Golden State Warriors' Brandin Podziemski (2) dribbles against Toronto Raptors' Immanuel Quickley (5) in the third quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Now that Lauri Markkanen has signed a five-year, $238 million contract extension with the Utah Jazz, the Warriors can officially turn the page into the last chapter of the offseason.
The Warriors very well could still make a minor transaction or two before camp opens, but their roster will be more or less the same. They lost Klay Thompson and Chris Paul, brought in De’Anthony Melton, Kyle Anderson and Buddy Hield, returned Gary Payton II and Kevon Looney and added depth pieces Lindy Waters III and Daeqwon Plowden. Golden State’s salary commitments are slightly below the first apron, which it’s hard-capped at.
An offseason of slight roster improvement but bereft of a major upside swing means the Warriors are poised to enter the 2024-25 season banking on the internal development of Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski and a less erratic season from Draymond Green to climb the ladder in a stacked Western Conference.
With Markkanen settled in Utah, the Warriors’ offseason checklist has dwindled. But there are a few steps, procedurally and in the abstract, left.
First, the Warriors have to clear a roster spot for Quinten Post, their second-round pick. Plowden, Reece Beekman and Pat Spencer currently take up Golden State’s three two-way spots — a common way teams sign second rounders. And because of Golden State’s hard-cap situation, the team doesn’t have enough room as currently constructed to sign Post to a standard rookie deal.
That means a small move is just about inevitable.
The path of least resistance to adding Post would likely be to waive Beekman and replace him with Post as a two-way player. Golden State signed Beekman, the former Virginia guard, after he went undrafted, but he was injured for most of Summer League. It’d still be possible to keep him on an Exhibit 10 contract even after releasing him.
Golden State could also shed salary by trading or cutting a player on the back-end of the roster, like Gui Santos or Waters.
Beyond finding a way to officially sign Post, the only real roster consideration the Warriors have is with their players eligible for rookie contract extensions.
General manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. said the Warriors are interested in extending Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody. But there isn’t necessarily pressure on the team to get an extension on either done immediately.
Kuminga, still just 21 until October, made big strides as a scorer last year, bumping his scoring average from 9.9 to 16.1 points per game. He was especially effective as a power forward next to Green, in lineups where his lack of outside shooting is less detrimental.
With another leap, Kuminga could earn himself a hefty pay day. His draft classmates Franz Wagner, Scottie Barnes and Evan Mobley each signed five-year, $224 million extensions. They’ve each proven more individually than Kuminga, but have also been afforded more opportunities.
“We want those guys here,” Dunleavy said of Kuminga and Moody at Summer League. “We believe in them, we drafted them.”
Steph Curry is also technically eligible for an extension, though Dunleavy stated the obvious when he said he can have “whatever he wants.”
Markkanen remaining with the Jazz almost certainly precludes the Warriors from adding an elite secondary scorer who could take the burden off Curry’s shoulders. The two most talented players rumored to be available via trade at the moment are Brandon Ingram and Zach LaVine — both of whom have their warts.
Despite Golden State’s need for a high-end talent infusion and owner Joe Lacob’s appetite for spending to compete, trading assets for Ingram or LaVine at this stage of the offseason appears far-fetched.
Instead, the Warriors’ depth chart heading into the season will probably look something like this:
Guards: Steph Curry, Brandin Podziemski, De’Anthony Melton, Gary Payton II
Wings: Jonathan Kuminga, Andrew Wiggins, Buddy Hield, Kyle Anderson, Moses Moody, Lindy Waters III, Gui Santos
Bigs: Draymond Green, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Kevon Looney
With that group, attention turns to players like Kuminga and Podziemski.
Particularly for Podziemski, fair or not, there will be a fair bit of external pressure. The Warriors were reportedly “protective” of Podziemski in trade talks for Markkanen, prioritizing the second-year guard who still has three years remaining on his bargain rookie contract.
The Warriors aren’t alone in being high on Podziemski; there’s a reason Danny Ainge and the Jazz asked for him. Podziemski led the NBA in charges drawn as a rookie and led the Warriors in plus-minus. A two-way force at age 21, Podziemski is the quintessential Steve Kerr player and someone every team would love to have.
But because Golden State apparently declined to include Podziemski in a Markkanen trade offer, there will be more scrutiny on the second-year guard. By all accounts, he’s ready for it. The Warriors doubling down on him should give Podziemski confidence that his organization believes in him and his future. Lacob has said he thinks Podziemski can be an All-Star one day.
Regardless of Podziemski’s potential, he’ll be under a microscope. So will Golden State’s front office, which used rare salary cap optionality to add impactful role players and reluctantly kept its best powder dry for whatever opportunity presents itself before the 2024-25 trade deadline.
Originally published at Danny Emerman