The Warriors enter the offseason full of important decisions, with the future of four-time NBA champion Draymond Green being one of the most significant.
Green, 33, has a $27.6 million player option for the 2023-24 season and could choose to opt out of his Warriors contract and enter free agency this summer. Andscape’s Marc Spears reported Friday on ESPN’s “NBA Today” that Golden State is preparing for that exact scenario.
“The Warriors expect Draymond Green to opt out of the final year of his $26 million contract, I’m being told,” Spears stated. “But Joe Lacob, [Mike] Dunleavy, the Warriors are going to do everything in their power, if he does as expected, to bring him back.”
Green’s defensive commitment and leadership qualities have played a pivotal role in Golden State’s four titles. While Green said he’d love to be back with the Warriors alongside longtime teammates Steph Curry and Klay Thompson next season, that ultimately will be one of the first tasks at hand that new general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. will face.
And that’s just one thing Dunleavy Jr., who the Warriors announced as Bob Myers’ replacement on Friday, will come across on his long list of to-dos, as Spears pointed out.
“Golden State is also getting calls on [Jonathan] Kuminga, they’re getting calls on Jordan Poole,” Spears added. “They have the 19th pick in next week’s draft. So Mike Dunleavy Jr. isn’t getting no training wheels going into this job.”
Immediately after Golden State’s season-ending loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals last month, The Athletic’s Shams Charania and Anthony Slater reported, citing sources, that the Warriors plan on discussing a multiyear contract with Green this offseason.
“The Warriors intend to discuss a new multi-year contract with Green, either via an opt-in and extend or an entirely new deal after an opt-out, sources briefed on the matter tell The Athletic,” Charania and Slater wrote. “Green has leverage: He is expected to have multiple playoff-contending teams in pursuit if he enters the open market, sources added.
“But both Green and the Warriors appear intent on discussing an extension to their partnership, if the price is right. He just finished his 11th season with the franchise.”
Green made it clear where he wants to be next season, and it appears the Warriors want the same.
