Draymond Green believes this will be his final season with the Warriors and that he would like to join the Los Angeles Lakers, according to NBA analyst Stephen A. Smith.
Draymond Green is ‘predicted’ to consider leaving the Golden State Warriors for the Los Angeles Lakers, where he will join LeBron James
Draymond Green, who will be a free agent at the end of the season, is expected to leave the Warriors.
The Warriors’ 32-year-old star has a one-year contract extension option, but it appears he will decline it in order to pursue a long-term deal elsewhere.
In the last eight years as a key member of the Warriors’ roster, he has won four championships and six NBA Finals.
He was underappreciated in his first two seasons with the Warriors, but in his third year, he rose to become one of the pillars who helped the team win its first championship.
With the Warriors now having a few younger players they’d like to keep, the salary cap may force them to part ways with Green or fellow long-time Warrior Klay Thompson.
Green, as one of the NBA’s best defensive players, would be a hot commodity as a free agent.
A recent video of Green punching one of the aforementioned young players who the Warriors would like to keep, Jordan Poole, may have aided their decision. In the video, Green punches Poole and throws him to the ground following an argument during a practice session; he has since apologized for the incident.
Green’s situation was revealed by Stephen A. Smith, host of ESPN’s First Take and an ESPN Insider.
Smith said: “I can tell you right now, [Andrew] Wiggins and Poole are a priority. I can tell you right now that Draymond Green is expecting this to be his last year in Golden State. Now, he wanna 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.
“But he looking for a payday. He gonna get $25 million this year. He got a player option for $24 million next year. The Warriors are probably hoping he don’t opt in because they’d have to pay him on top of the cats that they know that they gotta pay in Poole and Wiggins.”
About Draymond Green
| No. 23 – Golden State Warriors | |
|---|---|
| Position | Power forward |
| League | NBA |
| Personal information | |
| Born | March 4, 1990 Saginaw, Michigan, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) |
| Listed weight | 230 lb (104 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Saginaw (Saginaw, Michigan) |
| College | Michigan State (2008–2012) |
| NBA draft | 2012 / Round: 2 / Pick: 35th overall |
| Selected by the Golden State Warriors | |
| Playing career | 2012–present |
| Career history | |
| 2012–present | Golden State Warriors |
