The Warriors still haven’t filled their vacant 15th roster spot. In fact, on Friday, they waived the four potential players who could have filled the opening.

Steve Kerr announced, following the Warriors preseason finale, that the team had decided to waive Avery Bradley, Gary Payton II, Jordan Bell, and Mychal Mulder.

However, the team’s waiving of 30-year-old Bradley may not have sat well with some of Golden State’s superstar players. According to Marcus Thompson of the Athletic, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green were among a group of players who did not want to see the 12-year NBA vet cut from the team.

Curry, Green, and others saw Bradley as a proven veteran who could be relied upon in the event of a deep playoff run. Even though his preseason performance was less than stellar, to put it kindly, that was of no concern to the former back-to-back league MVP and former DPOY. They favored Bradley’s proven track record. As Thompson mentioned in his article, Bradley has 1250 logged minutes of playoff experience under his belt. Golden State’s vets wanted someone who has been through the battles of the postseason to rely on when his number is called. They wanted a known defensive dog to help clamp up opposing teams’ best guards, providing Curry some relief on the defensive end, allowing him to focus on doing what he arguably is the best at in the world, scoring.

Another option for the 15 spot, which there have recently been rumblings about, is for the Warriors to bring back Payton II, but on more of a team-friendly deal. Clearly, with the Warriors being hit hard with the luxury tax, money matters. And if they think Payton could provide some production this year, they may feel that re-signing him at a price point they are okay with could be the best of both worlds for them in which they get a usable player whose salary isn’t a deal-breaker.

Sort of an odd choice to not fulfill the wishes of Draymond and Steph on this one. If you’re the Warriors front office, who is calling the personnel shots, why not listen to the guys who are out on the court for 82 games plus some?

Hopefully, the Warriors do actually end up filling that spot with someone, anyone at this point. It would hurt to see them leave a vacancy in the roster during a year that follows one of Curry’s best seasons ever just for the sake of saving money.

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