The Golden State Warriors just lost one of their core pieces as Klay Thompson has decided to take his talents to the Dallas Mavericks. But apparently the Warriors came close to having their big-3 break up last offseason – as Draymond Green revealed that he nearly joined the Memphis Grizzlies.

Speaking on the latest edition of his podcast, Green revealed just how close he was to leaving the Warriors.

“So last year during free agency, I called Klay…and I called Steph [Curry], separate calls…and I called Steve [Kerr]. And I was just telling them, ‘Yo, I’m leaving. I’m going to Memphis.’ And I remember that call with them, saying I was going to leave…And, obviously, we got it figured out. Shout out to the Lacobs and Mike Dunleavy, it was his first free agency. We got it done, but, yeah.”

Green opted out of his contract in 2023 that was set to play him $27.6 million last season. He instead re-signed with the Warriors for four years and $100 million after flirting with the Grizzlies.

It's interesting to imagine what a Grizzlies team with Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. would look like with Draymond Green as part of the roster.

Warriors add to coaching staff in offseason of change

Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr looks towards the team bench after a foul call during action against the Sacramento Kings in the fourth quarter during a play-in game of the 2024 NBA playoffs at the Golden 1 Center
© Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

The Warriors are making a couple of high-profile additions to Steve Kerr's coaching staff, bringing on Terry Stotts as lead assistant and Jerry Stackhouse as an assistant coach.

Stotts, a longtime NBA head coach with the Atlanta Hawks, Milwaukee Bucks, and Portland Trail Blazers, comes to the Warriors after a brief stint as a Bucks assistant last season. He resigned in October after a run-in with head coach Adrian Griffin, who was later fired from his position.

Stotts and the Trail Blazers mutually separated in the 2021 offseason after another unsuccessful playoff stint that led to a first-round exit against the Denver Nuggets.

The Blazers made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals in 2018-19 – being swept by the Warriors – and they made it into the second round in 2013-14 and 2015-16 seasons. However, given the fact that the Blazers have not shown significant improvements over that span, it is not surprising the front office decided to take another direction when they did.

Stackhouse, a mid-1990s UNC basketball icon from Kinston, N.C., who went on to become a two-time NBA All-Star in his 18 years as a powerfully athletic wing in the league, was the head coach at Vanderbilt the past five seasons, compiling a 70-92 overall record.

He and the Commodores parted aways in March following his 2023-24 team's disappointing 9-23 campaign, the program's seventh straight season without an NCAA Tournament invite.