Warriors owner Joe Lacob was reluctant to cut Jeremy Lin, but relented because the team needed to clear cap space to make a play for restricted free agent center DeAndre Jordan.
"(Co-owner) Joe (Lacob) was the most reluctant," Warriors general manager Larry Riley said. "He really didn't want to do it, more than any of us. But we knew we had to. We needed a center, and we felt we had a good chance to get one."
The Warriors signed Jordan to a four-year, $43 million offer sheet, which was eventually matched by the Clippers.