The champagne flowed Warriors of the Golden State won her fourth NBA title in eight years last week. But before the bottles were emptied, the champions were already answering questions about next season’s resumption.
Do you keep the list together? If they do, they may have to continue being the league’s biggest donors.
Finals MVP Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green are all returning next season and sound confident of winning that fifth ring, especially when youngsters like Andrew Wiggins, Jordan Poole and Jonathan Kuminga are expected alongside the veterans.
“And we’re not done yet,” Thompson said Friday while appearing on Green’s podcast. “That’s the beauty of it. We’ve got those young bucks behind us and we’ve got the same squad coming back? This is scary for the NBA.”
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Golden State has now won ahead of Kevin Durant, during his era and after his departure. Colin Cowherd talks about what made the Warriors’ title win against the Celtics different than before and why they are now the NBA standard.
Wiggins and Poole are both entering the final years of their contracts and could potentially be the future of the organisation. Both were asked during their exit interviews if they would be staying in the Bay Area long-term.
“I’d like to stay here,” Wiggins said on Saturday afternoon. “Being here is first class. The way they treat the players… we’re all one big family. I feel like a lot of places say that, but they show it through their actions.”
Poole, on the other hand, wasn’t looking too far ahead.
“To be completely honest, I haven’t even been able to fathom anything about this process,” Poole said. “I was so captivated by the championship. We know it’s going to happen, we put ourselves in situations to be successful and everything else will take care of itself.”
Poole and Wiggins’ long-term signing will be crucial, but the team also have a handful of free agents to think about this offseason. Gary Payton II, Andre Iguodala, Kevon Looney, Otto Porter Jr., Nemanja Bjelica, Damion Lee and Chris Chiozza will all be unrestricted free agents. Juan Toscano-Anderson and Quinndary Weatherspoon will be restricted free agents.
Additionally, the Warriors already have a top-heavy roster. Corresponding spotrac.comthe quartet of Curry ($48 million), Thompson ($40.6 million), Wiggins ($33.6 million) and Green ($25.8 million) alone make up more than 70% their cap spot for next season.
That has left the franchise with an estimated luxury tax bill of more than $74 million since their roster is currently on hold.
Of course, the Warriors weren’t shy about spending money, and — how The Sporting News outlined last week – The franchise spent more than $170 million last season on the luxury tax alone.
Will the Warriors continue to spend big to win big? Or will the strategy change over time?
Golden State may not be able to retain all of its players, but one thing is clear, the players seem poised to have a similar roster from this championship next season.
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