The future of the Golden State Warriors may have changed completely when Draymond Green punched Jordan Poole.
Despite the leak of the video and massive embarrassment caused, the team opted to fine Green rather than suspending him and he seems to be part of the picture, at least for this season.
The San Francisco Chronicle’s Connor Letourneau joined Murph & Mac on Friday to dissect the situation, explaining why Green’s status won’t ever be the same.
“Draymond can’t just be Draymond anymore,” Letourneau said. “They’re going to try to keep things together and win another title. But this is just two people trying to make it work to win. The reality is, his legacy has been tarnished forever.”
Letourneau believes that there’s something of a changing of the guard going on, with Kevon Looney stepping up as a leader, and Jordan Poole’s status being elevated with a potentially massive extension coming up.
He expects Green to be a major contributor this season, but there are questions beyond that.
“I’m not saying Draymond’s not going to be an important part of this team,” Letourneau said. “I’m not saying he won’t be a driving force behind another championship. I’m not even saying that he won’t be liked by many in the locker room, but I’m just saying that title of being the unquestioned heart and soul of this team, I think, has been lost.”
The decision to not suspend Green, though, was a bit odd. Letourneau recalled that the team suspended Jordan Bell a few years ago for ordering a candle to Mike Brown’s hotel room. But a punch of a teammate didn’t warrant a suspension?
It’s all an act of preservation, he believes.
“They’re just trying to keep this together as much as humanly possible so they can win a title,” Letourneau said. “I think they were worried that if they suspended Draymond, and they made this an even bigger deal by officially suspending him, that the way Draymond would react would be enormously disruptive and it would derail them before the season even started.
“Which, I personally don’t love the M.O. there. I don’t love the thought process there, but if you listen to everything Steve [Kerr] said — I thought it was a pretty candid, enlightening presser he did a couple of days ago about this — that was basically the intimation.”
Despite questioning that approach, the goal is clearly to maintain the success of last season.
And Letourneau believes the Warriors are still the favorites to repeat next season. Beyond that, though, there isn’t much clarity.
“Do I think they could win another title this year? 100%. I still have them as my favorites. I think that they’ll figure it out,” Letourneau said. “Will it ever be the same, though? And by that, I mean, Draymond being the heart and soul of this team, being the ethos of this team? I don’t think so. I really don’t… I don’t think Draymond is going to carry the same equity in that locker room as he used to even if he says all the right things.”
The Warriors are keeping Green around for the time being, as they ramp up towards the season. He’ll be in attendance and active on ring night.
After that, it’s anyone’s guess how the situation plays out.
Listen to the full interview below. You can listen to every KNBR interview on our podcast page at knbr.com/podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Catch Murph & Mac weekdays from 6 a.m. – 10 a.m. on KNBR 104.5 / 680 and streaming live on KNBR.com.
