The Warriors Continue To Pay Everyone But Draymond Green After Giving Andrew Wiggins A $109 Million Extension Of His Own
Maybe you've had quite the Saturday so far. Drinks have been flowing, tons of food has been consumed, and the next thing you know your bill is much higher than you were ready for. You bite the bullet and put down your credit card as you scramble to budget the rest of your weekend. It happens to everyone at some point.
Well that's not true. It doesn't happen to the Golden State Warriors. Their Saturday bar tab? $249 million dollars. First it was Jordan Poole getting his max extension which was always going to happen but maybe had a few million extra kicked in given that whole getting punched in the face thing. The next question became what the team was going to do about their other big ticket extensions, starting with Andrew Wiggins. He's a player that has found the perfect role while in GS and played a gigantic role in their championship run
I think most people figured he would be rewarded for that. He's really turned himself into a solid player as a Warrior and in many ways changed the overall narrative about him as a player. The curiosity was more around what his number would end up being, and a 4/109M extension is pretty much market value for a player of his age and skill set. It's actually a pay cut if you compare it to his current deal which is crazy but then you remember the Wolves max'd Wiggins because he promised the owner he would work out and try hard. What a power move that was at the time.
If you were wondering how the Warriors are even able to do all this, it's because their ownership group is rich as shit and could not care less about the luxury tax.
$483 MILLION!!
That is nearly half a billion to keep most of the band together and make another run at a couple more titles. That's a simply outrageous number that is pretty impossible to keep up with. No owners in any sport are paying $500M a year for their team and the Warriors do it without a care in the world. That's wild.
Of course, the next question becomes what now happens with Draymond. Is this it? Are they done spending? Bob Myers has already been setting the groundwork that he wanted to keep everyone but that finances get tricky. Then Draymond punched a teammate. Shit changes quick in the NBA. As it stands right now, Draymond has a $27M player option for next season
What he does with that is anyone's guess. Is there a team on the open market that would pay close to that number over a multiyear deal next summer? Is Draymond willing to take a discount to join forces with Klutch out in LA? Does he pick up the option so he can remain on a contender, make $27M and then just leave in free agency? Does the team now look to move him earlier than expected now that he could be an expiring deal? If they have no interest in paying Draymond or keeping Draymond, you would think they would at least try and flip the asset.
Who knows, maybe the next Woj bomb to drop is a Draymond extension. Maybe not at the max that he wants but a good price. At the end of the day it comes down to what Steph wants. If Steph wants Draymond around, the Warriors are going to keep Draymond around. At the same time, they have built in a nice little excuse to move away from him given their extensions to Wiggins/Poole and what the tax bill looks like. Gut feeling says his days in the Bay are numbered.