Free Agency Day 2. Warriors exploring sign-and-trades to get departing Klay a raise and get players back; Chris Paul waived; Paul George pursued but joins PHI
Dub Nation certain to have FOMO today
The index for all DNHQ Free Agency Coverage is here.
Are you tracking Free Agent announcements again?
Yes, indeed. I’ll try to keep this Google Doc up to date. The status of every free agent in the Perks Free Agency guide is listed.
What’s happened so far?
A Warriors-centric summary:
Klay Thompson is reportedly set on leaving GSW. GSW is pursuing sign-and-trade options to help Klay Thompson get paid more money, as well helping GSW get some players or assets back instead of Klay leaving for nothing.
Key teams reported to be pursuing Klay are DAL, LAL and LAC with some buzz about DEN. All four teams would NEED a sign-and-trade to get Klay.
DEN would have a lot of trouble getting under the first apron to qualify to do a sign-and-trade.
DAL has a large trade exception that could come into play.
Starting this year, teams can use their Midlevel Exception to facilitate trades. I frankly don’t understand the details, but this could be a factor.
GSW heavily pursued a sign-and-trade for Paul George, but LAC decided they would rather lose Paul George for nothing rather than help the Warriors and PG. Some but not all reports say GSW refused to include Kuminga in the trade. PG ended up agreeing late Jun 30 to sign a four year max contract with PHI.
GSW waived Chris Paul’s $30m contract which was not guaranteed. This removes one method for GSW to add an expensive player. GSW searched the league and could not find a trade that they felt made the team better.
This drops GSW’s payroll so that they will likely stay under the second apron (avoiding devastating team penalties) and also likely stay under the first apron, allowing GSW to pursue higher salary free agents.
A small number of potential GSW targets are off the board, but not that many. Check out the Free Agent Tracker linked above.
Free agency decisions seem a lot slower as the market waits for the big dominos to fall: the Paul George and Klay Thompson decisions.
How do I learn more about this week’s Free Agency Chase?
Read these:
And
Apricot’s Free Agency Frequently Asked Questions, which includes answers to these questions:
What are the odds that Klay leaves the Warriors?
Who else can bid for Klay Thompson?
What would a sign and trade for Klay Thompson look like?
What players could GSW get for Klay Thompson?
How did GSW not get Paul George? Fire Dunleavy!
Can you believe GSW tendered an offer to Nico Mannion? Fire Dunleavy!
Doom cometh. There is no agony worse than a mediocre team. Fire Dunleavy.
What are the key dates in the 2024 NBA Free Agency season?
When will we hear news?
New thread and summary: https://dubnationhq.com/p/klay-thompson-leaves-in-sign-and
Paying Klay just to pay him for what he meant to us already happened when we gave him that contract when he was hurt. In his own words, “who does that?” (from his 2022 ESPY award speech).
We didn’t owe him anymore after that imo; after that, any contract would be based on what he was doing for us and what he might do for us—“what have you done for me lately?” basically. So paying/not paying Klay based on his current value is fair, and smart. If Klay really does feel disrespected, that’s just noise to not take into account. And if it’s not based on anything truly disrespectful but just the fact that he wanted to start and make more money and do or demand more things he’s just not worth then at the least the ledger comes out in favor of the Warriors, again given that he got that big contract from us previously which he didn’t play all of the years for. And he acknowledged and aprpreciated that.
Whatever changed for him to feel disrespected, again if it truly wasn’t anything that was offensive, just makes it easier to move on imo. The kids on the squad don’t need that sourness, and frankly, dysfunction poisoning the environment for their development.