The Warriors and Andrew Bogut have a lot of money riding on whether the center earns a spot on the All-Defensive team, according to Bobby Marks of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports. Bogut’s contract states that he must play at least 65 games and become a member of either the first or second All-Defensive team to collect a $1.8MM bonus. If he earns the bonus, Golden State would be on the hook for nearly $4MM in additional tax penalties, bringing the team’s total tax bill to an estimated $18.8MM. Bogut’s cap hit for next season would fall from $12.6MM to $11MM if he doesn’t get the bonus, giving the Warriors an extra $1.6MM to spend over the summer. Bogut needs to play in five more games to satisfy that part of the bonus requirement. Golden State tweeted that he will miss tonight’s contest with a left foot issue, but coach Steve Kerr said Bogut underwent an MRI and isn’t expected to be out long, tweets Ethan Strauss of ESPN.com.
There’s more news from the Western Conference:
- At least two other Western teams are also waiting to see if players collect significant bonuses, Marks writes in the same piece. Tim Duncan is due to get an additional $750K once the Spurs reach 62 wins, which will raise his salary for this season to $6MM and push San Antonio’s tax bill from about $3.8MM to $4.9MM. The Clippers can save $1.1MM in luxury taxes relating to a Jeff Green bonus if they fail to reach 56 wins. He will receive $450K if L.A. gets to that victory total.
- The Jazz are debating whether to let Alec Burks return to action before the end of the season, writes Jody Genessy of The Deseret News. Burks has been out since breaking his left fibula in December. He has been traveling and working out with the team, but it’s not clear if he’ll be ready before the season is over. “We don’t want to box him in or box ourselves in as far as what makes sense [for Burks’ return],” said coach Quin Snyder. “There’s so many other variables that could be included in that, but it’s certainly possible [he won’t return]. Hopefully, he could be back soon.”