This could be the last season we see Green in a Warriors uniform
Jordan Poole is a budding star. He's 23 years old, and in what was, effectively, his first NBA season of record, he put up 18.5 points and four assists a night and led the league in free-throw percentage. Poole's defense remains a postseason question mark, same as Tyler Herro's in Miami, but hyper-creators and deadeye shooters like this don't grow on trees.
The Warriors know this, and on Saturday ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Poole has agreed to a four-year, $140 million extension to keep him in the Bay through at least 2027. Later that afternoon, the Warriors opened the checkbook again, agreeing with Andrew Wiggins on a four-year, $109 million extension that was, at that number and considering Wiggins' almost invaluable contributions over the past two years, another no-brainer decision.
Golden State's salary sheet could already choke a hippo. Now add Poole and Wiggins' money to the ledger and the future of at least one of the team's mainstays becomes less clear. Draymond Green could be a free agent next summer if he doesn't opt into the final year of his current deal, which he's not expected to do, though that could change if his market turns up relatively dry. The following summer, Klay Thompson will be up for a new contract.
To this point, all reporting has indicated the Warriors do not intend to pay all these guys. The tax hit is just too punitive. Hundreds of millions, quite literally. Factoring in an annual salary for Green at either his opt-in number of $27.6 million or something close to that on a multi-year extension, the Warriors are in line to clear half a billion in outgoing cash.