Can the Warriors go through another season with Jordan Poole and Draymond Green on the roster together? Green himself said his punch of Poole threw the entire Warriors season off-balance.
After a rough last couple of rounds of the playoffs and with his salary jumping from $3.9 million to $28.2 million thanks to the $123 million extension he signed last summer, Poole was seen as a likely trade candidate for a Warriors team looking to cut costs. However, the Warriors are not shopping him and may well just run it back next season, reports Anthony Slater at The Athletic.But the new restrictive CBA penalties above the second tax apron don’t kick in until the following season, when [Klay] Thompson’s $43 million comes off the books. That gives the Warriors time and an extra layer of flexibility as they figure out how best to remain competitive without handcuffing their future. Lacob’s appetite to win only seems like it has been ignited more by Myers’ departure. Sources indicate that there is no plan for a salary dump trade this summer that’s purely about cutting the bill.
That doesn’t mean Poole is safe. That doesn’t mean anyone besides [Stephen] Curry is safe. The Warriors intend to explore various avenues to restructure the roster this summer, both small and large in scope. That could mean Poole is part of a trade if the return package appeals. But Poole is not actively being shopped, there is no edict to cut salary and his side has been given no current indication that his future will be elsewhere.
The Warriors would listen for a trade for Poole — and one can argue he needs a change of venue after last season and the situation with Green — but they aren’t going to just give him away. And right now Poole’s trade value is not at its peak. It also helps that the Warriors’ front office is currently being run by Kirk Lacob and Mike Dunleavy Jr., who are two of Poole’s biggest supporters in the organization, Slater notes.
Maybe the first question for the Warriors is how much of a financial loss is ownership willing to tolerate for a season to make a run at a ring? The Warriors are on track to have a payroll of more than $210 million next season, which will have them about $48 million over the luxury tax line, and about $30 million over the second apron. Plus they are in the repeater tax, bringing their total bill for payroll and taxes potentially above $450 million. There would be limits to team building, but if ownership and the front office believe this group can pull it together for a season and be better than what we saw law season, maybe they give it a run for one more season.
If ownership is willing to pay the bills, then the question becomes can this team win again with Poole and Green both on the roster?