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Latest On Wizards, Bradley Beal

June 15th, 2023 at 3:23pm CST by Rory Maher

Although new Wizards president Michael Winger has publicly said he’s still undecided on whether or not he’s going to reshape the roster this offseason and recent reports have echoed that same sentiment, rival teams believe it’s practically a foregone conclusion that Bradley Beal will eventually be traded, Marc Stein writes in his latest Substack article.

The primary obstacle in a potential deal is Beal’s full no-trade clause — he’s the only active player in the league with that provision in his contract. Not only would Beal have to approve a trade, but the no-trade clause — and the nearly $208MM he’s owed over the next four seasons — would carry over to his new team as well, which complicates matters for both the Wizards and any interested suitors. He has also been limited by injuries the past two seasons, appearing in 90 of a possible 164 games.

Both Stein and Fred Katz of The Athletic have heard that the Heat would be at the top of Beal’s list of preferred landing spots. Stein says Miami is “widely regarded” as the frontrunner to acquire the three-time All-Star.

Sources tell Katz that the Warriors and Knicks, to varying degrees, are teams that have been interested Beal in the past. According to Katz, the Knicks have made it known they would reciprocate that interest if Beal were made available.

The Kings have discussed a Beal trade with the Wizards, and he’s believed to be open to joining Sacramento, sources tell Shams Charania and Sam Amick of The Athletic (Twitter link). However, as of now, nothing seems imminent on that front.

Here’s more on the Wizards and Beal:

  • The Wizards are believed to be prioritizing financial relief and draft capital in a return package for Beal, according to Stein, but that doesn’t mean that will come to fruition. As Stein observes, since Beal can reject any trade proposal, he has a significant amount of power to impact the terms of a deal.
  • Washington’s previous front office regime unsuccessfully tried to reacquire the 2024 protected first-round pick it owes New York, sources tell Katz. That pick would hold more value to the Wizards in the event of a rebuild, Katz observes, which may work to the Knicks’ advantage if they pursue Beal.
  • Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports confirms previous reports that the Celtics and Sixers do not plan to pursue Beal, despite being linked to the veteran guard in the past. The Sixers also aren’t expected to go after Fred VanVleet if James Harden walks in free agency, Fischer adds.
  • In what figures to be an eventual offseason for the Wizards, both Stein and Fischer have heard that big man Kristaps Porzingis is still contemplating whether or not to exercise his $36MM player option for 2023/24. The 27-year-old would become an unrestricted free agent if he doesn’t pick up the option, with his decision deadline set for June 21.
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Timberwolves Notes: Towns, Gobert, Christon

June 14th, 2023 at 7:35pm CST by Arthur Hill

Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns addressed trade speculation during an appearance on a podcast with former teammate Patrick Beverley.

“Future-wise, I see everyone is trying to sell my house but me,” Towns joked, which Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic explained is a reference to an erroneous report that Towns put his home on the market (Twitter link).

“I’m gonna keep it simple like this,” Towns added. “The rumors are as true or as false as Minnesota makes them to be.”

Trade rumors regarding Towns stem from his super-max extension, which will begin in the 2024/25 season. The deal has an estimated value of $224MM over four years and will place a financial strain on a team that has already committed big money to Rudy Gobert over the next three seasons and will likely be giving a hefty extension to Anthony Edwards this summer.

A recent story by Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report states that many rival executives believe Minnesota will trade Towns before the extension kicks in, with some speculating that the team will “jump at an opportunity” if one arises in the next few weeks.

