Warriors Rumors: Latest Buzz Surrounding Draymond Green, David Lee Trade

Coming off of a 2015 NBA Finals victory, the next task for the Golden State Warriors will be assembling a roster capable of repeating for the 2015-16 season.

Much of the NBA champions’ roster will remain intact for next season, but there is a chance for some shakeup as well

Draymond Green is a restricted free agent, meaning he’ll have a chance to receive offers from other teams. However, Golden State has the ability to match any contract he’s offered.

Green is expected to draw interest from the Detroit Pistons, according to Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press, but is likely to be retained by the Warriors.

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Tellem's hiring will set off speculation that Pistons will try to use it as an inside track to Wasserman clients -- particularly Golden State Warriors power forward Draymond Green, the former Spartan from Saginaw who will be a highly regarded restricted free agent next month.

A person with firsthand knowledge of the Pistons' off-season plans said Green is not a priority because it is expected that the Warriors, playing in the NBA Finals this week and moving into a new arena soon, would match any offer sheet for arguably the team's second-best player. 

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Green has been linked to the Pistons for obvious reasons. For one, he played his college basketball at Michigan State and grew up in Saginaw, Michigan.

The 25-year-old forward posted career-highs in points, assists, rebounds and field-goal percentage in 2014-15. He averaged 11.7 points, 8.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game for the champs with a 44 percent mark from the field.

Green and Warriors general manager Bob Myers have both stated a belief that Green will remain with the team.

Asked what the chances were he would be back with the team next season, Green told Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News, “I’ll be here. I love this group of guys.”

Myers told Al Saracevic of the San Francisco Chronicle that the front office’s goal is to keep the defending champions’ nucleus intact: “Our hope is to keep the core together. That is within our control.”

Warriors Shopping Lee

With the Warriors trying to keep Green and potentially looking ahead to re-signing Harrison Barnes, David Lee may find himself on the outside looking in. 

The team has reached out to Lee’s agent about moving the forward in hopes of getting a deal done sometime before the start of free agency, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.

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The Warriors are nonetheless expected to aggressively explore the trade market for Lee in conjunction with the NBA draft on June 25 and with free agency starting July 1. Sources say Golden State is determined to match any offer that comes for Green in restricted free agency and also intends to discuss a contract extension with forward Harrison Barnes, which only increases the likelihood that Lee moves on.

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Lee, 32, is slated to earn $15.4 million next season, a salary not suited for a backup forward. Last season, he averaged 18.4 minutes per game in just 49 appearances in the season, although he did make big contributions in the Warriors’ Game 3 loss to Cleveland in the NBA Finals.

The Warriors need to use the cash currently allotted for Lee in order to serve up contracts to the younger forwards, who showed their value during the team’s march to an NBA title earlier this month.

Though he has been an All-Star before, if the Warriors are going to try to repeat as NBA champions they need to retain their key contributors. Lee has been a rock-solid role player at times, but in no way do his minutes compare to that of Green’s and Barnes’.