You may have heard rumors that Draymond Green would like to be traded to the Lakers. Well, he just answered all that for himself.
Between his unresolved contract extension, the preseason altercation with Jordan Poole and a rockier-than-expected start to the season for the Warriors, you could understand if Draymond Green was re-considering his long-term future with the team. There were rumors before the season began that he might be interested in a trade to the Lakers.
Green recently spoke with ESPN’s Andscape for a wide-ranging interview and one of the topics that came up was those Lakers rumors.
What did Draymond Green say about a trade to the Lakers?
This is the relative exchange from the Andscape interview.
What can you say about the rumors that you would have interest in being traded to the Lakers?
I never said that. People can say what they want. I’m also not really one to react much to what one may say. I react to things when I want to react to it. I don’t react to things just because somebody said it.
That certainly appears to be shutting things down fairly definitively. When asked if would be interested in playing his entire career with the Warriors, Draymond added:
“There are five guys that’s been on a team for 11 years-plus. We have three of them [along with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson]. It’s a very rare thing. There’s 470, 480 players in the NBA? There are five guys that’s been with his team for 11 years plus. That’s amazing. So, you don’t just give that away. So, absolutely I’d be interested in that.
If you had the opportunity to, you relish that opportunity.”
Even if Green was interested in a trade and even if the Warriors were willing to entertain one, it’s hard to imagine the Lakers having enough to get it done. The Lakers would either have to send Russell Westbrook back to the Warriors and get another large contract back besides Green to make the salaries work. Or they’d have to package several contributors like Patrick Beverley, Lonnie Walker and Kendrick Nunn. Even if the Lakers are including picks, those scenarios would be hard to swallow for Golden State.
Green has a player option for next season and could theoretically opt out and sign with the Lakers. But he’d be leaving $25 million on the table and probably taking a decent pay cut even if it was with a longer deal. Either way, Draymond in a Lakers uniform seems unlikely.