Sports
Warriors Winners and Losers from 2023 NBA Free Agency – Bleacher Report
The dust has largely settled on what was an eventful—at times surprising—2023 NBA offseason for the Golden State Warriors.
Jordan Poole is gone. Former franchise nemesis Chris Paul is here. Draymond Green is back, too, with a hefty new deal in place.
The Dubs made other changes on the margins, but the same nucleus that has steered four successful championship runs is still in place. Well, other than former front office chief Bob Myers, who stepped down after a wildly successful 12-year stint.
While Golden State’s new—and old—group should now be focused on stacking regular-season wins, we’re still looking back on this offseason to identify two Warriors winners and one loser after during the free-agency period.
You know those questions you’ve heard countless times about the level of impact Green would make outside of Golden State’s ecosystem? Well, the Dubs’ do-it-all swingman may never have to answer them.
Almost the second free agency opened, Green exited it to sign a four-year, $100 million pact to stay with the only team he’s ever known—and be paid quite handsomely deep into his 30s.
Could he have found more money elsewhere? It’s certainly possible given the fact that his resume includes four championship runs, four All-Star selections, two All-NBA honors and a Defensive Player of the Year award. Even still, though, an average annual salary of $25 million feels like a healthy haul for a 33-year-old with a single-digit career scoring average.
Instead of being forced to learn new teammates, coaches and on-court approaches, he’s back in the same role he has effectively mastered. While no one knows how much his screen-setting, playmaking, versatile defense and emotional leadership would help a different team, they have proved to be championship traits in Golden State.
As soon as Golden State snatched up Brandin Podziemski with the No. 19 pick of this summer’s draft, his outlook for playing time didn’t look great.
After all, the championship-chasing Warriors had added higher-profile prospects before him, and virtually all of them struggled to lock down consistent roles in the rotation.
With Donte DiVincenzo looming as an obvious flight risk, though, Podziemski may have held at least a sliver of hope of finding relatively consistent minutes. But those hopes dimmed once Golden State acquired Chris Paul, and the later signing of Cory Joseph may have blocked the 20-year-old from handling even emergency minutes in case of an injury.
While his quick processing, shot-making and secondary playmaking all feel like natural fits for this system, his athletic limitations were hard not to notice in summer league. Considering the athleticism will only elevate as he enters the “real” Association, this could easily become something akin to a redshirt season for the incoming rookie.
Free agency may not have directly impacted Stephen Curry, whose under contract through the 2025-26 campaign, but indirectly it provided him with one win after another.
It’s impossible to overstate the importance of getting Green back, for starters. Had he exited, Golden State’s championship pulse would have flatlined. It’s not just that he’s had such a profound impact on the Dubs’ dynasty, it’s also that the Warriors had no real means of replacing him had he left. They lacked the cap space to sign a replacement, and trying to trade for one would have depleted what’s already a rather limited asset collection.
Beyond that, the Warriors gave Curry his first competent backup—even if Paul hasn’t completely bought into that role. His presence might prevent the pitfalls that have so often doomed the Dubs whenever Curry has needed a breather.
And even if the injury bug comes calling for the 38-year-old Paul, Golden State is safeguarded against that with the addition of Cory Joseph, a trusty veteran with 12 NBA seasons under his belt.
Curry has earned the right to chase championships for as long as he keeps lacing them up. The Warriors’ offseason activity should give him the opportunity to do just that.