Moses Moody was on a lot of other front office’s “can we trade for him/poach his as a free agent?” list. While he impressed when on the court coming off the bench, he rarely started (outside of injury) and always seemed to be the guy at the back of the line in Steve Kerr’s rotation. Kerr said that would change this year, that he wanted Moody to be more aggressive with his shot, but he still has a deep guard rotation to find minutes for.
While other teams may covet him, Moody is staying put for now — the Warriors and Moody have agreed to a three-year, $39 million contract extension, a story broken by Shams Charania of ESPN after he spoke with Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul (Moody’s agent).
That number seems fair, and at three years Moody can get back on the market quickly. While other front offices may have talked about trying to poach Moody, the reality is only a few would have had the cap space to make an offer next summer, and that’s a tough spot to be as a restricted free agent (which Moody would have been, Golden State could have matched any offer). Moody took the money in hand. He will make $5.8 million this season on the final year of his rookie deal, then the extension kicks in for three seasons beyond that.
Moody technically could be traded this season, but that is unlikely now because while his outgoing salary in a trade is $5.8 million however the Warriors would have to take back $11.2 million. That’s a complex trade to coordinate.
The challenge in Moody staying with the Warriors is finding him minutes. Golden State has a deep guard rotation starting with Stephen Curry but including Brandin Podziemski, Buddy Hield, and De’Anthony Melton. Last season, in 66 games, Moody averaged 8.1 points per game and shot 36% from 3. Those numbers could go up if he gets more minutes this season.