There’s more on the Timberwolves:

  • Towns also told Beverley that when he retires, “There’s gonna be people who are gonna say that I changed the game,” referring to his unique outside shooting ability for a big man. That prompted a Twitter response from Warriors forward Draymond Green, who wrote, “Aye @patbev21, when people come on yo show they change the game!!l?!? I’m looking forward to it man.”
  • Gobert sent out a tweet congratulating the Nuggets after they wrapped up their first championship Monday night, but some people are interpreting it as a slight to the Jazz, per Chris Hine of The Star-Tribune. “Happy for the Nuggets, beautiful Team basketball all year around,” Gobert wrote. “Failed over and over in the previous years, didn’t quit on their guys. And Nikola Jokic will finally get the respect he deserves!” Utah traded away Gobert and Donovan Mitchell last summer after several years of its own playoff frustration.
  • Former Thunder player Semaj Christon has parted ways with his European team and will join Minnesota for an upcoming free agent mini-camp, according to Cesare Milanti of Eurohoops. The 30-year-old point guard averaged 15.7 PPG this season with Derthona Basket in Italy. He played 64 games for Oklahoma City during the 2016/17 season.
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Draft Rumors: Trades, Hornets, Blazers, Whitmore, Pistons, Mavs, More

June 14th, 2023 at 9:22am CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers, Warriors, Nets, Grizzlies, and Pacers are among the teams with draft picks in the back half of the first round who are believed to be exploring trade scenarios, Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo report within their latest mock draft for ESPN.com (Insider link).

According to Givony, the Lakers are especially interested in talking to teams that hold multiple picks, which suggests they may be open to trading down from No. 17 in order to acquire an extra selection or two. The Warriors are looking into the possibility of moving up from No. 19 by moving a young player like Jonathan Kuminga, sources tell ESPN.

The Nets, who hold the Nos. 21 and 22 picks, are investigating whether they might be able to move into the lottery or the middle of the first round by packaging those two selections, according to Givony, who says Memphis (No. 25) is another team seeking opportunities to move into the late lottery or mid-first round.

As for the Pacers, they have a lottery pick at No. 7 and are thought to be interested in adding an “explosive, defensive-minded power forward,” so Givony has them selecting Jarace Walker in that spot, noting that Ausar Thompson and Taylor Hendricks are also very much on their radar. Indiana also controls the 26th, 29th, and 32nd overall picks and has been engaged in trade discussions about those selections. It seems unlikely the club will use all of them, per Woo.

Here’s more from ESPN’s two draft experts:

  • Scoot Henderson had a “highly impressive” workout with the Hornets over the weekend, but Brandon Miller still looks like the favorite to be the pick at No. 2, says Givony. If a team like the Pelicans were willing to include an impact player such as Brandon Ingram in an offer for the second overall pick, that could shake up the top of the draft, but it’s still too early to say whether that’s a realistic possibility, according to Givony.
  • While the Trail Blazers continue to explore trade opportunities at No. 3 and have done due diligence by working out prospects outside of the consensus top three, they seem content to select either Henderson or Miller if they hang onto the pick, Givony reports.
  • Villanova forward Cam Whitmore is receiving consideration from the Rockets at No. 4 and is viewed as one of the leading candidates to be drafted there, along with Amen Thompson, says Woo. If he’s not picked fourth overall, Whitmore seems like a good bet to go fifth, Givony writes, given the makeup of the Pistons‘ roster.
  • Givony suggests that a trade of Pistons forward Bojan Bogdanovic for Mavericks wing Tim Hardaway Jr. and the No. 10 pick is one scenario that could be “in play.” Based on Givony’s wording, it’s unclear whether that offer has been put on the table by either team or if it has even been seriously considered. But the specific terms suggest it has at least been discussed.
  • Arkansas guard Anthony Black has worked out – or will work out – for several lottery teams, including the Magic (Nos. 6 and 11), Jazz (Nos. 9 and 16), and Mavericks (No. 10), says Woo. The ESPN mock has Black being drafted at No. 8 by the Wizards, who are said to be focused primarily on backcourt players.
  • The Raptors are believed to be a “strong suitor” for Kansas wing Gradey Dick, according to Givony, though there’s also speculation that Toronto could be major movers on the trade market and might not end up picking at No. 13.
  • The Jazz (Nos. 9 and 16) and Thunder (No. 12) sent decision-makers to Europe this week to watch French wing Bilal Coulibaly in the LNB Pro A playoffs, according to Woo, who has Coulibaly coming off the board at No. 14 to the Pelicans in ESPN’s mock.
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Nuggets Notes: Murray, Irving, Smith, Williams, Braun, Watson, Anunoby

