Warriors were not shy about spending money In order to maintain the list that has won four NBA titles in the past eight seasons.
Putting money into the list has been one of the primary calling cards for Warriors owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber since they bought the franchise in 2010.
But in order to make a tournament-level roster, warriors had to go beyond the salary cap and luxury tax limits. This makes the list very expensive.
During the 2021-22 NBA season, the Warriors were slightly less $176 million taxable salary, per spot. This works out to the additional $170 million in luxury tax bill. So the cost to the 2022 title-winning team was north of $340 million.
Despite this, warriors play by the rules in order to keep their players. They are just paying the heavy price.
Lacop back On Athletic’s “TK Show” with Tim Kawakami on Thursday and they got into a back-and-forth conversation about how much the team could spend in the coming years, while also acknowledging that other teams and the NBA are not cheering the Warriors now.
Kawakami: “Is there a number you put there for Bob? Or do you have a number, like ‘We can’t get over $420’ [million]You know, a total commitment of $450 [million]? “
Lacobe: “You’re really good at reporting. You’re one of the smartest reporters out there, but I’ll tell you, the numbers are kind of sloppy. I’ll just say that. You’ve been throwing in the numbers there like $400 and $500.” [million]. “
Kawakami: “Complications go crazy.”
Lacobe: “Those numbers aren’t even remotely possible. They’re not. I’m already in trouble with the rest of the league. We’re in trouble for being where we are. Actually, Vegas, I’ll be at the NBA board meeting on Tuesday, let me tell you. They’re not happy.” Not just us. Other teams are getting into the luxury tax now too. We kind of created a loophole in the system and it wasn’t a good view from a league perspective. They don’t want to see that happen. And there are limits. I won’t say what they are but there are limits to what you can He did. You said we bring in a lot of revenue. We are very successful with revenue, Brandon Schneider and his group and you’re right. We had a great year, in terms of revenue. We went to the finals. It’s obvious. But I can also tell you that the expenses are incredible. , all- time record. Not just players’ salaries but everything else. So it all piles up. We spend everything we make. We don’t take any distribution [money]. Did not take dollars. None of our partners took a single dollar. We’re just getting back to building the arena, which we’ve been doing for five years. We’ve been making a lot of money in Auckland for the past few years. We stacked it in this arena without the crowd’s help. And now when we’re at a point where our players are… they spend more time with us and they earn more money and we want to keep them, we want to keep going to tournaments, it’s piling all that money into players’ salaries. That’s what we did here last year and the last few years and we’ll do it again this year.”
The Warriors tax bill may not be high for the upcoming 2022-23 season, depending on how you fill out the slate. But in the coming years, with Loom extensions for Andrew Wiggins And Jordan Paul, the bill can go through the roof.
It was the effects of the luxury tax that forced The warriors let Gary Payton II leave In a free agency instead of matching the offer he got from the Portland Trail Blazers.
And if the Warriors do eventually have to sign Jonathan Cominga, James Wiseman and/or Moses Moody on the extensions, the bill could rise.
Related: The Warriors 2022-23 is no longer the favorite for the NBA title
For now, though, the Lacob and Warriors ownership is willing to foot the bill for the biggest win possible while Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green are in the primes.