Draymond Green will be eligible for a veteran contract extension this summer, and Warriors owner Joe Lacob recently said the team plans to offer one. However, league sources tell ESPN’s Chris Haynes that Green figures to turn down that extension when it’s offered.
The NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement limits veteran extensions to five total seasons, so with two years and $36MM+ still remaining on his current deal, Green could add three more years to that deal this offseason. Based on other CBA limitations, such an extension would be worth up to about $72MM over those three years. However, as Haynes observes, if the veteran forward earns All-NBA honors or the Defensive Player of the Year award next season, he’d be eligible for a super-max extension worth well over $200MM for five years.
With Curry already on a super-max deal for the Warriors and Kevin Durant likely to ink a lucrative new contract of his own this summer, it seems unlikely that the team would be willing to give Green a super-max of his own if he qualifies next year. Still, there’s some context to Green’s apparent stance, as Haynes explains.
As Green tells it, when he negotiated his last contract with the Warriors in 2015, he accepted about $12MM less than he could have earned. While agent B.J. Armstrong pushed for him to max out his potential earnings, Green wanted to take a slight discount in order to help Golden State create the cap room a star free agent like Durant.
“I took less so we could go after K.D.,” Green told Haynes during the NBA Finals. “I am a student of this game, and I studied the business side of it and the numbers, where some people don’t. They leave it up to their agent to do it.”
Having made that sacrifice on his last deal, Green is unlikely to accept any sort of discount on his next contract, sources tell Haynes. Even though that next contract may not be a super-max, Green seems likely to continue playing out his current deal for another year before seriously considering an extension.
Surely Draymond realizes no one is giving him the super max
Knicks or some dumb owner would. Absolutely. There is always someone dumb enough every free agency.
nah chris is right
Of course he realizes it, Draymond is a smart guy. He knows that a super max contract can only be offered by the team that drafted the player (or a team that acquired the player while he was on his rookie contract.) The whole purpose of the super max is to encourage players to stay with small market teams (why it’s known as the “Kevin Durant rule.”) I would think that anyone commenting on the super max would know that.
This guy will flop harder than Vlade Divac if he tries to leave the warriors…
And every Warriors fan, including myself. Knows it. Surely he has to know it as well. His act is growing stale, luckily he had a great postseason defensively. But I wouldn’t be shocked at all if Bob Myers trades him. He is easily replaceable.
What draymond brings to the table is not replaceable.
Draymond is replaceable
Draymond is not replaceable.
It may not seem like it to Warriors fans, but he is replaceable. At least, he’s much easier to replace than Steph or KD. And if Draymond wants to go after the top possible dollar he can get, that’s the way to look at the decision tree. In this case, “replaceable” really means “of those three, we can really only pay top shelf/max money to two; so, who do we feel like we *cannot* lose?” You don’t really want to keep Draymond over Steph or KD, do you?
I would keep KD, Klay, and Draymond if I had to lose someone, but I would need a lot for Steph in that scenario
I think you’re right. If Green demands the max you let him go. Plug-in Thaddeus Young.
When they give it to Klay, they’d be ineligible to give it to Draymond b/c they’d have steph and Klay signed to them. This is all just noise though. Eventually they’ll all be signed when it makes sense. Neither side needs to get anything done right now. Only KD is currently a FA, and Bob Myers reiterated that earlier
Klay won’t be signing for the max. Do a quick search of the contract discussions already underway.
Klay wont be getting a max, not in GS anyways.
I can see him being traded before his contract is up anyways. He is the least valuable of the four but still has great currency
I made comments similar on another story. Can we maybe list people who’d work as Draymond replacements? Good defensively, enough size to play 5 in a pinch? James Johnson? Thaddeus Young? Trevor Booker? Do they need to be ball handlers now that Klay has improved his handle, and they have Durant instead of Harrison Barnes? Can the 4 and 5 spots now be handled by committee using a combination of rookies and vet. minimums? I’d say yes. But I also said they should just cough up whatever it takes, given that this team, as is, could win the next 4 titles, and those prime years in combination with revenue earned from finals appearances should assuage the concerns amongst ownership regarding luxury tax.
