Bob Myers

The five moves that define Myers' tenure as Warriors GM

Bob Myers made countless moves to build the Warriors in a dynasty, but only five could make the cut.

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SAN FRANCISCO -- Honorable mention can be a tribute and demotion all at once. In this case, a plethora of players are part of a prestigious group.

Bob Myers stepping down as the Warriors' general manager Tuesday after 11 years, as well as one year being an assistant GM, has brought a time of reflection. He leaves a legacy most front office members can never match in any sport. Below are the five moves that defined his time at the helm representing the Warriors.

First, we can't forget the decisions that missed the cut.

Myers has worked with a long list of superstars. One of his best qualities also has been surrounding them with the right pieces like Shaun Livingston, Zaza Pachulia, Leandro Barbosa, David West, Mo Speights, Otto Porter Jr., Gary Payton II and more. At the end of the first round of the NBA draft he found Kevon Looney and Jordan Poole. The biggest omission below is the gem he found in his first draft as the Warriors' lead GM: Draymond Green in the second round. 

Even Myers will admit selecting Green No. 35 overall came with some luck. If he was that sure about the former Michigan State star, he would have snatched him earlier. The Warriors had two picks prior to drafting Green in 2012, and used them on Harrison Barnes and Festus Ezeli.

Luck always will be part of the equation, especially in the draft. Myers ultimately was the man who sent in the call to make Green a Warrior, and one of the greatest second-round pick of all time. Here are five more calls Myers helped make in pushing the Warriors to an unimaginable place.

Steph Curry's $44 million contract

Like adding Green in the second round of the draft, this move also came with a bit of luck -- if that's the right word. If you ask Curry, it's the wrong word. If you ask Myers and the Warriors, it's spot on. 

Curry's persistent ankle problems that held him to only 26 games in his third season had many wondering about his future and if his slight build could last in the NBA. Six months into Myers' role as the Warriors' lead GM, he locked Curry up for the long term, but at a price that doesn't even seem real today. The Warriors signed the future Hall of Famer and franchise-changing superstar to a four-year, $44 million contract extension on Halloween of 2012, the last day that players from the 2009 draft could be extended. 

In that same week, Ty Lawson, a fellow point guard from the '09 draft class, signed a four-year, $48 million extension as a member of the Denver Nuggets. His final NBA season was the 2016-17 campaign.

The $44 million was about $16 million fewer than Curry could have received from a max deal on the open market the next summer. 

Last year on Green's podcast, "The Draymond Green Show," Curry called the contract "the most favorable in NBA history." Green said one later it became "the absolute worst deal in professional sports on your behalf. On the Warriors' behalf, the best deal."

The first season of Curry's new contract was his first leading the Warriors to the playoffs behind 22.9 points per game and broke the NBA's single-season 3-point record, making 272 threes. The contract was a heist at greatest extent, and ended as an ultimate win for Curry and the Warriors, paving the path for the team being able to make big moves in the future, including the arrival of Kevin Durant.

Myers and Curry have formed a lifelong bond. First, Myers had to put on his best business suit for one of the biggest steals in the sport's history.

Andre Iguodala sign-and-trade

The next offseason was highlighted by Myers' first real big move, and it wasn't an easy one to finalize. Golden State had virtually no wiggle room to bring on a big contract, though Myers and the front office were locked in on adding Andre Iguodala, who the Warriors had just upset in the first round of the playoffs by beating the Denver Nuggets.

The Warriors cleared more than $24 million by sending Richard Jefferson, Brandon Rush, Andris Biedrins, four draft picks and cash to the Utah Jazz in order to add Iguodala in a three-way sign-and-trade deal. They then signed Iguodala to a four-year, $48 million contract, $4 million more than Curry. During Myers' farewell press conference Tuesday, owner Joe Lacob remembered being on vacation in Montana and he and Myers being on the phone all day and all night finding ways to get the deal done.

"He worked so hard to get that deal," Lacob said. "People could never understand how difficult that was just to -- it doesn't seem like a lot, right, but just to get that guy and he turned out to be a very important person in the history of the franchise and the success we've had."

