As a matter of process, I waited until we had a clearer idea of whether the Denver Nuggets would participate in a sign-and-trade involving Andre Iguodala before discussing the ways the Golden State Warriors can fill out their roster.

While we still do not know for sure that Denver will play ball on the trade exception (even though it is the right decision for their team), Adrian Wojnarowski's reporting about the “advanced discussions” on a three-way deal provides enough space to go after it.

Typically, I imagine teams having 13 players on roster once free agency concludes, leaving at least one spot for a Summer League guy or late cut by another team. This season may be a little different because of the depth of the unsigned players in Summer League compared with the free agency crop in Golden State’s price range.

Golden State’s cap/tax situation:

If the deals with Utah and Denver go through using Traded Player Exceptions (TPEs), Golden State will actually behave as a team over the cap for the remainder of this league year. Fortunately, their combination of guaranteed players (listed below) combine to make approximately $56 million. That would put the luxury tax line at about $71 million and the apron that would serve as the Warriors’ hard cap at about $75 million.

By doing the trade with Denver as a sign-and-trade, Golden State would have a few other pieces they could use to make the team better:

1. The full, non-taxpayer Mid-Level Exception- Worth $5.15 million for next season and can be split between multiple players if desired.

2. Bi-Annual Exception- The BAE can sign players for up to two seasons and can be split but can only be used once every two seasons. Golden State could be over the luxury tax line next season (which takes away the BAE for that year), so using it this summer could be nice but not required.

3. Trade exceptions- Assuming the Warriors use the biggest TPE (Richard Jefferson’s) to acquire Andre Iguodala, they would have two remaining from the Utah trade, one at $9 million (Andris Biedrins) and one at about $3 million (the difference between Brandon Rush and Kevin Murphy’s salaries). They could also potentially gain a trade exception from the Cavs for Jarrett Jack if that deal gets structured as a sign and trade.

4. Minimum salaries- No matter what a team does in terms of the cap and tax, they can always sign players for the veteran's minimum.

The roster as it stands today:

Assuming all of the non-finalized moves go through as reported, Golden State would have the following players on guaranteed contracts:

Stephen Curry

Andrew Bogut

Andre Iguodala

David Lee

Harrison Barnes

Klay Thompson

Festus Ezeli

Draymond Green

Nemanja Nedovic (if they decide to bring him over)

and the following players on non-guaranteed deals:

Kent Bazemore

Dwyane Jones

Kevin Murphy

Scott Machado

If the Warriors keep every player at the top of the list and Nedovic gets the standard 120 percent of scale, the Golden State will be at $57.15 million with a little less than $14 million to spend below the tax and up to six roster spots to fill. Possessing the cap pieces discussed above, Bob Myers can add a wide variety of different salaries whether those players are currently free agents or signed on other teams.

Priorities filling out the roster:

1. Leave at least one spot open- I strongly advocate for each team to leave one of the 15 roster spots open since you never know who will get hurt and what players will pop across the wire. Saving one spot and ideally a little bit of salary flexibility opens up some meaningful options over the course of the season.

2. Use at least two of the remaining five roster spots on minimum salary players- Kent Bazemore can be one and one of the others can be Scott Machado or a Summer League standout / undrafted player. This could even be three guys considering how strong the group of undrafted players has been this season.

3. Quality over quantity with the remaining money- Having six players capable of starting will only make the rotation stronger and guys like Ezeli and Draymond have earned the right to get minutes when healthy. That functional depth and the ability to sign some minimum salary players gives the Warriors the flexibility to be more aggressive with their remaining money. If they leave one spot open and use two spots on minimum players, they would have about $12.25 million under the tax to spend on three guys.

Players to fill out the roster:

Since Golden State will have different tools at their disposal to acquire players, it seems best to analyze potential players that could be brought in using each one of them.

The $9 million Andris Biedrins TPE- Can be used to acquire a player currently under contract or a free agent via sign and trade if the team holding their rights is willing. Also, if a player making less than the full amount is acquired, the TPE splits and the rest can be used later.

Potential options for trades: Brandon Bass, Jonas Jerebko (after Detroit signed Josh Smith, he seems expendable), Gerald Green (Indianapolis would likely give up something to make this happen), Steve Blake (Lakers would likely give up something because of the luxury tax savings), Joel Anthony, and Luke Ridnour or JJ Barea.

