“We've seen LeBron James have contract situations; we've seen Stephen Curry have contract situations. They handle it the way it's supposed to be handled" - Draymond Green on his upcoming contract extension
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has rejoined the team following his altercation with teammate Jordan Poole last week. As expected, the atmosphere around the Warriors is tense. However, Green has made it clear that he intends to move on from the incident.
On Thursday, Green spoke to reporters for the first time regarding the incident. He highlighted how he and Poole are both professionals and still have work to do.
"As far as us moving forward, Jordan's a professional, I'm a professional. We have a job to do. We both have experienced a lot of winning over the course of our lives and we know what that takes. So we're going to just that, what it takes to win," Green said.
Here is Draymond Green on his future with the Warriors https://t.co/J5OfYqwtD1
Draymond Green is set to earn $25.8 million with the Warriors for the 2022-23 season. He then has a $27.6 million player option for next season, which many expect him to decline in pursuit of a max contract extension.
However, the Warriors will also need to extend key players like Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole who are much younger than Green. As a result, teams like the LA Lakers and Detroit Pistons are expected to pursue him if he cannot reach an extension with the Warriors.
When asked about his plans regarding his contract, Green said that he hasn’t decided whether or not he will pick up his player option.
"My general view of the year is that I'm here this year trying to win a championship. I have a contract that ranges through next year. If I so choose to pick up that option, that is my view of how it will be here,” Green said.
“We all have a goal to win a championship and that is that. As far as what I think of a contract or an extension, we started camp and I spoke on that at the very beginning, I said 'I don't think we're doing an extension.' Quite frankly, that doesn't mean I won't be back here, I just don't think we're doing an extension this year,” Green said.
Finally, Green touched on the potential ramifications of teams not dealing with their key players’ contract extensions early on. However, he then mentioned that he will have to follow the example of NBA superstars LeBron James and Stephen Curry.
"If you're going to let a contract situation linger, then you better be damn sure that you're willing to handle all the effects of a contract lingering, that it can have on a team. Everybody don't do that. We've seen LeBron James have contract situations; we've seen Stephen Curry have contract situations. They handle it the way it's supposed to be handled. Can't say that for everyone," Green said.
Stephen A. Smith predicts Draymond Green will eventually join the LA Lakers
As previously mentioned, there is a very real chance that Draymond Green could leave the Golden State Warriors next off-season. According to ESPN's Stephen A. Smith, it's all but certain.
During a recent episode of ESPN's "First Take," Smith spoke about the Warriors’ upcoming roster decisions. He explained how Draymond Green is aware that this is his final season with the team as the Warriors are widely expected to prioritize extending Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins over Green. He went on to say that he knows Green wants to join the Los Angeles Lakers if he leaves the Warriors.
“I can tell you right now that Draymond Green is expecting this to be his last year at Golden State. Now, he wants to be a Laker. He ain’t gonna tell anybody that, but don’t think I don’t know. He’d prefer to be a Laker if he gotta leave Golden State," Smith said.
It will be interesting to see how the Warriors' season unfolds. The team may be able to move past the Draymond Green-Jordan Poole spat and defend their championship. However, if things go wrong, we can expect the Draymond Green rumor mill to get even hotter.