Warriors' Draymond Green reveals reason for declining player option for 2026-27 NBA season

Warriors’ Draymond Green reveals reason for declining player option for 2026-27 NBA season originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The Warriors had a disappointing end to last season, having a short-lived postseason run that ended their season earlier than they had hoped.

They had a few major injuries in the second half of the season, and they could look to make some revamps to the roster ahead of the 2026-27 season.

One of Golden State’s players with a bigger contract, Draymond Green, elected to decline his player option ahead of the free agency period, and he explained online why he made that decision.

Warriors’ Draymond Green reveals reason for declining player option for 2026-27 NBA season

On Monday, Green declined his player option for next season, which was worth $27.7 million.

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This gives Green and the Warriors the freedom to negotiate a new deal that’s more team-friendly, and that gives the Warriors more ability to craft a competitive roster for next season.

“As you all know, I’ve always taken the approach of working with the organization. I’ve been in 1 place for 14 years. It’s more of a family to me than anything…Bringing my number down has allowed us to explore a little bit more, to help the books a little bit more, I am always intrigued by that route… I feel great about it and we’ll see where it goes from here,” Green said on The Draymond Green Show.

As most Green fans know, he’s a big fan and friend of LeBron James, and with recent rumors connecting James to the Warriors ahead of free agency, one can only assume this was done in part to try and open up an avenue to acquire James this summer.

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Getting James would be significant, but they’ll also want to try and add more players around the stars.

The Warriors have already inked center Kristaps Porzingis to a two-year, $40 million contract, getting done one of the key contracts of a player they had to re-sign.

Expect the Warriors to be active in trade/free agency rumors in the coming days, as they look to capitalize on an opportunity to be competitive next season.

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