For deep luxury tax teams, the back end of an NBA roster is a commonly used avenue to save money. It’s how the Golden State Warriors shaved down their bill the past half-decade. This season, that meant Ryan Rollins — and his reduced second round rookie salary — in the 14th spot and nobody in the vacant 15th, avoiding more than $10 million in extra tax.
Advertisement
Even this deep into the season, punitive tax penalties partially guide the team’s roster construction. This is from a Bob Myers soundbite last week when discussing the possibility of adding a buyout candidate into their vacant roster spot.
“Any buyout conversation has to be done in collaboration with the coaching staff,” Myers said. “Because why bring a player in if he’s not going to be useful? There’s a good John Wooden quote: ‘Don’t confuse activity with achievement.’ I don’t just want to say I scoured the buyout market, here’s a guy and he’s sitting on the end of the bench. Because for us, it’s $3-$4 million (pro-rated). Which Joe (Lacob) has done and would do. But that’s the conversation with the coaching staff as far as who would play and who is available.”
Translation: It won’t get green lit if it isn’t a solidified rotation player on a nightly basis. Kevin Love, for example, wouldn’t have been. He went to the Miami Heat for $3.1 million and a clear path to regular minutes. The Warriors wouldn’t have offered either.
Patrick Beverley generated more interest within the front office. Perimeter defense has been a problem. It’s why they traded for Gary Payton II. But the Beverley conversation never even got to the offer stage. When the rotation is fully healthy, he’d have been behind Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Jordan Poole, Donte DiVincenzo and Payton in the backcourt pecking order. Beverley opted for Chicago and mentioned in his podcast that the Warriors have “a lot of guards over there.”
“The buyout market in general over the years has been overblown,” Steve Kerr said. “Usually it’s hard to find someone who is going to make a big impact. Maybe you’re looking at an insurance policy of some sort. But the reality is when you get to the playoffs insurance policies don’t win you series.”
Advertisement
The Warriors do plan to give somebody that 15th spot before the end of the regular season. Tax penalties don’t extend into the playoffs. There’s no reason to leave that spot void. Two years ago, they gave Juan Toscano-Anderson and Payton vacant roster spots in the regular season’s final week.
That comparable scenario is another reason it has always been more likely that the Warriors convert either Anthony Lamb or Ty Jerome — their two-way players — into their 15th spot rather than add a buyout veteran. Back then, the Warriors gave Toscano-Anderson and Payton multi-year, non-guaranteed deals, giving them contract control through the offseason, keeping them in the program. Both ended up being bargain contributors to a later title team.
A couple of months ago, Lamb and Jerome had a conceivable path to the roster. JaMychal Green’s lack of production and extended absence made him vulnerable before the deadline, a salary dump trade candidate to slice the tax bill further and create an extra vacancy. That’s what they did with Marquese Chriss and Brad Wanamaker the year they signed Toscano-Anderson and Payton.
But Green surged in the weeks leading up to the deadline, reclaimed his place as the third big and kept his roster spot. That has left only one spot for either Lamb or Jerome, should the Warriors decide to convert.
“We got to look and see whether it’s (converting one of them) or another player and compare them,” Myers said. “And say to Steve: ‘Here are your options. Which player do you think helps us the most?’ We have to fit the system. We have to fit what will work here and what does work here.”
The Warriors have a growing history of success in the two-way market. In the first season of its existence, they used it to get Quinn Cook in the fold. Cook actually started the last month of the regular season with Curry sidelined. They needed Cook for the playoffs, so they cut Omri Casspi and added him, the first of their two-way conversions. Damion Lee and Toscano-Anderson were the next two major two-way success stories.
Advertisement
This summer, the Warriors decided to draft Rollins and Patrick Baldwin Jr., two project rookies, while bringing back Andre Iguodala, despite knowledge that he’d sit a majority of the regular season. That meant nearly nothing on the court from the 12th, 13th, 14th and empty 15th, leading to fair criticism about the overarching roster construction.
It placed added importance on their ability to identify two-way eligible players who could fit in Kerr’s rotation, if necessary. That is Kent Lacob’s leg of the front office. He oversees the G League scouting. He’s been credited with the Payton find.
“It’s something our organization has really excelled at,” Kerr said. “Kent Lacob, David Fatoki, it’s really their responsibility to bring in players to training camp, potential two-ways guys, and they’ve nailed it.”
Fatoki is the Santa Cruz Warriors general manager. Nick U’Ren and Ryan Atkinson are influential voices in the room. Seth Cooper, the Santa Cruz coach, was part of the group that voted on their G League MVP a season ago. They collectively chose Lamb, a player they’d long felt could excel in their system. When he became available in the preseason, they added him.
Lamb initially believed he’d spend much of the early season in Santa Cruz. But when Kerr remade the rotation after 10 games, he replaced James Wiseman. Lamb has made 40 percent of his 3s on a pretty high volume (145 attempts), providing a stretch option for a frontcourt lacking it. He’s had some big moments in important wins — check out that season-high five-game win streak around Christmas — and leads all the NBA’s two-way players in minutes and points this season.
“These reps are priceless,” Lamb said.
Jerome isn’t far behind in either category. The front office has liked him since his pre-draft process in 2019. He went four picks before they took Poole. He decided on a two-way with the Warriors this summer, in part because he knew Curry and Thompson would selectively miss a handful of games for rest and likely miss another chunk due to the season’s wear and tear.
Advertisement
“That’s an opportunity to play 20, 20-plus games on a championship team,” Jerome said.
His suspicion was correct. Jerome has been key for the Warriors during Curry’s various absences. He even had a 22-point, 8-assist, 41-minute night in a home win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. He’s currently averaging about 19 minutes a night with Curry and Payton out and has 105 assists and only 23 turnovers this season, giving Kerr the third point guard safety blanket he always covets.
“I know this is kind of unique with two two-way guys who are playing significant minutes,” Curry said. “They’re playing well, helping us.”
The question could soon shift to which of the two they believe will help them more in the playoffs.
Lamb has used 43 of his 50 available two-way games. Jerome has used 36. With JaMychal Green in a good rhythm, it’s easier for the Warriors to deactivate and save Lamb’s seven remaining games. Jerome is necessary until Curry returns. The longer they wait before a conversion decision, the more pro-rated tax money they save and the more information they’ll accumulate.
The argument for Lamb is positionally based. The Warriors are thinner in the frontcourt. In the playoffs, particularly if JaMychal Green’s shot leaves him again, it’s easier to see Lamb getting rotation minutes as a stretch option in a small-ball environment than Jerome entering a backcourt picture that should have Curry, Payton, Poole, Thompson and DiVincenzo in the fold.
But the context guiding the situation could change. An unlikely buyout candidate could emerge before March 1. Injuries could reconfigure the picture again. A continued tumble down the standings could turn non-guaranteed control of a younger player for next season into a bigger priority.
(Top photo of Anthony Lamb: Noah Graham / NBAE via Getty Images)
ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57k2tqcm1gZ3xzfJFsZmlqX2eAcLrBmmSgp5yZsq950q2YrZ1drK6zvsioqaxloqTAtbHRaA%3D%3D