Warriors Rumors: Draymond Green Visits Kevin Durant in NYC Ahead of Free Agency

Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green reportedly made a trip to New York to visit Kevin Durant as he recovers from surgery for a ruptured Achilles.

Bleacher Report's Ric Bucher reported on FS1's The Herd with Colin Cowherd on Friday that Durant is out of the hospital and is currently staying at a hotel in New York.

A source told the New York Post's Marc Berman that the visit was made so Green could see how his teammate was doing, not for recruiting purposes.

"It's his friend," the source said. "KD doesn't have to be recruited by Draymond after being there three years."

Durant holds a $31.5 million player option for 2019-20 and can be a free agent on June 30 if he does not exercise it.

After missing more than a month (and nine games in the process) because of a calf strain, Durant attempted to come back for the end of the 2019 Finals. He gave it a go in Game 5 on Monday but went down with a non-contact injury early in the second quarter after playing just 12 minutes.

The two-time Finals MVP was ultimately diagnosed with a ruptured Achilles, keeping him out for not just the remainder of the series but potentially all of next season as well. Green went on ESPN's SportsCenter after Game 5 and told host Scott Van Pelt that Durant's injury "took the life out of us":

Golden State wound up winning Game 5 without Durant but saw its quest for a three-peat come to an end three days later after Klay Thompson exited Game 6 in the third quarter with a torn ACL. The Toronto Raptors pulled out a 114-110 victory on Thursday to capture their first-ever championship.

The relationship between Green and Durant has been in the spotlight for years now. It was Green who sent Durant a text saying "We need you" right after Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals, which saw the Warriors infamously blow a 3-1 series lead. In November, the two had a heated on-court exchange during a game, one that resulted in Green being suspended.

Green later apologized to Durant, as he explained to ESPN's Rachel Nichols last month:

And while Green and the Warriors hope Durant will remain in the Bay Area moving forward, basketball is secondary at this point as the forward begins the road to recovery.