Warriors CEO Joe Lacob has stated in the past that the team can't continue to afford the ballooning luxury-tax bill that comes with retaining all their players.
But ahead of the Warriors' 2022-23 season opener Tuesday night, Lacob had a slight change of tune when he joined "Warriors Live" on NBC Sports Bay Area.
"You have to pay for good things," Lacob told Bonta Hill, Chris Mullin and Festus Ezeli. "That's the truth of the matter. I've always believed when it's real estate or whether it's teams in the NBA or whatever you're doing, you have to invest money to make money and unfortunately, it costs a lot of money to have great players like we do, as you pointed out. We'll worry about that salary structure later."
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
The luxury-tax issue came up again this past weekend when the Warriors signed Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins to four-year contract extensions through the 2026-27 season.
Those two contracts put Draymond Green's status with the Warriors into the spotlight. The four-time NBA All-Star has a $27.6 million player option for the 2023-24 season, and if he exercises it, Golden State's salary and luxury-tax bill would be an estimated $483 million, per ESPN's Bobby Marks.
Once the Warriors fill out their roster for next season, they could be looking at a $500 million payroll. But it sounds like Lacob, team president Bob Myers and the organization will cross that bridge when they get there.
Golden State Warriors
In addition to Green's uncertain future with the Warriors, the team will have to deal with Klay Thompson's contract status in the next year or two. The star shooting guard has two years and roughly $84 million left on his contract, but with the rising cost of the team, some analysts have speculated that Golden State could be facing a ”Last Dance" scenario with Green and/or Thompson moving on after their contracts expire.
Lacob isn't approaching that situation like everyone else.
"I have to be honest, I know that's the take from everybody, but that's not the way I'm thinking about it," Lacob said. "That's not the way we're thinking about it. Draymond's under contract for the next two years, this year and next year. So is Klay. Nobody is talking about these guys. They are signed up. We don't negotiate contracts with two years to go [with] anybody. I figure they're under contract. We'll see how everything goes this year and then we'll worry about this all next summer."
RELATED: Lacob explains why Draymond wasn't suspended for punching Poole
Next summer is setting up to be fascinating for the Warriors, but for the moment, they are focused on what they can accomplish this season. They have the depth and talent to repeat as NBA champions, though both those things could take a hit depending on what happens with Green and Thompson in the future.