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On Friday, the Golden State Warriors sent Willie Cauley-Stein to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for the 2020 second-round pick of the Utah Jazz. On the surface, it looks like a simple trade, in which the lottery-bound Warriors picked up an extra draft pick, and the playoff-bound Mavericks picked up a contributor.
But it means a lot more than just that for the Warriors.
Golden State had a very limited amount of funds, due to the hard cap, and couldn’t add a player to their guaranteed roster, despite having an open roster spot. By trading away Cauley-Stein’s contract, the Warriors opened up the space to not only sign one of their two-way contracts (Ky Bowman and Marquese Chriss), but both of them.
On closer examination, the Warriors should actually have enough room under the hard cap now to convert the two-way contracts of both Marquese Chriss and Ky Bowman to standard NBA deals. Impressive salary-cap gymnastics on Bob Myers' part. https://t.co/NM2TT93tle
— Connor Letourneau (@Con_Chron) January 24, 2020
It’s likely only a matter of time before that happens, though the timeline is unclear. Chriss still has enough days left on his two-way contract that the Warriors don’t have to guarantee his roster spot until March, so they could save money by doing that. However, it could cost them the opportunity to have him in all their practices, and perhaps a little goodwill.
Bowman, however, would need to be added to the roster if the Warriors want to keep playing him.
It’s worth noting that the deadline to add two-way contracts has passed. So even if the Warriors convert one or both of Chriss and Bowman, they can’t add another two-way contract until next season.
Apologies to all who have been clamoring for Juan Toscano-Anderson since Summer League.