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Golden State Warriors star forward Draymond Green recently declined his $27.6 million player option for next season. This led to speculation that he could leave the Warriors this summer.
These rumors only escalated after Green was recently spotted on vacation with his close friend, LA Lakers superstar LeBron James in France. Green has long been connected to the Lakers in rumors. However, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, it is unlikely that Green ends up in LA.
During Tuesday’s episode of 'Get Up', Windhorst said that Green opting out of his player option was expected. He added that Green is still expected to negotiate a new deal with the Warriors. This comes despite Golden State opting not to extend Green earlier in the year:
“First off, let me just say that Draymond’s opting out is 100% expected. It is not a surprise. We’ve known about it for weeks if not months,” Windhorst said.
“Absolutely, from what I am told, there is dialogue between the Warriors and Draymond with an intention that he would remain there.”
Green averaged 8.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.8 blocks per game on 52.7% shooting over 73 games this season. The veteran has proven that even at the age of 33 he can still be a key contributor to a contender. So, he will likely be an appealing free agency target to numerous teams.
Brian Windhorst says contending teams can’t afford to sign Draymond Green
During his appearance on 'Get Out', Windhorst also said that many contenders would gladly take Draymond Green. However, he added that those teams, including the Lakers, don’t have enough available cap space to do so without gutting their rosters:
“But the problem is, for a team to be in contention usually means they don’t have appreciable cap space, and in the case of the Lakers, they would have to pretty much dump all of the players they got over the last year to open up that space,” Windhorst said.
“That is not something that Rob Pelinka, the general manager, has indicated he wants to do.”
So, if Green wants to sign with the LA Lakers, he will likely have to take a massive pay cut to make it possible.
