> The Poole deal is the first domino in a series of contractual moves to come, all framed by competing factors: the extreme luxury-tax crunch set to hit the Warriors next July and their desire to field a roster that can keep winning championships. How can Joe Lacob & Co. maintain an elite roster while avoiding a $500 million total payroll commitment, which I’m told would lead to at least $100 million in red ink for the franchise?
> the Warriors can’t increase their future payroll beyond the current number of about $190 million (which will trigger about $190 million in tax penalties for a total commitment of about $380 million). Every future raise means they have to find a way to cut the payroll by the same amount.
> Meanwhile, Draymond can become a free agent next July if he doesn’t exercise his $27.6 million player option. If he exercises it and the Warriors keep him, they’d be about $120 million above where they’d want to be for the 2023-24 budget. I don’t think that’s workable for them, especially after his punching of Poole.
on Klay
> I’ve already been asked about the possibility of trading Klay. The answer: The $83.8 million he’s owed this season and next makes him far more valuable playing for the Warriors than he would be in any trade. He remains important to the Warriors and proved it last postseason, but at that salary, the only way they could possibly move off of him is if they added Jonathan Kuminga, James Wiseman or several future first-round picks in the deal to do it. And they don’t want to do that.
Source: https://theathletic.com/3695676/2022/10/15/warriors-jordan-poole-andrew-wiggins-deals/
by JordanKneePoole
20 Comments
Unless he bounces back in a big way this year, I don’t think Klay can expect that he’s going to be a max player next go round after 2.5 years of the kinds of injuries he had. So he’d probably be a role player level salary so why not do that with the Warriors.
If they put together their best roster yet to blow up the core for a bunch of picks they still can’t afford, that’s malpractice. They’re the most successful trio in history.
Klay looks good. His defense looks better and you know he’s going to average more than 20. He averaged 20 last season with a 2 year lay off. If he has the season everyone expects him to have then teams would want to sign him maybe at like 35M. His shooting and spacing alone merit that. But if he takes 25M per year for 3 more years that would be nice
ima start calling dray LeGone now
The last three sentences of the article was so shady lol
The real answer is that Klay and Steph now have to take discounts. I have no idea what’s gonna happen with Wiseman’s extension though. That’s gonna be a huge mess.
Klay will be on an expiring next season so he wouldn’t be extremely difficult to move.
Draymond will probably opt in to his contract and then we re-sign both Klay and Draymond to discounted deals in summer 2024.
Or Draymond could opt out and get more than 27.8M though and in that case he’s likely gone. It’s entirely up to him
Klay going for 38 in a quarter this year.
Big mistakes..Dray should have been paid first
Obviously I don’t ever want to see Klay traded but I don’t follow Kawakami’s claim that Klay can’t be traded. Sure, it makes sense that teams are not interested in paying him $84m for the next two years right now. But if he comes back and has a great season as a 2nd option that plays solid defense, there will absolutely be teams interested in him on a one year deal.
You could say Draymond punched his ticket out of here.
I would believe Myers and Draymond both knew where things stood while the bags were getting hammered out. I think Draymond is gone next year, one way or another.
I think it’s very likely Klay will take a team friendly deal. He’s stated multiple times how he only wants to play for Steve Kerr and how grateful he is to ownership for giving him a max through his injuries. It sucks to know it’s almost inevitable Drays gone but hopefully he stays healthy this year so that other teams view him as an asset in 2023-2024 season, otherwise it’ll be really awkward exercising that player option only to be traded in which Warriors may be including assets or picks.
Is it possible to keep dray if Steph and Klay take pay cuts?
It is interesting that with Poole’s salary going up by $25m ish and Wiggins coming down by $9m ish, that we don’t actually need to cut Draymond to afford Poole like we thought. Wiggins’ discount gets the bill down to a range where offloading Wiseman would be enough to get back under the $400m rumored limit.
Trading Klay on the court makes no sense. Off it, his market value has been set because of what Wiggins signed. That’s ultimately a 15 mil pay cut per year.
Draymond likely opts in. But after that, any future contract is based on market value which is probably closer to 20 mil given his situation. The key is the Ws have to survive one year in the red which they can do considering their income, adjusted CBA and rising cap. If not, well they took out a loan in 2020 take out another they can clearly make the money back.
I think draymond knows he can’t get huge money elsewhere. I mean, what competing team is going to shell out 25-30 for a guy that can’t score, and has a reputation for being disruptive? He’s a great leader, but thats only because Steph and klay lead through their talents and he can be the vocal guy. Can you imagine him going to Memphis and barking at ja, or go to LA and realize he can drive and dish to… no one.
Teams like Indiana, sac, Orlando, det… they are not looking to pay draymond. He’s worth $18, or 3 years at $60 is the most I’d give him. If he wants to walk, then that’s the way it goes.
What if Dray chose to opt in when time comes ??
Signing Wiggins and Poole means that this is Draymond’s last year with the Dubs.