The NBA Draft Lottery has come and gone, and now that the pingpong balls have settled the Warriors know they will enter the 2020 NBA Draft with the second overall pick. Though much focus will shift to who the Dubs may select with that pick, there remains a second piece that will play a role in any offseason transactions by the squad: a $17.2 million trade exception.
Both are assets that Dub Nation will need to pay attention to as the Warriors now look to the NBA Draft on Oct. 16.
The pick could be used a variety of ways. Yes, come draft night the Warriors will have the second pick in the draft, as well as the 48th and 51st picks, but the team could also opt to trade their pick(s) for a higher or lower pick. Furthermore, it could be dealt for a current NBA player or even traded for cash considerations or a future draft pick(s).
But what could the Warriors get for their second overall pick?
President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Bob Myers said during a Ring Central press conference recently that is determined by knowing two things: “what’s the league’s value of it and what’s our value of it?”
“I don’t know the league’s value of it, to be honest,” Myers continued. “It’s premature to even know the value of it, for us or for another team, so we’ll have to wait and see kind of how things go in that direction.”
Also available to the team is a $17.2 million trade exception that the Warriors received after trading Andre Iguodala and a 2024 first round pick to the Memphis Grizzlies last summer for Julian Washburn, who the Warriors later waived. The simplest way to think about it: the Dubs can acquire players whose contracts are valued up to the difference between Iguodala and Washburn’s salaries, plus an additional amount more per the collective bargaining agreement, which in this case comes to roughly $17.2 million.
The trade exception expires on Oct. 24, following the NBA Draft (Oct. 16) and opening of free agency (Oct. 18), so the window during which the Warriors can use this opportunity is slowly closing.
Between the draft pick and trade exception, Myers and his staff will have much to consider moving forward.
The assets the Warriors have accumulated go beyond the 2020 offseason too as the Dubs also have acquired a number of picks headed into the future. Below is a complete breakdown of those picks by year, including the protections and who they came from should anyone in Dub Nation want to start their own scouting.
2020: Golden State’s first round pick (2nd overall), Utah Jazz’s second round pick (48th overall), Dallas Mavericks’ second round pick (51st overall)
Golden State’s second round pick traded to Dallas Mavericks in July 2016, along with Andrew Bogut for future draft considerations
2021: Golden State’s first round pick, Minnesota Timberwolves’ first round pick (top-3 protected), Minnesota’s second round pick, Denver Nuggets’ second round pick
Golden State’s second round pick traded to New Orleans Pelicans during 2019 NBA Draft for Alen Smailagic
2022: Golden State’s first-round pick, Golden State’s second-round pick, Toronto Raptors’ second-round pick
2023: Golden State’s first-round pick
Golden State’s second round pick traded to New Orleans Pelicans during 2019 NBA Draft for Alen Smailagic
2024: None
Golden State’s first round pick (top-4 protected) traded to Memphis Grizzlies in July 2019 along with Andre Iguodala for Julian Washburn; a traded player exception available to Warriors as part of the trade. Golden State’s second round pick traded to Atlanta Hawks morning of 2019 NBA Draft for 41st overall pick (Eric Paschall)
2025: Golden State’s first-round pick
Golden State’s second round pick traded to Brooklyn Nets in July 2019 along with Kevin Durant for D’Angelo Russell
2026: Golden State’s first-round pick
Golden State’s second round pick traded to Atlanta Hawks in July 2019 along with Damian Jones for Omari Spellman
So there you have it, Dub Nation. These are the tools the Myers and his team have at their fingertips.
*Some picks are dealt with conditions as part of the trade. Using this past summer’s Kevin Durant-D’Angelo Russell trade as an example, the deal with the Brooklyn Nets included the Dubs’ 2020 first round pick which became top-20 protected. In other words, the deal included the stipulation that if the Warriors finished the 2019-20 season with a record that placed them in the first 20 teams in the in the 2020 NBA Draft, the Warriors would not need to include that pick in the trade and instead send a future second round pick (in 2025).
