Draymond Green is back on the exact same contract he walked away from. The Warriors and the veteran forward agreed to a one-year, $27.7 million deal that keeps him in Golden State through the 2026-27 season, per league sources. It’s the same money he would have made if he’d simply picked up his player option back in June.
So why opt out if you’re just gonna sign the same deal? Because the plan was never about the money. It was about chasing superstars.
Green waived that player option to give the Warriors salary-cap flexibility going into free agency. The front office had big dreams. They wanted to trade for Anthony Davis. They wanted to sign LeBron James. They thought they could pull off something massive and reshape the roster around Stephen Curry one last time.
It didn’t work.
The Washington Wizards made it clear Davis wasn’t going anywhere. No real trade talks ever got off the ground. And LeBron? He thought hard about it. Stephen Curry talked to him multiple times on the phone. Draymond and LeBron vacationed together and hashed things out over the last month. But when free agency opened, James chose Philadelphia. The Warriors swung. They missed.
Once those doors closed, Golden State had no real way to use the financial flexibility Green created for them. So the organization did what made sense. They gave him his money back and called it a day.
The bigger picture for Golden State
Green and Curry have been pushing the front office to make a splash for years. They want to compete for titles now, not later. But the Warriors keep coming up short on the big names.
Before the February trade deadline, the team talked to Boston about Jaylen Brown. The Celtics asked for every Warriors draft pick over the next seven years. That was a non-starter. Boston shut it down and didn’t even look at a counteroffer when Golden State circled back before free agency, according to ClutchPoints.
The Warriors were also in the mix for Giannis Antetokounmpo at the deadline. Milwaukee held off until the offseason. Then in June, Giannis got dealt to the Miami Heat. Another swing. Another miss.
So the roster heading into 2026-27 looks almost exactly like last year’s. Quinten Post is gone to Memphis. Gary Payton II and Seth Curry are still free agents, no decisions yet. But Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis and De’Anthony Melton all re-signed to run it back after an injury-plagued 2025-26 season. The team is also high on rookie Yaxel Lendeborg, who won Summer League MVP and could give them immediate production as a do-it-all glue guy.
Now the real focus shifts to Curry
With Green locked in, the Warriors can turn their attention to Stephen Curry. He’s eligible for a two-year, $136.7 million extension starting August 6. The team is ready to give him whatever he wants — years, money, everything. The only question is what Curry decides.
The Warriors have made it clear they want Curry, Green and Steve Kerr to finish their careers together. And after everything that happened this summer — the failed superstar pursuits, the almost-deals, the near-misses — that’s where this team stands right now. Running it back. Hoping it’s enough.
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