Warriors Could Have Pay Cut Plan That Forces Tough Decisions for Jimmy and Dray

After Stephen Curry took $20 million less than his max when signing a two-year, $116 million extension through the 2028-29 season, the focus shifted to how the Golden State Warriors can use those savings in the 2027 offseason.

If the Warriors a) sign Brandin Podziemski to an extension with a starting salary of $20 million and b) have De'Anthony Melton and Al Horford exercise their player options, they can go into next season with $48.2 million in cap space (as I broke down here).

In theory, they could give Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green all $48.2 million of that space and have a virtually identical team to the one they have this year.

But this team is already short on talent to compete for a title, and it's old. It won't be any better next year without significant changes.

So here is what the Warriors' plan should be with Butler and Green in the 2027 offseason.

Butler Contract Options

We don't know what Butler will look like when he returns from his torn ACL, and we don't know what his market will look like next offseason.

But we do know Butler and Green have interest in staying with the Warriors.

"Butler and Green have expressed interest in retiring with the Warriors, though doing so could require them to return on substantially smaller contracts," The Athletic's Nick Friedell wrote.

Butler is making $56.8 million this season. A "substantially smaller contract" could mean a lot of things.

But I beileve the plan should be a contract in the $16 million to $24 million range.

That might feel like an outrageously low offer if Butler comes back and looks about as good as he did before the injury.

Hear me out.

Butler will be 38 before the 2027-28 season begins. His game is more athleticism-based than Curry's, so there's reason to believe he will start to decline.

There's also some precedent for very productive players in their late-30s to take less money. For example, 37-year-old wing DeMar DeRozan recently took the veteran minimum with the Nuggets.

The best-case scenario for the Warriors is getting Butler on the $16 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception. The NTMLE doesn't eat into a team's remaining cap space. So the Warriors would still have $48.2 million to spend on free agents.

But it would be acceptable if the Dubs gave Butler $24 million, which would mean they still have $24.2 million in cap space and the NTMLE.

If Butler demands much more, the Dubs have to be comfortable with letting him walk. They need to get at least two quality in-prime players in the 2027 offseason, and they can't let Butler's contract jeopardize that.

Green's Contract Option

Green is coming off one of the worst seasons of his career. His EPM ranked in the 40th percentile, and his Cleaning the Glass net rating (minus-4.3) was the worst it had been since he was a rookie.

With those numbers, one could argue he should be on a veteran minimum contract this season.

But after he declined his player option to give the Warriors more financial flexibility to chase LeBron James, the Dubs took care of him by giving him back the $27.7 million he declined.

My guess is Green will be open to a veteran minimum deal if it helps the Warriors get pieces to make one last title push. He'll be 37 in March. He doesn't strike me as someone who will be fighting tooth and nail for every dollar in what could be the last season of his career.

The Warriors could give him a bit more than his minimum by using cap space or an exception, but that could get in the way of their other pursuits.

Warriors Need Sacrifices to Make Cap Space Plan Work

Butler and Green would be justified going for the biggest contract offer in free agency. And I'd imagine they'd both have bigger contract offers than the ones I suggest the Dubs offer them.

The bottom line is the Warriors need sacrifices to have a great 2027 offseason.

They already got one from Curry, as his 2027-28 salary is $10 million less than what it could have been.

They probably won't be getting financial sacrifices from free agents who have no Warriors roots.

So the Dubs' best-case scenario is getting big sacrifices from Butler and Green to open up cap space/exceptions for other signings.

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