Draymond Green’s future with the Golden State Warriors is in doubt, especially with Bob Myers potentially out of the front office. Where else might he end up?
The Golden State Warriors were ousted in the second round of the playoffs by the 7-seed Lakers, the perfect capstone to an uneven and often frustrating season for the reigning champs. Draymond Green was at the center of it all, for reasons good and bad. He made another All-Defensive team, but he also punched Jordan Poole in the face and killed the Warriors’ once-infallible chemistry.
Now Green’s future with the team is up in the air with the 33-year-old expected to decline his $27.6 million player option and enter the free agent market. Green has already stated his desire to run it back, but it’s the NBA — players and teams don’t always get what they want.
To add fuel to the fire of speculation, Warriors president Bob Myers is possibly on his way out the door. Myers has been a central figure in not only assembling the Warriors’ dynasty, but keeping it all together. His exit could beget sizable changes. Not to mention the looming financial implications of the new collective bargaining agreement, which will make it difficult for high-spending teams to flesh out their rosters.
So, if Green does end up leaving… where might he end up?
Potential Draymond Green free agency destinations if he leaves Warriors
3. New York Knicks
Let’s say the New York Knicks are tired of the Julius Randle roller coaster and desire significant change in advance of next season. Let’s say the Knicks, with significant trade capital at their disposal, decide to put together a sign-and-trade offer that can net the Warriors a couple draft picks. And, let’s say Draymond Green likes the idea of playing in a big market to complete the third act of his storied career. Maybe, he gathers, Draymond Green can bring glory back to the Garden.
This would require several moving parts and the overcoming of several logistical challenges, only made more challenging by the potential hole in the Warriors’ front office. But the Knicks are known to prowl the market in search of game-changing talent and Green, even at 33 years old, can still change the complexion of a game with his defense.
Green is an all-time defensive quarterback, constantly barking out orders and putting teammates in the right position to succeed. He would be Tom Thibodeau’s dream player. The Knicks would lean further into Jalen Brunson’s playmaking and reorient the offense around Green-Brunson two-man actions. That said, New York would need a fair amount of confidence in R.J. Barrett and Immanuel Quickly picking up the scoring slack left by Randle’s presumed departure here.