Warriors Notes: McCaw, Slump, Green

Patrick McCaw has officially signed his two-year, $6MM offer sheet with the Cavaliers, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). However, the Warriors are still waiting to receive a copy of it, Haynes notes. Once they do, they’ll have two full days to finalize a decision on whether or not they want to match it.

Mark Medina of The Bay Area News Group suggests (via Twitter) that the Warriors’ potential interest in matching the Cavaliers’ offer may be more about maximizing an asset rather than actually retaining McCaw long term. Golden State is mindful of its projected tax bill and will consider how McCaw would be welcomed back into the locker room after his lengthy absence, Medina adds.

Although McCaw’s offer sheet with the Cavaliers is non-guaranteed, that won’t give the Warriors much added flexibility as they weigh their decision. The league-wide salary guarantee date is January 10, and a non-guaranteed player must clear waivers before then to avoid having his full cap hit apply to team salary. In other words, even if the Dubs match McCaw’s offer, they’d have to make a decision on him by January 7, and he wouldn’t be trade-eligible during the 2018/19 season.

Here’s more on the Warriors:

  • Multiple reports have suggested that McCaw appears to want to leave the Warriors. Logan Murdock of The Bay Area News Group adds some more context on that subject, tweeting that McCaw felt like the team’s coaches and staff didn’t adequately communicate with him during his free agency process. One of his only conversations with the club during the offseason involved negotiations to give up his No. 0 to DeMarcus Cousins, according to Murdock.
  • Despite a rare slump (13-12 in their last 25 games), Warriors head coach Steve Kerr remains optimistic about his club’s outlook, writes Nick Friedell of ESPN.com. “The bar’s been set high,” Kerr said on Wednesday. “I told our guys that; I gave them that line today. You guys have set the bar really high. So everything takes on a little greater sense of urgency in terms of what happens around the team. We’re maybe the most scrutinized team in the history of the league. … As long as you keep responding, keep showing up to work, keep sticking together, keep working, good things are going to happen. That’s what I believe with this group.”
  • Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic explores the adjustments that the Warriors and Draymond Green need to make to bounce back from their recent swoon, while Drew Shiller of NBC Sports Bay Area explains why he’s still buying stock in Green, who is struggling on offense.
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