The Golden State Warriors lost to the Phoenix Suns 111-96 on Friday night, and the game ended with Draymond Green sounding certain about one thing and unsure about another. The 36-year-old said he wants to remain with the Warriors, but when asked directly about his future, he answered, “I don’t know.”
Green also said, “If the question is where do I wanna be? I think it’s pretty obvious, guys, where the hell I’m going. If they want me here, I’ll be right here.” He added, “I’m not retiring from basketball, though.”
The weight of that answer goes beyond one loss. Green has a player option worth close to $28 million for the final season of the four-year, $100 million deal he signed in 2023, and his next move could shape what Golden State does over the summer. He averaged 8.4 points a game this season, while Stephen Curry missed over two months with a runner’s knee injury and the team spent part of the year trying to acquire Milwaukee Bucks All-Star big man Giannis Antetokounmpo before February’s trade deadline.
That is the backdrop for a veteran who has been at the center of the Warriors’ run for 14 seasons. Green has helped them win four NBA championships over the last decade and a half, and coach Steve Kerr said during the season that he believed Green was the best defensive player he had ever seen. Green and Kerr have both spoken about wanting him to finish his career in Golden State, but the salary structure gives the team a chance to use his contract in a bigger deal if he opts in.
Green said he still believes he can help. “I still love to play and I think I’m still pretty decent,” he said. “I hope I’ve done enough to still be here.” He was even more direct about what he does not want: “Because at the end of the day, if I ain’t done enough I don’t want to be here.”
That is the tension inside Green’s future. The Warriors know what he has been, and they still have to decide what he is worth now — as a defender, a leader and a possible trade piece — before Wednesday’s first Play-In game is just a memory and the offseason starts asking harder questions.