Is This the Last Year of Golden State's Core with Durant?

[DefenseWinsChamps]

And if so, is this year the start of the Celtic dynasty?

Playing around with shamsports and their roster, and I think it might be.

in 2019, Thompson and Durant are both up to be resigned.

If both take max money, and without signing anyone else, their luxury tax bill will be at 110,000,000 with only 9 players on their roster. They will be 29 million over the luxury tax.

If they waived Livingston (only 2 million guaranteed) and filled the other 7 spots with vet min contracts, their tax bill would be $132,000,000, making their total payroll for players almost $300,000,000. Durant and Thompson could both take less money too, but probably not enough to make the payroll bearable. Maybe they could trad Iggy to save on the luxury tax too.

For perspective, their tax bill in 2018-2019 will be $45,000,000 and their total payroll will be $188,000,000.

And to make matters worse, in 2020, Green is a FA.

It seems like the Cs should be able to contend this year. I think they had a legit shot with a healthy roster last year. But (knocks on wood), the league should be wide open again after this season.

[saltlover]

I expect Thompson to take a deal in the $25 million range to keep the team together, but Draymond will bolt in 2020.  I think KD will also continue to take $5 million or so under his max.

[Monkhouse]

I expect Thompson to take a deal in the $25 million range to keep the team together, but Draymond will bolt in 2020.  I think KD will also continue to take $5 million or so under his max.

Will Draymond still be effective in 2020 or worth the max that he's 'seeking'? He'll be turning 30.

[saltlover]

I expect Thompson to take a deal in the $25 million range to keep the team together, but Draymond will bolt in 2020.  I think KD will also continue to take $5 million or so under his max.

Will Draymond still be effective in 2020 or worth the max that he's 'seeking'? He'll be turning 30.

I would be surprised if he’s not still effective.  Maybe not worth the max that will be around $35 million, but there will be a numbe between the $18.5 million he’ll get next year and that $35 million, and my gut says that he’ll seek the highest number he can get (which is completely justifiable), and Golden State will be outbid.

[JHTruth]

I expect Thompson to take a deal in the $25 million range to keep the team together, but Draymond will bolt in 2020.  I think KD will also continue to take $5 million or so under his max.

I wouldn't hold my breath. Thompson is already drawing attention from his hometown
Lakers, the team where his dad is a prominent broadcaster for.

They've been talking about this for years but of course no one in the media wants to talk about it. Keeping this team together will simply become waaaaay too expensive, which is why Silver has been pretty low-key about it most likely. He knows eventually the system would do what it is designed to do, create more parity in the NBA.

And from our perspective we'll be well into the tax in a few years, so win now Team Green...

[saltlover]

I expect Thompson to take a deal in the $25 million range to keep the team together, but Draymond will bolt in 2020.  I think KD will also continue to take $5 million or so under his max.

I wouldn't hold my breath. Thompson is already drawing attention from his hometown
Lakers, the team where his dad is a prominent broadcaster for.

They've been talking about this for years but of course no one in the media wants to talk about it. Keeping this team together will simply become waaaaay too expensive, which is why Silver has been pretty low-key about it most likely. He knows eventually the system would do what it is designed to do, create more parity in the NBA.

And from our perspective we'll be well into the tax in a few years, so win now Team Green...

This report came out just two months ago:

https://www.goldenstateofmind.com/platform/amp/2018/5/11/17345272/2018-nba-rumors-golden-state-warriors-extension-klay-thompson-report-discount

[JHTruth]

I expect Thompson to take a deal in the $25 million range to keep the team together, but Draymond will bolt in 2020.  I think KD will also continue to take $5 million or so under his max.

I wouldn't hold my breath. Thompson is already drawing attention from his hometown
Lakers, the team where his dad is a prominent broadcaster for.

They've been talking about this for years but of course no one in the media wants to talk about it. Keeping this team together will simply become waaaaay too expensive, which is why Silver has been pretty low-key about it most likely. He knows eventually the system would do what it is designed to do, create more parity in the NBA.

And from our perspective we'll be well into the tax in a few years, so win now Team Green...

This report came out just two months ago:

https://www.goldenstateofmind.com/platform/amp/2018/5/11/17345272/2018-nba-rumors-golden-state-warriors-extension-klay-thompson-report-discount

Wow, that would help GS a lot. We'll see if he puts pen to paper.

