The Golden State Warriors have hired Willie Green as an assistant coach.

Green spent 12 seasons in the NBA.

Green last played in the NBA during the 14-15 season with the Orlando Magic. Green spent most of his career with the 76ers.

Green was a second round pick in 2003 out of Detroit.

The Golden State Warriors will sign JaVale McGee to a make-good contract.

McGee will have the chance to win a roster spot in training camp.

McGee spent last season with the Dallas Mavericks.

McGee has been one of the NBA's best rim protectors throughout his career but has struggled with inconsistency and maturity issues.

Kevin Durant refuted a report that was later clarified about telling Russell Westbrook or giving him the impression he planned to re-sign with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Durant had dinner with Westbrook and Nick Collison before the start of free agency.

“It’s false,” Durant told The Vertical on Thursday. “I didn’t say that – words about me telling Russell or Nick that I would stay or leave never came out of my mouth. We met as teammates, but no promises came out of it. In this day and age, I can’t control anything people claim out there. Someone can go out and say something random right now, and people will believe it.

“I never told Russell or Nick [Collison], ‘All right, guys, I’m coming back to the Thunder’ – and then a week later, I decide not to. Never happened. I don’t operate like that. I heard people say that story, but it’s not the truth.”

The Warriors’ projected starting five includes Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Durant, Draymond Green and Zaza Pachulia – a seamless transition in Durant’s mind.

“I’m not coming into a team where a guy is playing my position and we have try to fit in two guys playing the same position,” Durant told The Vertical. “I’m not coming in trying to play the point guard, trying to play the shooting guard. I’m a small forward. The team didn’t have a small forward when I signed. Steph, Klay, Draymond, the bigs, we all play different positions.

“Whether it’s minutes, shots, opportunities, any good team will have players sacrificing. That’s the nature of the game. I’m not coming into a game saying that I need my 18 shots and I need to get to the line 12 times. I let the game flow naturally.”

The Los Angeles Clippers were one of the teams to pursue Kevin Durant despite limited means of signing him.

"We were willing to take the gamble if we felt we were in it. And we were in it. We were in the top-3 at the very end," said Rivers. "But we had to make a couple calls to (Durant's camp). We got two players to delay an hour (before making their decisions). We had two players on our team who could sign for more money but they were going to wait another hour to stay with us.

"The second thing is we had to get this right. If we're going to go after Durant, if we can get him, let's stay in it. It's worth it, even if we don't get him. If we're not going to get him, we have to make that decision. We have to do our job business wise."

Durant was reportedly "blown away" by his meeting with the Clippers.

"We asked a simple question. We sat around trying to figure out what's the right question. And the first question we asked is 'are we in the top-3?' and they said 'yes'," said Rivers. "That made us feel good. We talked about it. My next question is 'are we in the top-2?' We made the decision, if they say 'no' then we go. If they say 'yes' we stay. They said 'no'."

Durant chose the Warriors and his seamless fit with the team and their cap room.

"I thought he liked us a lot," said Rivers. "He told us since and so have his representatives. The presentation I did and Lawrence (Frank) and Steve (Ballmer) is good or maybe the best presentation. But when they kept looking at how we were going to do it. We had to actually ask each guy to take a hit financially. We needed Kevin to take a hit this year to fit and next year we would have needed Blake (Griffin) and Chris (Paul) to take a hit financially. He didn't have to do that if he stayed in Oklahoma. He didn't have to do that if he went to Golden State. Plus they had room to build around that. I think at the end of the day, they looked at is as far as roster wise, well, 'the Clippers look great, we love who they are but financially they are going to be so strapped, it's going to be so hard to work, I think we're going to go the safer place,' and that was Golden State."

Royce Young has clarified a remark made in a podcast on Tuesday about what Kevin Durant supposedly said to Russell Westbrook during their dinner before the start of free agency.

"Three weeks ago, Kevin Durant's sitting there at dinner, telling [Westbrook], 'Hey I’m coming back, man. Don't worry about it.' And now Russell Westbrook's kinda been thrown into this in having to decide his future a summer earlier than expected," said Young on Tuesday.

Young writes the impression that Westbrook and Collison had was Durant would re-sign with the Thunder and not leave for the Warriors.

Young also adds that they are not direct quotes meant to be attributed to Durant.

Draymond Green was pivotal in recruiting Kevin Durant to the Golden State Warriors, texting him often throughout the season but that largely stopped during the playoffs.

“During the playoffs, it’s a little different," said Green. "More is at stake, so we weren’t talking much and that’s normal. I heard something come out where they said Kevin Durant and Draymond were talking during the playoffs. They were lying. If that makes them feel better about themselves, and when I say ‘them,’ I’m talking about whoever, whoever’s saying it. They’re wrong.

“I was told there were people from the Thunder who were mad that me and KD were talking. I don’t know where the report came from. It came from somewhere. And to be honest with you, I really don’t care where it came from. And if we were talking, we were, but I have to reason to come out and lie and say I wasn’t talking to KD, because if I was can’t nobody do anything about it.”

Green admitted there would have been no chance of Durant signing with the Warriors had the Thunder won the Western Conference Finals.

