The Golden State Warriors may have won 2016 NBA free agency by landing the best free agent available in small forward Kevin Durant, but 2017 NBA free agency could certainly swing the other way for the Warriors.
Excluding shooting guard Klay Thompson and power forward Draymond Green, every one of Golden State’s players could be playing for somebody else next summer. Durant has a player option next summer, where he could conceivably leave the Bay Area after one year regardless of whether he wins a title with the 2016-17 Warriors.
What is especially terrifying with the Warriors entering 2017 NBA free agency is that both point guard Stephen Curry and sixth man Andre Iguodala will be unrestricted. The Warriors are now almost guaranteed to lose Iguodala next summer, as he’ll want more money and probably more playing time than he has gotten in Golden State. What if Curry has had enough of the Bay Area and wants to go home to North Carolina to play for the Charlotte Hornets?
Having potentially five players (Curry, Thompson, Durant, Iguodala, and Green) worth the max at season’s end, there’s no realistic way that Warriors general manager Bob Myers will be able to keep the Armageddon Lineup intact.
Signing Durant to a max ultimately cost the Warriors Andrew Bogut, Harrison Barnes, Brandon Rush and probably Festus Ezeli. In the same way, bringing Curry back will likely cost Golden State the ability to appropriately pay Iguodala.
If Durant opts out after one year, then maybe both Curry and Iguodala can stay. For now, it seems like one of the three will be playing elsewhere in 2017-18, and Iguodala is the most likely to go.
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