Draymond Green Friday night in the locker room after the Warriors’ loss to Detroit, when asked by Anthony Slater of ESPN where he is on his future at Golden State:
I’ve been here for 14 years. 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. Incredible. I slept longer than I’ve slept in a long time, so sleep’s well. Sleeping good.
Monte Poole of NBCSBA would then quip, “Sleeping at home.”
“Yeah, home bed. Yeah,” Green replied.
An NBA insider texted me a Reddit post with the headline, “Draymond appears nervous…”
I humbly disagree. I don’t think Dray looked nervous at all. You can check for yourself (timestamps in the Comments):
And yet, even if he really truly wasn’t nervous in that locker room postgame, that goes kinda contrary to his latest podcast episode, released the morning of the games against the Pistons, presumably recorded the night before:
The following is a paraphrasing of some stuff he said in the first ten minutes:
The trade deadline is a bizarre time, and life-changing things can happen. I was with the same organization for 14 years, and even when I knew it was almost impossible that they’d trade me, I was there… sitting around waiting for that stressful week to end.
There’s never any way to be sure they won’t trade you, unless you have a no-trade clause…
My wife talked to me a week ago and told me that another player’s partner was getting their kids ready and everything in case they had to move, and I thought: ‘oh, for real?’ because he doesn’t even know if they’re going to trade him. Or kids telling my son stuff like ‘I think my dad’s gonna get traded’…
Everyone in the league is calling about Giannis, and even if they aren’t calling about him, the Bucks are blowing up the team… and they’re surely calling about Myles Turner or Bobby Portis…
Things are changing right now, and I know as much as you know. I just read what you read, but I can only tell you that this week is really stressful. So we’ll see.
I went live a few hours ago to talk more about the Giannis Antetokuonmpo rumors and took a poll. Looks like people really believe Dray is nervous: 🤔
I don’t know if it was because of the article Nick Friedell of The Athletic published, which said this about Jimmy Butler:
Even in recent days, one league source said the Warriors have made it clear to Butler that they are going to stick by him as he begins a year-long rehab. But actions, as always, will speak louder than words — especially if the Bucks are motivated to move Antetokounmpo before the deadline and the Warriors are steadfast in not including Butler as part of a package.
But, bottom line, I don’t think Draymond should be too nervous. As I wrote in the previous article, Milwaukee has a couple contracts that aren’t that conducive to a rebuild, namely that of Kyle Kuzma and Myles Turner:
So why would they trade for another contract that’s not conducive to a rebuild, namely Draymond’s?
Not that Dillon Brooks is a news breaker, but he also told Twitch streamer N3on Singh:
I heard the Warriors, bro. That’d be so crazy. To get a screen and roll with them you’re running to Steph to stop the 3 and he throws to Giannis for a dunk…. Jimmy is gone.
Then again, Green’s contract does expire in the Summer of 2027. As we explored on the aforementioned live chat, Bobby Marks of ESPN, who was previously employed as an assistant GM of the Brooklyn Nets, hopped on 95.7 The Game, said he thinks Turner’s contract is the one the Bucks would like to get rid of the most. That’s because it doesn’t expire until 2029.
The Turner contract, which is $25.3 million and ascends by $1.2 million each year, is something I overlooked in the previous article because Kuzma is the worst player when you consider contract value, not length of deal, on the Milwaukee roster.
Then again, Jimmy’s contract could be viewed by the Bucks as even more unmovable than Dray’s, given the $56.8 million owed next season, as well as the fact that Jimmy will be out of commission for another year or so.
Yep, we arrive once again at gee idk maybe as a plausible conclusion that Bucks GM John Horst will come to next Thursday at the trade deadline.
FULL TRANSCRIPT OF DRAY BELOW 👇
Incidentally, lotsa good stuff on the Pistons, Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren. Green has said on a podcast before that he thinks Detroit will win a championship with their present core. They are fun to watch and Cunningham is the smoothest flowing baller I’ve seen since [redacted til I see more of Cade in the playoffs].
They will be my adopted team as soon as the Warriors get bounced.
00:00 I know you said on your podcast that you don’t know what’s gonna happen at the deadline. How — what is this week leading up to the deadline like for you? How uneasy is it?
00:11 DRAYMOND GREEN: For me? Not at all. I control what I can control, so, not at all.
00:26 What about the young guys?