I also don’t get this – ‘I’m selfless, I took a discount last season now I want a cripplingly large salary’. If you REALLY care about the team, do it repeatedly. God, I miss Tim Duncan
Aminu?
Looney maybe?
I think they need to try and re-sign Looney, but I was thinking of a more dynamic player with some more value on offense
A dynamic defensive big with at least some ability to play a switch-defense and be good on offense don’t often hit free agency. Johnson, Young, Booker, Looney, Aminu are likely the best of a bunch that would be worth around $5-10m per year.
Taking discounts defeats the purpose of the salary cap and should not be encouraged
So you’re asking players to take less for the team to help them out. Is the team going to do the same as the players’ skills start detoriating? I mean this happens in football all the time. Teams ask their players to take less to help the team but when the player’s performance starts to slip they are discussing ways to get rid of him/her. If a player wants to take a pay cut for a year, that’s on them. And if the player wants to get paid their value the next year, there should be no issue with that either from us fans.
Was his worst postseason so far.
Good player but not a star. Can’t carry a team
So, so many ignorant comments. No draymond green means the warriors don’t win a single championship. He is the core of their top rated defense. He makes everyone around him better. He could easily thrive on just about any team. I know the natural instinct is to hate the warriors, but fans everywhere should be thanking them. Who wants to watch boring slow one on one matchups? The warriors have forced the NBA to focus on team basketball, not hero ball. Everyone wins.
Disagree….they’d have won these past 2 years without him….maybe not the 2015 title. But whatever, no way to know and it’s all opinion anyway.
I do value Draymond quite a lot, he is aTD threat every night, is a guy who can score, rebound, pass, block, steal, plays great defence, is a good ball handler, really cannot see many flaws there, I think he is very important for Golden State, only think I don’t like of him is his attitude toward other players sometimes hi disses them, I think he should realize they are his co-workers so they deserve respect, so he would also get more respect from them, but anyway is my opinion of him as a person, a bit annoying, but as a baller, I think he is very very good, maybe not at super-max but a real star of the league.
I think even I would get double digit assists on that team! But yes, he is a good glue guy and doesn’t get mainstream praise because there’s no flash to his game.
I think he’d really struggle on a ‘normal’ team, in fact I think only Portland would play to his strengths. So much of the NBA is luck – right place at the right time. He’s incredibly lucky, and worked hard in equal measure, but ten years ago, he’d have lasted a season or two at best, with hope for a Malik Rose type career.
Ialso agree he needs to keep his mouth closed more often. He looks like the demonic kid from City Of God!
Anyone that is a real student of the game understands the value of Draymond Green. During the Finals color commentary, Jackson was raving about his importance.
He is more than just glue. He is so intelligent and puts in enormous amount of research to learn all players’ tendencies (including his teammates), has amazing vision on the court, and stellar instincts. He is also a great communicator and leads from the floor, calling offensive plays and leading the defense by assigning coverage. He is incredibly passionate and that is annoying to other teams/players, but is great fuel injection to his own teammates.
I don’t think anyone underestimates Draymonds worth to the Warriors. However I think it’s obvious with less skilled players he wouldn’t be as effective. It’s a great fit for everyone, which is why I don’t see him leaving it unless for a major overpay
You don’t think anyone underestimates Green’s worth to the Warriors? How about all the people who say he’s easily replaceable. For myself, I’d say anyone who thinks he’s replaceable doesn’t know much about basketball.
There’s no real doubt about Green’s abilities. But do you want to pay super max money to 3 players? The warriors, as much as anyone, show that a deep and trusted bench is important. With 3 supermax or close players, it’s gonna be tough to fill a quality roster.
You can’t pay 3 players the super max, it’s in the rules. Besides, Durant can never get the super max from the Warriors.