Joe Lacob has a lot of big decisions to make over the next two years.
Warriors president of basketball operations/general manager Bob Myers’ contract expires this summer. Coach Steve Kerr is signed through the 2023-24 season. Draymond and Klay Thompson have one more season left in 2023-24. Aside from Steph Curry, who is locked up through 2025-26, those are the biggest fish in the barrel.
Lacob joined The Athletic’s Tim Kawakami latest episode of the “TK Show” which was published Thursday and gave candid answers about the big contract decisions that loom for his organization's heavy-hitters.
About a month ago, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Myers is in the final year of his deal. Lacob wanted to refute any implications that the Warriors haven’t made Myers an offer.
“It is not accurate that he has somehow not been offered anything,” Lacob told Kawakami. “He’s been offered several — there’s been two offers at this point. I’m trying. Have you ever known me not to be aggressive? That is crazy to sit here and say – and I’m sorry, I have to say I hope Bob doesn’t get upset or his agent – but I just want to clarify that. It’s just not fair to put us in a situation that someone put something out there that he hasn’t been offered anything. That’s just not true.”
Myers joined the Warriors as an assistant GM in 2011 before taking over the GM role from Larry Riley about 12 months later. Since then, he’s been the architect of the Warriors’ dynasty which has produced four titles and six NBA Finals appearances in the past eight seasons. Myers is a two-time Executive of the Year and widely respected within the organization and league at large.
Given all the money the Warriors are making these days, Myers clearly wants his fair shake. As a former agent, he knows how to bargain.
“He’s gotta make a decision,” Lacob said. “What he wants to do with his life, what’s the appropriate compensation. If he feels it’s fair, if we feel it’s fair. It’s really just a negotiation. To be totally honest with you, I fully expect Bob will be back. He’s a great negotiator. What do you want him to do? He’s supposed to do this. We love Bob and we want him back.”
As for Coach Kerr, who has been at the helm since 2014, Lacob doesn’t feel much of a sense of urgency.
“Honestly, we really haven’t got to that point,” Lacob said. “Steve is doing his job. He’s in Year 4 of a five-year deal. He’s done a great job and we’ll deal with that later.”
Kerr and Myers have openly discussed how the Warriors are approaching their “Last Dance” era with the dynasty core of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. The players are thinking about it, too.
Following his 54-point game against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday, Klay got introspective and mentioned how he knows he’s only guaranteed for one-and-a-half more seasons with the Warriors under his current contract. Draymond, meanwhile, holds a player option for next
Lacob wants to see all three guys play their entire career in Dubs uniforms, but knows that reality often doesn’t match up with the dream.
“Whether we like to hear this or not, players do get older and their skills erode,” Lacob said. “The question is trying to time all that. We would like them to retire – all three of them – as Warriors. I really would like that. We would like that. And I think they would like that. We’re gonna try to do that if it makes sense. But unfortunately, if you look through the history of professional sports, the NBA, it usually doesn’t end that way.
“Players want to hang on a little longer than they can or should. Organizations sometimes want to hang to a dream longer. You’re trying to balance that all into perspective and balance it all. Bill Walsh – I think I’ve quoted him before – once said, ‘Better to trade a player a year too early than a year too late.’ Not saying we’re thinking like that necessarily, but it’s really an important statement. You don’t wanna go through a decade of being bad either for our fans. It’s a very difficult calculus. I wanna keep those guys here. I want to keep them. As long as they’re playing at a very high level, you can rest assure they will be here.”
