
Since the Golden State Warriors were eliminated from playoff contention and began their offseason, there's been a flurry of rumors and reports about many aspects of the organization, including Steve Kerr's status as head coach, the front office's ideology, and more.
Not many decisions will be made soon, as the playoffs remain in the first round and Kerr's role is making a big difference one way or another, but there are still uncertainties that players must sort through.
Draymond Green Remains Uncertain About Future
One player who has his own personal decision to make is Draymond Green, who has a player option worth $27.7 million that he can opt into for next season.
"I don't know what's going to happen. What does that look like? Is that an opt-in and finish the contract? Is that an opt-in and get traded? Is that an opt-out and sign a longer term deal? I don't know what that looks like. We obviously haven't had our conversations yet."
Green also dove a bit more into his thoughts on the season and how he's viewing the relationship between himself and the Warriors moving forward.
"This year was a little bit different for me. Even going through the trade talks at the deadline, I've never gone through that before. I think 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. This isn't a one-sided thing where it just makes sense for me and I just do whatever is needed. It's gotta feel good on both sides. What I've learned on 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."
Warriors Gearing Up For Potential Last Stand Next Year?
When looking at the Warriors' payroll, there are a lot of things to consider heading into next season.
First of all, the Warriors actually clocked in as the team with the highest total cap in the NBA, as their $234.2 million payroll landed them nearly $80 million over the cap. Additionally, they were the oldest team in the league by average age by a wide margin, as their 28.8 average age was an entire year older than the second-place Houston Rockets.
For next season, decisions will first need to be made by three players: Green, Al Horford, and De'Anthony Melton. The latter will almost certainly opt out in search of a larger contract, whether or not it comes from the Warriors.
Horford's $6 million player option is more up in the air, similarly to Green's player option, as they could choose to simply opt back in and run it back, restructure the contract in some way if they want to stay but give the Warriors a little bit more flexibility, or opt out to explore different options.
The Warriors will then need to decide if they want to re-sign Kristaps Porzingis, Gary Payton II, Quinten Post, Pat Spencer, and Seth Curry, while also potentially giving an extension to Brandin Podziemski.
Ultimately, everyone currently on the roster outside of Moses Moody and Gui Santos does not have a contract beyond next season. It'll be an important decision from the front office to see if they want to try their hand with this roster one more time before having a clean slate of sorts in the 2027 offseason.


