The Warriors Already Spent Their Flexibility Before the Season Started
Golden State's roster for 2026-27 is set in ink, not pencil, because the money to move it left the building months ago.
Five contracts account for most of a $221.1 million payroll positioned above the luxury tax line and the first apron, with just $0.6 million of room below the second. What happens to that number next season depends on option decisions written into other players' deals, not on anything happening on the floor.
Five Contracts, One Number
Stephen Curry's $62.6 million is the largest, followed by Jimmy Butler III at $56.8 million, Draymond Green at $27.7 million and Kristaps Porziņģis at $19.5 million. Moses Moody's $12.5 million rounds out the top five. Together those five deals make up more than half of the $221.1 million total, leaving 11 other contracts to fill in the rest of the roster.
The Two Lines Above the Cap
The salary cap this year is $165.0 million and the luxury tax line is $200.4 million; Golden State's $221.1 million clears both by a wide margin. The first apron, set at $209.0 million, has already been crossed. The second apron, at $221.7 million, is just $0.6 million away — the tightest kind of margin a roster this expensive can carry.
Decisions Baked Into Next Year
Two contracts convert to player options after this season: Porziņģis can choose $20.5 million or hit free agency, and Melton holds a similar option at $5.8 million. Moody's salary steps up to $13.4 million already guaranteed, and Horford, Lendeborg, Santos and Richard are signed through 2027-28 as well. None of those numbers move on their own — each one is a choice someone else makes first.
Picks Already Spoken For
Golden State keeps its own first-round picks in 2027, 2028 and 2029, but both the 2027 and 2028 second-rounders are tied up in swaps, the 2029 second goes to Brooklyn outright, and the 2030 first is protected to Memphis with a conditional second attached. The capital that normally buys a team room to maneuver is mostly promised elsewhere before it is even drafted.
Are the Warriors over the luxury tax?
Yes. Golden State's $221.1 million payroll is above the tax line of $200.4 million and the first apron of $209.0 million, leaving just $0.6 million of room below the second apron of $221.7 million.
Do the Warriors own their first-round picks?
They own their 2027, 2028 and 2029 first-round picks outright, though the 2030 first is protected to Memphis and several second-round picks are already swapped or sent to Brooklyn.
