Marcus Thompson II of the Mercury News laid out a plan for how the Warriors can join the NBA elite. Even though they have four starters making $10MM or more and Klay Thompson is due an extension, they’ll have to find a way to put another star alongside Stephen Curry, Thompson writes. That could be easier said than done since the player they’d be most willing to move, David Lee, will earn $30.5MM over the next two years. Here’s more out of Oakland..
- Warriors center Jermaine O’Neal is expected to take his time in deciding whether to keep playing or retire, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports. The veteran still loves the game but badly wants to spend time with his family, Spears writes. O’Neal averaged 7.9 points and 5.5 rebounds in 20.1 minutes per game for Golden State this season.
- Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle has more from O’Neal on his difficult decision.
- Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group takes a look at the contract situations of several key Warriors, sizing up the sway that each of them has with the front office and examining how the fate of Mark Jackson plays into their futures. Of note, Kawakami says that if Jackson returns, Steve Blake probably won’t.
- The Warriors are confident they’ll have enough room under the luxury tax threshold to sign a player for the full value of the mid-level exception this summer, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.