Charles Barkley throws shade at Draymond Green during 'The Match'

NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley loves to beef with Draymond Green and he threw more shade at the current free agent.

During TNT’s broadcast of The Match featuring Steph Curry and Klay Thompson versus Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, Barkley roasted Green on the course. Green was along for the ride providing additional commentary and pulling for his Golden State Warriors teammates.

There’s just one problem, Green isn’t on the roster at the moment.

Chuck throwing shade at Draymond 😂 pic.twitter.com/JuF7SwAqAk

— Odds Shark (@OddsShark) June 30, 2023

“You know Draymond is talking a lot for a guy with no job,” Barkley said on the broadcast. “He got no job, he should be nice to me.”

“On the eve of free agency,” host Ernie Jonhson quipped.

Green of course laughed it off since it was a well-timed joke by Barkley. We’re sure these two will still get along and throw jabs at each other.

Green declined his player option for the 2023-24 season and became an unrestricted free agent. Given the Warriors’ current salary cap situation with having to pay Curry, Thompson, Jordan Poole, Andrew Wiggins and Green all big money, it was likely they’d have to part with someone this offseason.

But don’t rule out a return to Golden State for Draymond, according to Adrian Wojnarowski. He reported that Rich Paul of Klutch says that they “will continue to talk to Golden State and explore all options,” such as a new contract, if the two sides are able to agree on terms.

Woj sent another tweet a couple of minutes later adding that Golden State may be interested in bringing Green back on a new contract after all. He reports: “The Warriors have been motivated to sign Green on a new deal.”

It’s hard to see a path for Golden State to bring Green back for a similar or higher price than they paid last season unless they make some major moves around him or settle for massively over-paying a roster that wasn’t really a contender. Before the Green opt-out, they were already more than $100 million in the hole for 2024 and were staring an enormous luxury tax bill in the face. And now, they may have to guarantee even more money to an aging Green going forward?

There’s just a lot of puzzle pieces to figure out with the salary cap situation in San Fran, especially with the restraints and punishments on luxury tax spending set to kick in with the new CBA in the coming years. It’s hard to imagine they’ll be able to keep paying Curry and Thompson roughly $95 million a year, and then Green-Wiggins-Poole for another 80.

Alex Weber contributed to this report