Trail Blazers and guard Gary Payton II will visit Warriors on Oct. 11 preseason game

The Warriors won the NBA championship but their roster for next season will be significantly different. 

The team’s core, led by Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole, will return. However, role players like Payton and Otto Porter Jr. (Toronto) left in free agency.

The front office wanted both players back but the team’s cap/luxury tax situation prevented president of basketball operations and general manager Bob Myers from offering them competitive contracts. 

Andy Bailey from Bleacher Report compiled a list of the worst decisions of the NBA offseason. Among them was Golden State’s decision to not retain Payton and Porter Jr.

“Retaining Gary Payton II and Otto Porter Jr., especially with upcoming extensions or new contracts for Jordan Poole, Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins on the horizon, would've been a very expensive decision.

"But losing two of the most important role players on a championship team is a bad alternative.”

Payton was cut from the Warriors in early October, and at one point, he asked them if he could join the team’s video coordination department. But he earned the last spot on the roster and averaged 7.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 0.9 blocks in just 17.6 minutes over 71 games (16 starts). He shot 61.6% from the field and 35.8% from beyond the arc.