Golden State Warriors: Can they keep Ian Clark?
With money being tied up in their superstars, will the Golden State Warriors be able to keep Ian Clark in free agency?
The championship parade is over and the Golden State Warriors now advance to the offseason just like every other franchise in the NBA. While the NBA Draft is the next thing on the minds of every team in the league, the Warriors currently do not own a pick.
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They could certainly try and get back in the draft if they wanted to, but it’s hard to see them getting back in unless there’s a foreign prospect they like later in the draft that they might want to stash overseas for a bit.
So, that means free agency is the real target for the team. The big moves are going to be getting Stephen Curry his max money and getting Kevin Durant on a big deal as well to secure the future. While those are all but foregone conclusions, it makes things tougher for Bob Myers and his staff when it comes to retaining players.
Keeping key players like Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston will make the Warriors’ free agency far more intriguing. The depth and what those players provide have really helped established a culture in the bay area and we saw the impact they have made for this team.
Beyond those two is the likes of Ian Clark. Having earned his way onto the roster the hard way, Clark really began to develop a role off the bench for the Warriors and will be hitting free agency as well. Clark did well for himself in limited minutes this season. He saw around 14 minutes a game and averaged 6.8 points per game. In a bigger role on another roster, he could very well score double digits a game.
As Shams Charania reported for The Vertical, Clark bet on himself and it’s likely going to pay off with a very nice contract in free agency. Having just turned 26 years old, Clark is going to have a tremendous value in this league and teams will be chasing after him.
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The money that they’re likely going to be chasing after him will probably be a lot more than Golden State can give, simply because of having to retain their bigger fish. It’s the nature of the business of winning championships and signing max players.
Guys like Clark are going to get paid in this league and with the way teams throw around money without care these days, he could get a pretty nice deal. That nice deal likely isn’t with Golden State if the history of free agency is any indication.