General Manager Bob Myers Explains How Warriors ‘recruit Every Day'

Programming note: Watch the pregame edition of Warriors Outsiders on Wednesday night at 6:00pm P.T., streaming live on the MyTeams app.

To say this summer is massive for the Warriors would be an understatement. Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson will both be unrestricted free agents and Golden State wants to retain both on long-term deals.

Recruiting in professional sports is different than the way colleges go after high school prospects, and varies whether a franchise is looking to re-sign its own player or going after a free agent that played the prior season elsewhere. 

For instance, the Warriors are in a much different position with Durant now than they were back in July 2016 when a contingent flew to The Hamptons to try to convince him to sign on the dotted line.

So how is Golden State approaching things this time around? 

"We recruit every day," Warriors GM Bob Myers told reporters on Monday. "If you want to maintain a good working culture, you don't just ignore people until their contract is up.

"Steve (Kerr) is brilliant at this and I try to do my small part. We want to make sure people that come to work -- whether you're a player, selling tickets, Eric Housen our equipment guy -- are you enjoying yourself today?

"We want people to want to enjoy coming to work here -- that's every single day, just being a decent human being. My opinion is if you wait until somebody has an opportunity (to leave), you haven't really done your job while they were employed with you.

"So I think that's our approach."

So in this case, the Warriors are "recruiting" Durant by simply trying to create the best environment possible -- both professionally and personally. They don't need to "roll out the red carpet" and/or woo him.

Besides, back in mid-October Durant said he isn't seeking any of that.

"I don't need to feel appreciated," Durant told Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. "I don't need anything extra (from the Warriors).

"I'm just here to hoop and win games. I already know what this organization is about."

[REWINDJoe Lacob: 'Of course' the Warriors will have to re-recruit Kevin Durant]

Unfortunately for the Warriors, Durant might simply want a new challenge in July and could decide to try to win games with another organization.

Whatever the reigning two-time Finals MVP decides to do might be completely out of the Warriors' control. And on Tuesday afternoon, Marc Stein of The New York Times reported that, "the threat of the Knicks persuading Durant to leave one of the most dominant teams in league history has never felt more real to the Warriors themselves."

As for Klay, he has expressed his desire to re-sign with the Warriors on numerous occasions. And if Golden State offers him the max -- and all indications point to that happening -- it's very safe to assume the five-time All-Star will be back.

Drew Shiller is the co-host of Warriors Outsiders. Follow him on Twitter @DrewShiller

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