Draymond Green wants to stay a Warrior.
The Warriors want — actually, need — to keep Draymond Green in the Bay Area.
So there shouldn’t be a lot of drama in his restricted free agency. And he plans to keep it that way, unless the Warriors low ball him. From Marc Spears of Yahoo and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.
Warriors RFA forward Draymond Green scheduled to meet with Warriors when free agency begins at 9:01 PM PST tomorrow in L.A., source said.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) June 30, 2015
As he said over and over, Draymond Green is mtg w/ Warriors first before setting any other mtgs. If it goes well, he won't schedule any more
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) June 30, 2015
Green is key to what the Warriors do — his ability to guard positions two through five is at the heart of the best defense in the NBA. You saw it in the NBA Finals when he covered Timofey Mozgov, allowed the Warriors to go small and it changed the dynamic of that series. He also averaged 11.7 points and grabbed 8.2 rebounds a game, plus shot 33 percent from three. And he talked a lot of trash.
Green’s versatility is a perfect fit in Golden State, but you can see why other teams would be interested in luring him away. It’s just not going to happen.
Frankly, even if Green doesn’t like the offer presented him and goes and talks to other teams, he’s not going anywhere. At worst, the Warriors let the market set Green’s price, then they match it — but why risk alienating the emotional heart of your team>
The likely result is that within an hour of midnight, these two sides have reached a deal.