Potential options for sign and trades: Andrew Bynum, who I would love to take a flier on.

The Mid-Level Exception and Bi-Annual Exception- Preferable to the Brandon Rush TPE for free agents since other teams cannot scuttle it. Can be split between players. While the MLE can be used to sign players for up to four years, the smaller BAE has a max length of two seasons.

Potential options to sign (for some or all of the MLE): Brandan Wright, Chris Kaman, Marreese Speights, Aaron Books, Will Bynum, Sebastian Telfair, Nick Young (if he gets cheap enough), Jermaine O’Neal, Marcus Camby (if he gets bought out), Mo Williams, Reggie Williams, Lamar Odom and Elton Brand

The $3.2 million (or so) Brandon Rush TPE- Since the MLE is preferable for free agents, this would be used to acquire players currently under contract. However, most players signed to this low of a contract are not hamstringing their team enough for them to give a player worth having away for free.

Potential options for trade: Brendan Haywood and Kwame Brown (really)

Minimum Salary guys- The Warriors have a decent group here in Bazemore, Jones, and Machado but a deep class of undrafted rookies and the previously unheard of situation that Golden State could be a location for cheap vets make this a surprisingly strong group.

Potential young guys to sign: Michael Snaer (SG), Matthew Dellavadova (PG), Seth Curry (SG/PG), Brandon Paul (SG), BJ Young (SG/PG), Myck Kabongo (PG), TJ Warren (SF), Phil Pressey (PG), James Southerland (SF), Adonis Thomas (SF), Vander Blue (SG), DeWayne Dedmon (C), Kenny Kadji (PF), Richard Howell (PF), Brandon Davies (PF/C) and Luke Babbitt (SF),

Potential veterans to sign: Jason Collins, Marcus Camby and Anthony Tolliver

What I would do to finish the Golden State roster:

1. Go after quality players buried on other teams- This summer, a few different franchises have added depth at positions where they already have talent. That either means they really wanted to have more players there or that they could be undervaluing what they already have.

These players include: Gustavo Ayon and Ekpe Udoh in Milwaukee, Anthony Randolph in Denver, Brandon Bass in Boston, Kim English, Jonas Jerebko and Slava Kravtsov in Detroit, Jason Smith and Brian Roberts in New Orleans, Daniel Orton and Perry Jones III in Oklahoma City, Kendall Marshall in Phoenix, Joel Freeland and Victor Claver in Portland, Ray McCallum, Isaiah Thomas, Patrick Patterson, and Jimmer Fredette in Sacramento, and Chris Singleton in Washington.

If any of them are available without giving up much beyond taking their salary, the Warriors could potentially use some of their trade exception money to get a nice player.

2. Build a stacked Summer League team, particularly at PG- One of the benefits of having so many players too good for the Summer League is the ability to try out lots of different guys with heavy playing time. The possibility of backing up Stephen Curry or Andrew Bogut and playing on a likely playoff team could bring in some truly interesting talent. Any of the 16 (!) players listed above could be a useful depth piece on this Warriors team, especially Curry, Dellavadova, Snaer, and Dedmon.

3. Don’t sign Monta Ellis- Please, please, please don’t use a TPE to sign Monta Ellis. Please.

4. Pick up an asset or two by acquiring a player other teams want to dump- Assuming the teams hold firm on the major guys from No. 1, Golden State could use some cap acquiring a player like Gerald Green or Luke Ridnour that their team does not really want at their current price. It would be nice to save 2014 cap space but the likely return of Andrew Bogut makes the distant dreams like LeBron even more unrealistic. Getting a pick for Gerald Green good enough to pull Anthony Randolph, Patrick Patterson, Ekpe Udoh, or Daniel Orton off their current team would be a dream scenario.

5. Aim high- Fortunately, the Warriors do not need a ton of veteran leadership at this juncture, though adding a pro like Jason Collins could always help a young team. I would use the rest of the spots going for high upside guys like Kabongo, Brandan Wright, Timofey Mozgov, and Seth Curry over steady players with lower ceilings. Finding at least one long-term rotation player on a smaller-risk deal would be incredibly useful on a team with so much quality.