Lakers News: Draymond Green's Status For Warriors Season Opener Vs. Lakers Revealed

The Warriors power forward's time away from the team wound up being less than a week.

Golden State Warriors power forward Draymond Green stepped away from the team on Saturday after footage leaked of him punching comrade Jordan Poole in the face last Friday.

That absence would prove to be short-lived. 

Kendra Andrews of ESPN reports that Green will return to the Warriors in time for its next preseason game, Friday against the newly-healthy Denver Nuggets. The Warriors have fined their All-Star leader, but will not suspend him. Thus, he will be on the court for Golden State's regular season debut... which is also your Los Angeles Lakers' regular season debut, October 18th.

Thanks to Anthony Davis early and some hot bench shooting late, Los Angeles managed to eke out its first preseason victory this past Sunday, against a Warriors team without Green or injured shooting guard Klay Thompson. Without LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, Patrick Beverley or Dennis Schroder, L.A. beat a slightly less-depleted Golden State club 124-121. 

Dubs head coach Steve Kerr indicated today that the team is prepared to stay the course with Green for the 2022-23 NBA season, per Marc Stein.

"Draymond and I have been together for eight years. We've had plenty of run-ins ... (but) I trust him. He broke our trust with this incident, but I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt because I think he’s earned that -- and I think our team feels the same way."

Kerr also went on to call the incident "the biggest crisis that we've had since I've been the coach here," adding, "It's really serious stuff." Kerr, infamously, played with a mercurial Portland Trail Blazers team so troubled it was nicknamed the "Jail Blazers," and was himself once punched in the face by Chicago Bulls teammate Michael Jordan, so he's no stranger to these situations as a player. Green infamously caused a ruckus between himself and Kevin Durant that could have been the ultimate deciding factor in Durant's free agency departure.

So L.A. will indeed face off against a mostly-complete Warriors roster, hot off its fourth NBA title since the start of the 2014-15 season. 

More than that, though, one wonders just how long Draymond Green himself will stick with Golden State, and where he would want to go next.

The 32-year-old could opt out of his current deal next summer and enter free agency if he and the Warriors do not work out an extension. Several pundits think Green would be a natural fit for the Lakers and his pal LeBron James, though whether that means sending the 6'7" forward to L.A. in a trade now or having him sign outright in free agency next year (when the Lakers could have up to $35 million in cap space, short of the maximum but enough for a great, somewhat old role player like Green) remains to be seen.