The Golden State Warriors have agreed to a deal with longtime franchise icon Draymond Green, agreeing to a one-year, $27.7 million deal, per ESPN’s Shams Charania. While Green’s sizable salary may seem larger than market rate, the Dubs are seemingly matching the player option he opted out earlier this offseason. Normally players only opt out of a player option when they know a more lucrative opportunity is waiting, but Green’s close relationship with the organization made him comfortable opting out to give
the front office more flexibility to pursue LeBron James in free agency. Green likely would have taken less money to accommodate adding James. However, LeBron opted to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers so the two sides agreed to a deal that is equivalent to if he had opted in. While Green was eligible for a no-trade clause, ESPN’s Anthony Slater clarified that there is not a no-trade clause in the deal.
The news is far from a surprise since everyone expected Green to quickly re-up with the Warriors once James chose the Sixers. The main question was whether the two sides would lean toward a multi-year deal that either included non-guaranteed years or was fully guaranteed but carries a lower average annual salaries. Since there aren’t many premium free agents (if any) left on the market, the Warriors had much less incentive to cut Green’s salary for non-financial reasons. He presumably would have only agreed to a pay cut with more sizable guarantees or a subsequent upgrade to the roster.
