NBA FREE AGENCY
Key Free Agents: F Kelly Oubre Jr. (2020-21 salary – $14.4M), C Kevon Looney ($5.2M – Player Option 2021-22), F Kent Bazemore ($2.3M)
Other Free Agents: G Nico Mannion (Two-Way), F/C Jordan Bell (Two-Way)
The Warriors have been limited in terms of what they can do each offseason when free agency rolls around because over the years, they have been hard capped. Golden State has been paying a ton of luxury taxes to keep the team that they have together and even without Kevin Durant being a part of their roster, they still are paying a ton of money in luxury taxes.
This offseason, this trend is going to continue yet again not only because Stephen Curry and the Warriors will be working out another long-term, $200M+ contract extension, but because they are already $30.8M over the tax threshold entering the offseason.
Curry, Thompson, Green and Wiggins combined make up $139.1M in salaries for the 2021-22 season, which for any other team would be absurd, but the Warriors’ ownership is committed to making their team a championship contender and are willing to do/pay whatever it takes to do so.
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However, with the Warriors this deep in the hole financially on the contract side of things, there are not many opportunities for them to add more talent to their roster via free agency unless guys are willing to sign minimum deals. With Kelly Oubre Jr. being an unrestricted free agent this offseason, it is highly likely that the Warriors will not be able to afford to bring him back.
Oubre Jr. came to Golden State last offseason as part of a trade with the OKC Thunder after news broke that Klay Thompson was going to be out for the year. Kelly Oubre Jr. played in 55 games during the regular season with the Warriors and averaged 15.4 points, 6.0 rebounds and shot 43.9% from the floor. He is expected to draw a fair amount of interest on the open market and while the Warriors would definitely welcome him back, the Knicks, Heat and Spurs are also teams that have shown interest in the 25-year-old wing, sources tell NBA Analysis Network.
Kent Bazmore is also set to become an unrestricted free agent that the Warriors would like to bring back and Kevon Looney could potentially opt out of his $5.2M player option, which would not be ideal for the Warriors. Keeping Looney on an affordable contract is key for them, especially since he is their “glue guy” and very important to helping them on both ends of the court.
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Aside from pending free agents, the Warriors also have to decide on the contracts of Damion Lee, Mychal Mudler, Alen Smailagic and Gary Payton II, all of which have non-guaranteed contracts for the 2021-22 season. Lee’s contract is $1.9M for next season and is partially-guaranteed on July 15, should the Warriors not waive him before then.
Mulder’s contract is $1.8M for next season and is non-guaranteed until opening night. Alen Smailagic’s contract is also $1.8M for next season and becomes fully guaranteed on August 6. Finally, Gary Payton II has a $2M non-guaranteed contract for next season that becomes partially-guaranteed on August 11 and then fully guaranteed if he makes the Warriors’ opening night roster.
There is a lot to sort out for the Warriors roster and contract-wise in the offseason and they will have some big decisions to make, but the futures of Kelly Oubre Jr. and Kent Bazemore are their two biggest concerns. It seems more likely that the Warriors will be able to bring back Bazemore over Oubre Jr., but there is still a possibility that they could bring back both, costing the Warriors even more in luxury taxes.
