Draymond Green Declining $27.7MM Player Option

The Warriors were about $20MM below the first apron before Green’s decision, notes Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link). He adds that taking Green’s salary off the books, at least temporarily, should give the team access to the full $15MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception.

They plan to use the MLE to target James and are confident about their chances of landing both veteran stars, according to Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints (Twitter link). Green appears to be “very open” to re-signing at a discount to make that happen, Siegel adds.

For the moment, Golden State is about $43.7MM below the luxury tax and $51.7MM away from the first apron, per Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link), whose figures include a reported new deal for Al Horford and the salary of first-round pick Yaxel Lendeborg. Smith states that the Warriors will have the flexibility to add salaries via trade and projects the first apron to be the team’s eventual hard cap.

Green, 36, has spent his entire career with Golden State since being selected with the 35th pick in the 2012 draft. He’s a former Defensive Player of the Year and a nine-time member of the All-Defensive Team. He played a huge role in the Warriors’ four championships and continues to be productive in the late stage of his career. In 68 games this season, he averaged 8.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists in 27.5 minutes per night.

Green has expressed a desire to finish his career with Golden State alongside Stephen Curry and head coach Steve Kerr. It appears that he might get a chance to do that with a revived Warriors team that features some of the biggest names in recent NBA history.