June 13th, 2023 at 9:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Nuggets’ path to the championship was a testament to perseverance and patience. They didn’t panic when they fell short in previous postseasons, nor did they feel the need to replace coach Michael Malone. They were rewarded this season but there was some measure of luck involved. ESPN’s Zach Lowe (Insider link) offers some sourced nuggets on the Nuggets, sharing details about the steps along the way to the first title in franchise history. Here are some of the highlights from Lowe’s story:

  • The Nuggets never seriously considered trading Jamal Murray as he rehabbed from his ACL injury but former executive Tim Connelly approached Malone five or six years ago to say that Murray could be moved for a high-profile veteran player or two. Kyrie Irving, who requested a trade from the Cavaliers during the 2017 offseason, was one of the players Denver considered acquiring in a Murray deal, but the team ultimately decided against pursuing Irving.
  • The Nuggets had an opportunity to move journeyman point guard Ish Smith prior to this season’s trade deadline, but coaches and players lobbied the front office to keep him. Smith didn’t play much but he proved to be a powerful influence behind the scenes, including mimicking the Heat’s playbook as part of Denver’s scout team at Finals practices.
  • General manager Calvin Booth considered trading up to the No. 10 spot — held by the Wizards — in last year’s draft with the idea of selecting Jalen Williams. The Nuggets also considered moving up later in the lottery to nab Christian Braun, even though he was projected as a late first-rounder. They got him anyway at No. 21. They were also concerned that the Warriors would take Peyton Watson with the No. 28 pick. Golden State passed on Watson and Denver grabbed him at No. 30.
  • In one of the few mistakes they made, the Nuggets traded down from No. 13 to No. 24 in the 2017 draft — the 13th pick turned out to be Donovan Mitchell. Denver had considered taking OG Anunoby at that spot but felt he was a reach at that point in the draft. Anunoby came off the board at No. 23 and the Nuggets wound up with long-forgotten Tyler Lydon with the next pick.
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Warriors Aren’t Shopping Jordan Poole

June 12th, 2023 at 10:11am CST by Arthur Hill

There’s no guarantee that Jordan Poole will be on the Warriors‘ roster next season, but the front office isn’t actively shopping him and there’s not a demand from ownership to reduce salary, sources tell Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Slater states that nobody from Poole’s camp has received an indication that he will be traded this summer.

Golden State officials would probably listen to trade offers for Poole, Slater adds, but the organization doesn’t mind bringing back the core of the team for another season. The strictest penalties for high-spending teams in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement won’t take effect until the 2024/25 season, and Klay Thompson‘s $43MM salary will be off the books by then.

The four-year, $123MM extension that Poole received last fall will kick in next season, raising his salary from $3.9MM to $27.4MM and providing another financial challenge for a team that’s already well into luxury tax territory. Re-signing Draymond Green could push the organization’s total bill for tax and salaries to more than $400MM. Even so, Slater’s sources say the Warriors aren’t looking at salary-dump trades this offseason and the goal of any moves will be to make the team more competitive.

Poole had a down year after helping Golden State win the NBA title in 2022, leading some observers to question whether he’s able to live up to his new contract. He averaged a career-high 20.4 PPG, but he shot just 43% from the field and 33.6% from three point-range. He saw his playing time fluctuate, both in the regular season and playoffs, and was particularly ineffective during the second-round loss to the Lakers.

However, Poole has strong supporters in Kirk Lacob and Mike Dunleavy Jr., who are running the team ahead of the impending departure of general manager Bob Myers. Lacob and Dunleavy were both strong supporters of giving Poole his extension, according to Slater, who notes that during his time as a scout, Dunleavy was a proponent of drafting Poole in the first round in 2019.

