Warriors Unlikely To Pursue Michael Beasley
As for Beasley, while a return to the Knicks is possible, sources tell Berman that the Trail Blazers, Hawks, and Bucks are among the other teams that could have interest. The Warriors have also internally discussed the possibility of offering Beasley a minimum-salary deal, but it doesn’t look like they’ll do so, Berman adds.
Warriors Stars Lobbying For Jamal Crawford
Multiple Warriors stars are lobbying for the front office to pursue – and sign – Jamal Crawford, reports Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. Crawford, who spent 2017/18 with the Timberwolves, turned down his player option for next season, and will reach the open market.
According to Thompson, Draymond Green and Kevin Durant are among the players who have pushed for the Warriors to go after Crawford. Stephen Curry is on board too, as are multiple assistant coaches, Thompson notes.
While Bob Myers‘ level of interest in Crawford is unclear, the support within the organization for the veteran shooting guard will be enough to get the Warriors GM on the phone with Crawford’s agent – Aaron Goodwin – when free agency begins this weekend, says Thompson. The club would be able to offer Crawford a minimum-salary contract or part or all of the taxpayer mid-level exception, which will start at about $5.3MM.
[RELATED: Will Warriors use mid-level exception?]
As Thompson observes, Crawford may not be an ideal fit for a Warriors team looking to get younger, but his willingness to let shots fly is a key trait on a squad featuring so many other stars. With Durant, Curry, and Klay Thompson receiving increased attention from opposing defenses, the Warriors want role players who won’t be afraid to shoot the ball when they have open looks, and Crawford certainly fits that bill.
Crawford, 38, has averaged 15.0 PPG with a .349 3PT% in 1,262 career regular season contests. With Minnesota in 2017/18, those numbers slipped to 10.3 PPG and .331 3PT%.
Will Warriors Use Mid-Level Exception?
With no cap room available this summer, the mid-level exception represents the Warriors‘ best chance of signing a free agent who can become a part of the club’s rotation. However, as Anthony Slater of The Athletic details, it’s not a lock that Golden State will use its full taxpayer MLE, which figures to be worth approximately $5.3MM in 2018/19.
“It depends,” general manager Bob Myers said earlier this week when asked about the possibility of using that mid-level exception. “[Warriors owner] Joe [Lacob] has always shown a high level of aggressiveness. So if it makes sense for us and if it helps us win, he’s always said yes. But that’ll be the markers that have to be met.”
Because the Warriors project to be well over the luxury-tax threshold next season, a player signed using the MLE figures to cost exponentially more than $5.3MM due to the tax penalties. So if the Dubs do use the exception, they’ll want to do it on a player who they feel is worth a $15-20MM investment. Avery Bradley, Tyreke Evans, Trevor Ariza, Will Barton, and J.J. Redick are some potential targets mentioned by Slater, though those players figure to receive larger offers on the open market.
Warriors Extend Qualifying Offer To Patrick McCaw
The Warriors have extended a qualifying offer to swingman Patrick McCaw, per Chris Haynes of ESPN, putting McCaw on track for restricted free agency come July 1.
McCaw’s qualifying offer is worth $1.7MM, calculated by adding $200K to his projected minimum salary for the upcoming 2018/19 season.
Given McCaw’s recent injury and an all-around difficult 2017/18 campaign, it will be interesting to see whether the Warriors are interested in discussing a larger contract for McCaw moving forward and/or whether McCaw will garner any interest from other teams around the league.
McCaw, 22, only averaged 4.o points per game in 57 games with Golden State this past season, with a relatively pedestrian shooting line of .503/.238/.765.
JaVale McGee Hopes To Remain With Warriors
JaVale McGee will be a free agent for the third straight summer, but the Warriors’ center said he doesn’t want to play anywhere else, relays Chris Haynes of ESPN. The 30-year-old has collected a pair of rings during his two seasons with Golden State and he would like to come back for more.
“I haven’t thought about [another team] mainly because, hopefully, in my mind, I’m a Warrior for the rest of my career,” he said. “If that happens, it would be a blessing.”
