[Goose]

The Donte Di Vincenzo signing is deft for the Ws, IMO.

He isn't the pure defender and quite the finishing athlete Gary Payton II is, but he is a + defender, a + athlete, and a more refined offensive player than GP2. DDV also is an NBA and NCAA champion, while only being 25 years old.  The W's give him an opportunity to be in the rotation and build up his value as a 2023 Free Agent. So they get a reasonable replacement for GP2 that costs them $28M after tax this year rather than $56M for GP2 if they matched his Portland offer. Kind of a no-brainer. Quite extraordinary that such a replacement could be available for so little, and the W's could land him.

This route also saved them enough money to bring Looney back on a deal they could justify.

I totally agree. I think the Warriors also realized that GP2 was much more valuable to teams that needed to build a starting 5 than to the Warriors, where he was going to be a bench player for the foreseeable future. GP2 deserved to get paid, and he was going to go where he could do that. That wasn't the Warriors.

[Goose]

The Donte Di Vincenzo signing is deft for the Ws, IMO.

He isn't the pure defender and quite the finishing athlete Gary Payton II is, but he is a + defender, a + athlete, and a more refined offensive player than GP2. DDV also is an NBA and NCAA champion, while only being 25 years old.  The W's give him an opportunity to be in the rotation and build up his value as a 2023 Free Agent. So they get a reasonable replacement for GP2 that costs them $28M after tax this year rather than $56M for GP2 if they matched his Portland offer. Kind of a no-brainer. Quite extraordinary that such a replacement could be available for so little, and the W's could land him.

This route also saved them enough money to bring Looney back on a deal they could justify.

I totally agree. I think the Warriors also realized that GP2 was much more valuable to teams that needed to build a starting 5 than to the Warriors, where he was going to be a bench player for the foreseeable future. GP2 deserved to get paid, and he was going to go where he could do that. That wasn't the Warriors.