Prior to a 3-0 Golden State Warriors start to these NBA Finals, much has been made about a lack of parity between teams in the league and the consequent sweep of the Western Conference Finals to get to where they are.
Forward Draymond Green was asked if the signing of Kevin Durant was fair to the NBA, thing he couldn't wait to give an answer to.
“There's this thing called the salary cap,” Green told reporters on Thursday, according to Kevin Jones of KNBR 4. “We abide by the same rules everyone else abides by.”
The Warriors actually are right in the middle of the pack when it comes to the salary cap ($101.73 million), while their rival Cleveland Cavaliers have the most under the books by far at $127.5 million — $11 million more than their south of the state competition, the L.A. Clippers.
Golden State was able to massively benefit from one of the biggest bargains in sports, which was Stephen Curry‘s four-year, $44 million contract extension — one he signed while he was still heavily marred with substantial ankle injuries — which the organization saw as a potential risk and a gamble of sorts, if the issue ended up being chronic.
Luckily for the team, not only was Curry able to keep healthy, but also tapped into some of his potential, resulting in two MVP trophies and an NBA championship during the length of his contract that is set to expire this offseason when he becomes an unrestricted free agent.
The Warriors are highly unlikely to even hint at a discount now that Curry can score a supermax deal for up to 35 percent of the team's cap for next season — netting roughly $205 million for a five-year commitment.
