However this season turns out for the Golden State Warriors, the biggest decision they could potentially face this summer will be whether to keep Draymond Green, who is in line to become a free agent should he choose to do so. Green has a $27.5 million player option for next season, and if he exercises it, the Warriors, barring a trade, won’t have a decision to make. But if he doesn’t, a call will have to be made against the backdrop of a giant payroll and tax bill.
Wherever Green gets his next contract, it could be one of this last. Talking with Stephen A Smith on the Know Mercy podcast, Green said he only wants to play for “another four years” after this season.
“I don’t want to play basketball until I’m 40. I really only want to play basketball for another four years after this. I’ve always said my magic number is 15 [years]. Once I get to 15, that’s it,” Green said.
Indeed, four more seasons after this one would make for a 15-year career for Green, who turns 33 in March. What teams, including the Warriors, have to decide is how much money, and how many guaranteed years on a contract, to offer Green with the risk that his play could fall off steeply with every year that he ages.
Recently, Green said that he accepts the reality that he might not end his career with the Warriors. Going do far as to say the “writing’s on the wall,” Green said he understand the business of the NBA, and that he does not expect to be paid for his past accomplishments. Indeed, the NBA is a futures market. Looking into that NBA future, Green is starting to see his finish line.
Whenever his career does come to an end, it better eventually be punctuated with a spot in the Hall of Fame. I can’t imagine that it won’t, but there are dumb people out there who will forever try to say that Green was a product of the Warriors and wasn’t a Hall of Fame talent. That is nonsense. Short of Stephen Curry, no single person — meaning player, coach or front office member — has more to do with the Warriors becoming a dynasty than Green.
Green is arguably the best defender of his generation and one of the best ever, and he’s a brilliant offensive mind. Golden State could not play Curry off the ball, which is what makes them so unique and nearly impossible to defend, without Green’s masterful ability to diagnose defenses in a snapshot and anticipate faster than they can react with his passing and impromptu screens.
So let’s get ahead of this. Whenever Green retries, he’s going to the Hall of Fame. There is no debate to be had.
