Golden State Warriors invest in D'Angelo Russell, face limited resources for 2019-20

After hours of complete mayhem in the world of NBA free agency, the Golden State Warriors reportedly made a relatively stunning decision. With Kevin Durant pledging to join the Brooklyn Nets earlier in the day, the Warriors acted swiftly, agreeing on a sign-and-trade swap that netted the team an intriguing young guard in D'Angelo Russell.

On the surface, this appears to be a solid instance of arbitrage for the Warriors, who mitigate the disaster of Durant leaving by grabbing a high-end talent. However, Golden State's decision goes well beyond the simple trade of Durant for Russell, with the Warriors now forced into a challenging salary cap situation.

Due to NBA salary cap restrictions, the Warriors will now be "hard-capped" and, with lucrative contracts for Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Russell, Golden State is heavily committed from a financial perspective. That meant the need to shed Andre Iguodala's salary in a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies and, with that in mind, the Warriors will operating with a greatly diminished core for much of the 2019-20 season.

After all, Thompson is expected to miss most of the campaign after tearing his ACL in the NBA Finals and, though Russell certainly helps, his fit with Curry could be challenging on the defensive end of the floor. Finally, the Warriors have a real challenge in order to build out the rest of the roster in a hard-capped universe, and Golden State is likely to be forced to move on from supporting pieces like Kevon Looney and Jordan Bell in the process.

Steve Kerr's team still possesses unbelievable talent at the high end but, in addition to losing Durant for the long-term, Golden State's actions were curious on the evening of June 30. The Warriors still face relative optimism when considering their odds to win the 2020 NBA title but, at the moment, the dynastic squad looks to be on shakier ground than at any point in the last several seasons.