Lets play GM: What should the Warriors do now?

[MessiahUjiri]

Lets assume the likely scenario: The Warriors will flame out with a play-in or 1st round appearance. They're currently 5 game behind the 8th spot, and 2 wins away from the 12th spot team.

What will they do next?

Steph is still a top 10 player in the NBA.
Klay is a FA. If they re-sign him, they will be a tax paying team again.
They have some good youth pieces (Kuminga, Podz, TJD, Moody)
Wiggins is up and down a lot. Same with Draymond, who is likely a negative value contract.


What do you think they will do next?



What I think they *should do*: Trade Steph Curry. This may be the right time to cash out on a legend, similar to how Boston cashed out on Paul Pierce / KG towards their final years. With the amount of teams sitting on multiple picks, they will get a huge haul.


What they will *likely* do: Not trade Steph, and give it one more go. In this case, here's a trade.

Wiggins + Moody for Bruce Brown. Brown is an expiring contract, and can fill in the 1-3.

Thoughts?

[jayjaysee]

Would think Golden State’s offseason plans depend greatly on if JK keeps playing at this level and how the play-in goes.. I don’t see a world where GS trades Curry though.

Would expect a trade package of Moody+2025 first for the best fit possible. Salary matching could be Looney/Payton or could be CP if it’s worth it to stay over the tax by keeping him contract alive..

[ChettheJet]

I sit at my fake GM desk and say, "Steph, what's your plan? Do you want to play the rest of your career here, do you think we can win rings keeping these guys around you, would you hang around if we make a lot of moves, what type of players do you want around you, do you want to get traded now?" Then I do what he says

No point to surprising Steph with whatever my plan is. Some guys look better than they really are surrounding a great player like Curry, Michael, Lebron so you need to move them when they look good for the best return. But if I make the call, I'm trading Green as a loose cannon, Wiggins while he looks like a key piece, Thompson so someone else can take the injury risk.

I'd keep Payton, Kuminga, Looney, Moody for the rotation. I'd seriously look at stable unspectacular players to start Demar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic. Much is expected from them with the Bulls as 2 of their 3 but with Steph to carry the load they only have to contribute as part of the 4 around him not be featured. There are other similar players on other teams who aren't looking to be big stars, they want to and can be more than role players, more a case of in a 10 game stretch they have each have 4-5 big games and 5-6 below average outputs depending on if they're 'on' and who the opposition is. They're more concerned about winning

[Bentley1225]

They will just run it back and offer Klay a 3 year, $60 million deal with 3rd year partial guarantee. So he gets $45-50 million for 2 more years of service.

Spend the TPE and make one final run for next season while core 4 are still in there in relative primes.

[gswhoops]

We won't trade Steph unless he demands out. Full stop. He's at the Kobe/Dirk/Tim Duncan level of importance to the franchise that he will be a member of the team as long as he wants to be.

The biggest question is how much Lacob is willing to spend to put the best possible team around Steph. Our roster next year currently looks like this:

Looney / Jackson-Davis
Green / Santos
Kuminga / Moody
Wiggins / Podziemski / GP2*
Curry / Paul

*GP2 technically has a player option, but he'd be a fool not to exercise it so I'm assuming he does

We're at $174M against a $171M tax line before re-signing Klay. CP3 is fully unguaranteed for $30M of that number, but his guarantee date is in late June so we would have to guarantee him before the offseason really gets underway in order to use his contract in a trade. I think there could be a mutually beneficial arrangement where we agree to guarantee some small portion of his contract for next year in exchange for pushing his guarantee date out a couple weeks but that would require CP3 to buy in.

Looney is also only partially guaranteed, so if we're really crunched we could shave another $6.5M by stretch-waiving him; but that would leave us with TJD as the only real 5 on the roster.

If money is no object, as Lacob has claimed, you guarantee CP3, re-sign Klay to a reasonable deal, and then try and package CP3 + Moody + picks (+ Podz and/or Kuminga depending on how high you're aiming) to get a legitimate second option on offense.