The Warriors still haven’t named a formal replacement for Myers, Slater adds, but Lacob and Dunleavy are expected to eventually have their roles elevated and will continue running the team.

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Warriors Notes: Kerr, Poole, Kuminga, Draft, DiVincenzo

June 10th, 2023 at 9:52pm CST by Arthur Hill

Steve Kerr’s praise for the Heat‘s role players during an appearance on Draymond Green‘s podcast could be interpreted as a message to some of the Warriors, Tim Kawakami of The Athletic writes in a mailbag column. Golden State’s head coach talked about how Miami’s players were able to embrace their roles and adapt from game to game without complaining about playing time.

There were rumors throughout the season that several Warriors — Jordan Poole and Jonathan Kuminga in particular — were unhappy about not having steady minutes. Kawakami notes that Kerr’s comments to Green were similar to what he has been saying all season and an echo of a speech that Stephen Curry delivered to the team before Game 7 of its first-round series against the Kings.

Kawakami adds that Green is in full agreement with Kerr’s stance and wouldn’t be concerned about offending anyone by pointing it out publicly. The message they hoped to deliver is that the team needs more commitment from its young players, similar to what the Heat have been displaying.

There’s more on the Warriors:

  • Management doesn’t appear inclined to overhaul the roster before next season, Kawakami adds. He states that the front office might listen to offers if they get calls about Poole, but the core of the team will probably remain together for at least another year, with Curry and Klay Thompson under contract and Green considered likely to re-sign.
  • According to Kawakami, Kerr’s future as head coach shouldn’t be affected by the hiring of a new general manager, and it seems to be more connected with Curry’s playing career. Kawakami believes Kerr can continue coaching the team for as long as he wants if Curry remains productive.
  • Golden State may consider Iowa forward Kris Murray with the 19th pick in the draft, former Warrior Festus Ezeli of NBC Sports Bay Area said on the “Dubs Talk” podcast. “There is an importance to the NBA draft,” Ezeli said. “… I’ve seen some rumblings about (Kings forward) Keegan Murray‘s brother, who’s also a shooter. Different pieces like that.”
  • Knicks guard Josh Hart has talked to fellow Villanova alum Donte DiVincenzo about coming to New York in free agency (Twitter link from New York Basketball). DiVincenzo has a $4.725MM player option on the two-year deal he signed with the Warriors last summer.
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California Notes: George, Leonard, Warriors, Johnson, Hachimura

June 10th, 2023 at 1:45pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Following yet another injury-plagued regular season and postseason, the Clippers are once again confronted by an uncertain future this offseason. The team has just the Nos. 30 and 48 picks in this year’s draft, but in a breakdown from The Athletic’s Law Murray and Sam Vecenie of the team’s tenuous fate, Vecenie proposes a possible solution for Los Angeles to get further draft equity.

Vecenie opines that it might behoove the Clippers to offload All-Star forward Paul George now, suggesting the 33-year-old vet could become one of the most appealing trade targets on the market. Vecenie believes that a rival club might even take a flyer on pricey former All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard, who doesn’t seem capable of staying healthy long enough to help L.A. win meaningful games. Vecenie notes that Leonard is only signed through the 2024/25 season and still has quite a ceiling when he is available.

Should Los Angeles run things back for a fifth season with George and Leonard, however, Vecenie posits that the club could probably net a rotation player, perhaps an athletic veteran with size, by offloading its first-rounder.

