Warriors to get under tax: Melton + 2nds for Beasley

[Bentley1225]

If the Warriors want to pursue getting under tax between Dec 15th and Trade Deadline, ill offer this option

To Pistons
-De'Anthony Melton (26, 6'3" : 1 year, $12.8 million)
-2026 2nd round pick from HAwks
-2028 2nd round pick from Hawks

To Golden State
-Malik Beasley (28, 6'4": 1 year, $6 million)

Why?
-Warriors are $5.8 million over tax apron and would save a $14.6 million tax bill if they swap SGs along with 2nd round picks

-Pistons leverage cap space to pick up further 2nds as they still would have $3.4 million cap space if they want to help out another over the tax team (Clippers, Cavs, Pelicans)

[Mavrelous]

IMO the Warriors are clearly keeping GPII and Looney's contracts for maneuvering below tax if they aren't good at the deadline or trading for impact player if they are good and need to improve, Melton is at least 3rd in the list of trade candidates.

[Bentley1225]

IMO the Warriors are clearly keeping GPII and Looney's contracts for maneuvering below tax if they aren't good at the deadline or trading for impact player if they are good and need to improve, Melton is at least 3rd in the list of trade candidates.

Well they have Bird rights on those guys so I would think Melton is more of a prime candidate but GPII is another one to Detroit as same deal can be made with 2 2nds ie. GPII + 2nds for Wendel Moore Jr.

[Mavrelous]

IMO the Warriors are clearly keeping GPII and Looney's contracts for maneuvering below tax if they aren't good at the deadline or trading for impact player if they are good and need to improve, Melton is at least 3rd in the list of trade candidates.

Well they have Bird rights on those guys so I would think Melton is more of a prime candidate but GPII is another one to Detroit as same deal can be made with 2 2nds ie. GPII + 2nds for Wendel Moore Jr.

They signed him knowingly that they won't need bird right to resign him...
GPII+2 2nds for Moore is the deal they'd look for at the deadline if they are out of PO contention

[NW]

Warriors pass. They like Melton and signed him to a deal where re-signing him is possible. Not worth moving him to get out of the tax imo.

Kind of deal they might do at deadline if things go completely south, but it’d more likely be GP2 over Melton

[Kalamazoo317]

IMO the Warriors are clearly keeping GPII and Looney's contracts for maneuvering below tax if they aren't good at the deadline or trading for impact player if they are good and need to improve, Melton is at least 3rd in the list of trade candidates.

Well they have Bird rights on those guys so I would think Melton is more of a prime candidate but GPII is another one to Detroit as same deal can be made with 2 2nds ie. GPII + 2nds for Wendel Moore Jr.

As a Pistons fan, I'd rather do that one. Beasley is looking to get significant minutes for us and probably start. Not interested in swapping that out or destablizing things for our young players. Moore is an end of bench guy that I'd be fine swapping for a veteran mentor type like GPII and the seconds.

[gswhoops]

Yeah I think GP2 + 2nds for cap space (however Detroit wants to achieve that) is the move here. We like Melton and Beasley would be largely redundant with Hield already on the roster.

[gswhoops]

Warriors pass. They like Melton and signed him to a deal where re-signing him is possible. Not worth moving him to get out of the tax imo.

Kind of deal they might do at deadline if things go completely south, but it’d more likely be GP2 over Melton

Didn't we sign him to a 1 year MLE deal? Not sure how we can re-sign him unless he takes another MLE-level deal.

[hugepatsfan]

Agreed with others that it'd be preferable for GSW to dump Payton vs. Melton if they want to clear the tax. But depending on what the NBA landscape is at the deadline, GSW might have to settle for this. Just like they probably prefer to use GPJ here, DET might prefer taking back Melton and GSW might not have other options. This is a reasonable outcome here.

[NW]

Agreed with others that it'd be preferable for GSW to dump Payton vs. Melton if they want to clear the tax. But depending on what the NBA landscape is at the deadline, GSW might have to settle for this. Just like they probably prefer to use GPJ here, DET might prefer taking back Melton and GSW might not have other options. This is a reasonable outcome here.

