Tag: Joe Lacob

Warriors could potentially avoid first tax apron

The Golden State Warriors could potentially avoid the luxury tax next season.

The Golden State Warriors have reduced their total salary obligations during the offseason. With Klay Thompson and Chris Paul both leaving the franchise, the Warriors’ cap sheet looks healthier than it has in multiple years. During the 2023-24 season, Joe Lacob noted how he wanted the franchise to reduce its tax burden and potentially avoid being hit with another repeater tax.

In a recent article for Bleacher Report, cap guru Eric Pincus explained how the new cap rules and the Warriors’ recent moves in free agency have set the team up to potentially avoid the first tax apron in the upcoming season.

“The significant change for the Warriors was the reduction in luxury tax from last year’s league-leading $176.9 million penalty,” Pincus wrote. “It wouldn’t be shocking if the franchise dropped entirely below the tax line before the trade deadline. Thompson may be gone, but the team added De’Anthony Melton, Anderson and Hield while dramatically reducing payroll.”

The front office has done a great job of re-tooling the roster while also shedding a significant amount of salary. The Warriors are potentially better equipped than they were last season and could avoid being a luxury tax team in the coming months.
Whether the front office decides to pursue ducking under the luxury tax or commits to adding another impactful player to the rotation remains to be seen. Either way, it’s been a strong summer in the Bay Area.
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The Warriors championship window is still open

How long can the Golden State Warriors championship window remain open?

The Golden State Warriors won their last championship in 2022. Outside of Klay Thompson, who left the team in free agency this summer, the entire core of that roster is still in the Bay Area. Over the first few weeks of the offseason, the Warriors have acquired multiple veteran talents with the aim of bouncing back after a difficult 2023-24 campaign.

According to Joe Lacob, who was speaking on a recent episode of Tim Kawakami’s “The TK Show” podcast, the Warriors championship window is likely to be open longer than what most people expect, despite the fact Steph Curry and Draymond Green are both in the final stages of their career.

“I do view that our window is a little longer than people think,” Lacob told Kawakami. “If there’s such a thing as a window. But with respect to Steph, let’s just say … I think the window’s probably longer than people give it credit for. He’s in remarkable shape. I do not see some big slowdown from Steph here. In fact, I would argue he’s one of the best players on the Olympic team.”

Golden State has been straddling two timelines in recent years. The young core of Brandin Podziemski, Jonathan Kuminga, Trayce Jackson-Daivs and Moses Moody have all shown promise of developing into high-level players. The quicker they can take steps in their development, the more likely it is that Curry and Green can continue contending at the highest level.

Whether the Warriors’ window can stay open long enough for the franchise to get Curry and Green another ring will remain to be seen. However, it does appear that the front office is bullish on the franchise’s chances.

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Joe Lacob sheds thoughts on Warriors current tax situation

Joe Lacob would like to see the Golden State Warriors duck under the luxury tax so they can avoid the repeater tax penalties.

The Golden State Warriors are a second-apron tax team. They’ve consistently been, or around, in the luxury tax throughout their decade-long spell of dominance. However, Joe Lacob would like to see that change in the near future as the Warriors look to shed the punishments that come with being a repeat tax offender in the NBA.

Lacob shared his thoughts during an interview with The Athletic’s Tim Kawakami. He noted how there’s a 1A and 1B plan, with the latter being a more aggressive tear-down of the current roster. As such, “1A” seems to be the more logical route moving forward.

“Our Plan 1, or 1A, is actually we’d like to be out of the tax, and we think that we have a way to do that,” Lacob said. “That kind of is the plan, not just under the second apron. I’ll tell you why that’s important, because the truth is that we need to be out of the tax two years out of the next four, below the tax line, in order to get this repeater thing off our books. We don’t want to be a repeater. It’s just so prohibitive, not to say we wouldn’t do it if we had to, but you’ve gotta look at what the downside is to doing that.”

The Warriors have an aging roster. Some of the younger talents in the rotation are starting to blossom and earn their minutes in the starting lineup. As such, Golden State has some difficult decisions to make in the coming months.

Nevertheless, the Warriors would be smart to duck under the tax. Not only because of the money it would save them but also because of the flexibility in free agency and the buyout market it would bring.

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Kevin Durant would like to see Golden State retire his jersey

Kevin Durant discussed potentially having his jersey retired by the Golden State Warriors.