There’s more out of California:

  • Rebuilding the Warriors’ disrupted team chemistry has emerged as the most important element of its summer, writes Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. Poole notes that head coach Steve Kerr and departing team president Bob Myers both acknowledged that the team’s championship culture took a hit this season, with Kerr specifically pointing to the moment forward Draymond Green punched shooting guard Jordan Poole in the face during a preseason altercation. One year removed from winning its fourth championship with Green, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala, Golden State dropped 30 of its 41 road games in the regular season and was booted from the playoffs in the second round by the Lakers.
  • Kansas State swingman Keyontae Johnson could be an ideal culture fit for the Warriors, opines Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area. Johnson recently worked out for the Warriors along with five other players in front of team coaches and front office members. Johnson missed all but five games across his last two NCAA seasons at Florida due to heart inflammation, but had an eventual 2022/23 comeback upon transferring to the Wildcats.
  • Lakers power forward Rui Hachimura, a restricted free agent, discussed his upcoming free agency during a recent appearance on ESPN’s “Hoop Streams” show with hosts Cassidy Hubbarth, Gary Striewski, and Tim Legler (YouTube video link). While Hachimura is uncertain about his future, he was clearly appreciative of his postseason experience with the Lakers. “Back at that time (of the trade to L.A.), we didn’t even know we were going to make the playoffs,” Hachimura said. “So we made the playoffs and the playoff run was pretty good, we lost to Denver but it was pretty good for us. I don’t know my future but I just want to be somewhere I can be happy. The Lakers have been good and we’re going to see.”
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Woj: Suns Taking “Flurry” Of Trade Calls For CP3

June 9th, 2023 at 9:10pm CST by Rory Maher

Phoenix has received a “flurry” of trade calls regarding Chris Paul after the rest of the NBA discovered that the Suns wouldn’t be waiving the future Hall of Famer, at least not yet, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported on NBA Countdown (YouTube link).

“There are teams that would like to see if they could stack up enough contracts to take on (Paul’s cap hit) for this season and keep him, perhaps even flip him at the trade deadline.

“There are other teams who would trade for him and treat it like salary-cap savings,” Wojnarowski said. “They would not guarantee his contract before that June 28 deadline, and then he would become a free agent.”

As Wojnarowski noted, Paul’s $30.8MM contract for 2023/24 is only partially guaranteed for $15.8MM at the moment, but will become fully guaranteed if he’s not waived on or before June 28.

If Paul does reach free agency, Wojnarowki once again cites the Lakers and Clippers as teams that would have interest in pursuing the veteran point guard. However, he also adds two new clubs — the Knicks and the Warriors — to the list of Paul’s possible free agency suitors.

The Suns are reportedly exploring three options regarding Paul: Trading him; waiving him and perhaps re-signing him (which is far from a guarantee, since he would be free to sign with any team); and waiving him and then using the stretch provision to spread out his $15.8MM partial guarantee over five years (he would be ineligible to re-sign with Phoenix in that scenario).

For what it’s worth, new head coach Frank Vogel recently said he’s “very interested” in working with Paul next season, as Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic relays.

“I think he’s got a great opportunity to win a championship,” Vogel said in a SiriusXM NBA Radio interview Friday with hosts Amin Elhassan and Eddie Johnson, who does color commentary for the Suns. “I know he’s very motivated by that and I’m very motivated to be the guy that helps him get there. I’m very interested in coaching Chris and Chris being back with us. I’ve communicated that to him. There’s just that, an intangible piece that you cannot overlook when you’re talking about a guy like Chris Paul, right?“

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And-Ones: Hard Cap, New CBA, All-Star Game, Top FAs

June 9th, 2023 at 11:39am CST by Luke Adams

NBA teams become hard-capped at the tax apron when they either acquire a player via sign-and-trade, use more than the taxpayer portion of the mid-level exception, or use the bi-annual exception. According to Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report (Twitter link), there will be a fourth way that clubs can hard-cap themselves next season — they won’t be able to spend above the first tax apron if they take back more than 110% of the salary they send out in a trade during the 2023/24 league year.

In a full story for Bleacher Report, Pincus takes a more comprehensive look at which teams will be most impacted by the increased spending restrictions that will be implemented starting next season as a result of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement.

While it’s no surprise that the Warriors and Clippers will be among the clubs most adversely impacted, Pincus also names the Hawks, Pelicans, and Heat that will have to be careful about their team salaries going forward. A Pelicans team source tells Bleacher Report that there’s “a zero percent chance” New Orleans will be able to keep its entire core intact through 2025/26, with young players like Trey Murphy, Herbert Jones, and Jose Alvarado due for raises in the coming years.

