The Golden State Warriors have some very important decisions to make as the franchise looks for success in both the short as well as long term. They are fresh off yet another NBA championship but the focus this offseason has shifted towards player retention.
There were a lot of concerns raised when the franchise let Gary Payton II leave this offseason because of financial constraints and if letting Payton go was such a big deal internally, then we can only imagine what it might be like for some more crucial players. Three such individuals who could potentially leave next summer are Jordan Poole, Andrew Wiggins, and Draymond Green, vital pieces to their championship puzzle from this past season.
Bob Myers Says Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins, And Jordan Poole Don’t Want To Leave
Poole and Wiggins are eligible for extensions right now as they are in the final year of their contracts, while Green can opt out of his player option next summer as he looks for a max extension. Poole’s extension has a deadline of 17th October and GM Bob Myers stated that the team will commence talks with his representatives next month, but it looks like Wiggins will probably have to wait a bit and Green’s situation is still a year away. Myers was speaking to the media to preview their training camp, where he also added that all three of them want to stay.
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“The good news for us is I don’t hear anybody that wants to leave. That would be a worse problem if they said, I don’t want to be here, I’m out of here at the end of the year or I don’t want to be here, trade me. Not hearing any of that. So, the goal will be to try to figure it out the best we can.”
It speaks to the culture within the organization that all of them want to stay if they can. The Warriors have proven to be the best-run franchise in the NBA over the last 8 years and as a result; they have been so successful.
Their front office has made the right decisions a lot more often than not and they need to get it right here as well, as it is a big call. They would ideally want to keep all of them, but the Payton situation showed that sometimes it’s just not possible.