Myers Conveys Golden State Unlikely to Use TPMLE

Bob Myers was recently live on the 95.7 The Game airways talking, among other things, Golden State Warriors Basketball. One of the more noteworthy things Myers said in his chat on the Damon, Ratto & Kolsky show was that he did not expect the Warriors to use the tax payer mid-level exception anymore despite a few attempts at trying to sign free agents with it.

"I don't think we use it, I think we tried, we put it out there for some players we thought were difference makers". Myers said.

At this point of the free agency period, Myers expressed that he didn’t feel that using the MLE would in the Warriors’ best interest.

“It's not wise and I would protect Joe [Lacob] from himself. We have to be smart about it.", Myers told Damon Bruce.

The Warriors attempted to use the MLE on Nicolas Batum and Patty Mills. Both players, however, chose to sign with different teams.

These statements from Myers aren’t shocking at all really when you look at the current free agency landscape. Just about all of the free agents left on the market are guys that will likely be signed to veteran minimum deals, aside for Avery Bradley, Paul Millsap and maybe another name or two. You really have to ask yourself if Millsap or Bradley would be real difference makers on the Warriors roster. The answer is a resounding, no. They could certainly add some additional help to the team in some areas, but they wouldn’t make the team a whole lot better. That’s the reality of the situation.

The financial implications also don’t make much sense for Golden State. If the Warriors were to use the full $5.9M MLE that would mean they would incur an approximately $25M luxury tax hit. As things currently stand, they are the most tax penalized team in the NBA, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

It’s not like the Warriors are afraid to spend. They’re actually spending the most in the League on payroll and taxes.

The reality is they have some very large contracts on the team, and arguably one too many. They’ve reached a point where their only hope in regards to adding new, proven talent to the roster would mean that would need to come via trade. They would likely have to give up proven pieces in exchange. Plus, unproven but valuable assets by way of draft picks.

However, it doesn’t seem like that is going to be the case as Joe Lacob mentioned in an exclusive interview with The Athletic’s Anthony Slater a few weeks back.

“We already have the stars. And we have a payroll that’s — and I’ve said this when I was interviewed before, but nobody listened. It’s very unlikely, I’ve said that we’re not going to trade for anybody that people are expecting. Very unlikely. It’s not impossible. But if it was going to be somebody, it was going to be somebody really great. It was going to be a big trade. It’s unlikely.”

After the free agent acquisitions of Otto Porter Jr., Nemanja Bjelica, and Andre Iguodala, the draft additions Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody, and the big four-year, $215M extension with Stephen Curry, it seems as though the Warriors are just about ready to solidify their roster and gear up for the season.

Of course, there is always the off chance of a blockbuster trade happening , or maybe Joe Lacob doesn’t let Bob Myers get in his way and decides he wants to use the MLE. It should be noted though that the odds of any of those things happening at this point are pretty low and are getting lower by each passing day.

FeatureJoseph AziziBob Myers, Golden State Warriors, Warriors, Free Agency1 Comment