Draymond Green was at the mercy of Joe Lacob, Mike Dunleavy Jr. and the Golden State Warriors front office before the trade deadline, with rampant reports of their willingness to include the veteran forward in a deal for 2x MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Yet the roles may be somewhat reversed heading into the offseason as Green holds a level of control that will make the Warriors uncomfortable, and which, quite frankly, hovers over all the plans they could forseeably put in place.
Draymond Green's player option puts Warriors in uncomfortable position
Green holds a $27.7 million player option for next season, and whether he picks that up or not could drastically change what Golden State do on both the trade market and in free agency.
It's not as if Green will be the Warriors' only order of business come the summer. They have only five contracted players for next season at this stage, with Green, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford and De'Anthony Melton all key veteran players holding the possibility of becoming unrestricted free agents.
In an ideal world, Golden State would get an understanding from Green on what he's likely to do. Perhaps that is the case, but at the same time in the wake of the trade rumors before the deadline, perhaps the 35-year-old doesn't feel he owes the front office any sort of heads up.
If Green does opt in, that's going to severely impact the franchise's ability to re-sign Porzingis and Melton should they wish to, while also making life more difficult with restricted free agents Gui Santos and Quinten Post.
You can quickly understand the sort of power Green possesses over this entire Golden State offeseason. The one card the Warriors have is the former Defensive Player of the Year could be traded immedietly after picking up that contract, and could have absolutely no control on his destination.
Perhaps that's enough of a deterrent for Green to opt out and negotiate a new deal with the franchise on less money, while simultaneously providing more flexibility to re-sign some of his current teammates. Yet if he does simply take the money, finding a trade could be easier said than done for Golden State given that won't be an overly valuable contract.
The Warriors will have to prepare for both outcomes, but either way the fact they'll be handcuffed until Green makes his decision is a less than ideal situation, and has the potential of making them regret not trading the franchise legend before the deadline.