Time always gets the better of every professional athlete (expect for Tom Brady, of course) and Draymond Green has fallen victim too. What we saw from him in the playoffs last postseason shows why the Warriors must not give him a max deal, or risk losing their title-contending young core.
I understand the sentimentality and nostalgia Steph Curry feels for his longtime teammate, and it makes sense that he has quietly pushed for the Warriors upper management to give Draymond Green his desired 4-year, $138.4M max deal. And I understand Warriors fans wanting to keep the 4-time championship trio together for as long as possible. Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson have brought the sustained success to the Bay Area.
Yet, if Warriors owners, Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, want to keep from spending $500M or more in luxury tax and have enough money to sign Kuminga, Poole, and Wiseman, then they either need to work out a shorter-term deal with Green or let him walk in two years.
Don’t get me wrong, Draymond Green is a future Hall-Of-Famer. He has helped create the greatest NBA dynasty since Michael Jordan’s 6-time championship winning Bulls roster, and he has done it during the era of Lebron James. Simply put, Draymond Green, Steph Curry, and Klay Thompson will be remembered for all-time in San Francisco when their playing careers with Golden State comes to an end.
Unfortunately for Green, his Warriors career is coming to an end faster than the other two.
For the second time in the last three seasons, Draymond Green failed to play in at least 50 games. Missing such an extensive amount of time in 2/3 seasons is a bad trend, especially when that player is a physical-minded defender. Oh, and Green just turned 32 in March. Also, not great when a player starts missing a lot of time when they are over 30.
However, his stats have not declined too much in said time. It is true that Green no longer puts up 11 PPG or shoots above 30% from the 3-point line (like he did back in 2014-17), but he is still effective. Contributing 7.0 PPG, 7.5 RPG, and 7.0 APG to go along with 1.3 SPG and 1.1 BPG is very good for a defensive-minded forward.
But is that really worth a max deal for four years for this Warriors team? I’m not so sure.
This issue gets even more complicated for the Warriors upper management and owners when they see that Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins are out of contract in 2023, James Wiseman and Klay Thompson in 2024, and Jonathan Kuminga in 2025. That’s practically the entire roster that will need a new deal within the next three years.
Obviously, the Warriors need to resign Klay Thompson and Jonathan Kuminga as their primary objectives. Thompson can still give the Warriors 20-22 PPG, while Kuminga has the potential to put up 20-25 PPG in a few seasons.
I would also resign Jordan Poole as he has already shown he is more than ready to take over for Klay Thompson when the Hall-Of-Fame guard gets injured/tired/needs a break. Plus, Poole had his breakout year last season as he averaged 18.5 PPG and 4.0 APG in 76 games played.
So, that leaves the choice between keeping either Andrew Wiggins (who looked rejuvenated in a Warriors uniform) or Draymond Green (who started to look old and slow during the 2022 playoffs, especially against the fast Boston Celtics). It is a tough choice, but one that really only has one answer: resign Andrew Wiggins.
Draymond Green has been one of the most engaging, stalwart, and enthusiastic players/defenders in the modern era of the NBA. Sadly, age and time have caught up with the 4-time champion as it will probably spell the end of his time with the Golden State Warriors when his contract runs out in 2024.
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