Draymond Green seems to be staring down one of the most loaded offseasons of his career. The Golden State Warriors forward holds a $27.7 million player option for the 2026-27 season and has openly floated a “decline and extend” route.
His head coach, Steve Kerr, hasn’t decided whether to come back. His running mate just turned 38. And on Wednesday night, sitting at the Inside the NBA desk filling in for Kenny Smith, Green was asked the question every Warriors fan has been chewing on since the play-in loss to Phoenix.
What Draymond Green Said About His Future With the Warriors
It was a pretty straightforward question from the Inside the NBA crew: Could he picture himself in another jersey?
“I don’t want to,” Green said. “It’s not something I’ve imagined over the last few years of my career. Early on in your career, you kinda like, ‘When is this gonna come to an end?'”
The four-time NBA champion now acknowledged the obvious.
“For me, no, I don’t see myself in another uniform, but I am also understanding of this business and know that it takes them to want me as much as I want them in order for it to continue.”
Green has spent his entire 13-year career in the Golden State. He was the 35th overall pick in the second round of the 2012 NBA draft. He has earned four rings, a Defensive Player of the Year award, earned multiple All-Defensive Team selections, and finished in the top three of voting in other seasons.
He and Stephen Curry are the last two pieces of the original three-man core still in the building after Klay Thompson left for Dallas in the summer of 2024.
Trade rumors swirled around him earlier this year. One reported framework would have shipped Green to Milwaukee as part of a package for Giannis Antetokounmpo. The deal fell apart. Golden State finished 10th in the West and got bounced by the Suns in the play-in.
Green has already floated his preferred outcome. In April, he told Tim Kawakami on The TK Show that the decline-and-extend route is the one that makes sense to him. “If I had it my way, I think that would be the best path forward,” Green said.
ESPN’s Anthony Slater has reported it’s a real possibility. Green can decline the option in exchange for a longer-term deal at a slightly lower annual number.
The Charles Barkley Standoff That Set the Tone
Earlier in the same broadcast, Charles Barkley used Green’s appearance to deliver his own eulogy for the Warriors era.
“It’s over for the Warriors. No disrespect. It ends for every old team,” Barkley said. “You had your run; you get old; you let Klay go. You and Steph are on the backside of your careers; it just passed you by.”
But Green didn’t sit on it. He immediately fired back at Barkley’s late-career stint with the Houston Rockets, when the Hall of Famer was chasing a ring on a body that wasn’t there anymore.
“Yeah, I mean, I think the goal is just to not look like you in the Houston Rockets uniform,” Green said. “Knowing and understanding that it may not be realistic to win a championship, but can we continue to build to that so that once we leave this organization, it’s still in a great space?”
Curry just turned 38. Steve Kerr’s contract is up, and he’s openly weighing whether to come back at all. Jimmy Butler is rehabbing the ACL he tore in January, and isn’t expected back until partway into next season.
That uncertainty was already on display in Phoenix. As the final seconds ticked off the play-in loss, Kerr pulled Curry and Green in for a long embrace at the bench. Green revisited the moment on his podcast that week.
“Steph, myself, Steve shared a moment in what could be our last time playing with Steve as our coach,” Green said. “I also hope I’m on this team next year. We also don’t know that.”
