The Golden State Warriors didn't have much spending flexibility this summer. The team that just set an NBA record for total payroll, in fact, lost a bidding war for all-world defender Gary Payton II in free agency, wary of going even deeper into luxury tax territory. But just because the Warriors' team-building resources were limited hardly means their stars didn't try to recruit available players to the Bay over the offseason.
Well, at least Stephen Curry and Draymond Green made those overtures. Klay Thompson, apparently, took a much more hands-off approach to helping Golden State re-stock its bench after losing Payton, Otto Porter, Nemanja Bjelica, Juan Toscano-Anderson and Damion Lee this summer.
Warriors general manager Bob Myers on Thursday shed light on the recruiting strategies of Golden State's veteran stars, giving Curry and Green credit for the team's signings of Donte DiVincenzo and JaMychal Green.
“Our guys are so…They should just be GMs.They're more important than I am,” Myers said. “When Curry calls a player, that's very important for him to call a free agent and say, ‘Want to come play with us?' And he did that. Draymond, I can't stop him from doing that, he just does it on his own. Klay, I have no idea if he knows who we signed. He doesn't know who's on our team and he's down there right now. So I'm lucky to have guys that free agents wanna play with.”
Bob Myers points out the different free-agent recruiting methods of Steph, Draymond and Klay 😂 pic.twitter.com/i9TQUqxzPP
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) September 22, 2022
That all tracks, right?
Both DiVincenzo and JaMychal Green spoke independently of being courted by Curry in free agency. Draymond Green, meanwhile, embarked on one of the most significant recruiting efforts in NBA history shortly after the Warriors lost to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals, famously phoning Kevin Durant from the Oracle Arena parking lot.
As for Thompson? He spent his first healthy offseason in three years enjoying the fruits of a rehab-less summer, traveling while honing his craft in various gyms across the globe. Even before the injury bug bit Thompson in 2019, it's safe to say he wasn't engaging much in the Warriors' effort to recruit free agents.
There are countless reasons why players across the league want to play for Golden State. Just ask DiVincenzo and JaMychal Green. But the singular personalities of Curry, Green and Thompson and collective culture they promote is among the most important, not to mention why the Warriors' dynasty is ongoing some seven-plus years after it was first established.
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