The 2023-2024 season is over, and the second round of the draft is over today. And after the draft, the free agency market will be the focus of attention for NBA fans and NBA teams. This summer's free agency market will be a key part of next season, especially for championship-winning teams, with reinforcements and re-signings of valuable players as they do now. As the 4-time champion Warriors and the 1-time champion Nuggets, the two teams seem to have the same fate and plot.
Right now, after the Warriors missed the playoffs last season, there are growing voices within the team calling for change. Team owner Crabbe has asked management to avoid paying the luxury tax in the new season, as the Warriors failed to make the playoffs after paying the league's No. 1 luxury tax last season, disappointing the entire management. And this summer, the meritorious player Klay Thompson also faced the problem of contract extension. As the team's second-in-command, Klay played an extremely important role in the Warriors' quadruple championship. But now, Clay seems to have completely fallen out with the team this summer! Klay has unfollowed the Warriors and deleted the 22-year-old championship photo!
The Warriors reportedly made a two-year, $48 million offer for Klay, but Klay was not happy with the contract and has stated that he wants a big contract of at least three years. And in the free market, there are several teams that are more interested in Klay and have a huge team salary. For the Warriors, Klay's departure is also a loss to the team, after all, Klay has been with the Warriors for 13 seasons, is the team's meritorious veteran and champion hero, and now the team has to give up Klay in order to avoid paying the luxury tax, ending in such a tragic way, it is inevitable that both sides are a little undignified.
On the Nuggets' side, there is the same problem, as last year's championship team, the Nuggets were eliminated by the Timberwolves in the Western Conference semifinals this season, and if they want to win the championship next season, the Nuggets will have to make adjustments to their current team. The Nuggets' guard line, in particular, will be the first step in reforming the team. And just today, the Nuggets took the lead. The Nuggets sent Reggie Jackson to the Hornets and gave away three draft picks at the same time, saving the Nuggets $5.25 million in salary space. Nuggets guard Pope also announced today that he jumped out of the Nuggets' player option and officially entered the free market.
As the team's starting guard, Pope was the hero of last year's championship, especially on the journey to the championship, his defensive ability has always been the team's defensive line, and now the Nuggets' 15.6 million player option contract has been rejected, which also means that Pope is likely not to reunite with the Nuggets. As a 10-year veteran, Spectrum chose to part with the Nuggets, most likely because the Nuggets will not be able to give him a satisfactory contract or team status in the future.
In addition, Nuggets guard Murray, who is also the hero of the championship, also came to the edge of fate with the team. Just today, it was revealed that Murray had expressed a request to the Nuggets for a contract extension, and Murray asked the Nuggets for a four-year, $209 million contract. But in this year's playoffs, Murray didn't do well. Not only is it not being able to help the team on the offensive end, but there are also big problems on the defensive end. Many fans believe that Murray is not worth the four-year, $200 million contract. If the Nuggets can't offer this contract, then Murray's departure will be very likely, following Klay's lead in joining a team with a big contract. But for a business league like the NBA, the departure of players is just business! Who cares?