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In the wake of the public relations disaster that was the Bryan Colangelo firing, the Sixers, sources say, went to extensive lengths to woo Myers. Philadelphia was prepared to put him atop the league’s payscale, or at least really close to it. Ultimately, Myers chose to stay put with the Warriors. If he were to leave Golden State this summer, he’d likely be the most sought after front office free agent on the market.
But where might he go?
According to sources close to the situation, Washington, Phoenix, and New York are all worth monitoring as possibilities. Meanwhile, the recent focus in front office circles, where Myers’ situation has become a hot topic, is on the Clippers. They have the richest owner in all of professional sports in Steve Ballmer, the 66-year-old former Microsoft CEO with an $83 billion net worth who has taken the blank-check approach to his title pursuit since buying the team in 2014.
Myers’ roots run deep in the Los Angeles area. He played at UCLA, earned his law degree at Loyola Law School and was a prominent agent at the LA-based Wasserman Media Group before joining the Warriors as an assistant general manager in 2011. Yet, while Ballmer’s injury-riddled team has been a disappointment so far in this Kawhi Leonard–Paul George era, a source with knowledge of the Clippers’ operation pushed back on the widely discussed Myers possibility.
Bottom line: it’s far too early to tell where Myers might land if he leaves the Warriors, or if he’ll remain in the NBA at all. Sources close to Myers have also left open the possibility he could pursue opportunities outside the sport. That would give credence to the idea Myers may leave the Warriors because of burnout.
There are competitive advantages to working under a majority owner like Joe Lacob. He has spent historical amounts of salary on the roster. When a coaching staff overhaul was requested two summers ago, he opened the checkbook. They continue to expand their front office workforce, scouting department and medical staff.
That’s the case for Myers to stay. It would be hard to find a place that provides him with more resources. He gets to work in the Bay Area, where he was born and raised, and be a legend for the franchise he grew up watching. All while making significant money, even if not the most in the league, and receiving the perks of running the NBA’s glamor team.
In the NBA world, what the Warriors have is considered elite living, driven by an unquenchable desire for rampant success. This is why some insiders believe, if presented with a deadline and must-match dollar amount to keep Myers, Lacob will pay what it takes to keep him around. Executive salaries don’t count toward the luxury tax.
But the same constant ambition that makes the Warriors an elite franchise is the same constant ambition that grinds on those in direct orbit. Sources say Lacob is more involved than ever in the day-to-day personnel choices. He studies the draft, attends workouts and crafts big boards. He played an influential role in the franchise’s choice to use its five recent picks on upside teenagers instead of rerouting some of that capital into older and reliable help to maximize the present.
The Warriors struck that two-timeline balance and still won a title last June. This season, after flooding the back end of the roster with more unprepared youth, the mix has become more problematic. The losses have piled up, creating extra tension for everyone involved in threading the win-and-develop needle.
Myers is the leading mediator of this high-stakes clash. When ground-level concerns arise from Kerr or the All-Stars on the roster, Myers is the trusted ear. When agents wonder why their young clients can’t gain career traction, Myers is the explainer. When Durant tore his Achilles, when James Wiseman missed an entire season, when Draymond Green punched Jordan Poole, it is Myers who faces the public. When Lacob turns the temperature up, Myers is closest to the fire and the staff’s buffer.
This summer is trending toward a culmination. The Warriors’ increased luxury tax concerns and rising salary numbers are creating wrenching personnel decisions. That could involve a choice between whether to part with Green or Klay Thompson, two living franchise legends who have both voiced a relative unease about their future with the Warriors beyond their current contracts.
Myers can’t be thrilled at the prospect of making that call, especially considering he’s going to have to break that news to No. 30.
Not that any of the other executives, who also poured themselves into this franchise, would want to make that call, either. But if the dynasty is coming to an end, and the Warriors end up leaning toward the future, that might convince Myers to ride off into the sunset. Perhaps being the league’s highest paid executive could persuade him to stay. Or maybe leaning into the remaining years of the championship window triggers his loyalty to the stars and convinces him he still has work to do with the Warriors.
A lot must play out before Myers’ future is decided. What happens on the court could end up being the deciding factor. Do the Warriors make a late run in the regular season, look like a contender in the postseason, and provoke the Warriors to spend what it takes to keep the core together? Or do they continue on their current path of mediocrity, unable to sustain excellence long enough to keep the focus off the future?