McGee’s numbers this season weren’t impressive — 4.8 PPG and 2.6RPG in 9.5 minutes — but his production increased when coach Steve Kerr made him a starter after the All-Star break. McGee held that job on and off throughout the playoffs, but turned out to be a difference maker in the Finals. He was 14 of 17 from the field against the Cavaliers, turning in a 12-point performance in Game 2 and a 10-point outing in Game 3.
McGee played on a veteran’s minimum contract worth $2.1MM this season and can expect a similar deal if he returns. The Warriors will be well into luxury tax territory after re-signing Kevin Durant and will take a severe hit with any contract above the minimum.
Golden State has other free agents to address in David West, Zaza Pachulia, Kevon Looney, Patrick McCaw and Nick Young. Kerr has also expressed a desire for a younger and more versatile bench, so there’s no guarantee that re-signing McGee is part of the Warriors’ plans.
“I don’t know how [free agency] is going to turn out, but it’s going to obviously be a long one, especially with everybody waiting for LeBron [James] and Kawhi [Leonard],” McGee said. “So, you never know what pieces will fall and who needs who. But I want to be back with the Warriors. This is where I want to be.”
Why Warriors Didn't Make Draft-Night Deal; FA Options At Center
Leading up to Thursday’s draft, there were reports indicating that Golden State wanted to buy a second-round pick. The Warriors secured a second-rounder in the 2017 draft when they sent $3.5MM in cash to Chicago, but the Bulls were so harshly criticized for the move – which landed Jordan Bell in Oakland – that it wasn’t clear how eager teams would be to deal with the Dubs this time around.
While Golden State didn’t ultimately make a draft-night trade, it wasn’t for lack of trying — or for a lack of a trade partner. The Warriors explored multiple options and had a potential deal in the works, but the player they wanted was selected by another club, so they didn’t pull the trigger, tweets Thompson.
- With so many of the Warriors‘ centers potentially on the way out the door this summer, the team will likely need to add at least one big man in free agency. Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic explores some options, with a focus on Kyle O’Quinn and Dwight Howard.
Dwyane Wade Discusses Owning A Team In Seattle
Seattle may have a powerful ally in its quest to rejoin the NBA. Dwyane Wade tells Joel Weber of Bloomsburg BusinessWeek that he would like to become an owner when his playing days are finished and is particularly interested in the Pacific Northwest.
“I definitely want to be a part of ownership in the NBA,” Wade said. “I’m not going to try to buy a team. I don’t have that kind of bread, but I definitely want to be a part of a great ownership group. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is all about players being involved in an ownership capacity. You’ve got players like Grant Hill involved in the Atlanta Hawks. Shaquille O’Neal is involved in the Sacramento Kings. It’s definitely something that I’ve talked about, some of my friends have talked about. But, first of all, I’d have to be retired.”
When asked which team he would like to own, the SuperSonics quickly came to mind.
“I want Seattle’s team, the Sonics, to come back,” Wade said. “I think Seattle is a great basketball town. I would love to be a part of that.”
Seattle has been without a franchise since the Sonics moved to Oklahoma City a decade ago. In speculation about potential expansion sites, Seattle frequently appears at the top, but the NBA doesn’t have plans to add any teams in the foreseeable future. However, the league has scheduled a preseason game at Key Arena in October as a potential test to see how the market responds.
Wade touches on a few other issues in the interview, including:
Do teams need dynasty-level talent to win an NBA championship?
“Right now you do. I raise my hand as a part of the problem. When the Miami Heat decided to bring the big three together—myself, LeBron James, Chris Bosh—in 2009, the game changed. Players understand their power. I don’t see that slowing down. I see the next generation—my son’s generation—getting even tighter.”
Do players talk about joining forces to beat the Warriors?
“Nobody’s calling me at 36, like, ‘Yo, we need you to come lay down this dynasty.’ But obviously you want to take down the champs, right? People who watch the sport can’t wait to see what’s going to happen this summer in free agency, because you want to see a team put together that can compete against a team like that. I’m watching. I’m a fan. I want to see a big splash this summer. I would love to see some guys team up. Our game has grown. When people say Golden State is hurting our game, that’s untrue. Our game is so high right now. It’s so great, but we would like to see somebody else get an opportunity.”
