The Warriors’ update about Draymond Green was all kinds of weird

Warriors forward Draymond Green has mostly kept his head down, away from the public eye, as he works to return from his indefinite suspension. As it turns out, he’s been keeping that same kind of distance from Golden State.

The Athletic’s Anthony Slater asked head coach Steve Kerr if Green has been to the team facility as of late. While Green can’t play in any games, or take up a roster spot, during this extended punishment for a flagrant hit to Jusuf Nurkic’s face, he is allowed to work out and practice with the team, something that Kerr noted last month.

However, the Dubs coach said Green hasn’t used that allowance, although he gave the former Defensive Player of the Year some benefit of the doubt.

“He’s not been in the facility, at least with us,” Kerr said. “He may have been coming in on his own.”

“We text,” he added. “We’ve been giving him his space, he’s been giving us ours.”

This raises the question of when Green would be ready to play again, and perhaps even what kind of future Green has with the Warriors. With regards to the first question, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Christmas that Green’s suspension would ultimately be 11 to 13 games, “barring any setbacks.” Should that report prove true, that means, at best, Green would be available for Thursday’s game against the Nuggets.

But that’s only in theory. After all, Green needs to get back into playing shape to be part of the rotation again, something that will likely take time given his lack of practice with the Dubs. Last season, Andrew Wiggins went on an extended absence due to a family emergency, missing nearly two months of action, and didn’t play his first game until 11 days after his return. Green will end up missing less time, but he at least had a chance to maintain some sort of playing shape during his absence. 

Of course, as Kerr pointed out, the decision to keep “space” between Green and the Warriors is a mutual one. Perhaps it’s less about when Green will return to the Warriors and more when Green will return to be available for another roster. That might be pure speculation, but it’s still hard to imagine a team being OK with keeping a player who signed a $100 million contract and has lost half of the season to a couple of idiotic suspensions.

All of the questions surrounding Green’s future — whether his time in Golden State is coming to an end, what his long-term NBA future is like, whether he’s finally going to change — can’t be answered until he returns to the Warriors and gets back to playing shape. With what Kerr said, that return might be further away than initially anticipated.