The Golden State Warriors' current record is 29-7, completely exceeding expectations this season. Although Stephen Curry, who played at MVP level, and Draymond Green, who regained his best defensive form, were credited with the best, the Warriors could not play the league's best without the help of the role players in the team. The Warriors' support lineup includes low-salary veterans such as Otto Porter Jr. and Nemangia Bjelica, league fringe players Juan Toscano Anderson, Damian Lee and Gary Payton II, and the warriors' blue-collar interior lineman Kevin Rooney. But with as many as seven significant rotation players next year who will be free agents next year, let's take a look at who can stay on next season.
Kevin Rooney: Rooney is the Warriors' only free agent starter this year. He's been with the Warriors for seven seasons, but he'll turn 26 next month. And despite a serious history of injuries, Rooney is the only Warriors player this year to start every game. He has averaged a career-high average of playing time per game this season, and his defensive stats are excellent, contributing to dunks in every game. Rooney is currently carrying a three-year, $14.4 million contract, which is a bargain, and although the Warriors already have James Wiseman, they clearly want him to return to the team. The problem, though, is that most teams with salary space have a demand for centers this summer, so the Warriors will also face a lot of competition to keep Rooney.
Otto Porter Jr.: Porter has been very good at the Warriors this season, his three-point shooting rate and defense have given the team a big surprise, his three-point shooting rate is as high as 40%, and his defensive rating is also high in the team's third place, behind Green and Peyton Jr. After several injury-ridden seasons, Porter's purpose in joining the Warriors on a base salary is clearly to reinvent his career, and so far he and the Warriors can be said to be a match made in heaven. While Porter has made a lot of money in his career, at the age of 28, he may want to get another long contract, and the Warriors' only option for leaving him next season is to use a taxpayer middle class exception with an annual salary of about $6 million, which may not meet Porter's needs.
Gary Payton II: Payton is the Warriors' biggest surprise of the season, his outside shots are also remarkable, and he has 20% of his shots dunked, averaging 4 steals every 48 minutes, and is one of the warriors' most passionate players on the court, basically combining his father's and Sean Kemp's style of play. The Warriors have payton Jr.'s early bird rights, which means they can offer him a contract that starts at 105 percent of the league's average salary, which is just over $10 million in terms of salary levels this year. Therefore, if the Warriors are willing to bear the extra luxury tax, they can ignore the salary space to sign him, hoping that the Warriors will not repeat the mistakes of the Lakers who gave up Alex Caruso.
Damian Lee and Juan Toscano Anderson: Although Lee briefly played for the Atlanta Hawks before reaching a two-way contract with the Warriors, in general, Both Lee and Anderson are the product of the Warriors' internal development system. They are very practical players, and although they can't provide a greater role, they both have good outside shots, and mainly they are very familiar with the Warriors' system. The Warriors could offer Anderson a qualifying offer contract at the end of the season to make him a restricted free agent, but Lee can go anywhere he wants, and their success depends on how well the Warriors recruit them.
The reality is that if another team offers them a multi-year contract, they should accept it 100%. But if they don't get multi-year contracts from other teams, then they will definitely choose to stay in the Warriors, after all, the playoff prize money here is also a lot of money, not to mention if Lee and his brother-in-law Curry are together, they can save a lot of money. I think the Warriors will only keep them with a base salary, but if they get an offer from another team, they will choose to leave.
Nemanja Belitsa: Bjelica is 33 years old this year, and he seems to be a good fit for the Warriors, and while he doesn't have the athleticism of Wiseman and Cumminga, he has a 40 percent three-point shooting percentage, and he doesn't seem to care about the rotation after those two, and playing a game for 10 minutes is not a problem for him. He has said in interviews this season: "I love every day here because I've finally found a place where I feel comfortable and happy. "So I think he'll go back to the Warriors."
Andre Iguodala: Iguodala no longer plays back-to-back games, not even games with a one-day break, but it doesn't matter because even if he doesn't play a minute, he's very valuable to the young players in the team, and when he's on the pitch, he's still the de facto leader of the point guard and the squad. The Warriors should follow the heat's example of Haslem, offering him a new one-year contract every year. Convinced that at this stage of Iguodala's career, playing is already a side hustle, and he has a strong investment interest in the tech industry, initial public offerings, and cryptocurrencies, which will allow him to make more money in the Bay Area, not to mention playing golf with Curry here, but only if he doesn't choose to retire.
Here we excluded two-way players Chris Cheoza and Kundari Witherspoon because there is no guarantee that they will stay with the Warriors until the end of the season. But if Witherspoon can play well in his limited playing time, he will still qualify for a two-way contract next year, and Ceoza will be disqualified from signing a two-way contract due to too much NBA experience.