Kevin Durant spent three successful seasons with the Golden State Warriors. The future Hall of Famer won two NBA championships during his tenure and helped create history as part of the most feared team in recent NBA history.

Durant is now with the Phoenix Suns following a difficult spell with the Brooklyn Nets. He is still looking for his first championship since leaving the Bay Area.

When speaking to Andscape’s Marc Spears, Durant discussed the notion of seeing the Warriors retire his jersey. The discussion came about after Joe Lacob previously noted he didn’t want to see anybody else donning the number 35 for the Warriors.

“He should. Look at the résumé,” Durant said. “That would warrant me to get a jersey retirement, right? Do I want to be honored by a franchise I put work in for? Of course, I would love that. I had some great moments there. I built some solid relationships there. Yeah, man. Hell yeah, that would be sweet. I love that organization, man. I love my time there, seriously.”

If the Warriors retire Durant’s jersey, they will need to do the same for Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, all of whom have led the franchise to four championships in their careers.

Durant’s contributions to Golden State’s success between 2016 and 2019 are undeniable. He was a core factor in both of those championships. However, Lacob must ensure he’s showing the same level of love to the team’s three longer-tenured stars, too. Which will likely be the case when their respective careers eventually draw to a close.

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Bob Myers’ Warriors exit likely means owner Joe Lacob’s son will gain more team control

Kirk Lacob has worked for Golden State for more than a decade.

Golden State Warriors executive Bob Myers is stepping down from his position, he told ESPN.

Myers, who was the president f basketball operations and general manager for Golden State, spent 12 years with the organization. He was highly influential in creating one of the most successful stretches of winning in recent NBA history.

Golden State will not have an easy time replacing Myers, who helped lead the team to win four titles over the course of the past eight seasons. But, per league insider Adrian Wojnarowski, the ownership group already has some succession plans prepared for the post-Myers era (via ESPN):

“With Myers’ departure, Warriors owner Joe Lacob is expected to seek more prominent roles for his son, Kirk, an executive VP of Basketball Operations, and VP of Basketball Operations Mike Dunleavy Jr.”

Joe Lacob became the majority owner of the Warriors in 2010. His son, Kirk, began working for the team not long after graduating from Stanford. Before his father ever had any affiliation with the Warriors, Kirk says he was offered an internship to work in the video room for the Phoenix Suns.

Kirk has over a decade of experience with the team, including experience as the general manager of their G League affiliate. He was promoted to become assistant general manager in 2012 and became the executive vice president of basketball operations in 2019.

Tim Kawakami shared more details about Kirk last year (via The Athletic):

“It’s always been generally assumed that Kirk is the heir apparent. He’s obsessive about basketball. He’s put in the work — he’s the one who was assigned to show why a G League affiliate would work for the Warriors, he arranged the purchase of the team, moved it to Santa Cruz and ran it for a few years, helping to make it a vital part of the Warriors’ holdings.”

According to Kawakami, Kirk is the “basketball ops staffer who argues with his father the most” when it comes to basketball decisions.

Last year, Kirk was named to The Athletic‘s NBA 40 under 40 series.

Earlier this year, The Athletic‘s Shams Charania and Anthony Slater reported that Kirk’s power with Golden State “stretches throughout the basketball and business operations” and that he profiles more as an “owner-in-waiting” than a general manager.

Kirk’s brother, Kent, is considered a ‘”rising voice” on the basketball side and works as the director of team development.

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Before his $500,000 fine for describing …

Before his $500,000 fine for describing the NBA’s current luxury tax system as “incredibly penal” and “very unfair” on the Point Forward Podcast hosted by Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner, Warriors owner Joe Lacob made the argument directly to fellow team owners at the recent Board of Governors session during summer league in Las Vegas that tax penalties should be reduced when teams re-sign players they drafted, league sources say. Three of Golden State’s four highest-paid players (Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green) are Warriors draftees who have only played for one team. Because of the “repeater tax,” Golden State was charged $170 million in luxury tax alone last season and thus spent more than $340 million in salary and tax in winning the club’s fourth championship in eight seasons. Boston, beaten by the Warriors in six games in the NBA Finals, spent nearly $140 million in salary and tax in 2021-22.

