Leading up to the NBA trade deadline, a lot of the chatter surrounding the Golden State Warriors had to do with whether the team would deal veteran Draymond Green. They ended up holding onto Green, but general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. is seemingly trying to backtrack on the 35-year-old being in any trade discussions.
Speaking with reporters ahead of Saturday night’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, Dunleavy claimed that Green was not part of any active trade discussions and got quite defensive when asked about what the Warriors were offering for Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Mike Dunleavy cannot undo Draymond Green Warriors trade buzz no matter how hard he tries
This seems to go against what Green himself said on his podcast as he claimed Dunleavy told him that either he or Jimmy Butler would have to be part of a potential Antetokounmpo deal for salary-matching reasons.
Dunleavy can probably justify his statements by claiming that talks with the Bucks never got far enough to the point that they were discussing which players would go to Milwaukee, but that’s still being a little too cute by half.
Clearly, if talks with the Bucks progressed then Green going to Milwaukee would have been on the table. The Warriors were obviously considering it, but now Dunleavy is trying to put all that back in the bag which is simply impossible to do at this point.
Green knows the team was considering trading him, and while he understands the business side of the game, that has to hurt after everything he has done in a Warrior jersey. The 4x All-Star has helped deliver four titles to the franchise and has been part of the team’s core nucleus for so long.
The thing is, this saga is likely far from over. Antetokounmpo is still with the Bucks and during the summer there is going to be constant chatter about potential trade packages that could land the Greek star, meaning Green’s name will almost certainly pop up in rumors again.
On his podcast, Green talked about how uncomfortable a position it was to be in at the trade deadline, and how he hopes to never be in that position again. That may be wishful thinking at this point in his career as an aging veteran in decline, but maybe the trade deadline was the kick in the pants he needed to turn his game around somewhat.
Dunleavy can try all he can to put the cat back in the bag and pretend the Warriors were not open to trading Green, but what's done is done and denying it at this point really doesn't help anybody.