The Warriors haven’t given up in their pursuit to acquire Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen but they’re willing to wait and see how the process plays out, Anthony Slater of The Athletic reports.
Markkanen, who has an expiring $18MM contract, becomes extension-eligible on Aug. 6. From what Slater is hearing, the Jazz plan to renegotiate-and-extend Markkanen by using their remaining cap space.
If Markkanen signs that type of contract on that date, he would still be eligible to be traded at the February deadline. However, if he signs any time after that (beginning on Aug. 7), he’d be ineligible to be dealt during the season due to the league’s six-month trade restriction on renegotiated contracts. That provides some extra leverage for Markkanen, which could dictate whether he gets moved this offseason to the Warriors or another suitor.
The Kings made a strong push to acquire Markkanen last week but they were unwilling to give up Keegan Murray in a proposed deal. Instead, they made a substantial picks-based offer. They put a deadline on pursuing a trade with Utah and the Jazz didn’t meet it, so Sacramento pivoted to a sign-and-trade for DeMar DeRozan.
The Warriors don’t feel that type of urgency, Slater continues. They’re comfortable with the 14-man roster they current have with the free agent additions of De’Anthony Melton, Kyle Anderson and Buddy Hield. There’s no room financially under the hard cap to fill the 15th spot.
Golden State appears, on paper, to need one more impact player to be a legitimate contender again. But Slater’s sources tell him that the front office and ownership don’t feel compelled to make that type of move right away unless the right opportunity comes along. It’s also noted that the front office is increasingly willing to add future first-round picks and make pick swaps in trade offers.
The Warriors are currently below the tax aprons but above the tax line. Owner Joe Lacob is still willing to spend to remain competitive.
Lindy Waters III and Gui Santos have non-guaranteed deals but the Warriors currently plan to keep both of those reserves. Second-round pick Quinten Post is expected to sign a two-way contract, Slater adds.
Warriors don’t feel urgency to upgrade their roster? If that’s true then every single person in that front office needs to be fired and Lacob needs to sell high. Utah has no reason to give the Warriors a discount. Waiting doesn’t change that.
What a weird offseason in Golden State
Yes they went big game hunting but came up short. In the meantime they plugged a few holes with serviceable veterans but that puts them in the same place as last year.., A play-in candidate.
I guess they tread water in 24-25 and burn a year of Curry’s excellence. Oh well.
Or Maybe they capture lightning in a bottle and their team defense helps them to a playoff spot. Then their three-point shooting gets a series win or two and it’s a successful year. Ho hum.
I don’t necessarily agree with warriors automatically being a play-in team with the roster they have. For those who watched every game last season, we saw how many times they blew a game, gift-wrapped in fact to other teams, or lost by 3 or less points or on a game winner. And yeah, that obviously showed something was missing, but they still won 46 games when they could have won 50+. I’ll miss Klay as a life long warriors fan, I thought CP played really well and controlled the bench unit, especially since the year before their bench struggled mightily with Poole leading the second unit. But I do think they’ve made some very solid, underrated moves that could propel them into being better than people think. Obviously if steph completely loses a huge step then the story is different but if man plays like he did last season and Draymond stays on the court they’ll surprise people. They have a lot of depth, and have really strong defensive players at the moment
For the record the Warriors offseason is this:
OUT:
Klay Thompson (defense was worst of his career, overall game took a step back)
Chris Paul (will literally be 40 during next season)
Dario Saric (was good, then 100% checked out and terrible after DM died)
Usman Garuba (roster filler)
Lester Quinones (roster filler)
Jerome Robinson (2-way)
IN:
Buddy Hield (basically was identical to Klay last season, is only here to shoot)
Kyle Anderson (huge sign, a 6’9″ guy who can play defense makes this team better, plus his overall game is like 10x better than Saric’s)
De’Anthony Melton (really interesting younger player looking to improve his game, which is already solid. High floor type.)
Lindy Waters III (like Melton, is the type to be looking to improve and unravel more of his already tooled-up game)
Quentin Post (a “big boy”, excellent-defending center who shoots 3’s like Joker AND was a 4 year starter at BC? Meaning Kerr will use him immediately like he did TJD? Awesome get if healthy.)
Reece Beekman (Marcus Smart-light. Another excellent draft pick, a PG who plays elite defense and isn’t horrible running an offense. If GSW move Podz, Beekman might be a better version of him ready and willing to slide right into Podz’ roster spot.)
Post is not a good defender. He is stiff in the hips and unathletic with ok wingspan numbers. He is offensively really good since he can do some things near the basket and is the best 3pt shooting big in the class, but his defense needs work and he is a development project.
You’re really expecting a lot of out the 52nd pick and a dude who went undrafted.
Definitely no homerism detected in your comment.
Agree that we have a better roster than last year, but that will come primarily from our 4 young rotation players, which you don’t mention. I disagree that Waters and Post will contribute in any meaningful way.
