Category: Golden State Warriors Blog

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On Klay Thompson and the Warriors

Per the Bay Area News Group:

It seems likely Klay Thompson will be playing out the final year of his contract this season without an extension, but he’s not complaining.

Rather than bemoan the lack of a contract beyond this year, the 33-year-old Thompson sees it as an opportunity to “savor” what could technically be his final season with the Warriors.

“You never know what’s going to happen. I’m going to savor this as much as I can,” Thompson said hours before Friday night’s game in Sacramento. “Especially in this uniform. I was here before it was sweet, before it was four championships.”

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No contract extension agreement expected just yet between Warriors and Klay Thompson

Per NBC Sports Bay Area:

It doesn’t appear as if Klay Thompson and the Warriors will be working out a contract extension any time soon.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski joined “NBA Countdown” prior to Golden State’s preseason matchup with the Sacramento Kings and reported that the two sides have not made progress toward an extension and it’s becoming increasingly likely the Warriors star could enter free agency after the 2023-24 NBA season.

“I’m told that there has been absolutely no progress on a Klay Thompson extension in Golden State and that they are both still apart on years and money and there’s a very real possibility that Klay Thompson goes into free agency next summer without a deal and I think that’s where it gets complicated for Golden State,” Wojnarowski said.

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Warriors give Stephen Curry and Chris Paul a preseason rest

Per the Bay Area News Group:

After just two preseason games with Steph Curry and Chris Paul on the court together, the Warriors made a change.

Both Curry and Paul were being held out to rest in the team’s third preseason game.

Curry scored 18 points in 21 minutes and Paul scored six points in 20 minutes during the Warriors’ 129-125 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night.

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Mike Dunleavy Jr. making quick moves as new Warriors GM

Via the SF Gate:

He bought himself a little bit of breathing room. The Poole contract may have been one of the very worst in the NBA, and by getting the team out from under it, Dunleavy may have enabled the Warriors to avoid future steep penalties that come with the “second apron” cap line in the new collective bargaining agreement, which is two steps beyond the already punishing luxury tax threshold. (Poole’s enormous four-year extension kicks in this season, while Paul’s contract is not guaranteed past this year.)

So even if these are the twilight years for this Warriors era, Dunleavy has already bought himself significant goodwill with owner Joe Lacob. The Athletic reported Wednesday that the goal was to be able to be under the second apron within a year, and this trade appears to set up the Warriors to get there on schedule. ESPN cap expert Bobby Marks came to the same conclusion, leading his instant trade analysis with, “Blame the second apron,” and explaining that this trade gets the Warriors under the second apron for much of the next half-decade.

Chris Paul being traded to the Warriors

Via the Bay Area News Group:

Chris Paul — yes, that Chris Paul — is now a Golden State Warrior. He was traded Thursday by Washington for Jordan Poole, Ryan Rollins, and draft picks.

It’s going to take a while for us to collectively wrap our heads around this one.

But at the core of it all is the well-known fact that everyone can overlook things when they’re desperate.

The Warriors were desperate to rid themselves of Poole. The four-year, $123 million contract extension he signed before the start of last season was proven to be a mistake for the team. Not only did Poole fail to perform like a nine-figure player and future face of the franchise this past season — particularly in the playoffs — but the emotional damage that rippled through the team following Draymond Green’s punch of Poole in the preseason never healed.

On the Warriors and the NBA Draft

Via the Bay Area News Group:

In November 2020, the Warriors drafted James Wiseman with the No. 2 overall draft pick, their highest pick since they took Mike Dunleavy Jr. third overall out of Duke in 2002.

Three years later, though, Wiseman is no longer with the team, and Dunleavy, despite once being made scapegoat for Warriors fans’ frustrations after years of futility, is the team’s new general manager.

The Warriors have gambled in the last three drafts, taking some high-upside teenage players with the hopes to groom them to one day take the baton from the dynastic trio as it ages out.

But with Stephen Curry still a top-five NBA star at the age of 35, the Warriors should be looking to maximize the here and now. And the process of retooling their roster to be a championship contender once again starts with the No. 19 pick in Thursday’s draft.

Warriors forward Draymond Green will reportedly decline his contract option

Via SF Gate:

The first domino has fallen in the Golden State Warriors’ murky offseason: Draymond Green will decline his $27.5 million player option and officially become a free agent, according to a report from NBA insider Shams Charania.

