Golden State's Flexibility Is Already Spent
Golden State enters camp $223.3 million deep and above the second apron, with next summer's cap sheet already thinner than this one and the picks doing double duty as the roster's last real asset.
The Warriors carry a $223.3 million payroll for 2026-27, clearing the $221.7 million second apron and the $200.4 million luxury tax threshold alike. Five contracts make up most of that number, and only a handful of names carry over onto next season's cap sheet.
A Payroll Past Every Line
Golden State's $223.3 million payroll clears the $165.0 million salary cap, the $200.4 million luxury tax threshold, the $209.0 million first apron, and the $221.7 million second apron. Every threshold the league sets is behind this roster already, before a single regular season game tips off. That places any further camp move against a backdrop where even a minimum-salary addition complicates the math.
Five Contracts Carry the Weight
Stephen Curry's $62.6 million is the largest number on the books, followed by Jimmy Butler at $56.8 million, Draymond Green at $27.7 million, Kristaps Porzingis at $19.5 million and Moses Moody at $12.5 million. Those five contracts are the whole story of why the ledger reads the way it does.
What Doesn't Carry Into Next Summer
The 2027-28 cap sheet lists Porzingis at $20.5 million on a player option, Moody at $13.4 million, Al Horford at $7.2 million, Yaxel Lendeborg at $6.4 million, De'Anthony Melton at $5.8 million on a player option, Gui Santos at $5.0 million and Will Richard at $2.5 million. Curry, Green and Butler are absent from that list. Anthony Slater reported this week there is no extension decision yet for Curry, the same player whose current deal disappears from next year's numbers.
The Picks Are What's Left
Golden State still owns its first-round picks in 2027, 2028 and 2029, plus second-round swap rights in 2027 and 2028, though its 2029 second is owed to Brooklyn. Beyond that, the 2030 first is already protected to Memphis and the 2030 second conditional to the same team. With the payroll where it is, those picks are the clearest asset left to work with.
Is Golden State over the luxury tax?
Yes. Its $223.3 million payroll clears the $200.4 million luxury tax threshold and the $221.7 million second apron.
Will Stephen Curry sign a contract extension?
There's no decision yet, according to a report from Anthony Slater; Curry's current salary also does not appear on next season's listed cap sheet.
