One minute after NBA free agency kicked off on Thursday, Draymond Green and the Warriors agreed to terms on a contract. Yes, it was that urgent for Green to lock in at least three more years to keep alive the dynasty he helped create.
Immediately, Green’s four-year, $100 million deal with a final year player option furrowed brows for some valid reasons. He’s 33 now and will be 37 when he reaches unrestricted free agency. It’s fair to wonder how an undersized player who has 12 years of wear and tear playing uniquely physical defense will stay healthy and competitive late into his 30s.
And for the cynical, one has to wonder how Green could be rewarded after throwing a literal devastating blow last season. The team’s main guys linked their derailed title defense season to Green punching Jordan Poole in the face before the season even began. Now 24-year-old Poole has been shipped to Washington for 38-year-old Chris Paul as Green re-established his domain with a big contract.
The Warriors eagerly committed to a risk. Moreover, it was never really a question he’d return.
“We really want Draymond back,” new general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. said at his introductory news conference. “What he means in terms of this organization and this team, winning at the highest level, we feel like we have to have him.”
Outweighing the negatives that Green comes with is a distinct positive: The Warriors cannot win another title without Green. And that is the only priority this season and for as long as 35-year-old Steph Curry is in a Warriors uniform.
As it should be.
It’s twisted, but the front office and, most importantly, head coach Steve Kerr and Curry, learned early on in these dynasty years that Green’s most disruptive and unconventional qualities are also the ones that have made this team unsinkable — the rest of the NBA’s most intimidating foe since 2014.
“Draymond is incredibly competitive and passionate and fiery,” Kerr once said last season after a Green ejection. “He’s helped us win four championships. I’ve said it many times. We don’t have a single championship here without Draymond Green. That’s the truth.
“He has crossed the line over the years, and that’s part of it. We will go to bat for Draymond and go to battle with him every day of the week.”
Who cares about some controversy and old bones when history can be made? Curry, Green, Klay Thompson and Kerr — assuming he will get an extension now entering the final year of his contract — have a few more years to win a fifth title together. And Dunleavy’s claim that they need Green to win isn’t an exaggeration.
Green is and has been one of the best defensive players in the NBA. Last year, the Warriors’ had a 109.4 defensive rating with Green on the court and a 115.8 rating with him off the court, making for a -6.4 differential that led the league’s top defenders. His teammates praise Green’s defensive impact so much it’s become canon: At 6-foot-7, he expertly juggles his job as an opposing bigs’ nightmare in the paint and a free safety who erases teammates’ mistakes.
If the Warriors let Green walk, it’d be near impossible to replace him. Toronto’s Pascal Siakam or OG Anenouby were among the names potentially available in a trade this offseason that could even come close. Otherwise, it’d take a player such as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Rudy Gobert, Evan Mobley or Bam Adebayo with similar numbers to replace his defensive presence. Add in Green’s feel for finding Curry and Klay Thompson off ball and the Warriors have a tried and true formula.
This takes us to another point. Green’s contract may raise eyebrows, but it’s well below the money his peers make. And that’s all fair — the names listed above are a few inches taller and years younger than Green with more offensive upside. On top of that, the contract structure gives the Warriors immediate financial flexibility, and re-signing Green is all about the now.
Green is slated to make around $22 million next season, less than the $27 million he was slated to make had he opted into the final year of his previous contract. That saves the Warriors upwards of $40 million in tax payments, plus he’s taking up just 16.4 percent of the cap space this year. Green’s yearly payout will go up incrementally, but the luxury tax threshold’s yearly incremental rise means his yearly cap hit won’t rise. That helps the organization’s financial flexibility for the duration of his contract.
As for Green’s aging bones, the Warriors have a lot of faith in their training staff. Head honcho Rick Celebrini has expertly managed injury prone players such as Otto Porter Jr., Gary Payton II, Kevon Looney, Thompson and Green to keep them on the court. In a way, this contract is a bet on Celebrini, too.
But mostly, bringing Green back for at least three more years is a re-commitment to the core that’s made history. The Warriors have one of the best players in NBA history in Curry who has shown he has a few more title runs in him.
This core disrupted basketball traditions and are still on the brink of joining the likes of Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls and Magic Johnson’s Los Angeles Lakers in championship lore. They’re getting old, but it would be malpractice to take this apart now. Green had to stay.
“I think I changed the game of basketball with the help of Steph Curry,” Green said three years ago on the All the Smoke podcast. “And I think Steph Curry changed the game of basketball with the help of me.”
