The Golden State Warriors won a ridiculous 67 games to finish with the best record in the NBA during the regular season and then added another 16 more in the playoffs to complete one of the most impressive seasons in recent history. The best part for Golden State basketball fans is that the team is in an excellent position heading into this offseason as they attempt to keep their core intact in the free agency period. Here is a look at the free agent situation for all five teams from the Pacific division.
Golden State Warriors (67-15)
- UFA’s: Leandro Barbosa
- RFA’s: Draymond Green, Justin Holiday, Ognjen Kuzmic
- Player/Team Options: Brandon Rush, Marreese Speights
Green is obviously the biggest free agent priority for the Warriors as a number of teams could very reasonably hand him a max contract this summer, so it will be interesting to see if he stays with Golden State. Green said that he feels like he is at home in Oakland but he might feel at home in whatever city he goes to as long as he is handed a max deal. Rush and Speights both have team options and likely won’t be going anywhere either. The Warriors are supposedly shopping Andrew Bogut and David Lee in order to open up the cap space to deal with Green and other UFA’s. Barbosa will have the opportunity to sign with a number of teams as a free agent and it won’t be a surprise if he leaves for one final payday.
Los Angeles Clippers (56-26)
- UFA’s: DeAndre Jordan, Austin Rivers, Glen Davis, Ekpe Udoh, Hedo Turkoglu
- RFA’s: None
- Player/Team Options: Jamal Crawford, Jordan Hamilton, Lester Hudson
Jordan has reportedly made it clear that he would be extremely interested in signing with the Dallas Mavericks and there will be no shortage of teams trying to lock him up in free agency. The Clippers want him back but they won’t be able to rule out a potential sign-and-trade as their best option if he wants to go to Dallas. Rivers and Davis will likely be back but there is no guarantee that Crawford takes his player option with only $1.5M of his $5.7M salary guaranteed for next season. Hamilton and Hudson will both likely return to Los Angeles.
Phoenix Suns (39-43)
- UFA’s: Brandan Wright, Gerald Green, Marcus Thornton, Earl Barron
- RFA’s: Brandon Knight, Eric Bledsoe
- Player/Team Options: Danny Granger
Granger hasn’t decided whether he will pick up his player option but the bigger issue for the Suns is whether or not they can bring back Wright, Green and Knight. Wright and Green have said they want to come back but Knight might not necessarily want to share a backcourt with Eric Bledsoe despite saying he is optimistic he will be back. That will be a major priority for Phoenix this summer.
Sacramento Kings (29-53)
- UFA’s: Andre Miller, Omri Casspi, Reggie Evans, Ryan Hollins
- RFA’s: Derrick Williams
- Player/Team Options: Ray McCallum, Eric Moreland, David Stockton
Williams didn’t make at least 41 starts or play at least 2,000 minutes, so his qualifying offer will be only $4.0M but there is still no guarantee the Kings will want to spend that much to bring him back as a backup. The most interesting storyline will be DeMarcus Cousins’ future. It seems like either him or George Karl will win out in a power struggle and right now, it looks like Karl could be on the outs.
WHEN THE GRASS IS CUT THE SNAKES WILL SHOW.
— Carmelo Anthony (@carmeloanthony) February 25, 2011
🌾🐍🌾
— DeMarcus Cousins (@boogiecousins) June 23, 2015
Los Angeles Lakers (21-61)
- UFA’s: Jeremy Lin, Carlos Boozer, Wayne Ellington, Ronnie Price
- RFA’s: Vander Blue
- Player/Team Options: Jordan Hill, Ed Davis, Robert Sacre, Jabari Brown, Jordan Clarkson
The Lakers have a ton of cap space and flexibility heading into this offseason and it will be very interesting to see how they use it as they attempt to lock up at least one or two key free agents. Lin hasn’t ruled out a return to Los Angeles but will probably get a better offer somewhere else while Boozer is likely a goner. Hill has a $9M team option that the team is reportedly reconsidering picking up while Clarkson will almost definitely be back as a potential candidate to start next season since he’s a player head coach Byron Scott absolutely loves.
