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Draymond Green Says Future with Warriors Depends on Contract Decision

Draymond Green, after the Warriors ended the 2025-26 season with a 111-96 play-in loss to the Suns, has spent the offseason making one thing clear: he wants to stay with the Bay Area franchise, but the decision will not be one-sided.

Speaking on The Draymond Green Show, he addressed the uncertainty surrounding his $27.6 million player option for the upcoming season.

“I have a player option coming up this year. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know what that looks like. We obviously haven’t had our conversations yet,” Green said. “That stuff will play out over the next couple months. I would love to finish in the place that I started, but ultimately it has to make sense for the Golden State Warriors organization, and it also has to make sense for me.”

Draymond Green further elaborated on why the balance matters.

“This isn’t a one-sided thing where it just makes sense for me, and I just do whatever’s needed. It gotta feel good on both sides. What I’ve learned in this job, and showing up every day… If it don’t feel good on both sides, at some point it’s going to crash and burn,” he said. “I don’t want to put myself in a position where I’m just like, ‘Oh man. I want to be here so bad that you can do anything to me.’ Because ultimately, you have to think with that mentality.”

That being said, the cap math around Golden State makes Draymond Green’s situation central to whatever the front office does next.

Draymond Green Is the Warriors’ Most Practical Tradeable Asset This Offseason

Stephen Curry carries $62.6 million in the final year of his contract for the upcoming season, and Jimmy Butler, who tore his ACL in the 2025-26 season, is in line for a significant salary as well.

After Green’s $27.6 million option, Moses Moody’s deal follows, but his ruptured patellar tendon makes him a difficult trade candidate.

That essentially leaves Draymond Green as the most realistic piece to move, if the Warriors organization decides to pursue a major roster addition.

Furthermore, there is no mandate within the organization to trade Green, but his player option could become a central element in any salary-matching scenario if the Warriors pursue a win-now upgrade, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne and Anthony Slater.

Green himself acknowledged the business side of it.

“I understand this business probably as good as any player,” he said. “I hope I’ve done enough to still be here, because at the end of the day, if I ain’t done enough, I don’t wanna be here.”

Green has spent all 14 seasons of his career in Golden State, and his role in the franchise’s four championships is well established. Moving him would leave Curry without his longest-tenured running mate, a consideration the front office will have to weigh alongside the financial calculus.

Having said that, whatever direction the organization takes, Draymond Green has made it clear he intends to be part of the conversation rather than simply wait for a decision to land on him.

This article first appeared on AirJordanChronicles and was syndicated with permission.

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