You may be wondering something about the trade that sent former No. 2 overall pick James Wiseman from the Golden State Warriors to the Detroit Pistons and the Dubs getting … a bunch of second-round picks back.
Why would the Warriors deal a future asset for basically nothing? How could they let Wiseman go for so little even though he hasn’t lived up to the hype?
There’s actually a good answer for that, and proof that the Warriors aren’t made of money (even though they’ve spent a ton of it to put together a contender in recent years).
The answer comes from John Hollinger at The Athletic:
As a result, even small bits of window dressing could save eye-popping amounts of money after accounting for the tax penalty and the Warriors’ repeater status. That, in turn, focuses attention on James Wiseman. He’s owed $9.6 million this year and $12.2 million next year, meaning that San Antonio, Detroit, Utah or Indiana could trade for him without sending anything back. Such a transaction would save the Warriors about $51 million in salary and tax this year and an estimated $85 million in salary and tax next year; a total of $131 million in savings to dump a guy who rarely plays.
Did you read that?
Again: That could save a total of $131 million in savings to dump a guy who rarely plays.
Why did the Warriors trade former No. 2 overall pick James Wiseman for five second-round picks?
It saved them $131,000,000, per @johnhollinger.https://t.co/kzWpHu7d4T pic.twitter.com/NEPze5k6YB
— Tom Haberstroh (@tomhaberstroh) February 9, 2023
That explains it.