As soon as it seemed like Draymond Green would be in a Golden State Warriors uniform for years to come, things quickly changed. On Tuesday, news came out that Green may be interested in pursuing an offer from his hometown Detroit Pistons when he hits the market as a restricted free agent this summer.
As reported by Adrian Wojnarowski from Yahoo! Sports, Green may have his eye on a homecoming of sorts.
Green has loved playing with the Warriors and winning, and naturally Golden State is determined to find a way to retain him. Still, the Warriors’ salary structure almost dictates that Green has to go onto the market and get an offer sheet for them to match in July.
.
If the offer is too rich to match, the chance for Green to return to his beloved home state – where he grew up in Saginaw and played at Michigan State in East Lansing – has long intrigued him, sources said. Green still spends most of his time away from the NBA in Michigan.
As a restricted free agent, the Warriors can match any offer for Green if they wish to keep him, but with the Warriors already strapped for cash, that could make things a little more tricky.
In a recent interview with KNBR’s Brian Murphy, Warriors owner Joe Lacob reiterated the fact that they want Green to remain a Warrior long term.
“We can’t imagine Draymond not being a part of this team,” Lacob told Murphy, “He’s been called ‘the heartbeat’ by Steve Kerr and he is one of our favorites, absolute favorites. He’s a great guy. He has added such a dimension to this team. I think you can rest assured that we’ll do whatever it takes.”
Green is having by far the best year of his career averaging 11.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 3.6 assists, all significantly better than last year. He is also shooting a respectable 33 percent from deep, acting as someone that can stretch out the defense when playing the power forward spot.
Even before the Yahoo story broke, a report by Sean Deveney of the Sporting News confirmed that Green is enjoying his experience with the Warriors:
“Basketball is fun,” Green said. “I had so much fun in college. I absolutely loved it, and I could never understand being someone who went in and said, ‘OK, I did my one year, now let me bounce.’ That’s never been how I am, you know? I had so much fun there, so much love. I didn’t want to leave.”
.
He sees a lot of similarities between Michigan State and Golden State, in fact, including the fun he’s having.
.
“This is very much like that,” Green said. “I know it is not like that every place in the NBA. We look at this like a family, it is a great group of guys—it reminds me of college. You come to one of our practices and you are going to have guys laughing, guys making noise. It’s a great atmosphere. It makes everything so much easier because for us, everything we do is fun. And when you’re having fun, you don’t want to stop. It’s a joy to play here.”
On Tuesday, Green himself went on KNBR to clear the air about the situation. The way he put it, he was just as surprised as everyone.
“All of a sudden all this stuff popping up … and the story from Woj and I’m like ‘Whoa, where did this come from?'” Green said on the air. “This is a special group that I’m playing with, and I think we can make some special things happen this year. So for me to sit and worry about, ‘Oh, can I sign with the Pistons? Or can I do this or do that,’ I’d be living wrong.
“You’re talking about a life-changing decision. It’s definitely going to be a tough decision … all that stuff will take care of itself.”
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
