NBA Rumors: Warriors Owner Joe Lacob Hints At Major Plan For Draymond Green

All-Star power forward Draymond Green is undeniably one of the major reasons behind the Golden State Warriors’ success in the past few years. Green may not be an elite scorer like Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, but he’s the perfect description of what a championship-caliber team like the Warriors is looking from a role player. Aside from his outstanding on-court performance, Green has also made a huge sacrifice for the Warriors off the court, proven by his decision to accept a less lucrative contract four years ago to enable Golden State to have enough salary cap room to sign Kevin Durant.

As of now, no one can argue that Green deserves to be repaid for all the things he has done for the Warriors’ franchise. One simple way to do it is to give him a massive contract extension. In a recent interview with Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic, as quoted by Bleacher Report, Warriors owner Joe Lacob said that he wants Green “to be here forever” because “he’s as Warriors as they come.”

That is definitely a nice thing to hear from one of the people who is pulling the strings in Golden State, but it remains a huge question mark how far Lacob can go to bring Green back. After the 2018-19 NBA season, Green will still have one-year left on his Warriors’ contract, but according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN, the 29-year-old power forward is set to demand a contract extension from Golden State next summer.

“Although he still has a season left on his deal, Green has been gearing up for contract extension talks this summer, as he will be eligible for an extension in the final year. He changed agents recently — hiring Rich Paul of Klutch Sports — to prepare for the talks, which have the potential to get complicated. Because even as Green believes he’s underpaid based on the changed market, his effectiveness and production have dropped over the past two seasons.”

Draymond is indispensable for Golden State. https://t.co/OhOr8F44PV

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 2, 2019

Joe Lacob may have expressed his desire to see Draymond Green finish his NBA career in Golden State, but there are more important things that they should focus on in the 2019 NBA offseason. When the 2018-19 NBA season is officially over, two of the Warriors’ core players, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson, are set to become unrestricted free agents. Durant and Thompson are both expected to demand max contracts, making it less likely for the Warriors to offer Green a massive contract extension next summer.

Unlike what he did four years ago, Draymond Green reportedly doesn’t have any plan to give the Warriors a huge discount on his next contract. If Green and the Warriors fail to reach a mutual agreement, Golden State could be forced to explore trading the All-Star power forward next summer.