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There's still no telling when Draymond Green will return to the floor. The Golden State Warriors star was suspended indefinitely by the NBA on Thursday after striking Jusuf Nurkic in the face during a loss to the Phoenix Suns, his latest in a long string of unsportsmanlike acts highlighted by putting Rudy Gobert in a chokehold a few weeks ago.
Green insists he didn't hit Nurkic intentionally and was merely trying to sell what he thoughts was a foul on the Suns big man. Still, it's clear that Green's five-game suspension for choking Gobert didn't have the intended effect. Only time will tell if his latest ban from basketball will make the difference Green so sorely needs, but years and years of history suggest otherwise.
Does that mean his time with the Warriors is running out? Hardly. Green signed a four-year, $100 million deal with his longtime team in free agency last summer, just over eight months after he viciously punched Jordan Poole during a preseason practice.
Golden State needs to win as much as possible before Stephen Curry's extended prime suddenly becomes the twilight of his career. Moving on from Green would effectively end the Dubs' pursuit of a fifth championship during the Curry era, dooming them to an on-the-fly roster rebuild that would no doubt lack the ceiling of any iteration led by Curry and Green.
“We need Draymond,” Steve Kerr said shortly after Green's latest transgression. “He knows that, we talked to him and he's got to find a way to keep his poise and be out there for his teammates.”
Another factor preventing Green's possible exit from Golden State: His major deficiencies as a scorer make Green far more valuable to Kerr and Curry's Warriors than any other team in the league.
What franchise would even be interested in taking on the remaining three years and $77 million on his contract at this point? Green keeps proving he can't stay on the floor and turns 34 in March. Even if he somehow puts the flails, chokes, punches and kicks behind him, Green's best basketball will definitely be behind him, too.
Betting odds for Draymond Green's next team post trade deadline
But Green's cemented standing with the Warriors hasn't stopped betting markets from trying to take advantage of the latest crisis he's created. Bovada sportsbook is currently listing odds for Green's next team after the February 9th trade deadline if he's not still playing for Golden State.
The Dallas Mavericks come in with the highest odds at +210, followed by the Los Angeles Lakers at +300. No other team is listed at better than +500 to be Green's next team, with the Sacramento Kings, Indiana Pacers and Cleveland Cavaliers meeting that exact threshold.
Again, no realistic world exists in which Green isn't suiting up for the Warriors after February 9th. There's a case to be made his latest suspension only increases the already sky-high chances of Green finishing his decorated, controversial career where it started.
If you're a sports betting junkie always searching for the thrill of an almost impossible payoff, though, putting money on Green to be playing elsewhere is definitely a smart wager.
