Both Steph Curry and Golden State general manager Bob Myers were clear about one thing when asked about Draymond Green and Jordan Poole’s altercation last week.
It was not about the pair’s impending contract decisions.
Green himself said as much, despite a report from Yahoo Sportsclaiming Poole’s looming extension was tied to the tension between the pair, which it claimed had been “boiling” since training camp.
Whoever you want to believe though, Green cannot dispute that his actions have cast an even greater spotlight on his future at the franchise, which was already in doubt before the incident.
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Green, who can opt out of the final year of his contract after this season and become an unrestricted free agent, had even said at media day that he was not expecting an extension.
But forget an extension, Green is now taking time away from the team after the altercation with Poole, prompting suggestions he could even be traded before the end of the season.
The Athletic’s Tim Kawakami wrote that Poole, who could become a restricted free agent next summer, holds all the power in determining Green’s future at the franchise.
“If he doesn’t want to play with Draymond any longer than is necessary, the Warriors will probably have to consider if they need to end their relationship with Draymond, one of their foundational players and personalities,” Kawakami wrote.
Poole and the Warriors have to agree to a contract extension by the October 17 deadline, with the 23-year-old expected to receive an offer of around $120 million, similar to that Tyler Herro pocketed at Miami.
“If Poole does want to stay here after the punch,” Kawakami added, “the Warriors almost have to offer him $30 million a year, which is more than they wanted to pay and would trigger future serious salary offloads, probably involving major veterans”.
Green could be one of them, with Kawakami writing that Poole “now has the power to either restore some of Draymond’s clout or cut it off completely”.
Golden State’s balancing act with Green represents a broader headache for the franchise as it looks to mould together a team of championship experience and difference-making youth.
Twenty-year-old Jonathan Kuminga is expected to be the biggest beneficiary of Green’s absence, set to start in the veteran’s place for Monday’s preseason game against the Lakers.
ESPN analyst Jay Williams suggested the Warriors may have to already start planning ahead, with Green’s exit seemingly accelerated by last week’s events.
“There’s part of me that really believes this is the last year Draymond will play for the Golden State Warriors,” Williams said on ESPN Radio.
“There were times during the playoffs where he was a liability on the court offensively. I know what he brings to the court defensively.
“But for what you’re going to have to pay him, considering the other pivotal young piece on your team, it’s a futures market in the NBA. You’ve got to plan for where you’re going to be two years from now. Draymond Green beyond this year, I don’t see it happening.”
Even if Green does stay put for the time being, The San Francisco Chronicle’sConnor Letourneau wrote that this has to be the moment where the Warriors take a stand.
Where Golden State no longer puts up with ‘Draymond being Draymond’, as Letourneau put it.
After all, from the halftime blowup at coach Kerr in Oklahoma City to his public spat with Kevin Durant — Green has history and Letourneau believes something has to change.
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“In the eight years since Draymond Green emerged as an elite NBA player, the Golden State Warriors have stomached his antics — the impulse-control issues, the controversial sound bites — for a simple reason: His positives far outweighed his negatives,” Letourneau wrote.
“But by giving Green the benefit of the doubt again and again, the Warriors sent an uncomfortable message to the rest of the team: You can get away with certain things others might not if you are a driving force behind championships.
“The question I have long had, though, is when does it become too much? There has to be a point even for a player of Green’s caliber where the antics make it hard for management to continue justifying his roster spot.”
That point may have come now. It begs an even bigger question. Isf Green is not going to be at Golden State next season, is it worth trying to strike a deal already?
Kawakami does not think so, at least unless the situation becomes so untenable that it impacts results on the court.
“Unless things go absolutely haywire in the next few days, I don’t think the Warriors would want to trade Draymond right now because it’d be a terrible value play,” he wrote.
“This is, ultimately, about value. But just having to type those words about a future Hall of Famer is a sign of the drastic times and the upcoming Warriors’ luxury-tax decisions.”
And as mentioned earlier, it all goes back to Poole.
“Even before Wednesday, a lot of the future already hinged on Poole’s contract and desire,” Kawakami wrote.
“But the punch lifted the urgency level from middling to full-scale imperative. The Warriors now have to do right by Poole. And he has the obligation to signal how the Warriors can do this.”
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At this stage all signs point towards Poole signing the extension and if he does, Kawakami wrote that Green has now “circled himself as the leading candidate” for the exit door.
That in itself could spell further trouble for the Warriors though, even if trading Green now is not going to return true market value.
“If Draymond knows he could be headed out, he might push the pedal down and seek a quicker departure, maybe relatively soon,” Kawakami added.
The Athletic’s Marcus Thompson II, who has spent 10 seasons covering the Warriors, wrote that this is a “disappointing chapter” in Green’s “monumental” career.
“Sad, even,” he added.
While some may be asking what Poole could have said to elicit such a reaction, sources told Thompson II that Green’s actions “were not justified” in any way by what was said.
“What Green did was an intrusion on the vibe,” Thompson II wrote.
“It was such a violation of what he means to the Warriors that you have to wonder how he can go back into that same locker room and be who they need him to be. The video changes everything.”
Now, Green will have to work to win back not just the trust of Poole but the entire fanbase and all of the playing group.
“He has to do it all while every single action, gesture, expression and word will be analyzed profusely by the public looking for a sign of more friction,” Thompson II added.
“It’s a tall order.”
You know what is also a tall order? Winning back-to-back championships. But that is what the Warriors are gunning for this season and they looked every chance of doing it.
Now, this could change that too.
As NBC Sports’ Monte Poole put it: “If he goes astray, as he did Wednesday, this whole tricky endeavor of a championship defense could blow up”.
