he wasn’t happy with them. But I don’t think he was pushed out. He just wanted out for those reasons above. my opinion anyway
Oops, not as high as lacob was. big difference. my bad
To walk away from $10m a year …. Bottom line is he didnt have full authority, he didnt feel appreciated, and didnt want to take blame for future failures. He also probably didnt want to be part of offseason decisions to come.
The reality is, this is not the kind of roster that was ever going to have sustained success. Aging, injury-prone shooters that sleep through defense. A dirty player that can’t score to save his life and Andrew Wiggins- that is if he feels like showing up for half, or even most of the season. Golden State doesn’t have the heart to compete.
This is one job I wouldn’t want…
An ageing HOF candidate in Curry means you have to try and win now…
But with big contracts for Draymond and Poole, and Klay not near his former self yet…
There’s far too much bloat in the salary as it is to make decent moves… And with Kay and Draymond being integral parts to their former success, moving them would be hard for Curry to accept…
Throw in the new salary cap rules and I’d look for a new job elsewhere and be known as the GM that was running the show during the titles…
Not the GM who failed to build around Curry late in his career…