Warriors promote Mike Dunleavy Jr. to general manager heading into critical offseason

Bob Myers deciding to step away from the Warriors felt like the first domino in the end of an era.

Mike Dunleavy Jr. is now in charge of ensuring the other dominos don’t fall, at least for a few more years.

As was largely expected, the Warriors promoted Dunleavy to take over as general manager.

OFFICIAL: Mike Dunleavy Jr. has been promoted to General Manager.

Mike enters his sixth season in the Warriors' front office, serving as Vice President, Basketball Operations for the past two seasons after two years as Assistant General Manager.

He originally joined the front… pic.twitter.com/ZR6uDFzDaD

— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) June 16, 2023

“We think Mike is the perfect fit to lead our basketball operations department,” said co-owner Joe Lacob in a statement. “He has a wealth of basketball knowledge, stemming from his family upbringing, a 15-year NBA playing career and five seasons serving under Bob Myers in our front office. He’s young and energetic, has established numerous relationships around the league and communicates well with players and coaches—all important traits in this business. Mike’s ready for this challenge and responsibility.”

Dunleavy also walks into a tough spot.

He takes over a team with a payroll pushing $240 million — close to $100 million over the salary cap line and $40 million over the second tax apron. The Warriors have a total salary and tax bill of around $450 million, a number too expensive for even Lacob and a free-spending ownership group.

And he’s already getting calls about Jordan Poole and Jonathan Kuminga trades, according to Marc Spears of ESPN’s Andscape.

Dunleavy has some difficult negotiations ahead when you look at the team’s roster.

Stephen Curry is locked in on a four-year,