Seeing as this was two months ago, might be past its shelf life..

[SparzWizard]

Well that would be bad for the Celtics because the Lakers will be running the West if/when one of those guys leave.

Plus, they could get Kawhi Leonard and Klay Thompson next year.

[hpantazo]

Well that would be bad for the Celtics because the Lakers will be running the West if/when one of those guys leave.

Plus, they could get Kawhi Leonard and Klay Thompson next year.

Would they though? Lebron's an old man, a year from now he's not going to be superhuman Lebron who carries teams to the Finals. The rest of that roster is mediocre.

[tazzmaniac]

Well that would be bad for the Celtics because the Lakers will be running the West if/when one of those guys leave.

Plus, they could get Kawhi Leonard and Klay Thompson next year.

Would they though? Lebron's an old man, a year from now he's not going to be superhuman Lebron who carries teams to the Finals. The rest of that roster is mediocre.

The players that the Lakers signed were to 1 year deals.  Next offseason, they'll have Lebron, some rookies and Deng (last contract year) on their books.  If Kawhi tells the Raptors he's leaving for the Lakers, the Raptors would probably be amenable to a sign and trade.  Then the Lakers would have enough cap space for Thompson. 

[hpantazo]

Well that would be bad for the Celtics because the Lakers will be running the West if/when one of those guys leave.

Plus, they could get Kawhi Leonard and Klay Thompson next year.

Would they though? Lebron's an old man, a year from now he's not going to be superhuman Lebron who carries teams to the Finals. The rest of that roster is mediocre.

The players that the Lakers signed were to 1 year deals.  Next offseason, they'll have Lebron, some rookies and Deng (last contract year) on their books.  If Kawhi tells the Raptors he's leaving for the Lakers, the Raptors would probably be amenable to a sign and trade.  Then the Lakers would have enough cap space for Thompson.

Lots of ifs and wishful thinking.

[tazzmaniac]

Well that would be bad for the Celtics because the Lakers will be running the West if/when one of those guys leave.

Plus, they could get Kawhi Leonard and Klay Thompson next year.

Would they though? Lebron's an old man, a year from now he's not going to be superhuman Lebron who carries teams to the Finals. The rest of that roster is mediocre.

The players that the Lakers signed were to 1 year deals.  Next offseason, they'll have Lebron, some rookies and Deng (last contract year) on their books.  If Kawhi tells the Raptors he's leaving for the Lakers, the Raptors would probably be amenable to a sign and trade.  Then the Lakers would have enough cap space for Thompson.

Lots of ifs and wishful thinking.

They put themselves in position to take advantage of opportunities.  They got Lebron this offseason.  I'd say it is at least 50/50 that they get Kawhi next offseason.  Thompson is likely to re-sign with GSW but there will be other good free agents available.  Plus their young players could develop. 

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Everyone always assumes star players in their will take a discount, but it really doesn't happen that much, and if it does, it's not a significant discount.

Durant can make 37 million in 2019-2020. Thompson can make 32 million. I just can't see either taking more than a few million discount. I find it highly unlikely that Thompson takes a 25% discount (24-25 million) of his max, or that Durant continues to play for 30 million (over 20% discount) of his max.

Let's just say they do take paycuts at 25 and 30 million. With only filling out their roster with minimum contracts, they would pay over 40 million in luxury tax again next year, which brings their payroll up to almost 200 million.

I agree that if both Thompson and Durant take paycuts, then Green will likely get paid elsewhere, but I don't think it will get that far.

I find if far more likely that Durant or Thompson goes to the Lakers, Clippers, Knicks, or Nets with some other combination of Butler, Walker, etc.

[ETNCeltics]

Well that would be bad for the Celtics because the Lakers will be running the West if/when one of those guys leave.

Plus, they could get Kawhi Leonard and Klay Thompson next year.

How are they gonna do that? There's some talk, but ultimately, very few stars are signing for anything but the max.

[Moranis]

Well that would be bad for the Celtics because the Lakers will be running the West if/when one of those guys leave.

Plus, they could get Kawhi Leonard and Klay Thompson next year.

How are they gonna do that? There's some talk, but ultimately, very few stars are signing for anything but the max.

Sign Thompson into cap space and then sign and trade for Leonard with something like Deng, Ball/Ingram, filler, and a couple of picks.