We know there’s no loyalty when it comes to the business of the NBA.
That point was driven home last season, when Luka Doncic was dealt by the Mavericks to the Lakers in arguably the most shocking NBA trade of all time..
If he could be moved, anyone could be moved.
Still, there’s something unsettling about Draymond Green being on the trading block for a potential GIannis Antetokounmpo deal.
According to The Stein Line, Jimmy Butler’s contract is “unlikely to be involved” in a trade for the Milwaukee Bucks’ superstar after Butler suffered an ACL tear earlier this month. That means Green’s contract would need to be included to match salaries in a deal, along with Jonathan Kuminga, four first-round picks (2026, 2028, 2030, 2032) and one first-round swap (2031).
However, a trade of that magnitude isn’t as easy at it sounds. Initially.
Green is at the center of Golden State’s success. Warriors’ coach Steve Kerr has long called him the “heart and soul” of the team. The defensive wiz was supposed to retire alongside Steph Curry, who’s widely considered the greatest shooter of all-time.
We already saw a member of the Warriors’ Big Three leave San Francisco when Klay Thompson chose to go to Dallas in free agency in July 2024 after 13 seasons with the team amid frustrations over contract negotiations and his diminished role.
But that was his choice.
Green is the Warriors just as much as Curry is the Warriors.
But, the Warriors are going to do whatever it takes to acquire Antetokounmpo, short of trading Curry. As they should. But if Green is jettisoned in part of that deal, it would show the ugly underbelly of the business.
Green transformed himself from the 35th overall pick in the 2012 draft by Golden State to one of the best defenders in NBA history. He went from being overlooked to helping the Warriors become a dynasty, winning four championships in eight years from 2015-2022.
Green is handling things like a good soldier, biting his lower lip and apparently accepting his fate, whatever that may be.
“I’ve been here for 14 years,” Green told reporters Friday. “I have no reason to sit and worry about leaving. But if I’m traded, that’s part of the business. So, it is what it is. I ain’t losing no sleep, though. I slept great last night.”
The thing is, without Green, would the Warriors even be a championship squad if they acquired Antetokounmpo?
Green has selflessly accepted the role of playmaker on offense for the Warriors, while pouring out his energy on the less glamorous side of the court as a dogged defender. At 35, he may have slowed down a step, but he’s able to compensate for that with his basketball IQ, which is second to none.
Losing Green would be a major hit for the Warriors, both on the court and in terms of the team’s storybook journey from irrelevance to epic success. Green was at the center of it all. And he wanted to remain there until he retired.
He had earned that — until the Bucks decided Antetokounmpo was movable.
All loyalty goes out the window when a generational player like that becomes available. Antetokounmpo would breathe new life into Curry’s career, as well as make the Warriors a contender for years to come.
But that doesn’t mean if the trade goes through — and Green is a casualty — there wouldn’t be something heart-wrenching about it all.
Green helped put the Warriors on the map.
And now, in the blink of an eye, his tenure with the team went from being assured to hanging in the balance.
“Right now, I know just as much as you guys know,” Green said Saturday on his podcast, The Draymond Green Show. “I’ve read what you read. I don’t know. But I know it’s very stressful. So, we’ll see.”
