The Golden State Warriors are a bit strapped for money this summer while attempting to keep and build the current championship core that just won its fourth title in eight years with the trio of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green.
Two of those aforementioned players, Thompson and Green, are also due for new contracts soon, alongside Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins.
Giving all four of them nice and lofty new contracts requires having to pay a ridiculous luxury tax just to retain their services.
Green is eligible for a new contract as soon as August 3rd.
According to what sources told The Athletic’s Anthony Slater and Marcus Thompson II, Green firmly believes he deserves a maximum contract that would lock him in for $164.2 million over the next five seasons.
That is, without question, a lot of money for Green, who hasn’t averaged more than eight points per game since 2017 and at times looked like a shell of himself during this past season.
Slater and Thompson II added that “the Warriors have no plans to offer Green a maximum extension, and there isn’t any current traction on any type of extension.”
The Warriors’ hesitation with extending Green this offseason appears less to be about the team’s perception of Green’s value and more about the timetable Golden State typically takes with extensions.
Slater and Thompson II noted the Warriors usually wait until a player has one year left on his current contract before signing them to a maximum extension.
While Green technically has two years remaining on the four-year extension he signed before the 2019 season, he can opt out of that contract before the final year of that deal prior to this upcoming season.
That impending possibility could force the Warriors’ hand one way or the other.
If the Warriors aren’t willing to offer the max to Draymond Green, there’s a chance he could explore other options to get the contract he believes he deserves.
It should be noted that Green also has a 15 percent trade kicker in his current deal if the Warriors move him.
Green and the Warriors prepare to defend their title as the rest of the league focuses on the Kevin Durant sweepstakes.
