The Golden State Warriors have had a flurry of unfortunate news stories surrounding the team this summer. For a squad that is fresh off of a championship victory, there has been a surprising amount of negativity around them.
Obviously, the Draymond Green-Jordan Poole altercation comes to mind first, as that is the most recent example of drama in Golden State. And even before that, there was a ton of talk regarding which players they would end up paying and which they could choose to let walk.
Now, they didn’t really have control over either situation, but they have been forced to deal with each of them. During a press conference, Klay Thompson spoke about the Green-Poole situation and how the team will handle it moving forward.
“Well, it’s in the past and it’s very unfortunate, but I think Ring Night and time will heal all wounds,” Thompson explained, via Anthony Slater of The Athletic. “I love both those guys. I mean, Jordan’s like a little brother, Draymond’s like a brother, and I think we’re all ready to move past it. And I think the encore to last year is going to be even better. We need both of them to go where we want to go. I expect Jordan to be great, and the same with Dray.”
Green, Poole, and Andrew Wiggins need contract extensions by next offseason, and Thompson will need one the year after that. But with how deep into the luxury tax Golden State is, it’s highly unlikely that they are able to pay everybody.
Thompson seems confident that they will be able to move past the punch, and while the rest of the team seems to agree with that, Green seemed to call out the Warriors regarding his contract situation.
Green Calls Out Warriors Over Extension
As noted, Green will need an extension next summer if he declines his player option, which he will likely do. He said that the Warriors need to be prepared to deal with the consequences of letting that hang over their heads for the entire year.
“If you’re going to let a contract situation linger, then you better be damn sure that you’re willing to handle all the effects of a contract lingering, that it can have on a team,” Green said. “Everybody don’t do that. We’ve seen LeBron James have contract situations, we’ve seen Stephen Curry have contract situations. They handle it the way it’s supposed to be handled. Can’t say that for everyone.”
Was there animosity in his statement? It seemed like there might have been. At the same time, though, he made it clear that his goal this season was to focus on winning a championship.
Green is Focused on Winning a Title
Last year marked Green’s fourth championship victory in Golden State, and while he’s obviously worried about his extension and his future, his goal right now is to win a fifth.
“My general view of the year is I’m here this year trying to win a championship. I have a contract that ranges through next year. If I so choose to pick up that option, that is my view of how it will be here,” Green said. “We all have a goal to win a championship and that is that. As far as what I think of a contract or an extension, we started camp and I spoke on that at the very beginning, I said ‘I don’t think we’re doing an extension.’ Quite frankly, that doesn’t mean I won’t be back here, I just don’t think we’re doing an extension this year.”
Thompson was calm, cool, and collected, just as he usually is, but there was a little bit of fire behind Green’s statement. Watch Golden State’s stars closely this year. Things could be heading down a shaky path.
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