The rumors surrounding a Draymond Green exit from the Warriors this summer seem more relevant than ever.
Undoubtedly, he has been an important part of the team and helped them win four championships. But with the way the team is headed at the moment and the amount of money he is taking up in the cap space, the writing may be on the wall.
The veteran has one more year left on his contract with a player option in the final year so he could become a free agent this summer, but it seems he wants to stay loyal to his team – for now.
“As far as my situation goes, I’ve been here 11 years. I’ve done everything you can possibly do here. Why would I want to go somewhere else and try to do it again?” Green said on the #ThisLeague Uncut podcast.
“I would love to finish my career here,” he said. “That’s been my goal since signing this current contract that I’m on. It’s looking like a more realistic thing to be finishing here.
“And I also don’t want to play 20 years in the NBA, I want to play 15 years in the NBA. In four more years, it’s likely I’ll be contributing at a high level and living up to the contract I’ll be on. As far as the probability, I can’t give you that because it isn’t up to me. If it was up to me, I can tell you 100 percent I would finish my career here.”
Green would be getting a guaranteed $27.6 million dollars next season and has had a solid regular season that included playing through injuries and leading the team in total plus-minus in the 73 games he’s played.
One Western exec told Heavy Sports that no matter what happens this postseason, a Green trade could be tried out.
“They could trade Draymond if he opts into the final year of his contract. He knows that. They know that,” a Western Conference executive told Sean Deveney. “But even if they have a good playoff run, trading Draymond is going to be on the table.”
According to other sources who spoke with Deveney, the Warriors are hoping Green will opt in so they have the option to trade him.
“You can trade him at that point, you don’t have to worry about a sign-and-trade and all the restrictions that come with that,” a West GM told Deveney. “You can work with him to find a place he wants to go. Or you can say to him, “Let’s give it one more run, be a leader, let’s win a championship here, and we’ll pay you.’”