Draymond Green on the Move?

Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should.

Polarizing Golden State forward Draymond Green recently opted out of the last year of his contract to pursue unrestricted free agency for the first time. Let’s get this out of the way at the top: he’s not going anywhere. He has said on his podcast he believes this version of the Warriors still has juice in the tank and at least one more championship in them. The prominent theory is that Dray is simply looking to take a team friendly deal in order to free up some cap space in the quickly approaching second apron era of the most recent CBA. Regardless, the possibility of his departure exists, and it would be criminal to ignore the options. So as a fandom, we have to ask ourselves: where can Draymond land?

But first, some notes. Draymond’s fit on other teams is a bit… polarizing. After all, he has only ever played with Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. He even got some quality years with Kevin Durant. Let us not forget the year when Dray was all on his own and struggling. Draymond is an effective maximizer. He knows what his teammates need from him in order to be successful. However, he has become borderline unplayable on offense without the right pieces in place. He can’t shoot or create his own shots, and he doesn’t have a handle that can break down a defense. Even with those issues, his value to Golden State is undeniable. They would be foolish to let him go, but other teams might be equally foolish to pick him up unless they have a clearly defined plan for him.  Without further ado, let’s get started.

Dallas Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks are a defensive trainwreck. They earned their way to the 24th defensive rating this past season according to Basketball Reference. The inability to stop other teams from scoring proved to be a nightmare all season long, particularly at the PF position. As a unit, the Mavs were a -6.9 PER at the four spot. The Kyrie Irving experiment has also largely been a failure. He and Luka Doncic are just not a good fit together.

Despite these warts, though, there is hope. They have a young guard in Jaden Hardy who could blossom into what they need beside Luka. Speaking of Luka, they have him locked up through the 2025-26 season, so he’s not going anywhere. They have a bunch of guys who could be really special on the defensive end, they just need someone to help them put it all together. Enter Draymond Green.

Green’s purpose would be threefold. First, and the most immediately noticeable, would be the defensive stuff. Green’s a high level defender and has been for a long time now. His versatility and ability to communicate on that end would be a boon to a team who has the pieces the Mavs do. Second, he would be bringing championship experience and veteran leadership to a team found lacking in those departments. Third, and arguably most importantly, he would be adding a playmaking element. Green’s ability to run an offense and make the right decisions could prove valuable to Luka’s development as he could work more off the ball. Draymond’s other offensive shortcomings would be a concern, but the Mavs had the 6th highest offensive rating in the league. Surely head coach and Hall of Famer Jason Kidd could find a way to minimize those downsides.

Oklahoma City Thunder

OKC has an interesting future brewing. Sam Presti has proven time and again to be one of the best team builders in the NBA. They have a promising young core and a recently minted first team All-NBA selectee in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Josh Giddey is a joy to watch, both Jalen Williams and Jaylin Williams are going to be good pieces, and despite Chet Holmgren not having played in the NBA yet, he’s got massive potential. They are a young, fiery team that is going to take some people by surprise next season.

But they are missing veteran presence. Dario Saric is their most experienced player and he’s only been in the league since 2016. Draymond Green would immediately be the adult in the room, bringing much needed experience to the squad. OKC was also a middle of the pack team defensively throughout the season, and with a hopefully healthy Holmgren and Green, scoring would be an absolute nightmare for other teams as they tried to gameplan for Green, Holmgren, Jaylin Williams, and SGA. They also wouldn’t require much offensively from Draymond in terms of scoring. It could be a fun fit.

LA Lakers

This is honestly the laziest and least interesting answer. The first order of business for the Lakers should be re-signing Austin Reeves, Rui Hachimura, and Lonnie Walker IV. But for the sake of the exercise, what would be the benefit of putting Draymond Green on this roster as currently constructed? The Lakers are already trying to get Chris Paul. There are on-going discussions about giving D’Angelo Russell a front-loaded contract to free them up on the back end. What role on the Lakers would Draymond Green fill? Certainly not the emotional heart of the team. The Lakers are not shorthanded on the defensive end, and offensively Green would add nothing the Lakers don’t already have. The fact that this is a discussion is confusing as there would be no clear advantage for the Lakers to acquire Green.

There could be an argument made for the defensive intensity Dray would give the Lakers, but as previously stated, it is a weak one. Having him and Anthony Davis on the floor at the same time could prove to be a real head scratcher for teams in the Western Conference. Perhaps Draymond could have helped the Lakers overcome Denver? I jest, of course, but the LA front office has been known for its delusions swing-for-the-fences approach.

New York Knicks

New York faithful are always pulling for the biggest names in the game to go to the city that never sleeps. Could they use Draymond? Would they even want him? Well they could certainly use him in some capacity. His defensive versatility would bolster the ranks of a team who finished with the 19th defensive rating in the league. Despite the woes of a Tom Thibodeau coached team, the man still knows a thing or two about coaching defense in the NBA. Draymond’s aforementioned abilities would surely not go amiss with Thibs at the helm. Also, the New York roster is dominated by guards. Perhaps adding another big with defensive switchability would help them out.

But the issue comes in, once again, with the offensive side of the ball. Make no mistake, the Warriors value Dray more than any other team in the league, especially at this point in his career. The Knicks need more than defensive help, and Green doesn’t have the offensive skill set to put them over the edge. Still, the Knicks love to shoot themselves in the foot with poor roster construction featuring big names, so who knows?

Cleveland Cavaliers

I know, I know, just hear me out. The Cavs boasted the best defense in the league during the season. Darius Garland has cemented himself as one of the top young playmakers in the league. They have Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen defensively wreaking mayhem in the front court. What could they possibly need Draymond Green for?

The reality is they do not need him for his defense or playmaking chops. Both would certainly be appreciated, mind you. But I think his real value would come in the form of mentorship. The playoffs made it clear that the Cavs still have some growing pains, and Green could be just the guy to help them work the kinks out. His experience in playing with multiple ball dominant stars could really help the Cavs figure some things out about their offensive identity, which looked puzzlingly faceless in the postseason at the worst possible times. Plus, allowing Green to mentor a potentially generational defensive talent in Mobley could really push the latter over the edge in terms of ceiling. The only real difficulty would be finding Green some playing time. He’d likely have to take a backseat, and while I think he would be willing to do that to win a championship, are the Cavs close enough to the goal for him to consider the move?

To reiterate, I personally believe Draymond Green is going to retire as a Warrior. After reviewing his fit with other teams, Golden State is the only team really poised to maximize his benefits and mitigate his downsides as they’ve done his entire career. Warriors faithful can only hope he opted out of his contract to take a more team friendly deal to alleviate some cap space. All said, the fact he has not stated his intentions explicitly could mean he’s on the move, and the NBA will just have to wait and see what the future holds for the four-time champion.