The move does not mean Green’s days as a Warrior are over. The two sides can still work out a new deal that could keep the four-time all-star with Golden State. Green has indicated that he wants to stay with the only professional team he’s ever known, telling reporters in May that he “wants to be a Warrior for the rest of my life.”

New Warriors GM Mike Dunleavy Jr. faces big decisions in draft, free agency

Via the San Jose Mercury News:

Dunleavy and his team will have to take a hard look at the roster and make a plan for where to go from here. Their first major test will be the NBA Draft, where they hold the No. 19 pick.

Other questions facing the Warriors are whether they can retain Draymond Green and find ways to capitalize on Stephen Curry’s prime by bolstering their roster, despite having little flexibility.

The Warriors are handicapped in their current financial situation.

If Green exercises his $27.6 million player option for next season — a decision he has to make by June 29 — the Warriors will be projected to dish out more than $205 million in salaries alone. That’s well above the tax line, and with a repeater penalty also in play, Golden State could be paying a whopping $250 million in luxury tax, according to The Athletic.

Golden State Warriors promote Mike Dunleavy Jr. to general manager

The Warriors have promoted Mike Dunleavy Jr. to general manager.

Warriors President of Basketball Operations / General Manager Bob Myers previously announced that he will step down from his role effective June 30.

Dunleavy Jr., 42, enters his sixth season in the Warriors front office, serving as vice president, basketball operations for the past two seasons after two years as assistant general manager. He originally joined the front office in 2018-19 as a pro scout following a 15-year playing career in the NBA that included four-plus seasons with the Warriors (2002-07).

Per the San Francisco Chronicle, “now officially anointed, Dunleavy has major moves to make. Trade rumors about Jonathan Kuminga are swirling, the NBA draft is next week, and Draymond Green’s deadline for his player option is June 29. (At his departure press conference, Myers joked that he would help Dunleavy with Green if the need arose.)”

“We think Mike is the perfect fit to lead our basketball operations department,” said Warriors Co-Executive Chairman & CEO Joe Lacob. “He has a wealth of basketball knowledge, stemming from his family upbringing, a 15-year NBA playing career and five seasons serving under Bob Myers in our front office. He’s young and energetic, has established numerous relationships around the league and communicates well with players and coaches—all important traits in this business. Mike’s ready for this challenge and responsibility.”

Dunleavy Jr. was selected by the Warriors with the third overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft and posted career averages of 11.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 27.7 minutes over 986 regular season games with the Warriors, Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks.

Prior to the NBA, Dunleavy Jr. spent three seasons playing under legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski at Duke University, where he was named Second Team All-American as a junior in 2001-02 and helped the Blue Devils to a national title in 2000-01. Duke posted a record of 95-13 (.880) in his three collegiate seasons, with Dunleavy Jr. compiling career averages of 13.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.60 steals in 104 games.

Warriors President and GM Bob Myers to step down

Golden State Warriors President of Basketball Operations / General Manager Bob Myers will step down from his role at the conclusion of his contract, he announced today.

Myers, who has served as general manager of the Warriors for the past 11 seasons (seven with the added title of president of basketball operations), assembled a roster that captured four NBA titles (2015, 2017, 2018, 2022) in an eight-year span and made six NBA Finals appearances, including five straight from 2015-2019, along with setting an NBA record with 73 wins during the 2015-16 regular season. Myers earned the NBA Executive of the Year award in both 2014-15 and 2016-17 and is the only executive in Warriors history to earn the award multiple times and one of only five in league history to earn the honor twice in a span of three seasons. Myers’ 11-season tenure as general manager (2012-23) equals the longest stretch by a lead basketball executive in franchise history, matching Eddie Gottlieb (1952-63) and Bob Feerick (1963-74).

Per ESPN.com:

“If the team wins the championship, would you leave? I think, yes,” Myers said. He told Wojnarowski it wasn’t about money, saying he declined ownership offers on a new deal that would’ve paid him in the same range as the league’s top-earning executives. It’s not for a new position waiting for him — he said he will take a moment to sit still before making his next move.

“The bottom line is, this job, the one I’m in … requires complete engagement, a complete effort, a thousand percent, and if you can’t do it, then you shouldn’t do it,” Myers said. “So that’s the answer to the question of why. I can’t do that to our players. I can’t do that to Joe and Peter [Guber]. Really, I can’t do it to myself. And that’s the question I’ve been wrestling with.”