After dominating the league for many years, the Warriors went through a rough patch over the past couple of seasons as the team struggled to make a deep playoff run even with Stephen Curry at his best.
This season, however, team effort has taken Golden State back to prominence. Steph hasn’t been alone this time, as his teammates helped him take the team to the Conference Finals.
Besides Curry, Klay Thompson or Draymond Green, the resurgence of Jordan Poole, the work done by Andrew Wiggins and the help from role players like Otto Porter Jr. and Gary Payton II has been crucial. But unfortunately, the team might not be able to bring all of them back.
Rumor: Warriors may have to let go players this summer
According to Connor Letourneau of the San Fransisco Chronicle, “it’s highly unlikely” that we see the likes of Wiggins, Porter Jr, and Payton II in a Warriors uniform next season.
Not because they’ve done something wrong, but because the team may not be able to afford having all of them. Letourneau notes that Kevin Looney could pen a multi-year deal worth $6m per season, while Poole could sign a four-year, $100m extension.
“Combine that with the fact that Draymond Green, Curry and Thompson are due to earn a combined $122.7 million — $3.5 million over the total projected salary cap — in 2023-24, and Golden State needs to be judicious with the rest of its roster decisions,” Letourneau wrote. “As I’ve written before, the most logical way for the Warriors to cut salary is to trade Wiggins before he hits unrestricted free agency in summer 2023.
“But even if Golden State moves Wiggins shortly after this season, it could have a tough time bringing back Otto Porter Jr. and Payton. Those two are expected to command well more than minimum contracts in free agency this summer. And given how much money the Warriors have tied up in their core, they might have issues spending so much on role players like Porter and Payton.”
The Warriors seem willing to do whatever it takes to keep the core group of Steph, Klay, and Draymond – and we can’t blame them for it. As long as the three of them are on the court, Golden State will be a strong contender.