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Golden State Warriors: Breaking Down the Jason Thompson Trade

By Greg Chin

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The Golden State Warriors surprised many this week when it was announced that they traded recent acquisition Gerald Wallace to the Philadelphia 76ers for Jason Thompson. Wallace was acquired in the trade that sent David Lee to the Boston Celtics, and his tenure as a Warrior lasted just five days. While it was widely theorized that Wallace’s time as a Warrior would be short, many expected the Warriors to use the stretch provision on him, because the chances of finding a suitable trade partner willing to take on Wallace’s $10.1 million contract were extremely slim.

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The 76ers were only willing to take on Wallace’s pricey contract so they could reach the league’s salary cap floor. As part of the CBA, the league instituted that 90 percent of the salary cap must be spent. With most of their money tied up in rookie-scale contracts, Wallace’s $10.1 million salary would go a long in helping the 76ers meet the league’s salary floor.

It was later reported that the Warriors gave the 76ers the right to swap first round picks in the 2016 NBA Draft. This needs clarification as it isn’t the 76ers’ own pick that could be swapped, but will be the picks owed to them by the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Miami Heat. Between the three picks (Thunder, Heat, and Warriors), two of the better picks will go to the 76ers, while the worst pick will remain with the Warriors.

Thompson’s remaining contract is worth $13.2 million over the next two years, with the second year partially guaranteed. The Warriors would have saved more money in luxury tax payments if they had used the stretch provision on Wallace. Currently, their wage bill stands at $95.2 million – $10.46 million over the luxury tax line of $84.74 million. Their projected luxury tax payment will be $17.4 million.

While it would have saved them a lot more money if they just waived Wallace (luxury tax payment of $12 million), it would have been harder for them to restock their bench. Due to their status a team over the salary cap, they would have been limited to using the minimum to sign free agents (they’ve used most of the tax-payer mid-level exception on re-signing Leandro Barbosa).

The best part of Thompson’s contract is the partially-guaranteed final year. If Thompson isn’t able to perform well for the Warriors or if the Warriors are looking to create more cap space, they can just waive Thompson before June 26, 2016.

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