This is post 6 of 9, nice. For the rest of my Team Free Agency Questions, click here!
Durant has opted out of his $31.5 million player option and Klay Thompson is an unrestricted free agent. Steph Curry and Draymond Green will both be on the other side of 30 after next year and they will have the most expensive team in NBA history if they re-sign all of these players. The Kevin Durant situation also seems to be out of their hands because all signs point to him going to Brooklyn with a slight chance he may still go to New York.
I think Kevin Durant is basically out the door, so many of my questions revolve around what the Warriors will do in response to that. It doesn’t really involve: will the Warriors re-sign Durant?
Instead I have these questions: what will happen if the Warriors don’t offer Klay Thompson the max on June 30th? What will happen if they then lose Klay? Could they just re-sign Boogie, find some other role players, and try to compete for the title again?
Woj reported that Klay Thompson is interested in going to Los Angeles, but only the Clippers – find that had to believe though. I think Klay would take a meeting with both LA teams, which one he then signs with is up in the air. If Klay does go to the Clippers, it won’t be for the Lakers not trying. It will be because they feel like they can’t afford to wait while Klay rehabs his ACL while LeBron’s career is on the clock.
The Warriors are in such a tough situation because they are opening a brand-new arena next year and they need to put out the best product possible in their inaugural year. They can’t come to San Francisco with a below .500 team. If they do bring everyone back (even without Durant), their salary will be well over $175 million per year which blows box the luxury tax and salary cap out of the water. They can still re-sign DeMarcus Cousins for a discount (technically) since they signed him for the mid-level exception offseason.
I think their best move is to bite the bullet and give Klay Thompson every cent he deserves in free agency. Once you retain Klay and then get a few veterans to take the minimum and fill out your bench then you’re immediately a contender again. It is going to cost the Warriors a lot of money and it is going to hurt if they lose Kevin Durant, but they’ll be okay. I've said this before and I'll say it again, I can't count out the Warriors altogether until I see them end. It's like the Spurs and missing the playoffs. I'll count on them to make it until they don't - I'll count on the Warriors to keep competing for a title until they don't, whether they have Kevin Durant or not.
Speaking of Durant, let's talk about the team he's most likely to go to: The Brooklyn Nets!