Which free agents will the Warriors sign?
Of the nine Golden State players who will become free agents this summer, Myers is expected to do all he can to bring back at least three: center Kevon Looney, guard Gary Payton II and forward Otto Porter Jr. That trio’s contributions this season far outpaced their modest salaries.
Though Looney is poised for a pay raise, the Warriors should be able to re-sign him. He is expected to command offers between $6 million and $7 million — a price range that’s quite palatable for Golden State considering how instrumental Looney was during this recent title run.
Salary-cap expert Keith Smith went so far as to tell The Chronicle last month that “there is no chance” Looney leaves the Warriors in free agency. Looney and Golden State understand that they’re an ideal marriage, and other teams likely aren’t willing to extend the type of offer that would entice him.
Bringing back Payton might be a bit trickier. Given that the Warriors hold his early Bird rights and not his full Bird rights, they cannot offer him more than about $10.9 million next season. It’s possible that, after watching Payton play big minutes in the Finals, teams with salary-cap space are willing to give him a bigger contract than Golden State can extend.
But even if that’s the case, it’s hard to envision any franchise offering Payton well more than $11 million. It helps the Warriors that Payton wants to return. After finding his niche in Golden State as a do-everything role player, he might be willing to take less money so he can stay with the team that took a chance on him.
Then there is Porter, who is probably the least likely of the three to re-sign. Teams throughout the league noticed that he led the Warriors with a net rating of 12.4 during the playoffs. And now that Porter has eased front offices’ concerns about his health, he could warrant offers between $5 million and $7 million.
The Warriors could conceivably re-sign him with their $6.4 million taxpayer mid-level exception, but they might prefer to use that on Payton, Looney or someone who fills a more glaring need. Given that Golden State only has Porter’s non-Bird rights, it can’t offer him more than $3.1 million if it doesn’t give him the mid-level.
This all could lead him to sign with a team that can give him more money and a bigger role. Of the other six Warriors players about to become free agents, the Warriors would like to bring back Nemanja Bjelica, Damion Lee and Juan Toscano-Anderson on minimum deals.
It will just depend on whether those bench pieces can get better offers elsewhere. Should the Warriors have room to add free agents not currently on their roster, they might use the mid-level or minimums on a backup big man or a backup point guard.
