Getty Andrew Wiggins and Luka Doncic react during a playoff game between the Golden State Warriors and the Dallas Mavericks.
When teams make storybook runs to the Finals or, by the will of the hoops gods, an NBA championship, they aren’t afforded much time to revel in their accomplishments. Once the champagne-popping and victory-parading have ceased, the battle to keep it all together begins, and the Golden State Warriors will be no different this summer.
Make no mistake, Joe Lacob, Bob Myers and the rest of the Dubs’ brain trust have tapped into something magical with their Steph-Klay-Dray core moving in near-perfect synchronicity with the Kuminga-Poole-Moody youth movement and the Wiggins-GPII-Otto support crew. But things can’t continue this way forever.
At some point, these groups are going to crash into each other, and not everyone is going to survive the collision. Such is the reality when cap, tax and career considerations enter the fray.
The first big domino to fall may be Andrew Wiggins. Although the former No. 1 pick has been an indispensable part of the Warriors’ process this season, it’s difficult to imagine Golden State paying $25-30 (or more) million beyond 2022-23 to keep him in the Bay, especially with Jordan Poole’s first big extension on the horizon.
Then again, can the Warriors truly part ways with the 2022 All-Star just as his acquisition is really starting to pay off? An NBA executive weighs in…
What Wiggins’ Future Holds
Speaking with Heavy.com’s Sean Deveney, the Western Conference exec painted a grim picture of the situation from a financial standpoint. However, they were also clearly of the belief that a final decision will likely be delayed for another year.
“They’ve got a serious tax problem, of course, but they have it lined up the way they want it. They could look for a trade for Wiggins but they’re not going to be desperate and with his contract number ($33 million in 2022-23), that is something they will sit on for one more year,” the exec said.
Where re-ups and raises for Poole and, later, the Warriors’ youngsters are concerned, the exec doesn’t perceive a major issue with keeping Wiggins through the end of his current deal.
“Poole’s extension won’t kick in until the following year so it won’t be as much of a blow. They have Wiggins coming off, then Klay [Thompson] coming off and that gives you the ability to pay Poole, eventually pay [Moses] Moody and [Jonathan] Kuminga, too, if that is where they go.”
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Join Heavy on Warriors!What Happens After Next Year, Though?
Although the next several months offer a golden opportunity to get something out of Wiggins on the trade market, the exec reiterated that they don’t see anything happening on that front.
“They’ve never looked to trade Wiggins, they did not have serious conversations about dealing him,” the exec said. “They always liked his fit with that group. Wiggins has done well for them. And the Warriors saved the guy’s career.”
After next season, though, the exec only sees things going one way for the Warriors-Wiggins partnership.
“I think they knew what they could get out of him in the right situation and he is in the right situation. But financially, it will be very difficult. After next year, they’ll say, ‘Thank you,’ and Wiggins will say, ‘Thank you.’ They both helped each other. And then you figure, Wiggins moves on. It’s a business.”
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