The term cheap, as was pointed out to me in the past week, is a relative term. I’m a dollar menu guy, even if I’m not completely broke. If I was an NBA owner, I’d liken myself more to a Robert Sarver than a Mark Cuban or Mikhail Prokorov. Despite being a very pro-player fan, I know that I would rarely be the guy offering a player the biggest contract.
So when guessing on possible extensions for Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut, I felt myself falling on the low end of estimates, considering heavily the NBA’s still new Collective Bargaining Agreement. I didn’t want to see the Warriors shell out an extraordinary (also a relative term) amount of money to Bogut. Somewhere between Stephen Curry‘s 4-year, $44 million bargain deal and the $14+ million Bogut himself was due to make this coming season, I thought.
Turns out, the Warriors had something similar in mind.
Like Curry’s deal, three years with a base salary of $12 million is a steal when compared to new deals for some the league’s other big men, even when considering the $7 million in potential incentives. As Marcus Thompson pointed out earlier this week, Al Jefferson just signed a similar deal with the Charlotte Bobcats, only ALL of his money is guaranteed.
Bogut’s contract, even with incentives met, comes in below the monster deals Marc Gasol, Roy Hibbert and Brook Lopez all signed in the last couple seasons.
Considering the prevailing thought among fans that a healthy Bogut is still a Top 5 center, and the fact that Curry is blossoming into a superstar, GM Bob Myers seems to have have mastered the art of extending the team’s top players on team-friendly contracts.
Given their actions the past two off-seasons, you can also expect management to be proactive in extending Harrison Barnes and Klay Thompson, even if either is eventually dealt via trade.
Bogut had previously mentioned not wanting an incentive laden contract a la Andrew Bynum, but the two parties seem to have found middle ground there.
One of the key takeaways is how aggressive the ownership team, led by Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, have been in maintaining the team’s core.
With both Curry and Bogut now under wraps for the foreseeable future, the Warriors have control of their top six players through the 2014-2015 season, when Thompson will become a restricted free agent.
Lacob and co. will have another tough decision to make then, but for now, I can’t help but feel Myers has solidified himself as one of the top executives in the league.
He’s brought the best of both worlds: aggressive pursuit of league stars while still being mindful of the size and length of player contracts.
Curry and Bogut don’t have a single All-Star appearance between them, but fans around the league know better after seeing what they were capable of last postseason.
Unlike the John Walls and Brook Lopezes of the league (also without All-Star appearance), they aren’t commanding max deals, which will save the Warriors a considerable amount of cap space once David Lee‘s contact comes off the books.
Somehow, the Warriors continue to balance being competitive now with future success, something few teams have managed to do in recent seasons.
While the preseason hasn’t showed us much of the great team basketball we expect to see, it has shown glimpses of the version of Bogut that could eventually elevate this team to a championship contender.
An affordable extension for the big, straightforward Aussie Is just another stepping stone, but it’s a big one.
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