Important Dates, Details on Warriors Eligible for Renewal originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Fresh off their fourth championship in eight seasons, the Warriors’ next assignment is to try and keep the band together and hit another run.
The first job of General Manager Bob Myers and Co. is to try redraw Kevon Looney and Gary Payton II, which hits unlimited free agency on Thursday when teams are allowed to negotiate with free agents. But while bringing back Looney and Payton and completing the roster with other veterans are the Warriors’ immediate priorities, they’ll focus on potential key-piece expansions afterward. Jordan Poole and Andrew Wigginsand could even begin negotiating new deals with Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.
These are the key dates for the Warriors to begin negotiating extensions with their core players, with Poole, Wiggins and Thompson qualifying next week, while Green will qualify in early August.
Green even responded with a fire emoji, which could mean something related to his contract status…or it could mean nothing at all.
While Green and Thompson both have two years left, Wiggins has only one left. Poole, meanwhile, has his rookie contract and could negotiate a long-term extension this summer. If Poole and the Warriors fail to reach an agreement before the October 17 deadline, Poole would become a restricted free agent next summer.
After the dust settles with free agency, it’s likely that the Warriors will turn their attention to long-term deals with Wiggins and Poole before doing so with Green and Thompson. While Poole is bound by the October 17 deadline, Wiggins is not. Myers said at his end-of-season press conference that he expects Poole’s decision to ultimately fail, as most of these do.
“All these negotiations are going to take on a life of their own,” Myers said. “They’re all different. But I know that with a guy like Jordan, those things usually come down to some sort of training camp and a deadline at the end of the line. … We’re a long way from figuring out what Andrew wants and what his agent is.” want, but I know what we want. We want to keep him and we’re going to do everything we can to keep those two guys. They were very important to us.”
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It remains unclear whether Green and Thompson will get extensions this summer, but with two years to go, it seems much less likely. Green is 32 and has struggled with several injuries this season, while Thompson is also 32 and is recovering from two devastating leg injuries. While both are integral to the Warriors’ DNA and played a key role in the team Championship run 2022it could be the Warriors to pull out the 2022-23 season and revisit extension talks with their two veteran stars the next off-season.