Why Draymond's conduct can make or break Warriors season

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It was not the shouting that alerted Warriors players and staff because occasional raising of voices is relatively normal during practices and scrimmages, particularly when Draymond Green is feeling fiery.

What alarmed everybody on Wednesday was the blow upside the head of Jordan Poole. A decorated teammate in a position of leadership lost it in front of those for whom he should be an example.

Hitting a teammate, taking a moderately intense interaction to potentially volcanic, is a serious violation of camaraderie. Coaches and veterans were said to be startled. Young players were shocked. Impressionable rookies could not have anticipated such a savage welcome-to-the NBA moment in the wholesome habitat of training camp, barely three days removed from a bonding excursion to Japan.

As badly as the Warriors need Draymond to be their best selves, this is not the Draymond they need.

Green is remorseful, as he should be. There surely is some regret, which tends to follow when a big man of conscience, unable to submerge a spasm of fury, berates or picks on a smaller man.

Draymond, as wise as he is tactical, knows of the potential damage. He also knows that whatever becomes of this season, be it ordinary or excellent, can be dictated by him. His volatility makes him the wild card in the Golden State deck, and he happens to be a team leader.

For the better part of a decade now, the Warriors -- primarily coach Steve Kerr -- has lived with the policy of letting Draymond be Draymond. Tolerated the bad to get the spectacular. The halftime blowup at Kerr in Oklahoma City in February 2016, when the Warriors won an NBA-record 73 games. The public quarrel with Kevin Durant in November 2018, when only injuries to Klay Thompson and KD in the NBA Finals kept the Warriors from a third consecutive championship.

Letting Draymond be Draymond has been fruitful for the franchise and put about $130 million into his personal pocket, with another $53 million coming due.

This season, however, is not like the previous. The 2022-23 Warriors are trying to balance and blend their classic crew -- thirty-somethings Stephen Curry, Andre Iguodala, Thompson and Green -- with impressionable youngsters they hope can carry the championship torch toward 2030 and perhaps beyond.

Meanwhile, sensitive contractual issues have formed a cloud of concern and a potential threat to their heralded team-first chemistry and culture. Green and Poole are at the center of it.

Draymond can opt out of the final year of his contract after the season and become an unrestricted free agent next summer. He said 11 days ago that he was not expecting an extension and implied he was willing to bet on himself. He did himself no favors on Wednesday. He’s 32, with a career mostly behind him.

Poole’s representatives are negotiating with the Warriors for a four-year, rookie-scale extension that would begin in 2023-24 and top $100 million. At 23, his career mostly is in front of him.

These circumstances are common knowledge but will be no more significant than Draymond and Poole allow. Generally speaking, NBA players root for others to get paid, whether teammates are opponents.

Kerr and the front office, namely CEO Joe Lacob and president/general manager Bob Myers, will decide what action should be taken. Doing nothing, based on what league sources told NBC Sports Bay Area, does not seem to be an option. This was destructive, an assault on the low-drama environment the Warriors have so carefully cultivated under Kerr and Curry.

RELATED: Iguodala defends JP, Draymond after reported practice dust-up

This whole ugly incident surely struck a sour chord with Curry, who thrives amid serenity. Draymond has for so long been a trusted ally, someone counted on to do his part -- including shouting at teammates -- to push the Warriors up every hill or mountain they confront.

The Warriors are painfully aware of the two possible outcomes.

If Draymond can keep it together and bring his best on a semi-regular basis in the regular season and his best in the postseason, another championship is conceivable.

If he goes astray, as he did Wednesday, this whole tricky endeavor of a championship defense could blow up.

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