00:27 I will tell you though, I find it very ironic that I got a technical foul for telling a Caucasian referee not to put his hand in my face. As a black man in America, don’t put your hand in my face. And I said, hey, don’t put your hand in my face and I got a tech, so I thought that was the most interesting thing of the night.
00:45 Did he try to explain himself?
00:46 Next to my bobblehead. He said, Draymond, this is your chance to stop talking to me. Bro, don’t put your hand in my face. Oh, tech. Oh, okay. Yeah. So everybody want to talk about holding a line of respect. That line need to be held both ways, so if the line won’t be held both ways, then the line won’t be held from my way either because we all men, right? We all can make decisions and choices, so. Well, let that be the last time that that happened,
01:20 What had the conversation been like with him? You’d been talking to him for a while, it looked like.
01:25 Well, he told me that Ausar Thompson can hold the ball and look to see who to get a ball to after a made basket. And he said that’s not a delay-of-game, said Guys catch the ball out of the rim all the time and they do not look to who to pass it to, if you don’t drop the ball. That rule was changed maybe six years ago? If you don’t drop the ball and you just stand there and hold the ball, that’s a delay-of-game. He said, no, that’s not a delay-of-game. It’s the second time he’s done it, slowing our break down. I can’t get the ball and take it out. That would be a delay-of-game. And then Steph proceeds to get a delay-of-game the next play or free throw, so yeah. Same referee though, JT Orr, so. And he’s like, oh, well maybe you got a point. No shit. It’s a rule. Can’t change the rules in the middle of the game, so yeah. That’s what the conversation was about.
02:28 Gotcha.
02:29 Telling me that that’s not the delay-of-game. Guy can catch it and look — it’s not their ball.
02:35 Right.
02:36 That would be a delay-of-game. So it’s unfortunate the rules change from person to person.
02:44 Have you had interactions with that referee in the past or similar?
02:48 I’ve had interactions with all of them.
02:52 Very last one, the Pistons were here. You mentioned Cade, the next step. Well, you kind of lobbied for him to be an All-Star at the time. He ended up being an All-Star, leading the league in assists now. And you kind of mentioned that the next step for him was being able to find his teammates and put them in advantageous situations. What’d you kind of see from him tonight and what do you think of his overall evolution?
03:12 Yeah, he’s taking that next step for sure. Like you said, leading the league in assists. That’s an incredible feat. It’s not like he’s leading the league in assists either, and the points have gone down, like, so, just to see his growth, to see him number one and embrace the city of Detroit put some buffs on Draft Night and then bring Detroit basketball back to prominence is a beautiful thing to watch him and Jalen (Duren) and Stewie (Isaiah Stewart), just what they’ve been able to accomplish. I thought they should have beat the Knicks last year in the playoffs. Felt like they won five of the seven games and somehow they lost the series, but they’re continuing to take that next step. JB (Bickerstaff)’s doing a great job. Him, Jarrett (Jack) and Luke (Walton), their coaching staff. They all coach the All-Star Game this year, which is incredible and well deserved. But Cade, just to continue to watch his growth, it’s no surprise that Jalen’s having the year he’s having and Cade’s leading the league in assists, right? You talk about that next challenge, that next step of being able to get your guys into positions that make them more successful, okay, he’s doing that to at an elite level now and so looking forward to continuing to watch their growth over the years. They seem like they got a group that can be together for a long time, do a lot of damage and they’re starting to make their trek at it, so it’s fun to watch.
04:39 (Inaudible) kind of evolved in defending him, now that he’s elevated that way.
04:44 Oh, well, you — initially the scouting report would be like, yo, I almost throw two guys at him. He don’t want to pass the ball. And today, the scouting report was more about how much he’s looking to lob and get other guys involved and so that was just, again, like I said, to watch someone take that next step and continue to build and grow, I respect that. When you have the success that he’s had, if you don’t grow in that area, nobody’s going to be like, yo, you’re not having success. Like, he’s still having success, but for him to take that up on himself and get better and better, like you said, and like I said, to lead the league in assists, that’s — some great passers in this league, so that’s great.
05:36 I know you said you haven’t necessarily had conversation with the front office and the lead up and you’re kind of out of the loop, whatever, at this moment. Do you expect over the next several days to discuss the big picture plans with them?
05:49 We’ll see. I’m not going to go there and be like, y’all, so tell me what y’all doing. Same as I always am, my phone’s always on. I’m always willing to collaborate in any way I can. We’ll see.