While the Warriors fell in the first round of the playoffs in Iguodala's first season in the Bay Area, he wound up being a centerpiece to a dynasty. He wasn't a star, and he didn't need to be. Iguodala was the Warriors' glue that kept so much together, the puzzle piece that always seemed to fit, no matter the situation.

What his addition also signaled was a change in the franchise. The Warriors already had a young Curry, a young Green and a young Klay Thompson. Iguodala was the first established big name Myers and Co. brought on, and many more followed.

Hiring Steve Kerr as head coach

Though Myers has acknowledged Mark Jackson was the coach the Warriors needed when Jackson was hired ahead of the 2011-12 season, moving on from him and hiring yet another person without previous coaching experience ahead of the 2014-15 season proved to be another example of Myers' basketball genius.

Steve Kerr and Myers have a very close relationship, one that is rare among coach and GM, and rare for colleagues in general. Luring Kerr from TV and convincing him to turn down a lucrative offer from the New York Knicks and his own former coach, Phil Jackson, created the kind of culture the Warriors always will be known for. 

Kerr's offensive prowess allowed Curry and Thompson to reach new heights. David Lee had averaged 18.4 points and 10.3 rebounds over the previous two seasons before Kerr came aboard, but he recognized Green had to be the Warriors' starting power forward if the Warriors were going to become championship contenders. He moved Iguodala to the bench upon his arrival, a decision Iguodala didn't initially agree with, and he morphed into one of the game's greatest role players of all time. 

He'll always credit others, which is one of Kerr's best qualities. The fact is, Kerr crushed the record books from the start, connected the Warriors on and off the court and will be heralded among basketball's best coaches ever. The Warriors under Kerr didn't lose a playoff series against a Western Conference opponent until their early exit this season against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Signing Kevin Durant

Has there been a signing that changed the NBA more than the Warriors adding Kevin Durant? Is the most debated, the most hated signing from the outside that we've seen? For how much those outside the Warriors fan base want to throw stones at it, Durant's arrival gave the Warriors perhaps the greatest team assembled in history, and Myers was at the forefront of it all.

To bring Durant from the Oklahoma City Thunder, the team the Warriors had just beat in the Western Conference finals after trailing three-games-to-one, Myers had to let go of Harrison Barnes and Andrew Bogut. Both were no-brainers for a player of Durant's caliber, but both also were key members of the Warriors' 2015 championship and 73-win 2015-16 season. More than anything, Myers' ability to instill trust from others drove Durant to the Warriors.

Durant trusted Myers. So did Kerr, Curry, Green, Thompson and Iguodala. Their egos were put aside, and might not have been if it weren't for the relationships Myers had built with them. Lacob credits Myers for the Durant signing, which gave the Warriors two more titles and a lifetime of arguments from fans and pundits alike. 

"It was his idea and his execution," Lacob said Tuesday.

For all the bad blood people believe Durant has from his ugly Warriors exit, his respect for Myers never waned. Durant called Myers from vacation when he saw Myers was stepping down as GM, thanking him and wishing his former boss turned friend well in his next chapter.

Trading for Andrew Wiggins

Signing Durant was impressive enough. Recovering from Durant departing in free agency for the Brooklyn Nets is even more impressive. 

Hours after Durant announced his decision to don a Nets jersey, the Warriors acquired All-Star guard D'Angelo Russell from Brooklyn in a sign-and-trade. Thompson still was injured at the time, opening a spot alongside Curry in the Warriors backcourt. Really, Russell's addition was all about another move down the road. 

That move was trading for Andrew Wiggins, as well as a draft pick that turned into Jonathan Kuminga. Wiggins was a buy-low player at the time, who hadn't lived up to the expectations of a No. 1 pick in Minnesota. In Golden State, however, Wiggins could be the second, third or even fourth scoring option. 

More importantly, his defense that so many were begging to see earlier in his career was unlocked beside Green and others.

Wiggins earned his first trip to the All-Star Game in the 2021-22 season, the same year he was the Warriors' second-best player in the NBA Finals. Kuminga doesn't turn 21 years old until October. The potential is that of an All-Star as well, and he still has time to reach that -- with the Warriors or another team. 

Trading for Wiggins and having that draft pick be part of the equation was Myers' final fingerprint of a dynasty, one Lacob and others now will push to continue.

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