The Warriors' exorbitant salary and corresponding luxury tax have been a thorn in their side as of late, but Golden State's moves at the NBA trade deadline Thursday helped alleviate some of that pressure.
In a flurry of moves spanning only an hour, the Warriors traded former No. 2 overall draft pick James Wiseman to the Detroit Pistons as part of a four-team trade with the Atlanta Hawks and Portland Trail Blazers, which ultimately brought former Golden State fan favorite and NBA champion Gary Payton II back to the Bay.
The wild deadline day will save the Warriors $7 million in luxury tax this season and roughly $30 million during the 2023-24 NBA season, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. Wiseman was due $9.6 million this season and $12.2 million the next.
When all is said and done, the Warriors will have added a much-needed rotation player they know can produce in Payton while also cutting down on what were expected to be hefty luxury tax bills in seasons to come, thanks largely in part to lucrative contract extensions for Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins.
Payton is due $8.3 million this season and $8.7 million in 2023-24 as part of the three-year, $26,145,000 contract he signed with the Blazers this past offseason.
With the addition of Payton and the subtraction of Wiseman, Golden State's estimated salary and luxury tax total on the season will be about $363 million, per Spotrac, down from the original $372 million that was estimated at the beginning of the season.
And next season, the Warriors' total hit of $464 million is much lower than the nearly $500 million projected by ESPN's Bobby Marks in October.
A major reason why the Warriors couldn't bring Payton back in free agency was because of the organization's ballooning finances.
Now, in one fell swoop, they've eased the issue and brought back a key contributor to their 2022 NBA Finals run while looking to defend their title this season.