As the Golden State Warriors weigh their next steps, in a much happier mood as a franchise now with six straight wins and the Yaxel Lendeborg NBA show well underway, the focus has turned to how the roster can get better here in the short term to take advantage of the early momentum the team has established. They will get Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody back from knee surgeries, eventually, but in the meantime, the focus is on whether and when they could find a trade to be had for big man Kristaps Porzingis, whose persistent illness will keep him off the floor this season but whose $20 million contract for this season makes an excellent trade chip. Potentially, it could be expanded, too, if the Warriors were to package Porzingis’ $20 million with, say, the $27 million expiring contract of Draymond Green. The Dubs could bring in a $47 million player in that scenario.
Certainly, Green has suggested he understands getting traded out of Golden State is possible for him this season. But, one problem: The Warriors are not looking at it that way.
Warriors Not Shopping Draymond Green
Around the NBA, rival executives say there has been no talk of the Warriors packaging Porzingis with Green’s $27.6 million deal. The belief for the Warriors is that the Green-Stephen Curry connection is too strong, on and off the floor, to give up on at this point, and that where other teams will see Green as a salary dump, the Warriors value him. Teams would want something for taking on Green and his contract, but the Warriors would rather keep him.
“It’s always been that way with the Warriors and Draymond,” one NBA executive said. “They see how he works with Steph, how he passes, how he defends and that’s the positive stuff. Everyone else sees that he can’t shoot that much anymore, the arguing with the refs and coaches and everyone. Now he is (36), that is not changing. They’re shopping Porzingis and would like it to be just Porzingis that they move. It has not gotten to shopping him and Draymond.”
That could change as the season goes on and other players come available. Obviously, if including Green were to get the Warriors a guy like Nikola Jokic or Karl-Anthony Towns, the stance changes. But for now, the Warriors are not pounding the pavement to move Green.
Warriors Take Firm Stance on Trading Draymond Green in Porzingis Deal