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At what point must the Warriors turn away from the Big 3?

By Nathan Beighle

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - JUNE 16: Andre Iguodala #9, Draymond Green #23, Klay Thompson #11 and Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors pose for a photo after defeating the Boston Celtics 103-90 in Game Six of the 2022 NBA Finals at TD Garden on June 16, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - JUNE 16: Andre Iguodala #9, Draymond Green #23, Klay Thompson #11 and Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors pose for a photo after defeating the Boston Celtics 103-90 in Game Six of the 2022 NBA Finals at TD Garden on June 16, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images) /
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The day is going to come when the Golden State Warriors Big 3, which Stephen Curry sees as a package deal, are either no longer max-contract players. If they continue to see themselves as such, they could sink the future of the franchise, and the relationship could sour.

Curry is under contract for four more seasons, set to make over $48 million in each with the last three topping $50 million. Draymond Green and Klay Thompson are both going to be free agents after the 2023-2024 season.

The Golden State Warriors are eventually going to struggle to keep all the pieces together, and it may be sooner than most expect.

Neither will have passed 34 years old by the time they ink that deal, putting the Warriors in quite the predicament. The first dilemma to arise will come with keeping Jordan Poole, who led the team in scoring in the last few weeks of the season, helping keep the Warriors third in the West.

Eventually, Jonathan Kuminga, James Wiseman, and Moses Moody will need new deals, and if both Thompson and Green get long-term, max-value contracts, they may not be able to keep any of the four, especially if two-way forward Andrew Wiggins gets a nine-figure deal.

Wiggins is set to be a free agent after this coming season. As of now, Kuminga seems to have the highest ceiling of any prospect. However, if the Big 3 are all on long-term max deals when he’s up for a new contract, they may lose him in free agency as well.

Kuminga has this upcoming season than two years where Golden State will undoubtedly opt into his team options.

Kuminga and Poole are the future, and if the Big 3 and Wiggins continue to take up the bulk of the salary cap, the Warriors may have to watch their future slip away or make a few difficult decisions on when to let their stars go.

Those decisions will come quickly with Green up for an extension this offseason.

If they don’t give him a max deal and he walks, Curry and Thompson could be next. If they do set that precedent and Thompson follows after the 2023-2024 season, they could be in for a world of pain as the Dubs’ stars enter their late 30s.

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It’s quite the dilemma, and the Green situation will tell us how the team is headed sooner rather than later.

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