Getty Draymond Green reacts during a game between the Golden State Warriors and the Denver Nuggets.
We’re now seven games into the Golden State Warriors‘ title defense and, well, to say that things haven’t unfolded quite as Dub Nation had hoped would probably be underselling the situation. The team currently sits at just 3-4 on the campaign, and Steve Kerr hasn’t been pleased with much of what he’s seen
Although there are a lot of things one can point to when attempting to diagnose what’s gone wrong for the club, it’s nigh impossible to ignore the fact that, less than a month ago, Draymond Green altered the locker room dynamic in a negative way with a punch.
Right now, cooler heads are trying to prevail, and Green has largely continued to complement his teammates on the court; his net rating of 3.8 is one of just five positive marks teamwide. Nevertheless, his future in the Bay Area looks to be on shakier ground than ever before, especially with his player option for 2023-24 looming.
With that being the case, Bleacher Report‘s Andy Bailey believes that Green could potentially become a hot name during next summer’s free-agent frenzy.
B/R: Draymond Is a Flight Risk
In a way-too-early feature on the free agent class of 2023, Bailey took B/R’s top-10 ranking of potential free agents and attempted to evaluate what kind of flight risk each player poses. To that end, he deemed that Green has a “medium-high” probability of bolting from the Bay this summer.
Wrote Bailey:
“If the writing wasn’t already on the wall, Draymond Green’s infamous punch of Jordan Poole, and subsequent long-term extensions for Poole and Andrew Wiggins, has to put Green’s future with the Golden State Warriors beyond 2022-23 in jeopardy.”
As noted by Bailey, the aforementioned extensions plus an opt-in by Green would push the Warriors’ combined payroll and luxury-tax payment for 2023-24 to nearly a half-billion dollars. That’s an insane reality in and of itself, but it gets crazier when one considers the effect Green’s actions may have had on the Warriors.
So, while the ball is in Green’s court in terms of his impending free agency, his departure would clean some things up for Golden State. Still, breaking up is hard to do.
“Breaking up the Green-Curry-Klay Thompson core would undoubtedly be difficult, even if it saved the team loads of money and potential headaches,” Bailey added.
Steph Sounds Off on Warriors Problems
Intrasquad strife notwithstanding, Curry believes that the Warriors’ biggest issue so far has been the effort/intensity — or the lack thereof — on the defensive side of the court.
“It’s the communication, understanding what we’re trying to do… in terms of making teams uncomfortable. So, we gotta get more aggressive, I think. Be the first one to strike instead of reacting to what everybody’s doing,” Curry said after the Dubs’ loss to the Pistons on Sunday, via NBC Sports Bay Area.
“Every team is coming at us with their best effort — we’re defending champs. And whether you were out there in the playoff run, in the Finals, whatever… we know what that feels like, but everybody has to meet that intensity from the jump… and give ourselves some momentum on that end of the floor…
“So, communicating, being the first one to attack and set the tone for Warrior defensive, championship-level basketball on that end of the floor. We haven’t done it consistently enough to give ourselves a chance to win games…”