Source: Draymond returning, agrees to four-year Warriors contract
Draymond Green isn't going anywhere.
The four-time NBA All-Star and the Warriors agreed to a new four-year, $100 million contract shortly after free agency opened Friday, NBC Sports Bay Area's Monte Poole reported. The Athletic's Shams Charania reported the news first and mentioned the fourth year of Green's deal is a player option.
Draymond Green deal (confirmed at $100M over 4 years) keeps him with Warriors for duration of Stephen Curry's contract. Always was a crucial point, per sources
Slight hometown discount, with Dray able to opt out in summer of 2026 — Monte Poole (@MontePooleNBCS) June 30, 2023
Per The Athletic's Anthony Slater, the first year of Green's deal is $22.3 million. Green held a $27.6 million player option for the 2023-24 season, but he declined it earlier in June and was set to enter unrestricted free agency for the first time in his NBA career. That difference in salary slices the Warriors' repeater tax bill by an estimated $40 million.
The Warriors made Green their No. 1 priority this offseason, and they didn't waste any time keeping him in the Bay Area.
Green now is under guaranteed contract with the Warriors through the 2025-26 NBA season, the same timeline as longtime teammate Steph Curry. Klay Thompson is entering the final year of his contract, but it's likely new Golden State general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. will keep the Splash Brother around just like Green.
The heartbeat of the Warriors, Green will be 36 years old when his new contract expires and he will have played 14 NBA seasons. If he exercises his player option, he will be 37 at the end of that season.
While teams like the Sacramento Kings, Portland Trail Blazers and Detroit Pistons reportedly intended to pursue Green in free agency and attempt to pry him away from the Warriors, the allure of staying with the only NBA franchise he has known won out.
The Warriors watched a big piece of their dynasty walk away earlier this offseason when Bob Myers stepped down as general manager and president of basketball operations. Green is close with Myers and noted that the executive's decision could play a role in what he chose to do in free agency.
RELATED: Three areas of roster Warriors must address in free agency
But in the end, Green stuck with what he knew, and now he will begin the quest to win a fifth NBA championship with Curry, Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Kevon Looney and the newest Warrior Chris Paul.
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Source: NBC Sports Bay Area
