Golden State should spend Moses Moody’s $12,500,000 on Jalen Smith, and it does not have to wait until December to do it. The Warriors sit $10,748,627 above the first apron, which forces dollar-for-dollar salary matching, and Moody’s contract is one of only two on the roster both large enough to absorb Smith’s $9,428,571 and eligible to move today.
Jake Fischer reported at The Stein Line on Nov. 4 that the Warriors’ parting with Kristaps Porziņģis is a matter of when, not if, and that Golden State has called the Chicago Bulls about Smith. Julia Stumbaugh of Bleacher Report, relaying that reporting on the Warriors’ interest level in Myles Turner, wrote that sources told Fischer Golden State does not have Turner high on its list of targets and would want draft capital from Milwaukee to absorb his money. That is a retreat from the Turner package that worked everywhere but Milwaukee — and it leaves the cheaper idea standing.
The December Freeze Picks the Salary for Them
Hoops Rumors lists seven Warriors who cannot be traded until Dec. 15: Charles Bassey, Draymond Green, Al Horford, De’Anthony Melton, Georges Niang, Gary Payton II and Brandon Williams. That wipes out every mid-size salary Golden State would otherwise reach for, leaving exactly two contracts at or above Smith’s number that can legally move now — Moody’s and Porziņģis’s.
Smith is not on that list. Norman Powell, Chicago’s other obvious chip, is. Fischer’s suggestion that Golden State may have to wait until mid-December is right about the wider market and wrong about this particular pairing.
The Money Clears, With Room Left Over
Basketball-Reference puts the Warriors’ payroll at $219,763,627, which is $10,748,627 above the $209,015,000 first apron — and that position, not the figure, selects the rule. A team at or above the first apron may take back 100 percent of what it sends out, dollar for dollar, with no cushion. Moody’s $12,500,000 is the ceiling, and Smith’s $9,428,571 leaves $3,071,429 of it unused.
The hard cap is a separate constraint and it holds comfortably. Hoops Rumors has Golden State capped at the second apron for signing Melton with the taxpayer mid-level exception, so the deal must finish under $221,686,000; it finishes at $216,692,198, leaving $4,993,802. The roster stays at 15 standard contracts.
Moody’s Second Year Is Guaranteed. Smith’s Contract Simply Ends.
This is what makes the swap worth doing rather than merely legal. Smith’s $9,428,571 is fully guaranteed and there is nothing behind it — no option year, no 2027-28 figure on his line at all. Moody is guaranteed $13,425,925 in 2027-28 on top of this season, per Basketball-Reference’s guarantee column, and none of it is a team option Golden State could decline.
For a club hard-capped at the second apron, converting a guaranteed second year into an expiring contract is the asset, not the center. Golden State would also be moving a player who was not going to help it in the meantime: Basketball-Reference’s injury table carries Moody as out with a left knee injury, progressing toward a possible return between December and January.
A Short-Term Center Is What the Position Actually Needs
Smith has started all eight Chicago games, averaging 22.4 minutes, 11.0 points and 7.8 rebounds on 47.2 percent shooting. The floor-spacing Fischer describes has not arrived: Smith is at 28.2 percent from three on 4.9 attempts a game, and that is the honest hole in the case for him.
Set it against what Golden State has been doing at the position. Through eight games the center minutes have gone to Horford at 18.7 a night for 5.0 points and 4.0 rebounds with no starts, and to Bassey at 11.5 — which is why center is the Warriors’ only genuinely unsettled starting spot. Smith would not fix that spot so much as staff it, and staffing it is the right ambition for a team that has won five straight without one.
What is not knowable from here: no outlet has reported an asking price, a package, or any willingness from Chicago to move Smith, and Fischer notes the Bulls must weigh the league’s new lottery rules before surrendering a player who helps them win. The case that Chicago has no reason to sell Smith cheaply has not gone away, and Porziņģis’s availability is unresolved. The production case will keep moving; the money will not.
Moody Out, Smith In, $5 Million of Room Left
| Item | Figure |
|---|---|
| Out: Moses Moody | $12,500,000 |
| In: Jalen Smith | $9,428,571 |
| Net salary change | −$3,071,429 |
| Team payroll before | $219,763,627 |
| Apron the team is capped at | Second ($221,686,000) |
| Above or below the first apron | Above, by $10,748,627 |
| Matching rule, and the ceiling it gives | At or above the first apron: 100% of outgoing, dollar for dollar → $12,500,000 |
| Room against the hard cap, after the deal | $4,993,802 |
| Earliest date it could happen | Now |
Contract figures, payroll totals and injury designations via Basketball-Reference; hard-cap status, apron figures and trade-eligibility dates via Hoops Rumors; salary-matching rules via Over The Apron; stat lines via ESPN. Figures as of Nov. 4, 2026.
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