Despite NBA Finals Collapse, Golden State Warriors Still Hold All the Cards

June 30th, 2016 by Grant Hughes Leave a reply »

The Golden State Warriors got the wind knocked out of them in the NBA Finals, a deflation that hurt doubly because they could hardly catch their breath before hitting a foundation-shaking free-agency session.

The Warriors have a dizzying array of options—more than any 73-win conference champion should, by rights.

They'll devote all of their resources to pursuing one that would leave the rest of the NBA breathless: signing Kevin Durant.



The cleanest way to connect on this big swing involves the Warriors renouncing all eight of their current free agents, including Harrison Barnes and Festus Ezeli. Forgoing matching rights on those two is a big deal, but this is an all-or-nothing play, and the Warriors would be satisfied figuring out how to fill the rest of the roster if Durant was on it.

In addition to losing bargaining leverage with Barnes and Ezeli, the Warriors would also have to part ways via trade with either Andre Iguodala or Andrew Bogut to clear the necessary $26.6 million for Durant's maximum salary. That figure is based on a $94 million salary cap, which is what the latest estimates p ...

Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
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