Warriors Rumor Roundup: Draymond Green, David Lee contracts fuel new rumors

As the February 19 deadline approaches, Golden State is not expected to pull a blockbuster trade. Marcus Thompson of Bay Area News Group expects the Warriors to stand pat. With a fairly intact roster and not many movable pieces, the Warriors will avoid moves disrupting team chemistry but don't count out a minor deal.

A couple of interesting rumors that have recently surfaced have lead us to speculate David Lee and Draymond Green's futures.

According to Zach Lowe of Grantland, the Warriors could hold exploratory talks for David Lee:

Those are the big story lines, but there are little things to follow. Golden State will sniff out some David Lee tax relief deals, and it’d love to at least talk to Garnett about waiving his no-trade clause — provided the Nets can find enough salary relief elsewhere.

With Green's emergence this season, Lee has slid into a reserve role. I wrote about how it would be difficult to keep both players long term. Since Lee has $30 million left on his contract for the next two years while Green will become a restricted free agent this summer, the Warriors will certainly enter luxury tax territory if the retain Green.

Per Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports:

For the Warriors to find a way to keep Green, they'll have to move David Lee and the $15 million owed him in the 2015-16 season. Ownership has instructed management in Golden State that it doesn't need to find a deal for Lee before the trade deadline, because the organization simply doesn't want to upset the balance and chemistry of a championship contender.

Another option would be trading Lee in the summer if they don't deal him before the deadline.

Joe Lacob has shown thus far that he is about winning and building a championship squad. While it may come down to how the Warriors perform this April, there is a great possibility that he pays the luxury tax to keep the squad together. From Tim Kawakami of Mercury News:

If Joe Lacob is OK going into the luxury tax for one year--and he says he is--then the Warriors can comfortably match any offer Green gets.

— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) February 17, 2015

Additionally, the new NBA tv deal will cause the salary cap to skyrocket in the next few years. A max or near-max deal for Green this summer may not look so bad in the long run.

But could Green be headed elsewhere this summer?

Wojnarowski also reports that Green is highly interested in signing an offer-sheet back home in Detroit.

In a looming restricted free agency this summer, Golden State's Draymond Green has a significant interest with pursuing an offer sheet with his hometown Detroit Pistons, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

Green has loved playing with the Warriors and winning, and naturally Golden State is determined to find a way to retain him. Still, the Warriors' salary structure almost dictates that Green has to go onto the market and get an offer sheet for them to match in July.

If the offer is too rich to match, the chance for Green to return to his beloved home state – where he grew up in Saginaw and played at Michigan State in East Lansing – has long intrigued him, sources said. Green still spends most of his time away from the NBA in Michigan.

The Warriors seem prepared to match any offer they receive. It would be a shock to see Draymond Green leave after a stellar season.

Unless Warriors execs are flat-out misleading me, they are going to match any offer Draymond Green gets. Whatever the number is.

— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) February 17, 2015