The Golden State Warriors may be at the end of the road with Draymond Green as they look at ways to improve the franchise. An NBA landscape with more teams hoping to win puts Golden State in a tough position as a lower tier Western Conference team. Reports have confirmed that the Warriors will look to trade Kristaps Porzingis’ contract to another team in hopes of getting talent back.
However, the low value of Porzingis could see Green involved in any noteworthy Golden State move. Brett Siegel of Clutch Points revealed likely Warriors plans:
“Are you going to include Moses Moody just to get off Porzingis? To me, the answer is no. And so now, are you going to attach draft picks to get off of him? Because the Warriors all offseason were hesitant to include draft picks for guys like Trey Murphy and other players around the league.”
So, are you going to just attach an unprotected first-round pick to get off Porzingis’ contract? The way I look at it is if they’re going to make a big move at this point, it seems like the only contract that they can attach Draymond Green’s $27.7 million expiring deal because that gets you right there to $47 million, and that’s that big splash, big play move that Shams was talking about when he was reporting about it yesterday.”
The combination of Porzingis and Green’s contracts will see the Warriors able to trade nearly $50 million in salary. Jimmy Butler is another expiring contract, but his hefty figure is harder to move. Golden State would likely need to pair Porzingis and Green with draft picks to land an All-Star caliber player.
Draymond Green Knows He Could Be Traded
Recent quotes from Green saw him expressing doubt over the chances of ending his career with the Warriors. The comment from Green revealed that he knows his situation is different from Stephen Curry and that the team could move him.
Curry is likely going to retire in Golden State as a one franchise legend unless he’s the one to request a trade for one more title run. Green has no control since his contract is expiring, and he no longer is an elite player for the Warriors.
The Porzingis news is even worse for Green since Golden State clearly wants to move the former. Porzingis has been dealing with a mysterious illness since his Boston Celtics days. The Warriors need to attach more with him to pull off a helpful trade, which makes Green more expendable.
Trade Targets For Warriors This Season
One issue that emerges for Golden State is the lack of trade targets. Anthony Davis is the biggest name that has been linked to the Warriors. This trade only happens if the Washington Wizards don’t want to extend Davis at his ideal salary.
Murphy of the New Orleans Pelicans is a younger target to warrant adding draft picks, but the Warriors were hesitant about this during the offseason. A change would be needed to make this move. Otherwise, Golden State will need to get creative about finding helpful pieces in a Porzingis and Green trade.
Draymond Green Could Be Forced Out In Warriors’ Kristaps Porzingis Trade