“When you’re thinking ‘if Kevin Durant and OKC, they beat us in Game 7, or 6, or 5, how can he leave there,” Green said. “He can’t leave there. But we came back, and once we came back, it kinda keeps everything that’s his feelings real. I think it allows him to make whatever decision he wants to make, whereas I think if you go to the Finals it kinda puts a stranglehold on his decision. It kinda makes his decision not his decision.”

“During the playoffs, it’s a little different. More is at stake, so we weren’t talking much and that’s normal. I heard something come out where they said Kevin Durant and Draymond were talking during the playoffs. They were lying. If that makes them feel better about themselves, and when I say ‘them,’ I’m talking about whoever, whoever’s saying it. They’re wrong.

“I was told there were people from the Thunder who were mad that me and KD were talking. I don’t know where the report came from. It came from somewhere. And to be honest with you, I really don’t care where it came from. And if we were talking, we were, but I have to reason to come out and lie and say I wasn’t talking to KD, because if I was can’t nobody do anything about it.”

The Oklahoma City Thunder hope to sign Russell Westbrook to a contract extension this summer following the departure of Kevin Durant. 

Westbrook is being pressed to decide his future in 2016 instead of 2017 but he reportedly does not want to be traded this offseason.

"Three weeks ago, Kevin Durant’s sitting there at dinner, telling him “Hey, I’m coming back, man. Don’t worry about it.” And now, Russell Westbrook has been kind of thrown into this in having to decide his future a summer earlier than expected," said Royce Young.

Westbrook can go back into free agency in 2018 by signing an extension with a player option.

"In some ways, (Westbrook) feels personally betrayed," added Young about the departure of Durant.

"Kevin Durant, more so than even that, was telling people, “Hey, yeah, I mean I’m coming back.” Like I said in there, a week before Kevin Durant sat down in the Hamptons, he was in Oklahoma City ready to make an offer on a multi-million-dollar house. So, the guy was pretty serious about coming back, and then things turned rather quickly for him to leave. And there’s no doubt the organization has felt a little bit burned by this."

If Westbrook doesn't sign an extension, Young expects the Thunder to strongly consider trading him before the start of the season.

Update: Royce Young later published a clarification of his comments from the podcast.

Kevin Durant's agent, Rich Kleiman, particularly questioned whether Klay Thompson was on board with him joining the Golden State Warriors.

“(Kleiman said) ‘You’re a potential top 10 player,’ and just (asked) how the chemistry would be with Kevin,” Thompson recalled. “I don’t remember (his) exact words, but just how the chemistry would be with Kevin coming along and if I was willing to sacrifice touches or exposure or all that. I thought my presence there just showed him. Obviously, him hearing it coming from my mouth helped a lot.

“I thought (Kleiman) was a lawyer. I was like, ‘Man, he’s the ultimate devil’s advocate right now, and you’ve got to respect it.’ It was really cool.”

Thompson hadn't seriously considered the possibility of Durant joining the Warriors until just days before the start of free agency.

“Oh yeah, (his mentality) is completely the same (as it was two years ago),” Thompson said. “If you asked (former players) who put up great numbers in this league and never even got to play in the conference finals or the NBA Finals, I’m sure they’d tell you they’d trade it all to be on a great team. I’m not worried about it.

“I think I showed how much I’m willing to make a sacrifice by just going to see Kevin and trying to pitch to him how badly we (wanted) him. That right there should speak volumes.”

Durant was in on signing with the Warriors once it was clear they were all willing to sacrifice.

“(What he’ll lose individually) doesn’t come to my mind,” Thompson insisted. “I just want to be efficient with what I do (next season), whether it’s averaging 10 points, 15 points, 20 points (per game). I just want to go out there and be effective. People have been asking me this question all the time, and I just try to point them to Manu Ginobili’s career.

“The guy, look at the sacrifices he made man. He’s been one of the best two-guards in the league for so long, and he’s got the respect of everybody in the NBA because he’s a winner. He’s obviously a multiple All-Star.”

Thompson is getting to know Durant better this summer as part of the United States' Olympic team.

“It’s growing still,” Thompson said of the relationship. “I mean we’re just getting to know each other. I’m still in awe of the guy. I’m still kind of starstruck when I’m around him, like ‘Man, that’s Kevin Durant, you know? He’s on our team. That’s crazy.’ You get to know him more. He’s such a grounded individual. He’s such a normal guy. He just loves basketball. He’s actually a well-rounded person. He likes to talk about everything, whether it’s movies, photography, travel. He’s easy to talk to, and it’s great to have a teammate like that.”

Since Kevin Durant announced he would sign with the Golden State Warriors, he hasn't spoken with Russell Westbrook.

Westbrook is reportedly "both angry and hurt not only by Durant's decision to leave but also because Durant didn't even call to tell him personally."

Westbrook thought Durant was going to re-sign with the Oklahoma City Thunder and found out his decision online as did everyone else.

Westbrook can become a free agent in 2017.

Kevin Durant was in a suburb of Oklahoma City called Nichols Hills just one week before the start of free agency reportedly "seriously looking to buy a multi-million dollar home."

The Oklahoma City Thunder were surprised by Durant's decision to leave the franchise to sign with the Golden State Warriors as every indication led them to believe he would re-sign.

Durant reportedly "assured people he was coming back."

Durant announced his decision to sign with the Warriors on July 4th.