Draymond Green re-signs with Golden State Warriors

The end result was the inevitable one: Green and the Warriors agreed on a five-year deal, as first reported by Yahoo Sports’ Marc Spears on Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, Iman Shumpert has signed a $40 million, four year contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

It’s the commitment Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob and general manager Bob Myers swore for months that they’d make to Green, the emotional and physical fulcrum of this championship team. For those who don’t enjoy wading neck deep in advanced statistics, the takeaway is simple: only MVP Stephen Curry was more important to Golden State’s success than Green. “It’s been a long journey to get to this point, whether it’s always trying to overcome the odds or overcoming doubters”.

The real question everyone wants to know is, why would Green even consider leaving a team that just won an National Basteball Association title? In all likelihood, such a major pay raise will require Golden State to dump David Lee’s $15.5 million expiring contract this off-season.

Green was a restricted free agent, meaning the National Basteball Association champion Warriors could match any offer he received. The first year gets him $3.3 million, with $10 million in total for the deal.

“Proud to say that I’ll be a Warrior for at least the next five years”, Green told Bleacher Report.

You can see how this worked and why there was no reason to push this beyond a day of discussions and mini-delays.

I’m sure the Warriors were pretty happy too getting to keep their star.

Split the difference, everybody wins. Green’s Real Plus-Minus of +6.85 ranked No. 8 in the league, his +16.5 net rating ranked third in the National Basteball Association among qualified players, and he was a key member of a Warriors starting lineup that boasted a +19.6 net rating while also playing center in a smaller look that posted a +21.9 net rating. Earlier Green and the Warriors broke off negotiations. Green can defend all positions and was rewarded with second place in the Defensive Player of the Year voting. “It’s an organization that I love, it’s great being a part of, best fans in the National Basteball Association, first class organization”.

There was no way this should’ve turned in to a mess, and it didn’t.