Warriors general manager Bob Myers is in his lame duck year running the Warriors, and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported in December that no new deal has been worked out yet.
Myers, an architect of Golden State’s dynasty, told Wojnarowski then that his main focus is this season, not the future. That’s as contract extension talks were “on a hiatus,” ESPN reported.
Warriors owner Joe Lacob, joining the TK Show hosted by The Athletic’s Tim Kawakami, sought to dispel rumors about the ongoing situation. Lacob reiterated that not only does the organization love and value Myers, it anticipates Myers to remain with the club in the future.
“I don’t want him to go, I don’t think he’ll go anywhere,” Lacob told Kawakami. “I expect him to be here. It would hurt to lose him, certainly. But like you said, we have to go forward. Our circumstances do evolve sometimes. I guess it’s conceivable: there’s some chance that for some reason he or Steve (Kerr) wouldn’t be here. I don’t think it’s likely, but it is possible. We’d have to figure out a way to go forward.”
Lacob told Kawakami the Warriors have made Myers two contract extension offers. He noted that Myers is a great negotiator by nature, so talks have been expectedly spirited.
“Well, I’m not going to negotiate in the press, in the media,” Lacob said. “But I will say this: we love Bob. He’s family. He’s been here what, 10 years? He really got his big break here and made the most of it, and deserves everything he gets. He’s been compensated very well up to this point, in the top three of general managers in this league, even on his last deal. All I will say is that it’s not accurate that he’s not been offered anything.”
Myers has served as GSW’s general manager since 2012. Lacob credited him with signing Andre Iguodala and landing Kevin Durant. All four of Golden State’s titles have come with Myers heading basketball operations.
Navigating the future of the Warriors will be difficult, and a proven hand like Myers could prove valuable. By extending Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins, the Warriors have already blasted through the $150 million luxury tax threshold with a total cap of roughly $202 million. Draymond Green and Klay Thompson each have one year remaining on their deals, so retaining them would be even more costly.
Thompson is due $43 million next season and Green could exercise his player option for $27.5 million or opt out in search of a long-term deal — with the Warriors or elsewhere.
The dream, Lacob said, is for Green, Thompson and Stephen Curry to each stay Warriors for their entire careers.
“We would like them, all three of them, to retire as Warriors,” Lacob said. “I really would like that. We would like that. And I think they would like that. And we’re going to try to do that if it makes sense. But unfortunately, if you look through the history of professional sports, NBA in particular, it usually doesn’t end that way.”
To retain specifically Green and Thompson, the two stars may have to sacrifice money compared to what they could make elsewhere. Extending them could push Golden State’s bill, including luxury tax, over $400 million.
For the first time ever, Forbes ranked the Warriors as the most valuable NBA franchise, at $7 billion. The site estimated the franchise took in $206 million in operating income in 2022.
Asked if a payroll $400-plus million payroll would be feasible, Lacob didn’t rule anything out. How this season concludes could be paramount.
“It’s not possible without losing quite a bit of money at the bottom line, let’s put it that way,” Lacob said. “From a business perspective, it’s almost an insane thing to consider. But I think we’re going to have to wait and see. Because the truth is, winning matters. And I want to win another championship. We want to win another championship this year, and I’ll probably say it at the end of this year, too. Let’s see how this season goes. Every week, every month, every game, anything can happen…My point is, things can change very quickly. You like to be able to plan these things out. But the past is not the present, the present is not the future. They’re all different. Right now, we’re in the present. And we’re trying to win. I think we have a good shot at that, I think we’re coming together. The trade deadline is coming up, we’ll see if there’s a way to improve our team, and if we can obviously improve our financial situation for going forward, we’d love to do that. But not at the sacrifice of wanting to win.”
Listen to The TK Show for Lacob’s full interview.