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • Appearing on NBA Countdown on ESPN prior to Game 3 of the Finals (YouTube link), commissioner Adam Silver didn’t close the door on the possibility of the league pitting a U.S. team against an international team in the All-Star Game down the road. As Silver explained, the NBA has historically shied away from that idea due to the imbalance in the two player pools, but the recent success enjoyed by international stars has put it back on the league’s radar.
  • John Hollinger of The Athletic ranks the top 25 free agents of 2023 using his BORD$ formula, with Kyrie Irving, James Harden, and Fred VanVleet leading the way.
  • The NBA is considering using technology to automate out-of-bounds and goaltending calls late in games and will test that technology in this July’s summer leagues, NBA president of basketball operations Byron Spruell confirmed this week (link via Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com). Spruell added that the league hopes to eventually have its referees focusing more on subjective rulings than the objective ones that could become automated.
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2023 NBA Offseason Preview: Golden State Warriors

June 9th, 2023 at 7:55am CST by Rory Maher

The Warriors entered the 2022/23 season as the defending champions, having won their fourth title in eight years last June. However, things quickly went off the rails before the season even started, with Draymond Green punching Jordan Poole during training camp. It was a long, bumpy ride the rest of the way.

A poor start which saw the the Warriors drop seven of their first 10 games – including five straight – certainly didn’t help, and every time they reeled off a winning streak, a losing streak quickly followed. The Warriors were within four games of .500 the entire campaign until the very end of the season, when they won their final two games to finish 44-38 and enter the playoffs as the No. 6 seed in the West.

A tight seven-game series with the upstart Kings showed the resiliency of both squads, with Stephen Curry carrying Golden State to a first-round victory with a 50-point performance in Game 7. Untimely shooting slumps and shaky defense played a significant role in the Warriors’ semifinal loss to the Lakers — they dropped the series in six games.

With an incredibly accomplished but aging core, the Warriors face perhaps the most critical offseason in team history and certainly the most important during the Curry-Green-Klay Thompson era. Shoring up the team’s depth and defense, which dropped from second to 14th over the past two seasons, should be a priority.

The Warriors’ Offseason Plan

It’s not hyperbole to say that no other team in the league will be more affected by the punitive aspects of the new CBA than the Warriors, who have been one of the league’s biggest spenders for years. As a repeat taxpayer, they could be facing a $500MM+ payroll (salaries and tax combined) in ’23/24 if their current roster remains intact.

Bob Myers stepping down as president of basketball operations was a really big deal. The decision could very well have a downstream effect on the other key figures within the organization. He had great relationships Curry, Thompson, Green and head coach Steve Kerr, and was known as one of the best communicators in the sport.

Green has a $27.6MM player option, which he could decline to enter free agency. Thompson is extension-eligible and entering the final year of his contract. Kerr is entering the final year of his deal as well, with a recent report indicating that he could be looking for a big pay raise after Detroit’s Monty Williams became the highest-paid coach in the league.

Although various reports indicated that Mike Dunleavy Jr. might be Myers’ eventual successor, owner Joe Lacob stated he’s not ready to name a replacement. That leaves the front office in a tenuous position at an extremely important time.

In addition to Green, guard Donte DiVincenzo, who was signed for part of the taxpayer mid-level exception last summer, has a $4.7MM player option of his own. Golden State currently controls the No. 19 pick in the upcoming draft.

If Green and DiVincenzo exercise their options (which is far from a lock — I think DiVincenzo in particular is likely to decline it in search of a raise) and the Warriors keep the pick, they’d be looking at a $213MM+ payroll with 13 players on guaranteed contracts. The luxury tax line is projected to be $162MM, and the highly-restrictive second tax apron kicks in at $179.5MM.

