Golden State Warriors Rumors: 2 Players Who Won't Be Back Next Season

The Golden State Warriors are back in unfamiliar territory once again, finishing a season with a disappointing playoff elimination at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers Friday night. And with the Dubs having a serious luxury tax problem on their hands, they simply won't be able to bring everyone back.

Two players immediately come to mind as likely victims of the impending salary crunch, and for two very different reasons.

Jordan Poole

As noted by Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype, the massive luxury tax bill that owner Joe Lacob would like to reduce means that "a significant cost-cutting move could come, which could be in the form of trading one of their highest-paid players". Enter the name of Jordan Poole.

Yes, he averaged a career-best 20.4 points this season, but his playoff performance was a far cry from that, in fact, only half as productive, at 10.3 points per game. One rival executive this past week called Poole "overpaid" and just "empty calories."

With a new 4-year, $128M contract kicking in next season (AAV $27.4M), shedding Poole's salary from the books would go a long way towards getting that tax bill down, without taking apart the true core of the 4-time NBA champions roster.

"If cost-cutting is required, he profiles as the likeliest candidate," confirmed NBA Insiders Shams Charania and Anthony Slater in The Athletic.

Donte DiVincenzo

The Warriors got a steal when they were able to sign DiVincenzo for the midlevel exception last summer. He has a player option on a second year at $4.7M but is expected to decline it, as he will likely have more value on the open market. The most the Dubs could re-sign him for is four years, $23.2M if he opts out, which would give him a $5.4 million starting salary. Is that enough to keep him?

There will be plenty of teams looking for a nearly 40% three-point shooter who also pulls down 4.5 boards and hands out 3.5 assists as a reserve. He just might slip out of the Warriors' price range.

In summary, it will be intriguing to see how Golden State approaches this offseason, as they try to walk the line between keeping the core together and getting their astronomical tax bill down.