The cost of doing business has risen significantly for the Golden State Warriors this offseason, and it's put the team over the budget that owner Joe Lacob set.
"Joe is good in that we had a number heading into free agency as to what the budget was, and we're way over it," general manager Bob Myers told the Warriors Plus/Minus podcast with Tim Kawakami and Marcus Thompson.
This had been expected for some time, however. The Warriors were fortunate enough to have Stephen Curry on a bargain contract the last few years, something that helped them sign Kevin Durant last summer.
Yet in the last few weeks the Warriors locked up Curry to a five-year super-max contract, inked Durant to a two-year, $53-million deal, and re-signed Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, and Zaza Pachulia. They've also added players in free agents Omri Casspi and Nick Young.
In all, approximately $335 million has been spent by the Warriors since July 1, putting their salary commitments for 2017-18 alone at about $136 million. That's well into tax territory, with the luxury tax threshold set at $119.3 million next season.
Still, Myers says as long as the Warriors are winning, it's worth it to Lacob.
"Here's the thing to know about Joe," Myers said. "He's really competitive, and he wants to win. And so you have to balance that, like anyone does, with running a business. ... you have to balance spending with running a business with trying to win championships."
