The San Antonio Spurs may have already wrapped up most of their offseason work, but a fresh wrinkle out of Golden State could put an unexpected name on their radar.
That name is Draymond Green.
Green opted out of his contract in an effort to help the Warriors chase a star, but after that plan fell apart, Golden State brought him back on a one-year deal. Even so, Warriors insider Marcus Thompson believes the team could revisit the idea of moving him if next season gets off to a rough start.
And if that happens, the Spurs could have a real decision to make.
The Warriors are projected to be one of the worst teams in the West, which makes the idea of Green becoming available feel less like a long shot and more like a possibility worth watching. For San Antonio, he’d be a controversial target, sure, but also a potentially useful one.
Green may be one of the NBA’s most polarizing figures, yet his fit on the court is hard to dismiss. He’s not a major scoring threat, but he remains a gifted playmaker and a strong defender. He’s also versatile, and he even gave Victor Wembanyama problems last season.
No, he wouldn’t be brought in to start. But on a team trying to build something real, he could still swing games with his defense, his passing, and his experience. That matters even more now because the Spurs spent the summer reshaping their frontcourt.
In a move that says plenty about their direction, San Antonio actually got younger by adding two rookie centers while moving on from several veterans. That approach could pay off, but it also comes with risk, especially if the team ends up leaning too heavily on a rookie like Tarris Reed Jr.
That’s where a veteran like Green starts to make sense. He could bring a tougher edge when games get physical, and he’d add the kind of championship experience the Spurs don’t have in abundance.
A hypothetical deal could send Keldon Johnson, Harrison Barnes, and Jordan McLaughlin to Golden State for Green. That kind of move wouldn’t be simple, though, because Johnson still matters to the Spurs.
Still, there’s a path where he becomes more movable. If Carter Bryant jumps him in the rotation, Johnson could end up looking expendable. And there’s another layer here: Johnson, Barnes, and McLaughlin are all on expiring contracts, and none of them project to return after next season.
If Green becomes available and San Antonio decides it needs a different look, he’d be a real wild-card addition. He may not be better than Johnson, but he’d give the Spurs a different kind of value as a distributor and defensive stopper.
The fit gets even more interesting when you picture what he could have meant during last year’s playoff run. Green might have been the kind of defender San Antonio needed against players like Julius Randle, Chet Holmgren, and Karl-Anthony Towns. The Spurs handled those matchups well enough, but there were still stretches where they struggled with other teams’ physicality.
With Green, that issue would look different.
Spacing would be the obvious concern, but Johnson didn’t deliver in the postseason on either end, and Barnes and McLaughlin barely played. In short bursts, a lineup of De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell, Green, and Wembanyama could be nasty, especially on defense and still solid enough offensively if Wembanyama and Castle keep improving and Fox gets back to his usual level.
So if Green does land on the trade block, the Spurs ought to be paying attention. He’d be a gamble, no question. But he could also give them exactly what they’re missing.
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