[gswhoops]

They will just run it back and offer Klay a 3 year, $60 million deal with 3rd year partial guarantee. So he gets $45-50 million for 2 more years of service.

Spend the TPE and make one final run for next season while core 4 are still in there in relative primes.

This is what I *expect* them to do. Sign Klay to a somewhat above market deal with a TO or non-guaranteed money towards the end, waive CP3, and try to fill out the roster on the cheap to get out of the tax (or at least under the first apron).

[giberish]

I can't see Paul being kept. The cost is wildly too high. And if the team waives him to not pay the huge extra money they won't have Bird rights or anything. I'd expect that they do resign Klay - something like 3/$60M. He's still a credible starter but not close to a star.

At most I'd expect a Wiggins centered deal for something for a roster change. Possibly Moody included as well. The question is what picks the team would be willing to pay for an upgrade that still probably doesn't make them major title contenders.

[gswhoops]

I can't see Paul being kept. The cost is wildly too high. And if the team waives him to not pay the huge extra money they won't have Bird rights or anything. I'd expect that they do resign Klay - something like 3/$60M. He's still a credible starter but not close to a star.

At most I'd expect a Wiggins centered deal for something for a roster change. Possibly Moody included as well. The question is what picks the team would be willing to pay for an upgrade that still probably doesn't make them major title contenders.

Agreed, with a caveat. I can't see them keeping him unless they know they have a major deal already lined up that needs his salary for matching purposes.

[nykballa2k4]

Lets assume the likely scenario: The Warriors will flame out with a play-in or 1st round appearance. They're currently 5 game behind the 8th spot, and 2 wins away from the 12th spot team.

What will they do next?

Steph is still a top 10 player in the NBA.
Klay is a FA. If they re-sign him, they will be a tax paying team again.
They have some good youth pieces (Kuminga, Podz, TJD, Moody)
Wiggins is up and down a lot. Same with Draymond, who is likely a negative value contract.


What do you think they will do next?



What I think they *should do*: Trade Steph Curry. This may be the right time to cash out on a legend, similar to how Boston cashed out on Paul Pierce / KG towards their final years. With the amount of teams sitting on multiple picks, they will get a huge haul.


What they will *likely* do: Not trade Steph, and give it one more go. In this case, here's a trade.

Wiggins + Moody for Bruce Brown. Brown is an expiring contract, and can fill in the 1-3.

Thoughts?

Unless Curry asks to go elsewhere, I think they continue to build around him.
I think Klay has a hard talk over the summer, tries to talk to other teams, then re-signs with the Warriors for a team-friendly deal. This really works for both parties IMO.
Green, to me, is a problem. Starting him at C means that your defense will always have paint vulnerability though switch-ability is preserved. If you are keeping him, you really need a PF that has some size and range (also fits the defense).
IDK if John Collins is Golden State material, but he is someone I would consider just due to how he profiles.

CP3 becomes fully guaranteed on 6/28, of note the NBA draft is 6/26, 6/27.

I would probably try to trade Looney, Moody and CP3 with unprotected 2025 FRP for Collins Sexton and pick #27(this allows them to trade the 2025 pick)
I would then call Detroit and offer Wiggins for Fournier(non-guaranteed till 6/29) and Grimes. This one is sort of a long-shot because either Grimes is who I think he is (elite 3-D with some additional skills) and the price will be higher or he won't be remarkable enough to make this trade make sense. If you clump both trades together, the Warriors will be appearing to take on a little less than their outgoing cap number, but would be able to immediately slash 18M off their books. Assuming Klay comes in at around that same number (Green is making the 22) that represents about 40M in savings. Warriors should basically be right under the death-tax and largely re-loaded. For the sake of this proposed trade I am taking him to be at Danny Green at similar age value. If he is better/worse then the added pieces will change as needed.


Green/TJD
Collins
Kuminga/Klay
Pods/Grimes
Steph/Sexton/GP3

Lots of splash, good amount of high IQ guys, not too many defensive holes. This team is a legit contender IMO.

[Dom801e]

Let Klay walk
Trade CP3+ assets for another wing (someone like DFS) or sign one in FA with MLE (someone like Royce O'Neal).

