Warriors already have ‘some veteran free agents’ showing interest

The Golden State Warriors already have “some veteran free agents” showing early interest in the team.

The Golden State Warriors are still one of the most respected organizations in the entire NBA. One awful season shouldn’t and won’t erase a prior half-decade of dominance.

And it seems as though the rest of the NBA world is well aware of that.

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When Joe Lacob and Peter Gruber bought the organization near the turn of the decade it represented a changing of the times in Golden State. The hirings of general manager Bob Myers and later head coach Steve Kerr solidified a culture change.

That culture change would become the impetus for the Warriors dominance in the mid-to-late 2010s. And that very culture is still very much present within the organization despite their recent shortcomings.

The 2019-20 season was a disaster for Golden State who saw essentially their entire core go down with serious long-term injuries. And as a result, the team struggled to the worst record in the NBA.

But despite their failures last season, that hasn’t dissuaded prospective free agents from wanting to sign with the team. In fact, it appears that the Warriors are already drumming up some interest.

As reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic on Complex’s “Load Management” podcast, multiple veteran free agents are already showing interest in signing with the Warriors this offseason.

"“They’re going to look hard at maybe packaging the pick. I don’t think they’re going to rule that out either. You’re looking at a veteran team, and there’s already some veteran free agents that are looking at the Warriors. They’re looking at them gearing up and loading back up. You have Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green back healthy. Now you’ve got [Andrew] Wiggins.”"

This is hardly surprising news and it’s indicative of the work that Myers and company have done to establish such a strong culture in Golden State.

The Golden State Warriors could look to benefit from a unique offseason.

This offseason is certainly going to be an interesting one as a massive drop in revenue from the COVID-19 fallout will likely lead to major salary cap implications.

As a result, few teams will have much cap space to spend likely driving down asking prices. The Warriors are already going to be a tax-paying team, but this situation could allow them to land a few free-agents on veteran’s minimum deals that they wouldn’t have normally been able to.

Aside from free agency, the Warriors will also have a top-five pick in the 2020 NBA Draft and a $17.2 million trade exception to utilize.

Combine that with the returning (hopefully healthy) core of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Andrew Wiggins and there’s no reason they can’t compete next season.

Many soon-to-be free agents are well aware of that, and they could end up taking less money to sign with a team with such a respected culture.

The Warriors may be down right now, but they’re far from out.