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The Golden State Warriors have lost a lot of their key players who were part of their 2021-22 championship team.
Gary Payton II, Otto Porter Jr. and Juan Toscano-Anderson have parted ways with the franchise, leaving a void in terms of talent. Not many are happy about this, but NBA analyst Brian Geltzeiler believes there is a reason why the Dubs were forced to make these moves.
It is a known fact that the Golden State Warriors are one of the highest luxury tax-paying teams in the league. Ahead of the 2022-23 season, the team had two important contracts with Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole, which they wanted to extend.
However, it would have been difficult to do so if they had kept all of their role-players. Speaking about why moving their key role players was a smart move by the owner of the Golden State Warriors, Joe Lacob, Brian Geltzeiler said:
"I think what the Warriors did this offseason in letting the guys go, that they let go, I think it was smart. You're gonna sign Poole to an extension at some point or another.
"Kuminga and Moody and Wiseman don't come that much later if you're gonna build around these guys and still wanna keep a couple of these older guys that have won four championships for you."
AS Geltzeiler stated, the Golden State Warriors' priority this offseason was always giving Jordan Poole an extension. They would have certainly loved to keep their role players, but doing so would have forced them to pay even more in luxury tax.
Why did Joe Lacob decide on offloading a few of the Golden State Warriors' role players?
According to reports, the Golden State Warriors did try and make attempts to re-sign their role players. However, signing all of them back in free agency wasn't possible. The only free agent that returned to the team was Kevon Looney, who signed a three-year $25.5 million deal.
Further elaborating on Joe Lacob and his decision, Geltzeiler said:
"Joe Lacob is paying crazy dollar of that in luxury tax and let's not forget this about luxury tax, to fans it's a term.
"It's monopoly money that an owner that's making it is just paying it out to keep this wonderful product on the floor, but lets make it clear where that money goes, that money goes to the no tax paying teams."
He added:
"Joe Lacob is enriching the Warriors competitors by paying this level tax each and every year and as a man who runs the business, he has every right to want to control those costs to a certain extent."
Although the Warriors have lost a lot of their key players, they still have an exciting team for next season. Other teams will certainly try and add more pieces to compete against them.
Now that they have some cap space, their next goal will be to sign an extension for Wiggins and Poole. The duo had a stunning last season and it is almost certain that with them in the Bay, the Dubs will compete for a long time.
Guess the Lakers players!
