The Golden State Warriors are one of the best-run franchises in the league as of now. But it only became possible after Joe Lacob and co. became owners of the franchise over a decade or so ago. Since then, Lacob has been really focused on making the Warriors become one of the best teams in the world.
It goes without saying that Lacob's efforts have been successful, and the Warriors have four NBA Championships in the last eight seasons as proof of that success. But winning NBA Championships isn't possible without a great roster.
What does a great roster cost? Money, a lot of money indeed. The Warriors had the most expensive roster in NBA history in the 2021-22 NBA season. Combining player salaries and luxury taxes, it cost Joe Lacob around $346 million to build his 2022 NBA Championship-winning roster.
However, many reports suggest that keeping the roster together - which features the likes of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins, Jordan Poole, and more will be even more expensive.
Many have suggested that this would cost the Warriors owner somewhere around $400-500 million. Sounds a little impossible, right? Lacob appeared on a recent podcast and cleared the air about the speculation. He pointed out it is indeed impossible to have a roster that costs $400-500 million.
I'm going to tell you your numbers are kind of messed up. We'll just say that. You were throwing numbers out like $400, $500 [million]. Those numbers are not even remotely possible. It's just not. I'm already in trouble with the rest of the league.
We kind of blew a hole in the system. It's not a good look from the league's perspective. They don't want to see it happen. There are limits, I'm not gonna say what they are...We had a terrific year revenue-wise, but I can tell you that expenses are incredibly all-time record.
We spend everything we make...None of our partners have ever taken a dollar. We just piled it back into building an arena...Now when we're in a stage when our players have been with us longer...it's piling all the money into player salaries.
To assume that we would go $400, $500 million is not accurate. It's just not possible...You can't expect those kinds of numbers unless we were to raise everyone's ticket prices immensely and I don't think anyone wants that.
Lacob was quite clear that maintaining a roster that will cost roughly half a billion dollars is impossible even for him.
This has been evident from the moves the Warriors have been making this offseason. They have already let go of Gary Payton II, who signed a 3-year deal with the Portland Trail Blazers. As things stand right now, they might also have to think twice before giving Wiggins and Poole contract extensions.
Additionally, they still have James Wiseman and Jonathan Kuminga, who are waiting for their chance to shine. So the Dubs have many tough decisions to make ahead of the 2022-23 NBA season.
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