Which is the best team he ever faced?
“The greatest team I’ve ever played against was probably the San Antonio Spurs, with Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. They challenged you in so many ways with the mental part of the game. It goes way beyond basketball. Golden State does that. They challenge you mentally as well as physically. And they have more talent than everybody, as well. It’s going to take some special kind of medicine to put a team together to get them.”
How has the game changed over Wade’s 15-year career?
“David Stern, our last commissioner, did an amazing job of helping us grow our game, saying ‘OK, we need a face-lift, and let’s do this differently.’ He made our game global to where, in China and other countries, it’s so big. The NBA wasn’t one of the top leagues. It was definitely looked at as a very thuggish league, you know. They used to fight back in the day a lot, a lot of real grown-man fights. And that was one of the things that David Stern cleaned up—getting the players out, getting us involved in the community, building the brand. He changed that. Once you hit somebody you’re going to lose all your money. The guys started dressing differently. He helped the new players coming in to start thinking of the NBA as more of a business. It really changed the mindset.”
Warriors Waive Chris Boucher
7:30pm: The move is official, according to a team press release.
3:13pm: The Warriors will waive forward Chris Boucher, opening up a two-way slot on their roster, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).
Boucher, 25, signed a two-way contract with the Warriors last offseason after going undrafted out of Oregon. Although he was a member of the team’s 17-man roster for the entire 2017/18 season, he appeared in just one NBA game, spending most of his time with Golden State’s G League affiliate in Santa Cruz.
As Anthony Slater and Tim Kawakami of The Athletic observe (via Twitter), the Warriors are looking to fill their two-way contract slots with young players who are capable of earning NBA minutes, as Quinn Cook did last season. Boucher probably isn’t at that point.
With Cook now on the NBA roster and Boucher headed for waivers, both of the Warriors’ two-way slots will be open for 2018/19.
Five Key Offseason Questions: Golden State Warriors
The Warriors continued to build a case in 2017/18 to be considered the most impressive NBA dynasty of the 21st century, taking home their third title in four years. Golden State now has a staggering 265-63 (.808) regular-season record since the start of the 2014/15 campaign, and if it weren’t for a collapse in the 2016 NBA Finals, the club would enter the 2018/19 season in search of its fifth straight championship.
No dynasty lasts forever, but three of the Warriors’ four stars remain under contract for 2018/19, and Kevin Durant is a virtual lock to re-sign once the new league year begins. As long as those four players remain on the roster, the organization’s championship window isn’t closing anytime soon.
Here are five key questions facing the franchise this summer:
1. What will Durant’s new contract look like?
An April report indicated that Durant would turn down his 2018/19 player option and sign a new deal with the Warriors, and the two-time Finals MVP essentially confirmed as much this month. Meanwhile, general manager Bob Myers has stated publicly that Golden State is willing to give Durant “whatever he wants” on his new contract after the star forward took a team-friendly discount a year ago.
Durant is in a somewhat unusual situation though, so there’s no obvious answer as to what he’ll want. Having agreed to 1+1 contracts in each of the last two summers, he’s ineligible to sign such a deal this year unless he once again settles for less than the maximum. The Early Bird exception prohibits players from signing one-year deals or two-year deals with a second-year option. In order to sign a contract with that structure, the club would have to use the Non-Bird exception, which would limit Durant’s salary to $30MM, well below his projected $35.35MM max.
As such, it might be time for Durant to sign a long-term max contract. However, without full Bird rights, he’s limited to four years rather than five. Of course, a four-year, maximum-salary deal would still result in a massive payday (approximately $158MM based on current cap projections), but if Durant is willing to wait one more year for long-term security, it might make sense for him to accept that one-year, $30MM contract for 2018/19.
In that scenario, Durant would be eligible for a five-year max contract a year from now, when the cap is expected to make a larger jump. If the cap increases to $108MM – the current projection – for 2019/20, a five-year deal could be worth up to approximately $219MM, which would make up for taking less than the max again in ’18/19.
