The Golden State Warriors have been preparing for the upcoming 2019 offseason for years because it defines how they will look for years.
Now, the front office must be prepared to pay more than one can imagine if they want to run this team again. They went through most of their recent run with Stephen Curry winning two MVPs while earning an average of $11M per season. Klay Thompson is on a four-year deal worth $69M that he signed in 2014 while Draymond Green is on a five-year for $82M signed in 2015.
These deals look like huge bargains now, especially considering that Kevin Durant won two finals MVPs for them while earning less than the max he was eligible for over the past two seasons. They accomplished all this while only being in the luxury tax twice.
Current Golden State Warriors payroll
This season will mark the second season in a row for Golden State in the luxury tax.
In 2017-18, they finished $16.76M above the luxury tax threshold for a tax payment of $34.47M. This season they currently have a $145M payroll and are $21.42M above the threshold for a tax payment of $50.33M. That is $195.32M in payroll and luxury tax combined.
Their entrance to the luxury tax is mostly a result of Curry signing a designated veteran player contract in 2017 worth $200M over 5 years.
This offseason, both Durant and Thompson will be free agents. Both have full bird rights and are eligible for maximum contracts. Both will have plenty of suitors with enough cap space to offer them maximum salaries as well.
With they are outplaying the value of their current deals, the Warriors must be prepared to offer max deals to keep them should they demand it.
How much would it cost to re-sign both Durant and Thompson?
If they go all out in maximizing the amount of money they could potentially spend, it could be fascinating for Golden State this summer.
In this scenario, both Durant ($38.15M) and Thompson ($32.7M) are on maximum deals and every player under contract is retained. Their 2019 pick (currently #28) and taxpayer mid-level exception ($5.71M) are included and utilized as well.
With this exercise, they have a projected payroll of $167.5M and a luxury tax payment of $108.8M for a combined $276.33M in total expenses.
Keep in mind that the Warriors will still be non-repeater tax-payers next season. With 2019-20 being their third consecutive season in the luxury tax, after that, they will activate the repeater tax that adds an extra dollar to each tax level.
The implications of the repeater tax will be a huge factor for the Warriors front office in negotiations with their players.
Warriors payroll for the 2020-21 season
If the Warriors have Durant and Thompson locked into maximum deals, their maximum salaries combined with Curry’s $43M cap hit would take up $119.82M of their 2020-21 payroll.
With the luxury tax projected at $143M that year, they already have limited flexibility under the threshold before filling out the rest of their roster. With all three players over 30 years old by then, age and potential decline could sway the Warriors front office away from this path.
No matter what the Warriors do this summer, they will have extremely difficult decisions to make that will greatly impact their future payroll.
