5 Trades for Warriors to wash their hands of Draymond Green

No. 3: Dallas Mavericks trade for Draymond Green

The Dallas Mavericks have a superstar in Luka Doncic. They invested heavily in a running-mate for him, Kyrie Irving. They seem to have hit on their lottery pick this season as Dereck Lively II is holding down the center position. Who they play at the two forward positions, however, continues to be an open question.

The defensive weakness of their backcourt requires versatile defenders on the wing. Grant Williams was their big offseason addition and he has played well, but he isn't going to be switching onto opposing guards. Derrick Jones Jr. and Dante Exum are options, but Exum can't bang with bigs and Jones is an offensive liability.

The Mavericks aren't just a team trying to win right now, but they are a franchise that clearly isn't concerned with taking a chance on a player with temperament issues who has clashed with the league; they traded for Irving last season and they could easily be a team in the mix for Draymond Green this year.

Here's what a deal could look like:

The Warriors would likely waive Gui Santos to make this deal, which gives them players at three different positions to further fill out their depth. Dwight Powell is big man depth in case Kevon Looney or Dario Saric were to miss time. Seth Curry would come full circle back to the Warriors and give them a sniper to replicate Curry were he to miss time, a la another Curry relative in Damion Lee a few seasons ago.

The prize here is Williams, a player much younger than Green who can fill most of his role on defense, enabling them to go small and put Williams at the 5. On offense, he's not the playmaker that Green is, but instead is a significantly better shooter and is a pathway to true 5-out lineups, something the Warriors have largely never had (depending on your definition of Green's shooting) but are enjoying this season with Dario Saric.