Draymond Green signed a four-year, $99,666,363 contract extension with the Warriors.
His max in 2020 free agency projected to be $204 million over five years (or $238 million over five years if he won Defensive Player of the Year or made an All-NBA team next season) if he re-signed or $151 million over four years elsewhere.
The extension a great deal for Golden State.
Why did Green sign it?
Green on ESPN:People always talk about testing the market. But if you’re testing something, there’s a possibility that you come up short. OK? That’s one side of it.
The flip side of it is I got two guys that I’ve been rolling with since the time I stepped into this league in Steph and Klay. We started this whole Golden State thing when it wasn’t so sexy. Why would I get to this point where we built this entire organization up and bail on it? You don’t bail on your baby. You know, the Golden State Warriors, that’s our baby.
Green is right: The Warriors were lousy for nearly two decades before he arrived. He, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson elevated Golden State into the NBA’s premier team. They made the Warriors so desirable, Kevin Durant joined when he could’ve gone anywhere.
But Green has no equity in the franchise.
Green gets huge compliments from the owner. He gets the satisfaction of winning. He might even sometimes get a voice in roster construction.
He just has no real ownership stake. Even as a player, he could get traded.
In his analogy, he’s more teacher than parent. He plays an important role in the child’s life. But at the end of the day, it’s not his kid.
That said, Green’s commitment to the Warriors could open doors for him. Joe Lacob and Pete Guber could reward Green’s loyalty, maybe even to retirement.
But there are no guarantees. The far-more direct guarantees Green could’ve sought would’ve been on a contract next summer.