Are Kings about to use newfound cap space to pursue Warriors free agent Draymond Green?

Draymond Green was Public Enemy No. 1 in Sacramento when the Kings played the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs. Now, some NBA analysts are suggesting Green could be on Sacramento’s wish list with free agency set to begin June 30.

The Kings will have over $30 million in salary cap space after trading Richaun Holmes and Olivier-Maxence Prosper, the No. 24 pick in Thursday’s NBA draft, to the Dallas Mavericks. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and The Athletic’s John Hollinger immediately suggested the Kings could use their newfound cap space to pursue Green in free agency.

“The Kings can now go hunting for Draymond Green if they wish and that would be extraordinarily interesting because it is the exact — exact — type of player they need,” Windhorst said.

Green recently declined the $27.6 million player option on the final year of his contract with the Warriors. Both sides have expressed their desire to negotiate a new deal, but the Kings and other teams could offer more money given Golden State’s salary cap constraints.

“The Warriors have to be sweating right now, at the very least, because there is now a highly plausible rival Green bidder on the market,” Hollinger wrote.

Green, 33, averaged 8.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.8 assists in his 11th season with the Warriors. He is a career 31.4% 3-point shooter who hasn’t even reached that mark since 2015-16. There are legitimate questions about Green’s fit in a pace-and-space offense that recorded the highest offensive rating (119.4) in NBA history last season, but there is no doubt he could help a team that finished 24th in defensive rating (116.0).

Green was at the center of a contentious first-round playoff series that went seven games before the Warriors prevailed over the Kings. Green was ejected from one game and suspended for another after stomping on the chest of Kings center Domantas Sabonis. Later in the series, Green was confronted by Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox after hitting Keegan Murray in the eye.

Despite all that acrimony, Green remains very close to Kings coach Mike Brown, who spent the past six seasons as Steve Kerr’s lead assistant with the Warriors. Since coming to Sacramento, Brown has frequently mentioned Green, an eight-time NBA All-Defensive Team selection who was named Defensive Player of the Year in 2017.

“Mike Brown is extraordinarily close to Draymond Green — extraordinarily close,” Windhorst said. “Mike Brown was the Draymond Green whisperer with the Warriors. Draymond Green is a free agent. They now have the money, if they want, to give him a premium over what he opted out of in Golden State.”