These are players #13 and #14. Waters is behind, literally, 8 guys who want his minutes: Hield, Kuminga, Wiggins, Moody, Melton, Podz, and Payton. Post may have something to offer, but I doubt it’s this year.
There’s a reason the warriors got these guys for lower paying deals. It is because they are dime a dozen guys, particularly Hield, who can shoot, but is a dreadful guy on the defensive end. Melton had a significant back injury last year to the point where he came back after 1-2 games couldn’t play again due to the same issue after a long lay off. Kyle Anderson isn’t a bad bench player but he doesn’t move the needle a ton. They needed to make a much bigger change than they did but the nba tax rules were definitely made to restrict an owner like Lacob.
Why go all while you don’t know if he will resign an extension? Warriors have some young players and if they do well Ainge will come calling for them.
Huh? How is it weird? The probability of Klay leaving was already high. It was going to happen at some point. All major player movement is done. It is pretty improbable that anything happens before the next trade deadline. Lacob has been in basketball long enough to know this. Does Utah really even want to trade Markkanen? I’m sure they are in no hurry to him. After the Poole debacle, there is no reason to rush into anything.
The Warriors’ lack of urgency is just typical rumor talk. They may or may be that urgent to upgrade the roster but I don’t think Utah feels much urgency to trade Markkanen.
Weird off-season? Or you could say pathetic off-season.
Nothing better than watching dynasties crumble.
Wonder how Draymond is gonna act when this team is playing under 500 this season.
I don’t see the Warriors playing under .500 unless something major happens to Draymond or Steph. They didn’t get much better but other than OKC and Memphis I don’t really see anyone else in the West that got all they much better this off season either.
Nothing better watching the Warrior haters crying seeing another championship banner being raised.
Draymond was very good on-court last season, he literally played the best basketball he has played since 2017-18, so you sound even crazier because it’s not like he’s a bad player getting suspended. You put all the failure of the team on him instead of the team refusing to play defense without him.
Looks like the Warriors are hanging around and not taking their offer off the table.
They don’t have a backup plan to acquire a different Marquee player.
But what they are offering won’t be good enough for Danny Ainge to accept. This stand still will result in nothing happening and Lauri signing off on an extension with the Jazz.
He’s too good a player to give away at less than the going market rate, which is pretty substantial considering the trades that have gone down recently.
This is one fun rumor! It would be very entertaining to see what a combination of Lauri, Steph and Draymond could do.
Danny is going to want the biggest haul in draft picks and top tier prospects for either one and golden state does not have anywhere near enogh to offer danny
This trade still works!
Jazz acquire:
Brandin Podziemski
3 future first round picks from GSW
1 future second round pick from CHI
Bulls acquire:
Andrew Wiggins
Kevon Looney
Gary Payton II
Warriors acquire:
Lauri Markkanen
Zach LaVine
1 future second round pick from CHI
Money from Utah and Chicago to ease cap space/tax apron issues
One Podz isn’t going anywhere. Bulls want no piece of that either.
A professional beat writer said it, so sorry, you are wrong.
Professional beat writers don’t make trades. Is LaVine even healthy enough to replace Podz? What makes you think Utah would even want Podz?
Lol. Sports writers are home market hype men. They’re one of the last people to listen to about market value.
Yeah, as opposed to you, “Ming312”, well-known NBA insider??
Yeah, professional beat writers are never wrong!
Also, if all 3 players play well they become tradeable assets, all 3 could bring back draft picks, and getting 3 picks for LaVine is exactly what the Bulls want.
Makes no sense.
Bulls aren’t trying to take on any big contracts. They’re trying to get younger. Part of the reason they’re having trouble unloading Lavine is they’re not as willing to take back horrible contracts. They’ve even been willing to include 1sts to unload him without taking back any substantial money. So taking back Wiggins 3 years doesn’t fit the bill.
Now if you can find a way to offload Lavine without wiggins going to chi maybe it’d work. But seems like youll either need to do separate deals to get lavine and Lauri to gsw or include a 4th or 5th team.
As a kings fan to see the wait and see approach with a certain buddy Hield mentioned as a “ hey we’re doin ok ourselves heeaaah “ uhh yea if you can get him then just get it done . I actually wouldn’t be shocked if the kings figure out a way to get it done and at the 11 hour … Murray might be available
Murray is absolutely not available because of luxury tax
Kings need to add $30 million salary plus tax next season
Actually It’s fine if Jazz take $20 million more annual salary from Kings on the deal
I’ve got to admit, I read alot of different teams fan forums for all different sports and there is no fan base that sees their team thru rose colored glasses like the Warriors. Y’all could have with Custer at the Little Big Horn and still find a ray of sunshine.
That’s what happens when a team dominates for some time. Think about how many bandwagon Lakers, Yankees, RedSox, Giants, Cowboys, Niners, Patriots fans there are. It’s the same with the dubs. But true fans see the reality that you’re fav team is not gonna win every year. However, when you have a talent like Steph and a system like the warriors it’s hard not to rule them out especially when the NBA is a parity and it’s anyone’s game
Yeah its also the greatest long-term payoff fan experience of all-time. We were absolutely garbage from 1977-2013, then finally won it all with Steph in 2015, and kept winning. If you stuck through it after all that, you are allowed to see your team “through rose colored glasses”, because they earned it.