Steph, Kuminga, Draymond, Wiggins, Podz, FA or MLE, Looney, GP2, Moody, TJD is a playoff team. Possible 2nd round depending on addition and growth from Kuminga and Podz.

Also gets under tax to get out of repeater situation.

[Hoppy1]

Multiple steps need to be made. Step 1 Curry does not leave.

Step 2 is move Wiggins. Don't say no one will trade for Giddey, someone will, and my take is Giddey, Bertans, Dieng for Wiggins. OKT may even be willing to throw in their 24 FRP (#26).

Next step is determining if Thompson is willing to come back for cheap - under $20-25MM.

Next is unloading Distraction Green. Send him to Orlando which will bolster their toughness for Isaacs. Giving the Warriors a defensive presence who can still hit from the outside.

Curry/Thompson/Giddey/Kuminga/Isaacs. Move other pieces as needed. Team w

[wegotthabeet]

the move should still be Curry + youth + massive tax savings and reset.

1. drop Klay.
2. trade Draymond for expiring contracts.
3. trade Wiggins. might need to include a 2026 protected pick / Moody.
4. waive Paul

get rid of all the dead weight. save money. be really bad next year + get a high pick in 2025.

keep Curry unless he asks out, but if he wants out you have that flexibility to pivot to complete youth movement instead trading too many future picks. he should still be highly productive for a few more years and probably only wants to be in Golden State.

[kds92]

Jump start the rebuild. Trade Steph (will be 36) to the Nets for Simmons + filler + Clowney/Whitehead + 4 1sts (3 Suns, 1 Dallas)

[jbk1234]

Unless Wiggins can shift it into another gear before the playoffs start, I think their options are all bad tbh.

I don't think they can trade Green for expiring contracts given the fact he's basically on double probation, but if they can, do it.

Signing Klay to anything over the taxMLE shouldn't even be a consideration.

Assuming Wiggins is still disengaged, they should consider attaching Moody to him and trading him for a guy like Brown.

See if Curry can recruit some blue chip free agents in the summer of 2025.

[Raptors Realtor]

Multiple steps need to be made. Step 1 Curry does not leave.

Step 2 is move Wiggins. Don't say no one will trade for Giddey, someone will, and my take is Giddey, Bertans, Dieng for Wiggins. OKT may even be willing to throw in their 24 FRP (#26).

Next step is determining if Thompson is willing to come back for cheap - under $20-25MM.

Next is unloading Distraction Green. Send him to Orlando which will bolster their toughness for Isaacs. Giving the Warriors a defensive presence who can still hit from the outside.

Curry/Thompson/Giddey/Kuminga/Isaacs. Move other pieces as needed. Team w

Bertans is now on Charlotte, and I don't think OKC trades giddey & a 1st for Wiggins who's contract isn't viewed positively, not to mention but Giddey likely doesn't have the same level of stigma/negative value attached to him as he did prior to the police determining that they completed their investigation and aren't proceeding with any charges.

[MessiahUjiri]

We won't trade Steph unless he demands out. Full stop. He's at the Kobe/Dirk/Tim Duncan level of importance to the franchise that he will be a member of the team as long as he wants to be.

The biggest question is how much Lacob is willing to spend to put the best possible team around Steph. Our roster next year currently looks like this:

Looney / Jackson-Davis
Green / Santos
Kuminga / Moody
Wiggins / Podziemski / GP2*
Curry / Paul

*GP2 technically has a player option, but he'd be a fool not to exercise it so I'm assuming he does

We're at $174M against a $171M tax line before re-signing Klay. CP3 is fully unguaranteed for $30M of that number, but his guarantee date is in late June so we would have to guarantee him before the offseason really gets underway in order to use his contract in a trade. I think there could be a mutually beneficial arrangement where we agree to guarantee some small portion of his contract for next year in exchange for pushing his guarantee date out a couple weeks but that would require CP3 to buy in.

Looney is also only partially guaranteed, so if we're really crunched we could shave another $6.5M by stretch-waiving him; but that would leave us with TJD as the only real 5 on the roster.

