Warriors: Dunleavy’s first test of key offseason looms in Thursday’s NBA Draft

Warriors owner Joe Lacob refrained from commenting on the state of his team’s roster on the day Bob Myers, his trusted team president and general manager, decided it was time to step away.

“The truth is, we have a lot of work to do,” Lacob said May 30.

With the NBA Draft looming this week and free agency opening shortly thereafter, the time has come for the Warriors to start answering some questions about how they plan to approach this pivotal offseason. They painted a clearer picture of who would be the one calling the shots Thursday, announcing last week that Mike Dunleavy Jr. would be the team’s new general manager.

Dunleavy is scheduled to meet with reporters for an introductory news conference Monday at Chase Center, during which he should share his vision for the next few months.

But Dunleavy’s appointment is only the first of what should be many moves for the Warriors this summer as they attempt to retool their already-costly roster as the new collective-bargaining agreement makes that task more difficult for high-spending teams.

Lacob previously made it clear that his aspirations for the team will remain sky-high.

“We are going to win no matter what. I don’t care what the rules are. We are going to figure out a way to do it,” Lacob said last month. “That’s what good organizations do. They figure out a way to win the game. And our goal is to win games and to win championships.”

A big chunk of that pressure falls on the shoulders of Dunleavy, the longtime target for fan displeasure after the former No. 3 overall pick was unable to break the Warriors’ streak of futility as a player.

Dunleavy the GM will have plenty of help from within the Warriors’ front office. Kirk Lacob, Joe’s eldest son who has been the executive VP of basketball operations since 2019, seems likely to take over Myers’ role as team president at some point and has been around for seven years. Nick U’Ren and Johnnie West, both directors of basketball operations, have been around for some time, too, and Shaun Livingston is currently the director of player affairs and engagement.

It’s also beneficial, according to Steve Kerr, that Dunleavy has been around the team since 2018 and has established trust.

“Mike’s been a really strong presence here for a few years now,” Kerr said in a phone interview. “The coach-GM relationship is huge.”

Kerr would know. He served three seasons as the Phoenix Suns’ general manager before later joining the Warriors as the head coach. Kerr also formed a tight bond with Myers over the years.

So how does Kerr feel about Dunleavy taking over?

“I’m really excited to work with Mike,” Kerr said. “There’s a lot of trust and over the last three years, we’ve had a lot of work together and that matters. So we have a foundation that’s built already, we trust each other and we’re going to work really well together.”

Dunleavy and his team will have to take a hard look at the roster and make a plan for where to go from here. Their first major test will be the NBA Draft, where they hold the No. 19 pick.

Other questions facing the Warriors are whether they can retain Draymond Green and find ways to capitalize on Stephen Curry’s prime by bolstering their roster, despite having little flexibility.

The Warriors are handicapped in their current financial situation.

If Green exercises his $27.6 million player option for next season — a decision he has to make by June 29 — the Warriors will be projected to dish out more than $205 million in salaries alone. That’s well above the tax line, and with a repeater penalty also in play, Golden State could be paying a whopping $250 million in luxury tax, according to The Athletic.

Along with swallowing a hefty fee, the Warriors have few roster-building resources to get better. As of now, they can only sign players to minimum contracts. Cost-cutting measures seem inevitable at this point unless they plan to run it back with a team that won only 44 games last season and saw a second-round playoff exit one year after winning it all.

It’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Warriors could try to trade up in Thursday’s draft to get a player more ready to contribute at the NBA level. That would, however, require giving up a young, talented player such as Jonathan Kuminga or Jordan Poole. The Warriors could also explore a trade for an established veteran to improve the team in the immediate term.

Kerr has some changes coming to his staff, too. He’s in the market for a new director of player development after Jama Mahlalela, praised for his work with Andrew Wiggins and others, decided to return home to Toronto and take a lead assistant job with the Raptors.

Kerr said the search to find a replacement is in its infancy after Mahlalela’s departure “came up relatively quickly”, and the team will look at outside candidates.

After last season came to an unceremonious end, Kerr suggested the team’s fractured culture and lack of chemistry were mainly to blame for coming up short.

Adding a draftee to the roster this week is one thing, but the real test ahead of Dunleavy, Kerr and the Warriors is whether they can make the right decisions to repair the foundation of the team and maximize their shot at returning to the Finals.