Layup Lines: Joe Lacob might be on to something about the ‘unfair’ luxury tax penalty

There was some truth in what the Warriors governor had to said.

Welcome to Layup Lines, our daily NBA newsletter where we’ll prep you for a tip-off of tonight’s action, from what to watch to bets to make. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every afternoon.

The ESPYs were last night, hosted by NBA Finals MVP Stephen Curry. So you know all kinds of Warriors propaganda was spread throughout the award show.

Reaction was mixed, but there were a couple of funny moments like Curry soliciting Kevin Hart and Peyton Manning for jokes to tell. But one moment that got my attention was Andre Iguodala’s apology to Warriors owner Joe Lacob, who was fined for comments he made last week on Iguodala’s podcast with Evan Turner called Point Forward.

Lacob was reportedly fined $500,000 for disclosing his criticisms of the luxury tax penalty at the league’s labor meetings, which violated the NBA’s policy on publicly discussing collective bargaining talks. He called the system “unfair,” something I initially dismissed because, well, of course he would think that. According to Lacob, the club was $40 million over the threshold which equals $200 million with penalties included. But after hearing his whole quote, I’m actually in agreement with Lacob on one thing.

“Obviously, it’s self-serving for me to say this, but I think it’s a very unfair system because our team is built by … all top eight players are all drafted by this team.”

First, let’s dismiss him saying the Warriors drafted all eight of their top players. That part is untrue. They didn’t draft Andrew Wiggins. They didn’t draft Kevin Durant before that. And they didn’t draft Iguodala before him. But Lacob does raise an interesting question. What if they did?

A team that drafts incredibly well and decides it wants to keep all of its own home-grown talent shouldn’t be penalized for that. Those penalties lead to situations like we saw in Oklahoma City when a loaded Thunder team decided to part with James Harden. The tax is obviously in place to spread top talent through the league and prevent teams from loading up via free agency – which is a whole other conversation on the fairness of that. But as is, that penalty shouldn’t apply to teams that want to keep their own guys. The Warriors don’t quite fit the description, but Lacob does give the league something to think about.

The Tip-Off

Some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.

AP Photo/Mark Terrill

Klay Thompson won the ESPY for Comeback Athlete of the Year and gave an emotional speech where he thanked the Bryant family. My colleague Andy Nesbitt rounded up some of the best reactions to Thompson’s speech, including Vanessa Bryant’s response:

“@klaythompson , you’re a class act. Thank you for your support and love for Kobe, my Gigi and our family. Thank you for always including my Gigi when you think of Kob. Congratulations.”

One to Watch

(All odds via Tipico.)

Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP

Indiana Fever (+1100) at Las Vegas Aces (+16.5, -3000), O/U 174.5, 10 PM ET

Bookmakers are giving Indiana absolutely no shot in this one, and for good reason. The worst team in the W, the Fever are on a 10-game losing streak. I’m staying away from this large spread and will instead take the over because I expect Vegas to run up the score.

Shootaround

— Was Wednesday’s game between the Chicago Sky and Seattle Storm a WNBA Finals preview?

— What does James Harden’s new Sixers deal mean for him and the team? HoopsHype has the answers.

— Longhorn wire wrote about Texas’ announcement of Kevin Durant into its 2022 Hall of Honor class.

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Aside from Andrew Wiggins and free …

Aside from Andrew Wiggins and free agents signed to veteran minimum contracts last summer, the Warriors were a team full of players they drafted and developed. And it’s for that reason that Lacob isn’t a fan of the current luxury tax situation implemented by the league. “The hardest thing of all is navigating this luxury tax, unfortunately,” Lacob said to Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner on the last episode of their “Point Forward” podcast. “I went back to New York this week for labor meetings. I’m on the committee. And you know, obviously, the league wants everyone to have a chance and right now, there’s a certain element out there that believes we “checkbook win,” we won because we have the most salaries on our team.”

Joe Lacob: “The truth is, we’re only …

Joe Lacob: “The truth is, we’re only $40 million more than the luxury tax. Now, that’s not small but it’s not a massive number. We’re $200 million over in total because most of that is this incredible penal luxury tax. And what I consider to be unfair and I’m going to say it on this podcast and I hope it gets back to whoever is listening … and obviously it’s self-serving for me to say this, but I think it’s a very unfair system because our team is built by — all top eight players are all drafted by this team.”