Or just pay the far smaller Lux tax bill since they aren’t as far over as previous years. They’re not pressed to get out the Lux tax

[NW]

Warriors pass. They like Melton and signed him to a deal where re-signing him is possible. Not worth moving him to get out of the tax imo.

Kind of deal they might do at deadline if things go completely south, but it’d more likely be GP2 over Melton

Didn't we sign him to a 1 year MLE deal? Not sure how we can re-sign him unless he takes another MLE-level deal.

Means they can offer in that range with raises-far better than the minimum deals with raises they were limited to with guys like Donte. Far better chance of competing with other offers

[hugepatsfan]

Agreed with others that it'd be preferable for GSW to dump Payton vs. Melton if they want to clear the tax. But depending on what the NBA landscape is at the deadline, GSW might have to settle for this. Just like they probably prefer to use GPJ here, DET might prefer taking back Melton and GSW might not have other options. This is a reasonable outcome here.

Or just pay the far smaller Lux tax bill since they aren’t as far over as previous years. They’re not pressed to get out the Lux tax

Well, even staying $1 over the tax will still put them as a repeat offender. So while this year's bill will be miniscule compared to past years, they'll still be subject to repeater rates in future years should they go over. If it's not overly consequential to this year's team, it's of great benefit for them to duck the tax and reset those rates. Not just this year, but that's potentially huge savings down the line if they want to get back to spending big to try and add during Steph's last years.

Now obviously if the Warriors are looking poised for a deep playoff run and Melton is a key piece then they won't move him to avoid the tax. But if they're a middling team and he's just a "meh" bench player I'd put it on the table if the other routes (GPJ, Looney, etc.) aren't as desirable to other teams and they're being sticklers on making a deal.

[gswhoops]

Warriors pass. They like Melton and signed him to a deal where re-signing him is possible. Not worth moving him to get out of the tax imo.

Kind of deal they might do at deadline if things go completely south, but it’d more likely be GP2 over Melton

Didn't we sign him to a 1 year MLE deal? Not sure how we can re-sign him unless he takes another MLE-level deal.

Means they can offer in that range with raises-far better than the minimum deals with raises they were limited to with guys like Donte. Far better chance of competing with other offers

Oh for sure being able to offer the full MLE makes it much more likely that we can re-sign him than being limited to the tax MLE like we were with DDV. Just curious what you meant here because we won't have Bird rights on Melton or anything like that.

[giberish]

GS signed Melton to his contract knowing their financial situation. If avoiding the tax was hugely important they would have just offered a smaller contract for the best guard they could get while staying under the tax.

IMO GS getting under the tax is a minor issue for the team. If it can be done cheaply without hurting them on-court (or if the wheels fall off and they're not in playoff contention) then they'll do it but it's not a big deal.

The amount of tax that GS in line to pay this year is quite small (especially compared to past seasons), and it's very unlikely that being in the tax this season will ever effect repeater status going forward as it takes 2 years to clear and GS will be back in the tax for the next couple seasons. Then when Curry retires they'll be rebuilding and under the tax for a few years (or more depending on how long the rebuild takes).

[DonaldSanders]

The Warriors didn't sign Melton to later have to pay 2nd round picks to dump him to dodge the tax. I don't feel like OP thought this through. Melton is likely to start or come off the bench for huge minutes.

GPII or Looney are potential tax dump targets if they fall out of the rotation.

Well, even staying $1 over the tax will still put them as a repeat offender. So while this year's bill will be miniscule compared to past years, they'll still be subject to repeater rates in future years should they go over. If it's not overly consequential to this year's team, it's of great benefit for them to duck the tax and reset those rates. Not just this year, but that's potentially huge savings down the line if they want to get back to spending big to try and add during Steph's last years.

Now obviously if the Warriors are looking poised for a deep playoff run and Melton is a key piece then they won't move him to avoid the tax. But if they're a middling team and he's just a "meh" bench player I'd put it on the table if the other routes (GPJ, Looney, etc.) aren't as desirable to other teams and they're being sticklers on making a deal.

If the Warriors wanted to duck the tax this year, Buddy wouldn't have been signed. That was the signal that tax isn't a high priority. If the season goes poorly, I can see someone getting dumped.