Draymond Green, Warriors Agree To One-Year Deal

According to Charania, the new deal is the same as the one Green opted out of June in order to give Golden State some extra cap flexibility in its pursuit of LeBron James. If the terms are truly identical to that declined player option, the exact value will be $27,678,571.

Green, who turned 36 in March, appeared in 68 games in 2025/26, averaging 8.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.5 assists in 27.5 minutes per contest, with a .418/.326/.702 shooting line.

While he has never been a huge scoring threat, Green is a savvy play-maker and continues to provide value on the defensive end of the court. The 2017 Defensive Player of the Year and nine-time All-Defensive honoree is just one year removed from finishing the 2024/25 season as a Defensive Player of the Year finalist and All-Defensive first-teamer.

If the Warriors had been able to land James, Green likely would’ve signed a multiyear contract with a lower first-year salary, notes Anthony Slater of ESPN (Twitter link). Instead, his new short-term deal will put him on track for unrestricted free agency in 2027. He won’t become extension-eligible before then.

Although he was eligible for a formal no-trade clause, Green won’t receive one, Slater adds. Still, simply re-signing with his previous team will give him an implicit no-trade clause for 2026/27, tweets Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron. Waiving those veto rights and approving a trade prior to the 2027 deadline would mean Green would enter next offseason with only Non-Bird rights.

Green’s new contract will push the Warriors beyond the first tax apron, which means the team will complete its reported two-year, $11MM deal with De’Anthony Melton using the taxpayer mid-level exception. Once both signings are official, Golden State will have 12 players on standard contracts and will be roughly $8.3MM below a second-apron hard cap, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

The Warriors will technically have enough room to fill out their 15-man roster with three players on minimum-salary contracts, but they might opt not to leave their 15th roster spot open to begin the regular season in order to maintain some additional cap and roster flexibility. Of course, their cap outlook and position relative to the aprons could still change if they’re active on the trade market before opening night.

With Green on a one-year deal, he, Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler, and Brandin Podziemski will be on expiring contracts, though Podziemski is eligible to sign a rookie scale extension this offseason, while Curry will become extension-eligible on August 29 and Butler will become extension-eligible in February. If none of those players are extended and Golden State doesn’t take on any additional multiyear salary, the team will only have about $41MM in guaranteed money on its books for 2027/28.