What will become of the Golden State Warriors after missing the playoffs this season with a pricey, veteran-heavy roster? Specifically, what will become of star power forward/center Draymond Green, who was suspended twice during the 2023-24 season due to various on-court disputes?
Following the official end of Golden State's season this year during a play-in game ouster (more on that later), head coach Steve Kerr pulled no punches when it came to discussing the star defender's future with the franchise, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
"He punched Jordan [Poole ahead of the 2022-23 season]," Kerr acknowledged. "He grabbed [Minnesota Timberwolves center] Rudy Gobert by the neck. He flailed at [Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic]. That stuff, just by basic laws of society, basic norms, you can't do that, right? So at that point, you know, when the league suspended him, it was the best thing to happen to Draymond... His career was on the line. It is on the line every day."
The NBA suspended Green for five games after the Gobert incident and indefinitely for the Nurkic dust-up. He was ultimately reinstated after 12 missed games.
When Green returned from that second, 12-game suspension following the Nurkic hit, Golden State finished the year on a 26-14 run, with a 46-36 overall record. The Warriors entered the play-in tournament as the No. 10 seed and got throttled by the Sacramento Kings in their lone play-in game on Tuesday, 118-94. Sacramento also got ousted last night by the New Orleans Pelicans without injured star forward Zion Williamson, 105-98. In essence, the Warriors got beaten by a team that itself wasn't quite good enough to make the playoffs properly, either.
"As someone who loves Draymond and values him so much, I am going to continue to help him any way that I can to live his best life, to be the best version of himself, which he really was for the last two months," Kerr noted. "I'll be really honest, during the suspension, I was sitting there, like, 'Can he actually get a few sessions of therapy and change? I don't think that's possible.'"
That said, Kerr seemed definitively excited about Green's growth following his return, especially in his development off the court.
"But whatever he did over the last three months, he was the best version of himself, not just on the court, in the locker room, leading the young guys. His teammates would all tell you how great he was."
Green just finished up the first season of a four-year, $100 million fully guaranteed deal with the club. He has a player option for 2026-27 when he'd be paid $27.7 million in his age-36 season. Slater reports that current Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. seems to expect to retain Green this year.
"Draymond's complex. His relationship with our franchise is complex," Kerr allowed. "But at the core of it is a deep loyalty and passion and love, and we share that with him. That's really tricky to reconcile. You almost don't even try to reconcile it. You help him through it and you make sure he's the best version of himself and you keep pushing."
On the floor, Green saw his shooting improve significantly from long range, albeit mostly when he was left wide open. The four-time All-Star and eight-time All-Defensive Teamer appeared in 55 regular season games, averaging 8.6 points on .497/.395/.730 shooting splits, 7.2 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.9 blocks per.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Newsweek contributing writer Alex Kirschenbaum is a hoops fanatic who has managed to parlay his passion into a writing career. ... Read more
