Draymond Green sent shockwaves throughout the NBA when he signed a team-friendly four-year, $100 million extension with the Golden State Warriors, which is $51 million less than the full-max contract he was expected to get in free agency next summer. It turns out, however, that there are more details to the deal that make it mutually beneficial for both sides.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Green has a player option in the final year of his deal, something that his superstar teammates Steph Curry and Klay Thompson weren’t given in their new contracts. Should Green decline his player option, he’d enter unrestricted free agency in 2023.
Golden State's Draymond Green has become first Warriors star in dynasty to receive player option on a long-term deal, with ability to opt out of four-year, $100M extension in 2023, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 5, 2019
Green, a former Defensive Player of the Year and five-time All-Defensive Teamer, has been an integral part of everything the Warriors have accomplished over the greater half of this decade, but he wasn’t able to get the guaranteed money that Curry or Thompson got. For context, Green will make $13 million less than Thompson when his extension kicks in next season.
With a player option in 2023, though, Green will have the opportunity to cash in on one more big-money deal at the age of 32, whether it’s the Warriors or another team. Had he entered unrestricted free agency in 2020 like he was expected to, his market would have been limited to only a handful of teams with cap space headlined by the Charlotte Hornets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks and Memphis Grizzlies.
Green might not have gotten a max contract, but he’ll have the luxury of staying in the same role he’s thrived in for the last several years and, if he’s lucky, he’ll be rewarded when his time comes again in 2023.
