Luxury tax a major concern for Warriors’ ability to keep Andre Iguodala

The defending champion Golden State Warriors are facing a huge hurdle in their bid to retain the services of their Swiss knife in Andre Iguodala.

Golden State Warriors fans might want to prepare for life without Andre Iguodala.

The Warriors are reportedly not too hopeful on their chances of keeping the 2015 NBA Finals MVP, largely because of the repercussions of such move with regards to the team’s luxury tax situation.

Sources: Warriors' luxury tax moving forward is concern for Golden State and owner Joe Lacob in re-signing Andre Iguodala.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 29, 2017

Iguodala is set to become a free agent come July 1 and he is not the priority of the team right now it seems. It’s understandable though, considering that the Warriors have to account for future contracts of the likes of Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, who are both deserving of max contracts.

That and the report of several teams eyeing Iguodala in free agency have compounded the issue of the team’s ability to retain the two-time champion, as interest from other squads is leverage for Iguodala, who was paid $11.13 million by the Warriors in the final year of his soon-to-expire contract.

The Warriors could exercise their Bird Rights on him, but then again, the luxury tax would be hellish for them assuming Durant and Curry ink their next deals with the franchise.

Durant, however, has made it known that he’s open to the idea of getting paid less money if that would mean an added breathing room for the Warriors’ payroll according to Chris Haynes of ESPN.

The 2017 NBA Finals MVP will turn down a player-option salary of approximately $28 million to momentarily hit free agency with the intentions of taking less than the max he's eligible for as a 10-year veteran. This is in order to improve the Warriors' chances of re-signing reserve stud Andre Iguodala, league sources told ESPN.

Iguodala has been a tremendous off-the-bench asset for the Warriors since heading to Bay Area in 2012. He averaged 7.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.0 steals in 76 games last season.

Iguodala’s situation is just about to get more interesting as we get nearer to July 1 and if the Warriors can’t find a workaround, Dub Nation faithful may soon have to forget about ‘Dre staying in Oakland.