The Golden State Warriors were largely criticized for letting Gary Payton II and Otto Porter Jr. walk away this offseason, instead replacing them with Donte DiVincenzo and JaMychal Green. However, unknown to many, the moves helped the Dubs financially in a huge way.
Just how huge is that difference? Well, it's $60.6 million, per GSW CBA.
Aside from cutting $52.6 million in luxury tax, the Warriors end up saving $7 million in salaries. They signed DiVincenzo and Green to a combined salary of $6.3 million. Had they opted to keep both GPII and OPJ, they would have ended up paying $14.3 million.
For anyone curious in terms of the difference in cost.
Combined 22/23 salary of Gary Payton II + Otto Porter Jr: $14.3M
Combined 22/23 salary of Donte DiVincenzo + JaMychal Green: $6.3M
Plus a luxury tax difference of: $52.6M
— GSWCBA (@gswcba) July 19, 2022
While the Warriors have shown the willingness to pay the luxury tax, owner Joe Lacob emphasized that it does not that mean that they have unlimited budget that they can simply throw around. Believe it or not, there is, and it's the reason why they weren't able to bring back both Gary Payton II and Otto Porter Jr. to new deals when the free agency period opened.
It might be quite frustrating for fans to see some of their key championship pieces leave, but with the Warriors also hoping to build continuity, it's a necessary move they had to make. Fortunately, Golden State has a lot of talent on the roster that could benefit from more playing time. Both Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody could see an increased role, as well as the returning James Wiseman. They also have a few rookies who could very crack the 15-man roster and get some experience playing at the highest level.
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