Three months after overseeing the most astounding NBA championship run in recent memory, Golden State Warriors president of basketball operations Bob Myers flew over San Francisco just after the team’s first game. sitting on stage in the Chase Center conference room in training. Seconds into his first media appearance of the season, he faces the question not how the Warriors will defend the title, but how he can keep his dynamic and his core intact this season and beyond.
“We’re getting close to the end of our contract,” says the reporter. “How do you handle all these situations, how do you prioritize?”
The Warriors return with an entire starting lineup and four recent draft picks that make up a valuable young core, but things are less clear from this season onwards. Golden State’s Andrew Wiggins is entering the final year of his Max contract.With high-scoring guard Jordan Poole A potential bridge to the future of the team, wants an extension before the October 18 deadline for rookie contracts. Draymond Green, who holds his option for the $27.6 million player after this season, also wants an extension.
For years, Golden State’s front office has happily spent the capital it needs on the title, paying $500 million in luxury tax over the past five seasons. Last season, roster salaries combined with repeater taxes cost them about $350 million in ownership alone. But Warriors executive chairman Joe Lacob recently suggested there may be limitations. team spendingcomplicating Myers’ ability to keep his best players on the roster.
Myers told a line of reporters in attendance, “We want all those guys. Can we get them all? I don’t know.”
Lacob raved about how the Warriors rebuilt following the 2019 Finals, which lost Klay Thompson to injury and finally Kevin Durant in free agency. “We’ve been able to do this — call it a two-tier strategy — whatever you like Call me, but there’s a core member to get there, and meanwhile you’re going to develop these young players, and I think we’ve done it. For the bridge to succeed, the Warriors must find a way to pay off two generations at once.
“Ultimately, the more I get into this, the more I realize that nothing is absolute,” Myers said. Yes, some of these decisions may be made within the next two weeks, some may be made within the next seven or eight months, and information available at that time will determine them. It helps.”
But Myers wasn’t the only one to face extension questions before the season. When asked about next summer at Media Day on Sunday, Wiggins dodged the question. A scheduled representative, Poole, responded similarly: “I’m going to let the representatives handle it,” he said. I’m just here to play basketball.” Green’s agent, Rich Paul, spoke with Myers a week before camp, and the All-Star forward’s extended offer seemed futile. When asked if he would sign a deal before the season, Green said, “I don’t think it will happen. So I’m focused on this season.”
Green’s contract impasse did not deter his efforts to be paid to others. When his forward JaMychal Green hit the free agent market, Draymond Green called his 32-year-old and declared: you will be very fit
JaMychal told me on the sidelines of Media Day. “I used to FaceTime him in Jamaica and he was so excited. Just seeing the excitement on his face made me really want to be there.”
Green wasn’t the only recruiter on the team. As Donte DiVincenzo pondered his options in free agency, Stephen Curry called the 25-year-old. He raved about Golden State’s medical staff because he was aware of the ankle tendon injury he had suffered. , you don’t have to worry about anything.”
“Steph was different because it wasn’t a player-to-player relationship,” added DiVincenzo. “Apparently it was person-to-person. He’s also dealt with injuries in his career, so he had a different perspective. So what he went through, the decisions he had to make. , it resonated with me when she told me what she had experienced.”
DiVincenzo and JaMychal Green are two of Golden State’s five new potential rotation players. Both key reserves Otto Porter Jr. and Gary Payton II left for paydays the underfunded Warriors couldn’t provide. The departure created a void expected to be filled by the youth movement in a team that showed a spurt of progress last season.Last year, 19-year-old Jonathan Kuminga scored 20 goals in his five games and finished 20. Year-old Moses Moody started the regular season in 11 games. But the most pressure is on the shoulders of seven-foot-tall big man James Wiseman on his shoulders. Weisman appeared in just his 39 games in his first two-year professional season, missing all last season to recover from a meniscus injury. When the Warriors celebrated the title in Boston, Weisman joined his NBA mountaintop booty, but struggled to coordinate celebrating a season largely watched from the sidelines.
“It’s hard,” he told me this week. “Last year, especially because I went through a difficult time not only as a basketball player, but also as a person. But I tried to take it positively and just try to be a game student.”
Last year’s absence hasn’t clouded Golden State’s view of Wiseman. Coaches report rave reviews for his dedication, which he spent most of the 21-year-old’s summer at the team’s San Francisco facility. “His work ethic is great,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said last week ahead of Golden State’s first official practice. his approach, demeanor. He is loved by his teammates. They see how hard he works. So now it’s a matter of experience. He just has to keep playing and we have to stay patient and let that growth happen at an organic and natural rate.
Still, Wiseman is expected to come off the bench this season to back up Kevon Looney, who re-signed with the Warriors after stabilizing Golden State’s thin frontcourt last season. I have a lot of questions for the veterans of
“How did he adapt to speed in the NBA?” Weisman often asks. “What it’s like to play in the league as a big. So if we take the minutes and get the chance, we can make the most of it.”
The maturation of Golden State’s youth movement has been underpinned by veteran leadership.Over the summer, when Kuminga wasn’t putting in enough effort at summer league, Green called him out on his podcastIn the game after Green’s comments, Kuminga responded, finishing with 28 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists.
Tough love extended to fall camp. When the Warriors practiced Sunday morning, Kerr split the team into veteran starters and a younger group. Easily beaten each game against 7. Whenever the starters saw signs of adversity, they relied on Curry Green’s pick-and-roll to seal the deal.
“It should be,” Curry said on Sunday. “We know what we are doing. We have good chemistry. It sets the meaning and tone of our activities.We understand that young people have to be patient with what the process looks like, but they have to be committed to it. .”
Three days before last year’s NBA Finals, Lacob said he hopes Golden State will win the most titles in a single day in league history, surpassing Boston’s record of 17. Last season, it was on his shoulders to prove to the world that the Warriors could win without Durant on the roster. The tone of the team is a little different as the 2022-23 season approaches.
“It doesn’t feel like the same chip,” Green said Sunday. “I would be lying if I said yes. But there are chips. There are chips. No shortage of chips, I can tell you that.
But this year’s group’s mantra is something bigger. “It’s a very short list when you consider players who have won five championships,” Thompson said. “And to be able to have that opportunity is something very special.”
Last month, many of the NBA’s elite gathered in the halls of San Diego’s Fairmont Grand Del Mar Hotel to watch Green marry longtime partner Hazel Rennie. Hoops luminaries Tom Izzo, LeBron James, and Curry were in attendance. Rappers Roddy Ricch and DaBaby performed as the attendees partied all night. At some point during the festivities, James, Curry, and Greene spotted a wedding photo booth and flashed a “4” with their hands, indicating the four titles each had won. It also shows how far you have come. Seven years ago, Curry and Green were young men who wanted to be crowned kings. Now they are on par with the greatest player of his generation and have a chance to surpass his ring count.
“You understand the competition and that’s what makes us great,” Curry told me on Sunday. Blessings to all who are and knowing how we have all shared our experiences as adults, this time was a time to relax and have fun.”
Then, as he begins to shift his focus to another season, Curry’s tone becomes more serious. More importantly, another chip.
“That’s why we’re here,” he said, stepping into another season. “That’s why we’re here.”
