Golden State Warriors: Jason Thompson Trade Grade
After acquiring the Artist Formerly Known As Gerald Wallace in their David Lee trade with the Boston Celtics, the Golden State Warriors found away to rid themselves of Wallace’s massive expiring contract — without even having to stretch it.
Even better, the defending champs also bolstered their bench with a third-string power forward in the process.
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In a deal with the Philadelphia 76ers Friday, the Dubs sent the recently acquired Wallace and his $10.1 million salary to the City of Brotherly Love for Jason Thompson, who will make $7 million next season. This trade — especially in the context of the luxury tax bill the Warriors were looking at back when David Lee was still onboard — is huge on quite a few levels.
From a financial standpoint, the Warriors were looking at a luxury tax bill of $42.6 million before they moved Lee to Boston. Now with Thompson coming to the Bay Area as Lee’s replacement, that number drops to $18.5 million. And that’s just the luxury tax! Throw in the difference in base salary between Lee ($15.5 million) and Thompson ($7 million) and the Warriors saved a grand total of $32.5 million with those two moves.
Warriors project to save $11,190,095 with trade minus whatever they sent 76ers ($3,197,170 in salary, $7,992,925 in tax)
— Dan Feldman (@DanFeldmanNBA) July 31, 2015
In this slight salary dump that also netted the Warriors a serviceable player, Golden State gave up Wallace, the right to swap the worse of their 2016 first round picks from the Miami Heat/Oklahoma City Thunder with the Warriors’ pick, and $1 million cash.
Considering the mountain of future assets that Sixers general manager/overlord Sam Hinkie is stockpiling, that’s getting off pretty easy for such a sweet return.
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As far as the picks are concerned, the Sixers will only move up if the Thunder or Heat finish with a better record than the Dubs next season. While it’s possible that happens — OKC is still as formidable as ever with a healthy Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, while the vastly upgraded Heat can bolster their record by virtue of playing in the East — Philly would only move up a few spots if it does.
So why did Philly make this trade if it feels like Golden State so clearly won the deal? Well, for the Sixers, it wasn’t just about staying bad, but also about getting Thompson’s contract off the books for 2016-17. Unlike Lee or Wallace, Thompson has another year on his contract with $2.8 million of his 2016-17 salary being guaranteed.
But with the cap going up by around $20 million next summer, the Dubs should be just fine even with Harrison Barnes‘ extension on the way. Furthermore, given the way the West somehow got even better at the top of the food chain this summer, the Warriors strengthened the roster for their impending title defense.
Unlike Wallace, Jason Thompson has legitimate on-court value for the Warriors. He probably won’t play much, especially since guys like Harrison Barnes and Andre Iguodala can log time at the 4 in small-ball lineups for the league’s most versatile team. Draymond Green will start at power forward, Marreese Speights can play there too and youngsters Kevon Looney and James Michael McAdoo could be due for spot minutes as well.
But with Lee gone, the Warriors needed someone who could come in and put up hustle points and rebounds in extremely small doses. Thompson isn’t much of a scorer, but the Sacramento Kings held their own defensively with him on the floor and at the very least, he’ll provide insurance for Golden State’s bigs in the event of an injury.
Between bolstering the lineup, shaving a grand total of $32.5 million off the bill and not having to give up much to make this salary dump happen, the Warriors very clearly won this trade and strengthened their status as title contenders.
Grade: A
Next: Golden State Warriors: Grading The Offseason
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