While it’s been obvious for some time where this was headed, it became official on Wednesday: Lauri Markkanen signed contract extension with Jazz and is not available for trade until next offseason.
Now, where do the Warriors turn to get another shot creator alongside Stephen Curry?
While they are poking around for smaller moves, Golden State isn’t turning to other available bigs like the Pelcians’ Brandon Ingram or the Bulls’ Zach LaVine, reports Shams Charania, Tony Jones and Anthony Slater in The Athletic.
The Warriors have 14 players under contract for next season and feel comfortable heading into training camp and the currently constructed regular season, team sources said, although they are expected to explore smaller-scale deals more actively than expected. than normal in August and September… They showed no interest in entering the market for Zach LaVine or Brandon Ingram.
Two quick thoughts here.
LaVine and Ingram are All-Star-caliber players and bucket-chasers, but they are the poster children for how the new Collective Bargaining Agreement has made teams rethink how they build rosters. LaVine is owed $138 million over the next three seasons ($46 million average per season) and Ingram has one year left on his $36 million contract but wants a maximum contract extension after that. In a world where the new CBA, in practice, allows teams to have two players at or near the maximum if they want roster depth, front offices are pushing back and asking who they want to give these big deals to. While Ingram and LaVine are elite scorers who make teams better, the front office is questioning whether they are the type of players who should be getting that top money. Do they contribute enough to a winning team?
Secondly, the Warriors may have lost big names like Klay Thompson and Chris Paul this summer, but they had a good offseason. In place of Hall of Famers closer to the end of their careers, the Warriors added Buddy Hield, D’Anthony Melton and Kyle Anderson, making the team a little deeper and more balanced than last season. Add these veterans to a youth movement led by Brandin Podzemski, Jonathan Kumimga and Trayce Jackson-Davis and the Warriors have something worth watching. They still need a secondary shot creator to take the pressure off Stephen Curry, but if this is the lineup the Warriors enter the season with, they’ll be better than some outside the Bay Area think.
