The Golden State Warriors will have some decisions to make following what has already been a historic 2015-16 season.
Whether they cap this year off as repeat champions and with the single-season record for wins, the team will have to decide if it’s going to retain restricted free agents Festus Ezeli and Harrison Barnes.
There’s also this one minor wrinkle in the whole thing named Kevin Durant — a wrinkle that could see him joining the defending champions in July.
Outside of that, everything seems to be golden for the team from the Golden State.
It’s so good that center Andrew Bogut is already talking about wanting to remain with the team for the long run. When asked about a potential extension, the former No. 1 overall pick had this to say (via NBA.com):
“Yeah, I do,” he said of hoping to get a deal done this summer. “But we’ll see what happens. We all hear the rumors of other guys coming through here, so if that kind of stuff happens they’ll be some shedding of some contracts so who knows what can happen. But you’d be silly to try and leave what’s going on right now.”
Bogut knows full well that he will likely find himself on the trade block should the Warriors land Durant. In fact, he’d potentially be part of a sign-and-trade for the former MVP should that gain momentum this summer.
Short of the Warriors pulling off what would be a blockbuster acquisition, they would be silly not to talk extension with Bogut. He’s a legitimate candidate to earn First-Team All Defensive team honors and is among the best passing big men in the game.
This, in addition to the fact that the center fits extremely well in with what the Warriors have built.
Bogut is set to become a free agent following the 2016-17 season. And while he will be 33 years old when that transpires, the expectation has to be that he’d be in store for a rather large pay day. Maybe the Warriors want to take care of him before that comes to fruition.