OAKLAND – Golden State-Cleveland III in 2017? Sure why not. It’s not inconceivable that the Cavaliers and Warriors play again in next season’s NBA Finals and we could see another game like the incredible 93-89 series finale.
If that happened, it would be the first time in NBA history that the same teams have played in three consecutive Finals. Not even the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers of the 1960s and 1980s did it.
The Cavaliers have star forward LeBron James and that’s enough to make them the favorites in the Eastern Conference, and Golden State returns two-time MVP Stephen Curry at guard and All-NBA second- and third performers Draymond Green at forward and Klay Thompson at guard.
So it’s possible. But neither team can afford to stand pat in the offseason with the roster, and the front office – Cleveland general manager David Griffin and Warriors general manager Bob Myers – need to take care of coaching issues.
Warriors assistant Luke Walton is headed to Los Angeles to coach the Lakers, and Warriors need to replace his presence, and Cavs coach Tyronn Lue is not under contract for next season.
When it comes to roster moves, neither team is likely to have significant money to spend in the offseason even with the salary cap jumping to $94 million next season, up from $70 million in 2015-16.
Teams will be watching what the Warriors do in the offseason and how their moves impact the team.
The Warriors know this much about next season: their core will remain intact. Curry, who is just their fifth-highest paid player, has one year remaining on his deal before he’ll likely sign a massive contract next summer.
Thompson, Curry’s fellow Splash Brother who was arguably the most consistent Warriors player throughout the postseason, is signed through 2019. Green, who made such a remarkable jump from key player to All-Star this season, signed a five-year deal just last summer.
There are questions to be answered as they have eight free agents in all. Starting small forward Harrison Barnes is a restricted free agent, yet the Warriors may let him walk considering he’s expected to land the kind of massive deal that would belie his underwhelming play in these playoffs. Big man Festus Ezeli is also a restricted free agent, with Marreese Speights, Leandro Barbosa, Brandon Rush, Ian Clark, James McAdoo and Anderson Varejao all looking for new deals as well.
But the Warriors plan to swing for the fences, too, chasing Kevin Durant and others in free agency with the knowledge that – should another star want to come – they could make it a reality with a few relatively-easy moves. A trade of Iguodala or Bogut (or both) is seen as the most likely way to free up that kind of salary cap space.
The Cavs will look to bolster their perimeter and add a big man, especially if they lose center Timofey Mozgov in free agency. Guard J.R. Smith, guard-forward Richard Jefferson and forward James Jones are free agents and guard Matthew Dellavedova is a restricted free agent.
Cleveland can sign its own free agents and go over the salary cap, but it if wants to sign other free agents, they only have the minimum salary and taxpayer mid-level salary to offer.
The Cavs could also need to re-sign James, who is likely to opt out of his contract so he can take advantage of a rising maximum salary with the cap increasing.
Taking into account just the 2016-17 salaries of James, forwards Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson and Channing Frye and guards Kyrie Irving and Iman Shumpert, the Cavs are over the cap.