The crazier thing that happens nowadays is that people like you openly state how hard you are owned by another team/person/political party/etc. and then turn around and act like you “won” something here. You lost then and you continue to lose. GSW won the 2022 title, that is not that long ago and Steph is still here.
I would never post something like you did about any other team, and neither would a GSW fan. Grow up, we won and still are good because Steph and Dray are still good. When GSW wins another chip what are YOU going to do? You seem unstable…
Are the Warriors really serious about going all in to acquire an All Star? Were they really serious to give $212m to 34 yr old player? Or were they just pretending to appease Curry, Dray, fans, sponsors, and at the same time help Clippers lose PG13? Same regarding Markkanen…. Are Warriors really willing to part with Kuminga and all their unprotected draft picks??
Warrriors has successful offseason thus far. They do not have to do another move at least until trade deadline. Warriors will have many more options then including major selling to gather assets, or buying if the team is playing well.
The warriors aren’t playing games with the clippers or any sponsors. Their mandate has always been the same, if they are winning money will not be an issue. I don’t think you appreciate the cash cow that the chase center is, or being the only basketball team in the wealthiest city in America, the heart of the Silicon Valley.
I moved a year ago, but before I moved, tickets to a warriors game when curry was injured and not playing, was near $500 each for nose bleeds. During their latest championship run, home games were bringing $15-25 million in revenue per game. Paying stars will not be an issue as long as Curry remains. And, as long as Curry is a warrior, Draymond will be as well. Despite not being a “splash” brother, Draymond is Curry’s enforcer. He always has been, and always will be. They are a pair, and thrive together. Go back and watch some tape, anytime a guy goes near Curry, Draymond is all over them. Teammates and opponents alike, Curry needs Draymond.
To me, the warriors are moving back to their strength in number days. They brought in a bunch of guys with different skill sets, and are expecting the youngsters to step up like they did 10 years ago.
It’s negligent not to explore every avenue of improvement, including trading for stars that are available. A lot has been reported about what the wiz in Utah thinks he’s going to get for Lauri, but no reports about any team willing to come close to that asking price. Lauri has been in the league a long time and doesn’t have a great track record of success, outside of last year. Warriors are being patient, because they clearly see that other teams are valuing Lauri the same. You don’t bid against yourself.
I know it’s probably not going to happen but I’d actually like to see Lauri go to Detroit.
Think he’d actually be a really nice fit for them long term playing off Cade and Holland offering some length and floor spacing.
He’s very much a catch and shoot or two dribble pull up kinda guy, whereas Cade and Ron both like the ball in their hands and to drive with it, so having someone like Lauri would complement these two.
They could offer away Beef Stew and Jaden Ivey with say 2 first round picks, it’s not the 4 or 5 draft pick package they had hoped for like Mikal but being Detroit’s unprotected picks maybe they hold more value, plus Ivey and Stew are still really young former first round picks themselves.
For Utah, you’d have Keyonte George and now your adding Jaden Ivey, that’s a nice backcourt combination. Then you’ve got Cody Williams, Taylor Hendricks, Kyle Filipowski, Beef Stew and Walker Kessler as the main part of your young core, ofcourse there’s also Collier, Sensabaugh and Lofton. That wouldn’t be a bad return for Lauri who needs a new extension anyway.
As for Detroit long term, it’s Cade Thompson Holland Lauri and Duren but for now you’d probably have a shooter alongside Cade in the form of THJ and over Holland you’ve got Tobias. Ivey leaving doesn’t really leave a hole as you’ve already got Sasser and brought in Beasley. Nor does Stewart with new additions Drummond and Reed. So really your getting Lauri for 2 firsts but you’re banking on no longer being a rebuilding team near the bottom of the standings, instead you’ve got this young really competitive roster who will be in the playoffs.
Sounds more like the Warriors FO’s deliberate floating of rumors to the media in order to support their negotiating position towards the Jazz. A little gamesmanship to avoid looking desperate.
Markkanen doesn’t fit whatever timeline Ryan Smith and his stooge Danny Boy are “envisioning”, to use that term loosely, for their bottom-feeding franchise. They’ll have to dispose of Markkanen one way or the other. With Utah’s upcoming years of tanking, ownership won’t pay a max player while deliberately losing games. And Markkanen himself would be an irredeemable idiot to waste his career in SLC and never make the playoffs in his life.
Markkanen will get moved at some point. It’s only a matter of the right price.
I think if the warriors get Lauri, Draymond won’t pass him the ball. I think if they get LaVine, Steph will request a trade.
Trade Payton and Waters or Santos for Steven Adams or Kelly Olynyk. Those are the best options
Only the Spurs have enough to offer them, but it’s not clear they will