The Golden State Warriors were reportedly close to pulling off a blockbuster trade for Kawhi Leonard before February's deadline, and in doing so it dissolves a major myth over the franchise's willingness to move on from veteran forward Draymond Green.
The Warriors tried to dismiss Green's involvement in a package for superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, but everyone (including Green himself) knows that the former Defensive Player of the Year was on his way had the Milwaukee Bucks been willing to deal their 2x MVP.
However, there was an assumption of sorts that Golden State would only trade Green in an Antetokounmpo deal, but these latest Leonard rumors prove that's absolutely far from the case.
Draymond Green likely would have been involved in Kawhi Leonard trade
In a major report on Thursday, Tim Kawakami of The San Fransisco Standard outlined just how close the Warriors were to acquiring Leonard after the L.A. Clippers moved on from their second and third most important players in James Harden and Ivica Zubac.
"To that point, multiple league sources indicated this week that the Warriors were reasonably close to trading for Kawhi Leonard last February — apparently with much of the deal terms generally agreed to — before the Clippers ultimately decided to pull out of the talks," Kawakami wrote.
While Kawakami didn't go into detail about what the terms of the deal were going to be, it's not hard to put things together and realize that Green would have almost assuredly been part of the trade.
With Leonard making exactly $50 million this season, Golden State would have likely packaged Green, Jonathan Kuminga and a minor salary, along with a pick or two to appease their pacific rival -- essentially the Antetokounmpo package but without so many picks/young players.
There were multiple reports at the time of the Warriors having no interest in trading Jimmy Butler in the wake of his torn ACL, and you have to wonder why the Clippers would have had any interest in the 6x All-Star anyway when just starting out his rehab.
Warriors to show interest in Kawhi Leonard again this offseason
Green could still be part of a Leonard trade this offseason if the former opts into his $27.7 million player option, and if the latter's $50.3 million deal for 2026-27 doesn't get ripped up as a result of the ongoing Aspiration investigation.
But as Kawakami also pointed to earlier in the week, Golden State could try and target Leonard as a free agent should his current contract be terminated. That would be preferable, allowing them to potentially keep Green to form a star-studded, albeit old starting five.