Draymond Green Lands Back With Warriors on One-Year Deal

The deal is the same as the final year of the contract he opted out of to help the Warriors land LeBron James. But James chose Philly.

Draymond Green #23 of the Golden State Warriors reacts during the second half of an NBA play-in tournament game at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, Ariz., on April 17, 2026. The Suns defeated the Warriors 111-96. Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Draymond Green is returning to the Golden State Warriors.

The Warriors signed the veteran power forward to a one-year deal equal in value to the final year of his previous contract. Green opted out of that contract to give the Warriors financial flexibility to pursue LeBron James.

But James signed with the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency.

The Warriors confirmed Green’s signing Thursday.

According to Spotrac, the deal is a one-year contract worth $27.7 million. It is equal to the final year of the four-year, $100 million deal he signed with the Warriors in 2023.

Green opted out of that final year on June 29 to help the Warriors pursue James. The Warriors are more than $97 million over the salary cap, though they have $20.7 million in salary space under the NBA’s luxury tax. Green said on an episode of his podcast, “The Draymond Green Show,” in June that he was working with the Warriors organization on “optionality” going into free agency, and that he was doing his part to help the team get better.

Golden State was an early favorite to land James. Unfortunately for the Dubs, they were taken out of contention early.

On an episode of his “Game Over” podcast, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul—who is also James’s longtime agent and friend—said that James had already narrowed it down to five top contenders: the Sixers, Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, and Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, Boston Celtics, San Antonio Spurs, and New York Knicks were outside the top five. James eventually settled on Philadelphia.

On another episode of his podcast Tuesday, Green reacted to James’s decision.

“I wasn’t blindsided, because I know a few people that know a few people, and I knew the stuff was in the works,” he said. “However, I didn’t know exactly when the announcement would come.”

Green said that ESPN’s 2010 special, “The Decision,” in which James announced he would be leaving the Cavs and taking his talents to South Beach to join the Heat, left him “scarred.” The special raised several million dollars for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, but the negative publicity clearly left a mark. Instead of a flashy production, James simply announced his decision in a video posted to Instagram.

Green then spoke about how the process had been an “emotional roller coaster” for The King, quoting Paul, and how each of Philly, Cleveland, Miami, and Golden State were leaders in the process at one point.

“I think that’s probably the case,” he said. “I think [there] was definitely flip-flopping. I saw a lot of people like, ‘Man, why is he dragging this out? He’s dragging this out for attention. He’s looking for more attention from everybody.’ And the reality is, I think he was quite a bit confused on what to do, and conflicted.”

Green speculated that had James returned to Cleveland and won a championship, it would not have captured the same magic as his championship in 2016. Likewise, had he gone back to Miami, it would not have been the same as his back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013.

When it came to the Warriors, Green said that James would never have been able to get over his history. James returned to the Cavs in 2014, and led them to four consecutive NBA Finals appearances. He played the Warriors all four times, going 1–3 in those series; his lone series win was the 2016 Finals, in which he overcame a 3–1 deficit to give Cleveland its first championship.

“We live in a day and age where everybody who doesn’t have anything to say have something to say. ‘He’s going to get crushed if he comes to the Warriors,’” he said.

“‘Oh, man. You went to team up with Steph. Ah, you had to go to them.’ All the things that people would have said. And I think ultimately that weighed in on the decision a lot because I’ve never seen so often and so much people … who just want to find something to tear someone’s legacy down.”