More convinced than ever he is in an ideal situation, and willing to back up the belief by passing up the possibility of millions of dollars in additional salary, Andrew Bogut is hoping to sign an extension with the Warriors this summer rather than wait another year to become a free agent.
That’s the easy part. Bogut wants to stay, wants to get a deal done before next season instead of trying to maximize his potential income in the summer of 2017, and coaches and management are a constant stream of praise about what he meant to the title nearly 10 months ago and has meant to 67-7 in the repeat bid.
But.
But the front office won’t sneeze around the salary cap, let alone actually touch it, as they approach the very delicate July that is expected to include conversations with Kevin Durant and negotiations with their own free-agent forward, Harrison Barnes. Plus, Festus Ezeli, like Barnes, is among the restricted with Leandro Barbosa, Brandon Rush and Marreese Speights unrestricted. This is the time for maximum flexibility, not talk of commitments to players already under contract for 2016-17.
And that doesn’t even get into the possible implications of how the April, May and June — the postseason — could play into the plans of July. Could the Warriors really make major changes to the roster if had just delivered a second consecutive championship and would be going for a three-peat? No way, Bogut says, with the full understanding that a special talent like Durant can entice a front office into unconventional decisions.
The Bogut contract situation is down the priority list, because other topics are more pressing as immediate free agents and because he can’t do a new deal before Oct. 25 anyway, the three-year anniversary of the current contract. He expects there will be talks in the summer, though, likely after the Dubs get an outcome on Durant, Barnes, Ezeli and maybe others, partly depending on the timing of whether another team signs Barnes to an offer sheet before Golden State has a strong sense on Durant’s direction.
He will make it as easy as possible on the Warriors, too. Conversations with the franchise instead of a contentious negotiation. Bogut comes out and says it: He wants to be in the Bay Area, is willing to take less money now with an extension than when the rules would allow more leverage as a free agent in summer 2017.
There is no hard line, only a desire to keep enjoying the ride.
“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…. We’ll have a few of us that will have opportunities. Obviously I’m contracted for next year, but at the same time if he they offer me an extension I’ll definitely listen.
“Nothing’s a given in this league. It’s a physical league. Either way. I can do a deal now or wait an extra year and get more, it’s not going to really change me financially too much. I’ve been pretty smart with my money. I can retire today and still not have to work another day in my life. It’s not going to be a point where I’m going to be, ‘Who’s going to give me the most money.’ It’ll be the lifestyle, it’ll be what’s the team like, is the team any good. And the writing on the wall here is to try to stick around as long as they want me.”
And the desire to sign this summer instead that would mean bypassing free agency?
“Yeah, but I’m not a greedy guy and I’m not stupid either,” Bogut said. “I know I can get undercut by Amar’e Stoudemire and fall and break my other elbow. In my position, with the physicality that we take, I’d definitely listen to offers.”
Whenever the new contract comes, a deal for two or three seasons, the timeline he has in mind, would probably be the final one of his career that began with the Bucks in 2005 as the No. 1 pick in the draft. Voted second-team All-Defense in 2014-15, he has remained just as vital to the Golden State success this season even averaging 20.6 minutes as the Warriors headed into Salt Lake City, his college home with the University of Utah, to play the Jazz on Wednesday night.
“No feel at all,” he said when asked for his read on whether he will have a new contract before the end of summer. “Haven’t discussed it. Who knows. This league’s a funny league. Like I said, if those moves that are rumored happen there’ll be a few of us that are gone. The way we can probably nip that in the bud is win another championship and they’re forced to bring us back. They’re stuck with us for longer.”
Scott Howard-Cooper has covered the NBA since 1988. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter.
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