2. Will the Warriors extend Klay Thompson and/or Draymond Green this offseason?
With Stephen Curry locked up for the next four seasons and Durant a candidate to sign a long-term contract this offseason, the Warriors’ focus could shift to their other two All-Stars. Green has two years and $36MM left on his current contract, while Thompson will earn $19MM in the final year of his deal in 2018/19. Both will be extension-eligible this summer.
In the wake of the Warriors’ NBA Finals win, owner Joe Lacob suggested that the team will make an effort to extend both Thompson and Green in the coming months, but one is a more realistic possibility than the other. Green, who says he took a modest discount on his last deal to help accommodate the Dubs’ pursuit of Durant, will reportedly turn down any extension offer he receives from the club this year. That’s not a surprise — he’s still two years away from the open market, and his earning potential would be higher as a free agent.
Thompson, however, is a more interesting case. The low-maintenance star appears to be perfectly happy in Golden State, so even though he could maximize his earning potential by waiting until free agency to sign a new contract, he may be open to getting something done early. In fact, the two sides have already had discussions about a new deal.
The NBA’s rules related to veteran extensions limit Thompson’s maximum extension to four years for about $102MM, which is well below the max, but it’s still a significant sum. If he were to tack that onto the end of his current contract, it would total approximately $121MM over the next five years. Those numbers might strike a perfect balance between how high the Warriors are willing to go to keep their core intact and how far below the max Thompson is willing to go to remain in a perfect situation.
Draft Updates: Mavericks, Kings, Celtics, Warriors
There’s a “growing sense” that the Mavericks will scoop up Michael Porter Jr. if he’s still available at No. 5, tweets Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. He cautions that Dallas hasn’t reached a final decision, but the team likes Porter enough to take him even if he has to sit out all of next season because of back issues.
A report earlier today has the Sixers interested in moving into the top five to grab Porter, so it appears they’ll need a top four pick to trump the Mavericks. Porter also remains in contention for the Kings at No. 2.
There are more draft day rumors to pass along:
- The Kings have narrowed their choices down to Luka Doncic and Marvin Bagley III, according to Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The team’s ownership may break the deadlock later today. Mannix adds that the Hawks will get a “stampede” of offers from teams interested in Doncic if Sacramento opts for Bagley.
- A conflicting report from Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated states that the Kings have already reached a decision and believe they are adding a “franchise altering prospect.” (Twitter link).
- Former NBA coach Larry Brown believes Doncic will need to land in the right situation to be successful, relays Sportando (Twitter link). “At 16 he was as good as he’s now,” said Brown, who recently accepted a job with Fiat Torino in the Italian League. “He’s smart but I don’t know in which role he can play. Maybe forward/big man. If he’d play for [Rockets coach Mike] D’Antoni or a coach with European mentality he’d be phenomenal.”
- The Celtics are working to trade into the top five, but their chances are small unless they part with Jaylen Brown or Jayson Tatum, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today. The Clippers, who own the 12th and 13th selections, also want to move up and the Bucks would like to add more picks.
- The Warriors are still hoping to buy a pick somewhere in the 30s, according to Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated (Twitter link). They worked out a group of players yesterday who might be available in that range, including Jacob Evans, Devon Hall, Gary Trent Jr. and Hamidou Diallo. Golden State already owns the 28th pick and can spend up to the maximum $5.1MM to acquire another.
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander confirmed that he held a workout for the Clippers, relays Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer (Twitter link). Gilgeous-Alexander admitted that he turned down a few workout requests, but didn’t specify the teams. In addition to the Clippers, the Knicks and Hornets have also watched him work out, according to Woo, who adds that Gilgeous-Alexander isn’t believed to have a promise but could be taken in the top 10 by teams that need backcourt help (Twitter link).
- The Sixers attempted to see Donte DiVincenzo in person, but weren’t able to work out a time because of scheduling conflicts, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link).
- Mitchell Robinson was limited by a sprained left ankle in his recent workouts, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The 7-footer expects to be fully recovered soon.