The Warriors had a tragic first day of Free Agency. It wasn't very pleasant watching other teams get better and better, while the Warriors just stayed put, even though GM Mike Dunleavy said that they'll be active. What even hurt more was seeing multiple big names, like Ty Jerome, Brook Lopez, Clint Capela, Gary Trent Jr., and more, go for less money than expected. This meant that Golden State could've matched their offers, but they chose not too.

For reference, this is what the Warriors have to work with, salary-wise:

Non-taxpayer MLE: $14.1 mil

Biannual Exception: $5.1 mil

Mininums

With this money, I felt that Golden State could've easily out-bid many teams for the role players I mentioned above. For example, Ty Jerome signed for about $9 mil per year, Capela went for $7 mil, Lopez went for $9 mil, and GTJ went for about $3 mil per year. It's crazy to process that the Warriors couldn't have even offered one of these players more than their eventual suitors did...

This is the problem that the Warriors have almost every offseason - that they're just too chicken to offer more than the minimum, because they want to "play it cheap". Some more names that the Warriors missed out on and could've afforded include Tyus Jones, D'Lo, and Taurean Prince.

However, you can't blame Mike THAT much for these guys (excluding Lopez) since Golden State was never in the mix for any of them, primarily because no one expected them to take less than the MLE. It was just unfortunate that guys who were actually on their radar, such as NAW, Caris LeVert, and Bobby Portis, went for more than the Warriors could afford.

Now, onto the concrete move, Kevon Looney. The Warriors obviously looked to keep him, but they simply can not afford to offer him more than a minimum. They have to save their exceptions for more impactful players, as at this point, Loon is more of a locker room presence. The Pelicans, for whatever reason, decided to pay him, and Golden State simply couldn't waste that type of money on a regressing big man who didn't even play in the playoffs.

Very happy for Loon, though. We have to appreciate his 10 years with us. He's one of the most passionate players in the league.

I'll be making another post soon on what I would want the Warriors to do for the remainder of Free Agency. Stay tuned!