Draymond Green declines player option; Top 5 landing spots
SAN FRANCISCO (BVM) – Draymond Green has declined his $27.5 million player option for the 2023-24 season and is an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career (he was a restricted free agent in 2015).
The four-time NBA champion with the Golden State Warriors will forgo the final season of his four-year, $99.67 million contract and test the open market as one of the summer’s most coveted free agents. The news comes just three days after the Warriors elevated Mike Dunleavy Jr. to general manager to replace former president and GM Bob Myers.
Green, 33, is still one of the NBA’s best defenders and was named to an NBA All-Defensive team in 2023 for the eighth time in his 11-year career. Offensively, Green is limited but averaged his highest points per game (8.5) since 2017-18 and shot the best percentage from the field (52.7%) of his career this past season (his 30.5% shooting from 3-point range was also his best since 2016-17).
One of the most experienced postseason performers in the NBA, Green is one of just four active players with 10-plus playoff triple-doubles (LeBron James, Nikola Jokic, Russell Westbrook). The former defensive player of the year and NBA steals leader (2017) also averaged at least six assists for the eighth consecutive season and will be a major addition to a contending team.
With that in mind, here are five possible landing spots for Green after declining his 2023-24 player option.
Draymond as a Warrior:
— 9/7/7
— 4x NBA Champ
— 1x DPOY
— 4x All-Star
— 2x All-NBAWhere next? pic.twitter.com/cPvqmqLmeo
— StatMuse (@statmuse) June 19, 2023
