GSW forward, Draymond Green is indefinitely suspended by the NBA for his on-court baffling actions. He struck the Suns‘ Jusuf Nurkic in the face during their match on December 12th. The suspension comes right after his controversial ejections and suspensions in three other games earlier this season, and surprisingly 18th time in his entire career so far. In November too, he put Timberwolves.’ Rudy Gobert in a chokehold.

Considering he’s the backbone for the Warriors, his absence can pose major disadvantages for the entire franchise. However, his absence is still somehow profiting millions for the team as part of the taxes they might get to save! Let’s find out how much can the GSW actually save if Green is suspended for all 59 games left for this season.

Green has a lot to lose!

As the physical altercations, among other on-court issues were becoming frequent on the part of Draymond Green, the league decided to suspend him indefinitely. So, we first need to understand what indefinitely means here when it comes to Green’s suspension. Well, it means that Green will have to prove he is actually worthy of getting back on the court, based on his current as well as past conduct. Most likely, it will mean that he will need to undergo counseling along with a few other requirements to get back to playing.

As per NBA CBA, there are obvious financial problems associated with such cases. Players can easily lose 1/145 of their salaries for every game they miss. With Green’s current salary – $22,321,429, he can easily look to lose $153,941 per game. This is when he’s missing out on 19 or fewer games. However, if he’s missing out on 20 or more games, he stands to lose $202,922 per game, or 1/110 of his salary.

How does it affect the Warriors?

On a wider spectrum of things, the Warriors aren’t that affected. At least their salary cap remains untouched. But there are other things in motion affection the Warriors, rather positively.

If the franchise suspended Green, his salary, as far as the Warriors’ luxury tax is concerned, would be untouched. But since the league suspended him, it’s a saving grace for the franchise. The amount Green is set to lose in this case is either $153,941 per game or $202,922 per game. The total amount is halved, and the total amount here will be deducted from the luxury tax salary. So for instance, let’s say he’s suspended for 10 games. so he will lose $1,539,410 in actual salary, which reduced the luxury tax by $769,705. And if he’s facing a 20 games suspension, he is losing $4,058,440, equating the luxury tax reduction to be $2,029,220.

Read More: Does Draymond Green Deserve an Indefinite Suspension

So, with DrayMagic’s initial 5-game suspension, the franchise’ estimated luxury tax component was billed at $195.1 million. So, their star player is already saving the Warriors over $2.5 million in taxes. If we look at an indefinite suspension, the team can substantially save even more depending on the games he’s about to miss.

As of December 14, 2023, Warriors’ taxable salaries amount to be $207.89 million, with the estimated tax bill over $192.5 million.

And if Green is suspended for a maximum of 19 games, the Warriors earn $519,551 in their taxation savings for each game missed. It will reduce their luxury tax component by almost $9.87 million.

If Green is suspended for 20 games, the tax bill gets reduced by $3.8 million, with $202,922 per game missed. And if he misses, let’s say the entirety of this season, i.e 59 games, and the franchise does not add another player to their roster (a highly unlikely scenario), then the franchise is looking to save $38.7 million in luxury taxes alone.

Talk about savings! Even though the Warriors and Steve Kerr stand by Green, the opportunities for luxury tax savings are probably Warriors’ saving grace.

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