First they suffer their second consecutive first-round exit. Now the Houston Rockets have to be reminded of their failed superteam attempt with The Round Mound of Rebound. But Draymond Green had to go low when Charles Barkley brought up the ‘old and cooked’ argument again. Yet. as much as Chuck insists the golden era of the Golden State Warriors dynasty is in its twilight, Green is making it clear that he will not let his team’s legacy go quietly into the night the way Chuck did to the Rockets.

With Shaquille O’Neal away, out of postseason Green in as a guest analyst on ESPN’s Inside the NBA where he got chatting about the future of his own team. He engaged in a not so fiery but passionate debate with Barkley over the future of the aging Warriors franchise.

The spark was lit when Barkley asserted, “Sports are for young people. You hope to have a great long career but… nobody wins when they’re 37, 38.” Green delivered a blunt, viral clapback. “I think the goal is to just not look like you on the Houston Rockets. [That] is ultimately the goal for us.” When co-host Kenny Smith asked what exactly that looked like, Green retorted, “Did you see it? We’re always going to try to compete.”

This debate over the Warriors’ longevity is not a new one for Barkley and Green. In a previous conversation, Barkley had bluntly told the forward, “It’s over for the Warriors… You and Steph on the backside of your career, it just passed you by.” Green didn’t entirely disagree then, reflecting on a poignant moment with Stephen Curry and Steve Kerr at the final game of the Play-In Tournament. “We had that hug for a reason. We’re not oblivious. This could be it.”

At this moment, the Warriors’ cap space is stretched to give Stephen Curry and Draymond Green the depth to make another run. However, Dray says their goal post has shifted. Now the ultimate benchmark for his team’s transition is to avoid the fate of the Rockets at the tail end of Barkley’s career.

Draymond Green & Co. have learned from Houston’s Charles Barkley experiment

Because of the failed experiment of a Barkley superteam, and because his newly-reignited bestie, Michael Jordan was still in the league, the Rockets never recovered till around 2004 when Chuck and MJ were retired and the team added new talent like Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady. But the Golden State Warriors aren’t relying on external factors to sustain the organization.

While the exchange was wrapped in typical Inside the NBA banter, Draymond Green immediately outlined the deeper, more realistic sentiment within the Warriors organization. “Whether we win a championship or not, I think as you get older you have to redefine what’s success,” Green explained. “Still the most sellouts in the NBA. Still the most national TV games in the NBA. And you just want to give yourselves a chance. Success may not be for us at this point a championship. That’s the way it goes.”

Green claims after four championships, they’ve redefined success as securing the future. “Once we leave this organization, it’s still in a great space where they have the pedigree and they can try to build on that.”

That looming finality is complicated by the Warriors’ massive financial commitments. As Green tells the Inside Guys, the Dubs are operating on a projected $160 million payroll that is top-heavy. Curry remains the highest-paid player on the roster, set to earn $62.6 million, while veteran forward Jimmy Butler is owed $56.8 million. Green himself holds a $27.7 million player option that league insiders expect him to decline to negotiate a more cap-friendly, multi-year extension unless the Warriors move him elsewhere.

Everything also depends on if Steve Kerr is staying. To compound the problem, the team is facing heavy injuries to Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody.

With nearly half of their salary cap bound to the injury report, the path back to title contention is steep. Yet, Green insists that keeping the franchise’s competitive pedigree intact is the ultimate priority.

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