Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green won’t be suiting up for Game 3 against the Sacramento Kings, after being suspended for stomping on Domantas Sabonis in Game 2.
There’s a chance that Green won’t be suiting up for the team next season either. The 33-year-old’s contract includes a player option for next season, allowing him to opt out and test free agency this summer, if he so chooses.
“Bleacher Report’s” Grant Hughes wrote that “the timing might be right” for Green to entertain offers from other teams in the offseason.
“The timing might be right for Draymond Green to decline his $27.6 million player option for 2023-24 and enter unrestricted free agency,” Hughes said in an article published on April 18. “Coming off a season marked by his highest field-goal percentage ever, best three-point hit rate and scoring average since 2017-18 and most games played since 2016-17, Green should be motivated to lock in what’ll probably be the last sizable contract of his career. While $27.6 million is a lot of money to turn down for a 33-year-old whose fit on other rosters has long been a point of uncertainty, it’s hard to imagine his odds of a hefty three- or four-year pact will be any better a year from now.”
Hughes went on to add that the other members of the Warriors’ championship core, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, likely wouldn’t be thrilled if the organization just let the former Defensive Player of the Year walk away.
“Curry and Thompson would surely have an issue with Golden State allowing Green to get away. They know better than anyone how valuable he’s been to the team and their careers. That makes these hypothetical negotiations of the most fraught in the league, with layers of unknowns spanning from whether Green will even opt out in the first place to the clash of emotion and cold, financial calculus that’ll follow if he does.”
Warriors’ Klay Thompson Slams Kings’ Domantas Sabonis
Thompson certainly likes having Green around. The Warriors guard had his teammate’s back on Monday, after his altercation with Sabonis, telling reporters that what the Kings star had done was a dirty play.
“What are you going to do when someone grabs your foot and you’re running full speed?” he asked via NBC Sports Bay Area. “Like that’s a dirty [play]. Just fully grabs your foot and yanks on you, that’s not cool man. I’m not saying what Draymond did was right but, you can’t just grab somebody’s foot when they’re taking off in a full sprint. That’s not cool. I don’t do that. That’s crazy.”
“What are you going to do when someone grabs your foot when you’re running full speed?”
Klay is not happy with the actions of Sabonis leading up to Draymond’s stomp
Warriors’ Draymond Green Asked for X-Ray After Scuffle
Green made it clear to the media that Sabonis was the one who had initiated the scuffle in Game 2, by grabbing his foot.
“I got my foot grabbed. Second time in two nights and referees just watching,” Green said via “The Athletic’s” Anthony Slater. “I got to land my foot somewhere. I’m not the most flexible person. You can only step so far with him pulling my leg away.”
Draymond Green: “My leg got grabbed. Second time in two nights.” Said he needed to put his foot somewhere but officials told him he “stomped too hard.”
Full soundbite
The star forward was reportedly pretty sore after the game, requesting an X-ray on his right ankle, according to ESPN’s Marc J. Spears.
“Warriors star Draymond Green asked for an X-ray on his right ankle after the Game 2 loss to the host Kings after feeling soreness, source confirmed to @andscape @espn,” Spears reported in a tweet. “Source adds Green believes the injury came when Kings star Domantas Sabonis grabbed his ankle before the stomp.”
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‘Timing Might Be Right’ for Warriors’ Draymond Green to Opt Out, Try Free Agency