The expectation was that the Warriors and billionaire owner Joe Lacob would continue to do well. The championship of Golden State was referred to as a checkbook win by Brian Windhorst. The phrase took on a life of it's own, forcing Lacob to respond as a guest on a show where he was fined by the NBA for speaking out against the luxury tax.
“The hardest thing of all is navigating this luxury tax, unfortunately,” he told Iguodala. “I went back to New York this week for labor meetings. I’m on the committee. And you know, obviously, the league wants everyone to have a chance, and right now, there’s a certain element out there that believes we ‘checkbook win. ...’ We won because we have the most salaries on our team.”
After six weeks, the euphoria has worn off and the reality is starting to set in. The Big 3 are going to have to be saved by Lacob.
It is understandable that Lacob dislikes the tax. Lacob is an NBA pauper. Steve Balmer, Dan Gilbert, and Robert Pera have net worths greater than his. Golden State is expected to pay north of $362 million in next season's bill. Lacob feels lighter in his pockets due to being taxed by Uncle Adam Silver.
Jordan and Andrew will be looking for salary increases through extensions. Draymond Green was supposed to be taken care of for the foreseeable future. According to sources close to The Athletic, Green will ask for a four-year, $138 million contract when he is eligible for an extension in August.
Green is going to make over twenty million dollars this season. He will get $27.5 million for 24 years, but it is a player option. He can become a free agent in the summer of 2020. Green could sign a four-year extension worth $138.4 million if he opts out of the last year of his contract.
The Warriors don't have any plans to give Green a maximum extension, and there isn't any traction on any type of extension. The Golden State front office usually extends with one year left. Curry signed his extension last summer. He signed a maximum extension in 2019. He could opt out a year earlier, but the Warriors prefer to extend Green next summer.
There is a reason Lacob made those comments on Draymond. Golden State would face a bill of $564 million dollars if Lacob were to re-sign Green, Poole, and take care of the other players. The Memphis Grizzles payroll was barely above the luxury tax threshold of $150.2 million. Green may be the guy on the chopping block as Lacob told The Athletic last month that those numbers are not even remotely feasible.
There is a cycle in life. Five years ago, Green put the finishing touches on his last season with a putdown. Green responded to the heckling by saying, "They don't love you like that." There is no farewell tour. They don't like you like that.
From that stinging rebuke, Pierce's reputation did not recover. Green is trying to get the Warriors to give him his last pay check, but do they really love him like that? They should because he has done so much for this franchise. The rule that caps the first-year salary of veteran extensions at 120 percent of what they earned the previous season was a factor in Green's decision to accept a team-friendly $100 million extension. His contract was called an impending albatross even then. He has proven his detractors wrong before and the Warriors owe him a lot.
The relationship has been beneficial, but there is still work to be done, and if you take the luxury tax into account, it is not a good idea to make a sequel to last dance. The Warrior made $700 million last season. Between basketball revenue and the revenue generated from Chase Center's non- basketball event schedule, Lacob and his ownership group are still making money. The Golden State Warriors became the second most valuable team in the NBA.
Green has been a divisive player for a long time. He is a do-it-all dragon who plays music off the rim on a nightly basis. He's one of the top three single-digit scorer in NBA history.
He is third on the marquee, but he is the emotional and defensive engine that keeps Golden State going. He is a god who has vision, intangibles, ball movement, switchable defense, and bone-jarring screens for a team that depends on him to create space for Curry to operate. His contributions aren't always included in the counting statistics. You can argue that Green has lost his marbles, but $35 million per year is reasonable in this bustling NBA economy.
He might be Udonis Haslem with a show, but the window is now. Other NBA players notice when teams take care of their men. The system was used by the Warriors in 2016 when they were able to fit Kevin Durant under the cap. Golden State blew a hole in the system. It comes around. The system seems to be swinging back and forth.
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