https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/warriors/article/What-Jordan-Poole-s-new-Warriors-deal-means-for-17511777.php

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green wanted to enter the season with a four-year maximum contract extension. Instead, he heads into Tuesday night’s season opener against the Lakers staring at a murky future.

After putting Green’s extension talks on hold, Warriors brass worked to lock in guard Jordan Poole and forward Andrew Wiggins long-term. Saturday’s news — Poole and Wiggins have agreed to four-year deals worth $140 million and $109 million, respectively — only reinforced where Green stands on management’s priority list.

The Warriors remain unwilling to cross certain financial thresholds, which means the paydays for Poole and Wiggins likely signal the impending departure of another key player. Who that could be — Green? James Wiseman? Even Klay Thompson? — now looms as perhaps the biggest question hanging over Golden State’s season.

The easiest thing would have been for the Warriors to let Poole or Wiggins sign elsewhere in free agency next summer. But if general manager Bob Myers has proven anything over the past decade, it’s that he prefers the right move — even if it might require some salary-cap gymnastics — over the obvious one. This leads me to believe that the extensions for Poole and Wiggins might have ratcheted up the odds of a Green divorce..

Green didn’t just punch a player last week; he punched a 23-year-old the organization views as a potential perennial All-Star in the making. Any chance of Green landing the max contract he covets evaporated the moment video of that violent blow went viral. Had Poole not approved his suiting up on Opening Day, Green would probably have had to watch Tuesday night’s ring ceremony from home.

This new power dynamic almost surely does not please Green, whose tone in recent days has gone from contrite to borderline obstinate. The sound bites that emerged from Thursday’s news conference — the quibbling over whether “rebuilding trust” is the right phrasing in this situation, and the not-so-subtle reminders that he has a player option on next season — hinted that he might not fully grasp the gravity of his predicament.

Though few doubt how instrumental Green is to the Warriors’ title hopes this season, all that has transpired over the past week-plus makes his presence on the roster less necessary than that of Poole, Wiggins, Thompson or even Wiseman. Golden State had an NBA-record total payroll of around $362 million last season, and it insists on not eclipsing the $400 million threshold. Parting with Green might be the most palatable way for the Warriors to get close to that number next year.

But as Green matter-of-factly articulated Thursday, he still has some power.. It’s up to him whether he picks up his $27.6 million option on next season.

Even before last week’s punch, that figured to be his most lucrative option available. Other teams have long felt that Green has more value to the Warriors than he would elsewhere. With that TMZ video likely lingering in people’s minds for some time, he might have to stick things out in the Bay Area — awkwardness be damned.

But Myers is no stranger to tricky situations. The Warriors appeared poised three years ago to lose Kevin Durant for nothing in free agency, only for Myers to orchestrate a masterful series of moves that landed Wiggins and Jonathan Kuminga in San Francisco.

Should Golden State decide it can’t proceed into next season with Green on the roster, Myers can likely figure out something that would resolve the issue: a salary dump to a defense-hungry team, perhaps even some sort of agreement for Green to not pick up his option. All that is certain is that winning and time won’t undo the damage that Green has already caused.

The Warriors can act as if everything is normal, but Green won’t ever reclaim his title as the team’s heartbeat. And if he’s not its heartbeat, what is he? Just another player who clocks into work and makes winning plays?

Such a notion likely wouldn’t go over well with Green, who has wrapped up much of his identity in being the emotional leader of a dynastic team. This marriage has entered the stay-together-for-the-kids phase. At some point — maybe in nine months, maybe in a couple of years — a divorce will be finalized.

And when it is, we might all look at Poole’s $140 million extension — news of which surfaced several hours before Wiggins’ — as the moment the Warriors officially chose their course. The new kid over the 32-year-old elder statesman. The man who got punched over the one who did the punching.