After renewing Barbosa's contract, the next step is to deal with David Lee.
David Lee's annual salary is 15 million, which expires this summer, so now David Lee is a completely free agent.
Since Draymond Green took over, David Lee has gradually been marginalized, but he is still capable of fighting. Historically, David Lee made a lot of contributions in the 14-15 season finals.
In the third game lost to the Cavaliers in history, Lee played 13 minutes and scored 11 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists. In the fourth game against the Cavaliers, Lee played 15 minutes and scored 9 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
In fact, keeping David Li is also a good choice, as long as his asking price is reasonable, but due to system limitations, Deng Fang cannot keep him even if he wants to.
Historically, the Warriors did not have David Lee on their roster in the 15-16 season, so Deng Fang had no choice but to let him go.
Historically, during this offseason, the Warriors traded David Lee to the Celtics in exchange for Gerald Wallace.
The Warriors can use a deferred payment clause on Wallace, which Lee cannot achieve because the Warriors and Lee's contract was signed under the old collective bargaining agreement.
David Lee's contract value is more than $5 million higher than Wallace's contract. This deal can save the Warriors about $3.3 million in the next three years and can also save the Warriors $20 million in luxury taxes.
It can be said that David Lee was eliminated entirely because of Green's rise.
Historically, in the 14-15 season, Cole took over the Warriors. At that time, David Lee was at the end of his peak. At first, Cole's starting power forward was David Lee. However, before the start of the season, David Lee suffered a serious hamstring injury.
After returning, he was injured again and missed 24 games. Cole needed a starting power forward, so he asked Green to try. As a result, Green was out of control, helping the Warriors achieve a record of 21 wins and 3 losses during the absence of David Lee.
During this period, Green not only showed excellent defensive skills and rebounding ability, but also fully demonstrated his ball-handling ability, organizational ability and support ability, making him an all-round player.
By the time David Lee came back, Cole had decided that Green was his ideal power forward, and David Lee had to serve as a substitute. David Lee is a player with very high football and emotional intelligence, so he accepted the substitute role.
It also maintained the unity of the Warriors locker room.
In the first game of the finals in history, David Lee spent the entire game on the bench and did not play. He said in an interview: "I will get a chance to perform. This does not mean that I want to try my best to prove that I
I can play in the Finals. Everyone knows I have that ability. But when you give up some of yourself, things may get better, like, 'Hey, you have a bigger mission.' When I
When I was in New York, people always said I could put up numbers but couldn't lead the team to wins, and I don't want to do that anymore."
"I have proven this season that I can help the team win, and I have never let up throughout the season. I am always ready to fight."
After the transaction, the Warriors posted a picture to thank David Lee for his contribution over the past five years, and wrote, "David Lee is a true warrior, both on and off the court. We thank him for his contribution over the past five years and
Wish him all the best."
Green immediately expressed his respect to Big Brother:
"The business part of basketball is so bad. I hope my big brother David Lee is okay. I wish you good luck in the future. I am very grateful for the help you gave me on the road to winning the championship. I love you more than words can express."
Warriors player Clay also said that it is very difficult to see old teammates leaving:
"It's really hard to see big brother David Lee leave the team. Boston got a truly professional and strong player, an experienced veteran." Gu.
Generally speaking, David Lee is a good player with a gentle and humble personality. He spent some dark years with Curry before the rise of the Warriors. Warriors fans have a good impression of him.
…
In fact, the Warriors still have another problem, which is renewing Barnes.
Barnes' contract was signed in the summer of 2012. It is a rookie contract for four years. It expires next summer and can be renewed in advance this summer.
After the Rockets were eliminated in the Western Conference Finals, Harrison Barnes publicly stated that he was eager to stay with the team in the future. At the same time, he also firmly believed that he could successfully renew his contract with the Warriors.
From Barnes' point of view, he obviously also hopes to stay in this championship lineup. "I mean, we won the championship. I certainly hope that the team can maintain a complete lineup in the next few years. You know
What am I saying? It's obvious."
Barnes is 23 years old. He can complete the contract extension with the Warriors before October 31 this year. If the two parties cannot reach an agreement by then, Barnes will become a restricted free agent tomorrow summer, and the Warriors will lose him by then.
risk.
In the 2014-15 season, Barnes started all 82 regular season games, averaging 10.1 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 40.5% from three-point range.
With such data and the bonus of a championship team, it would be no problem for Barnes to get a big contract in the market.
In an interview, Barnes also said that he is very suitable for the Warriors' style. "I am very suitable for this team." Barnes said, "You hope to get better. After last season, the coach and I
We talked a lot, including how to do better in the low post, increase ball control, etc. I still have a lot to improve, and the system here can help me grow. We are a young team, and we must continue to improve."
"I'm not worried about contract-related matters. I believe everyone will be able to resolve them appropriately," said Barnes. "The boss is happy to keep the original lineup, so I'm not worried about it."
However, the reality may be different from what Barnes thinks, and he may be leaving.
The Warriors' salary structure was very reasonable before, but it has been a bit stretched since the past two years.
First of all, Curry got a maximum salary contract, which is close to 20 million per year. Secondly, Klay Thompson also signed a 5-year contract of 110 million US dollars. These two people take up a lot of space, plus Iguodala’s
12 million, Bogut’s 7 million, the total is close to 60 million!
In fact, the Warriors' salary space is only a little tight now rather than painful, mainly because Green's big contract was dealt with in advance by Deng Fang.
This summer in history, the Warriors offered Green a five-year, $82 million contract. Adding in Curry and Klay's massive contracts, the Warriors suddenly didn't have much salary space.
Fortunately, Deng Fang reduced Green's playing time in the past two years and did not give him many opportunities. Last summer, he signed a big contract with Green, worth 40 million in five years, which alleviated the Warriors' salary space problem.
Again, it's not that Green is unimportant, but that his market value is not as high as Klay. In the Warriors, Green is more important than Klay, but after the Warriors, Green is far behind Klay.
As for Barnes, Deng Fang knows that he will leave next summer, and because Durant is coming, there is no rush to renew his contract.