If money is no object, as Lacob has claimed, you guarantee CP3, re-sign Klay to a reasonable deal, and then try and package CP3 + Moody + picks (+ Podz and/or Kuminga depending on how high you're aiming) to get a legitimate second option on offense.

I think you’re generally correct, but there is no sense in guaranteeing CP3s huge contract for a team that may end up as a repeat tax payer.

Looks like Klay is willing to come back in a reduced role, which makes things easier. He would be a great 6th man.

Wiggins is the obvious man out. Combine him with Moody for a better return.


Wiggins + Moody for Bruce Brown + future 2nd



Steph / Podz / GP2
Brown / Klay / (GP2)
Kuminga /
Dray / TJD
Looney

Fill the bench with the MLE and min contracts. Kuminga and Podz have to take the next step up if they want to do any damage in the playoffs.

[Ell Curry]

Wiggins + Moody for Bruce Brown + future 2nd

Steph / Podz / GP2
Brown / Klay / (GP2)
Kuminga /
Dray / TJD
Looney

Fill the bench with the MLE and min contracts. Kuminga and Podz have to take the next step up if they want to do any damage in the playoffs.

I could see that expanded to a move of CP3 (option picked up) + top 10 protected 1st in 2025 (unprotected in 2026) + Moody + GP2 for Poeltl and Bruce Brown + #31

Raptors tank hard for the next couple of years, Warriors probably move Looney at some point and let's say they sign Delon Wright as a cheap backup PG.

Draymond/Poeltl/TJD
Kuminga/Wiggins
Brown/Wiggins/#31
Klay/Podz
Steph/Wright

is a pretty solid 9 man rotation.

and there's still the eventual option of moving the 2027 and 2029 1st and swaps in 2026 and 2028 + some combo of Wiggins/Poeltl/Brown if a really good player becomes available for that sort of price. That's basically the Siakam price plus a little, so maybe it can be the Brandon Ingram price next year for instance.

[gswhoops]

We won't trade Steph unless he demands out. Full stop. He's at the Kobe/Dirk/Tim Duncan level of importance to the franchise that he will be a member of the team as long as he wants to be.

The biggest question is how much Lacob is willing to spend to put the best possible team around Steph. Our roster next year currently looks like this:

Looney / Jackson-Davis
Green / Santos
Kuminga / Moody
Wiggins / Podziemski / GP2*
Curry / Paul

*GP2 technically has a player option, but he'd be a fool not to exercise it so I'm assuming he does

We're at $174M against a $171M tax line before re-signing Klay. CP3 is fully unguaranteed for $30M of that number, but his guarantee date is in late June so we would have to guarantee him before the offseason really gets underway in order to use his contract in a trade. I think there could be a mutually beneficial arrangement where we agree to guarantee some small portion of his contract for next year in exchange for pushing his guarantee date out a couple weeks but that would require CP3 to buy in.

Looney is also only partially guaranteed, so if we're really crunched we could shave another $6.5M by stretch-waiving him; but that would leave us with TJD as the only real 5 on the roster.

If money is no object, as Lacob has claimed, you guarantee CP3, re-sign Klay to a reasonable deal, and then try and package CP3 + Moody + picks (+ Podz and/or Kuminga depending on how high you're aiming) to get a legitimate second option on offense.

I think you’re generally correct, but there is no sense in guaranteeing CP3s huge contract for a team that may end up as a repeat tax payer.

Looks like Klay is willing to come back in a reduced role, which makes things easier. He would be a great 6th man.

Wiggins is the obvious man out. Combine him with Moody for a better return.


Wiggins + Moody for Bruce Brown + future 2nd



Steph / Podz / GP2
Brown / Klay / (GP2)
Kuminga /
Dray / TJD
Looney

Fill the bench with the MLE and min contracts. Kuminga and Podz have to take the next step up if they want to do any damage in the playoffs.

I think this is all more or less right, and probably a pretty good outcome if we're not taking a big swing.

[JasonStern]

Let's remember how bad the Warriors were pre-Curry. I'd be very cautious blowing the team up, even if its core has probably ran its course.

[OxAndFox]

Double Post