The Warriors can pass on an extension for Poole if they choose, allowing him to become a restricted free agent next summer. If he gets there, one league executive speculates that we can expect at least one team with cap space to be ready to pounce. “I’d watch out for the Magic to be ready to make an offer if he’s restricted, knowing there’s a good chance Golden State is not going to match,” one Eastern Conference executive told Heavy Sports.
Source: Sean Deveney @ Heavy.com
More on this storyline
Kerr referred to it as a “foundational six,” roping in Looney, Wiggins and Jordan Poole to the established core of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson. “We have probably more continuity than anybody in the league with our core group,” Kerr said. “Add Wiggs and Jordan and the institutional knowledge they’ve gained, and we have a really strong foundation. That’s the most important thing you can have in this league. “We had it going into last year. But the difference was, a year ago, we didn’t know if we were really contenders. That’s why the 18-2 start was so big. It reinforced it. This year, being defending champs, it doesn’t guarantee anything, but you have a confident sense in who you are. We have our main six guys back, the foundational six that we know are going to be on the court for big minutes every night. That allows us to bring our young guys along.” -via The Athletic / August 2, 2022
In some cases, that’s the case even if the player’s development stalls out. For example, BORDS$ values Poole as being worth $28.7 million for the coming season. If he doesn’t improve at all from that point, the rises in the cap environment alone will make him worth $145 million over the first four years of an extension. The most the Warriors can legally pay him over those four years is $147 million. The math for Barrett and Herro — both of whom are a year younger than Poole — plays out nearly as strongly. Thus, committing to pay one of these guys $40 million in 2026-27 may seem like a big swallow, but it’s the equivalent of a salary in the $25 million range today. From the team side, they don’t need to become All-Stars for the contracts to turn into big wins. Also, going longer is likely even better. A full five years on a “designated rookie” deal looks aggressive at first, but by the end of the deal, you have a 27-year-old being paid regular starter money. -via The Athletic / July 26, 2022
But ESPN NBA analyst Zach Lowe believes the Nets aren’t convinced the headliners of the package are the stars they are seeking in a Durant trade. “That’s where you negotiate, though because you wouldn’t end up giving up all of those players,” Lowe said during a conversation with Warriors reporter Kendra Andrews during the latest episode of “The Lowe Post” podcast. “That’s just too many players to give up if you’re giving up a lot of picks too. By the way, the Warriors, for a good team, they only owe one future first-round pick. They owe it to Memphis via the [Andre] Iguodala salary dump [in 2019], which feels like eons ago. They’re actually set up to … they have more flexibility. trade-wise, not financially. Financially, they are breaking all the barriers, but more flexibility trade-wise than most teams. “That’s where you would negotiate. You would end up keeping a Kuminga or a Moody. The issues are Wiggins and Simmons. You run into the designated rookie fiasco. The intel I have is that the Nets are not super high on Wiggins or Poole as sort of centerpiece players. Then you get to the other guys who are relatively unproven in the NBA. So I don’t know if there ever really was a deal there that the Nets would have done. Obviously, you have to explore it if you’re the Warriors.” -via Yahoo! Sports / July 23, 2022
Story originally appeared on HoopsHype
