There is only one timeline for the Golden State Warriors.
After trying to develop youngsters the past couple seasons while putting together a winner around Steph Curry in the second half of his career – the franchise has traded away young players like Jordan Poole, James Wiseman, Patrick Baldwin Jr. and Ryan Rollins. It’s clear that the franchise gonna ride the Dubs Dynasty core until “wheels fall off” as they have told reporters this offseason.
While Steph is signed through the 2025-26 season, Draymond’s new extension also locks him up ‘til 25-26 with a player option for 2026-27. We are expecting Andre Iguodala to retire this offseason, leaving Klay Thompson and Steve Kerr as the two big fish remaining from the core who need long-term commitments.
As it stands now, Klay and Kerr will be entering the final season of their respective deals. New Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. recently joined Dalton Johnson and Monte Poole on NBC Sports Bay Area’s “Dubs Talk” podcast to give his thoughts on extensions for Klay and Kerr.
“Those are guys we definitely wanna get locked up moving forward,” Dunleavy said. “They’ve been a big part of what we’ve done here and I think they can still contribute. Especially Klay on the court and Steve – one of the best, if not the best coach in the league. High priority in terms of getting those guys done. We’ll see. Obviously, there’s always a financial opponent and guys wanna be here and all that, but we greatly value them and hope we can work things out.”
When pressed about any progress thus far, Dunleavy played it cool.
“I don’t give a whole lot in terms of what goes on in between the walls of Chase Center,” Dunleavy said. “But we’ve had good conversations and I think we’ll continue to do that. Optimistic that we can work things out for both those guys.”
Klay is due to make $43.2 million this season – the 12th-richest contract in the NBA – in the last year of the max extension he signed after tearing his ACL in the 2019 Finals. Thompson may have to take a drastic pay cut to keep the player salary bill in digestible territory for ownership, especially with the second tax apron set to take full effect for 2024-25.
Kerr reportedly is making $9.5 million per season but could become the league's highest-paid coach with his new deal, eclipsing the reported $11.5 million for Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs. Kerr figures to have the freedom to coach the Warriors as long as he wants, since he has guided the team to six Finals appearances and four titles since taking over in 2014.
As for Draymond’s extension, Dunleavy said the four-year, $100 million deal came together quickly this summer.
“He had a phenomenal year,” Dunleavy said. “Although we came up short as a team, I think we looked around the roster and said, ‘Without Draymond Green, what are we gonna be?’ I think that’s something none of us wanted to find out. To be able to get him to come to terms and be back for four more years and kinda continue this thing through with Steph, with Klay, with Draymond, with coach Kerr – it’s great for the organization, the team, the players and the fans.”
