With the 2022 NBA Finals in the books, Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green is looking to cash in.
Green may want to finish out his career with the Warriors, but if he doesn’t change his current stance, he’ll likely be playing basketball elsewhere very soon.
The Warriors have big issues as they have four players who will all need new contracts soon – Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins, Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole.
Green, who claimed his fourth NBA Finals championship trophy with the Warriors since their dynasty began in 2014, is eligible for a new contract as soon as August 3, and sources told The Athletic’s Anthony Slater and Marcus Thompson II that Green believes he deserves a maximum contract that would lock him in for $164.2 million over the next five seasons.
“Green, according to sources, wants and believes he deserves a maximum contract extension from the Warriors,” Anthony Slater and Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic reported. “Aug. 3 is when he is eligible to sign a four-year deal. That is his desired length.”
However, the Warriors do not seem interested in such a deal.
“All indications, though, are that the Warriors have no plans to offer Green a maximum extension, and there isn’t any current traction on any type of extension,” Slater and Thompson added.
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Green is willing to explore “outside options” if the Warriors don’t meet his contract demands.
“While his desire is to remain with the Warriors, Green is said to be willing to explore his outside options to get the kind of contract he wants,” Slater and Thompson wrote. “That’s a risk Warriors’ management appears willing to take. Green playing this season with a chip on his shoulder, motivated by proving to the league he deserves a max contact, could have a positive on-court impact.”
Green averaged just 7.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 7.0 assists per game, but his importance to the team goes way beyond numbers. However, it’s hard to justify giving him that type of contract.
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 before this upcoming season.