If they stay above the second apron, our current understanding is the Warriors would lose access to the taxpayer MLE, and there are several more roster-building restrictions beyond just that. Most of those changes won’t be implemented immediately, but they’ll likely all be in effect by the 2024/25 season.

It’s essentially a pseudo-hard cap, which will make life difficult for the Warriors’ front office. That said, even though the payroll is likely to be massive no matter what happens with Green, the team does have some desirable assets.

For example, Kevon Looney is on an extremely team-friendly contract. But he’s also been with the Warriors his entire career, seems to get along well with both the old guard and the young players, and having value contracts is absolutely essential when you have two of the highest-paid players in the league (Curry will have the league’s largest cap hit in ’23/24; Thompson will be 12th).

Andrew Wiggins is on a relatively team-friendly deal as well, and he would have a long list of suitors if the Warriors made him available. But as with Looney, it would be hard to replace what Wiggins provides, as he was arguably the team’s second-best player during the playoff run in 2022.

Curry definitely isn’t going anywhere, and I’d be surprised if the Warriors entertain trading Thompson. If I were running the team though, I would seriously consider it. His overall numbers in ’22/23 look pretty similar to his career averages, but the major leg injuries he suffered (a torn ACL and a torn Achilles) that caused him to miss two seasons have sapped some of his athleticism, and he isn’t nearly the defender he once was. Still, I don’t think that’s going to happen.

I doubt Gary Payton II will be on the move so soon after the Warriors traded former No. 2 overall pick James Wiseman to reacquire him in February. That leaves the team’s young players.

Poole’s up-and-down season in many ways was reflective of the Warriors’ results as a whole. His relationship with Green — which was reportedly quite good before the punch — definitely seemed strained throughout ’22/23, and it’s hard to envision that changing. I’m not sure how rival teams would view his contract extension. On one hand, he still showed flashes of promise, and he helped keep the offense afloat when Curry missed extended time with injuries. On the other, Poole’s careless turnovers and porous defense can be quite frustrating.

I’m fairly certain that former lottery picks Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody would have positive trade value, despite their own inconsistent seasons. They’re only 20 and 21 years old, entering their third seasons, and make less than $10MM combined in ’23/24. Moody feels a little more likely to stick around after a solid playoff run that saw Kuminga glued to the bench.

Packaging some combination of Poole, Kuminga and the No. 19 overall pick could be an option. But cost-controlled assets like Kuminga and the first-rounder are also really important. If they keep the pick, I wonder if the Warriors will draft a more experienced prospect after going for younger, less NBA-ready players in recent years.

None of the team’s impending free agents — including JaMychal Green and Anthony Lamb — are locks to return. Longtime veteran Andre Iguodala has already said he intends to retire.

Despite a disappointing season, I still think Golden State’s championship window is open as long as Curry keeps playing at his current level and Green is spearheading the defense. Curry is 35 now and has missed a lot of games over the past handful of seasons, which is troublesome. But he’s still capable of being the best player on the court in any game in which he appears, and the Warriors have shown tremendous resiliency over the past decade. It will be fascinating to see how their offseason unfolds.

Salary Cap Situation

Guaranteed Salary

Dead/Retained Salary

  • None

Player Options

Team Options

  • None

Non-Guaranteed Salary

  • None

Restricted Free Agents

Note: The cap hold for Mannion remains on the Warriors’ books from a prior season because it hasn’t been renounced. The team can make him a restricted free agent again by extending another qualifying offer.

Two-Way Free Agents

Draft Picks

  • No. 19 overall ($3,302,640)
  • Total: $3,302,640

Extension-Eligible Players

Note: These are players who are either already eligible for an extension or will become eligible before the 2023/24 season begins.

Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds

Note: The cap holds for the players listed in italics remain on the Warriors’ books from prior seasons because they haven’t been renounced. They can’t be used in a sign-and-trade deal.

Cap Exceptions Available

  • Trade exception: $1,303,360

Note: The Warriors could gain access to the taxpayer mid-level exception ($5,000,000) if they keep their team salary below the second tax apron.

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