Last season's championship Warriors lost to the Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals and stopped in the semifinals.
Perhaps judging from the performance of the regular season Warriors, not many people believe that this Warriors can win the championship this season. Compared with last season's Warriors, this season's Warriors' strength has dropped significantly, especially after the Death Five small lineup did not have the height, defense, and three-point forward line like Porter last season, and today's Death Five Small Flaws are obvious.
Last summer, the Warriors re-signed Wiggins and Poole under a huge luxury tax. This summer, the Warriors still face player contract extensions, even more difficult than last summer.
What challenges will the Warriors face this summer?
Salary space explosion:
If the Warriors keep their current main roster, Poole's four-year, $130 million contract will be in place for the first year, with a salary of $28.7 million next season. In other words, the Warriors' roster for the 2023-24 season will have 5 Mr. Billion.
Curry is $51.92 million next season, Klay $43.22 million, Dream $27.58 million, Wiggins $24.33 million, Payton II $8.71 million, Looney $8.5 million, DiVincenzo $4.72 million, Kuminga $6.01 million and Moody $3.92 million.
The salary of these players alone is more than $200 million, which is DiVincenzo's willingness to execute the player option for next season, and with DiVincenzo's performance, it is not a big problem to get an annual salary of tens of millions in other teams. If he jumps out of his contract, the Warriors will only be paid a maximum of $5.4 million a year.
The Warriors also need to sign other free agents, so the Warriors are expected to have more than $500 million in salary + luxury tax next season. According to the latest collective bargaining agreement, the Warriors' salary has exceeded the second luxury tax line, and they will not be able to use the middle-class contract, but only the base salary, which means that it is difficult for the Warriors to have substantial reinforcements.
Lineup Questions:
It is very difficult for the Warriors' current roster to upgrade, on the one hand, the team's salary space limits the team to sign players on base salaries. Signing free agents with a base salary is generally a veteran of declining strength, and players who are in the year of play will not live with money. Of course, there is also a situation where some players play poorly on other teams, resulting in poor ratings in free agency, no team to offer him a contract, and suddenly the Warriors are playing again.
On the other hand, Curry, Klay, and Dream are one year older next season, and among the young players, Poole's ambition exceeds his ability, Kuminga gave many opportunities in the regular season, and was abandoned in the playoffs. Moody, on the other hand, did not play time in the regular season and the playoffs were important.
It is very difficult for the Warriors to improve the strength of the roster from the free market, and it is also difficult to tap potential internally.
Clay and Dream's contract:
With the Dream Player option on a contract with Klay being on a final year contract. Chase Dream may go to the market to see if any team offers him a longer and bigger contract, but if he can't find a suitable next home, Chase Dream is expected to choose to carry out the final year of his contract.
Both Klay and Chasing Dream can renew their contracts with the Warriors early this summer, and Chasing Dreams began to pressure the Warriors to renew their contracts early last summer. Klay is eligible to sign a four-year, $220 million contract, but the 33-year-old Klay has dropped significantly on both ends of the offensive and defensive ends after a major injury, and has played a bad performance in the playoffs this year, and the Warriors are unlikely to give him a top salary. However, Klay is still the league's three-point leader this season, and the three-point shooter the Warriors need, and it is impossible to give too small a contract.
Chasing Dreams definitely wants to get a long-term big contract, and Chasing Dreams is still important for the Warriors, who are still the defensive core of the Warriors. This season, the Warriors' defensive efficiency is 109.6 when Dream is on the floor, and 115.3 when he's not on the floor.
For the Warriors, it is necessary to find a way to keep Klay and chase dreams, after all, the 4-crown hero has a deep bond with Curry. If the Warriors renew both Klay and Dream, it is more likely to be a salary cut extension. In particular, Klay can get a contract that may be a little short of the top salary.
Give a big contract, the team's salary space can't be sustained, give it to the small, chill the heart of the veteran, and it is not conducive to the future team unity.
General Manager Myers' contract renewal:
Myers' contract expires this summer, and Myers has been a great contributor to the Warriors general manager over the years, and both Warriors owners and management hope that Myers can renew his contract. So far, though, Myers has not renewed his contract with the Warriors. There is media news that Miles wants to take a year off.
If Miles does not renew his contract with the Warriors this year, then the Warriors' troubles this summer may not be easy to solve. Myers' prestige among Warriors players is very high, and the Warriors' biggest thorn dream chasing is very listening to Miles, if he is not in the Warriors, the issue of Chasing Dreams and Klay's contract extension may be a problem.
Of course, the Warriors may have more than that problem this summer. Losing a series always reveals a lot of problems, and there were rumors during the series that Warriors had players who were dissatisfied with playoff playing time. Just after the playoffs, there were rumors that Warriors players were dissatisfied with a certain teammate.