06:08 Pretty obviously they’re going after, at this point, big salaries. When big salaries are being traded for big salaries, almost everybody’s name is rumored. How do you — where are you at on your own, I guess, future here?
06:20 Oh, I’ve been here for 14 years. 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. Incredible. I slept longer than I’ve slept in a long time, so sleep’s well. Sleeping good.
06:43 Sleeping at home.
06:44 Yeah, home bed. Yeah.
06:47 Do you catch your breath at all when Steph — I mean, Jimmy’s already out and I know it doesn’t sound like it’s serious with Steph, but still it’s Steph.
06:54 And he left — it was bad enough that he left the game.
06:55 Yeah, no, it sucks. Our whole offense was built around those two guys and so when they go out, it’s a little challenging, but credit to our guys tonight of just figuring out how to get points, how to keep the offense moving, how to stay in the game and give ourselves a chance to win. But yeah, it’s hard when those two guys aren’t out there because the whole offense built for them.
07:19 Draymond, what has it been like for you just to see the growth that Jalen Duren has taken? I saw that you guys exchanged jerseys and you wrote on his jersey, part of the message was like All-Star.
07:29 Mm-hmm. Ah it’s funny because when he first came into the league and what was he, 18? He was young as hell. He didn’t know how to use his strength. Like, they would ask me and Loon (Kevon Looney), like, yo, what about Jalen Duren? And I’m like, yo, he’s strong as hell, but he don’t really know how to use it. Probably typical for an 18-year-old. You growing into your body. He came into the NBA with a grown man body and now he knows how to use it. Like, it’s night and day on the physicality that he plays with now as opposed to when he first came into the league, so similar to Cade, just to watch his growth, I got a — I watched him a little bit more than most because I’m from Michigan so I want to see them do well and I watch their games and he’s handling the ball more. He’s making plays, but I think the biggest difference is he’s used — he uses his body now and you have a body like he have and you learn to use it, it’s a weapon. And he uses his body now. He plays with physicality now. There was never, like — it wasn’t one of those things that they asked you, yo, and you’re like, yo, he don’t really use it. It wasn’t like you were saying he was soft. You knew he was never — you knew he wasn’t soft. He just didn’t know how to use the strength. Now he knows how to use the strength and it’s no surprise he’s going to be an All-Star this year because he’s learned those things and give credit to him for doing the work. You give credit to their coaching staff for putting the work in with him and helping him improve, but he’s an All-Star, for sure, no questions asked. And to see that growth. And then also, I pay attention to around the league, he didn’t sign an extension this summer. So you say, no, I ain’t gonna sign that, whatever y’all offering. I don’t know what the contract was. I’m not in their talks, but whatever y’all offering, I’m not signing it. And then to come out and how the year he’s having you, I love when guys bet on themselves and then you deliver and he’s delivering and he’s gonna get whatever contract he wants and it’s gonna be well-deserved, but like I said to him, congrats on your first All-Star. He said, that ain’t yet happened yet. No, it happened. You’re an All-Star.
09:46 Talking to Al earlier and he said that when the trade deadline approaches, everybody kind of feels it, especially if your team is gonna be in the mix and that kind of thing. He said it’s harder on the young guys, probably, because they’re new to the league, he said. But can you sense that this team is even feeling any of that because there’s speculation about everything out there?
10:07 I would say it was more so felt a couple weeks ago. It’s been less felt over the last week or so around here, but yeah, I’d imagine a lot of the young guys are nervous because you’ve just never been a part of — your name’s never been thrown in some rumors.
10:24 I mean, you’ve seen all that before.
10:27 Yeah, i’ve seen it all. So I’d imagine pretty nervous, but one day you learn to just control what you can control and whatever’s going to happen, the cards gonna fall where they may.
10:40 From your vantage point, what’s allowed this Pistons team to grow as rapidly as they have over the last two seasons?
10:46 Well, when you have a superstar like Cade Cunningham, you have an elite big man like Jalen Duren, you have defenders and guys that’s playing their role like Ausar Thompson, like Ron Holland, veteran presence like a Tobias Harris, Stewie, who’s growing. He’s been at it a while now. What’s this year, eight for him or seven, or something like that? He’s been around a while now. Physicality that he brings, you add all of those things up, the sum of the parts, that equals a pretty high number. And they want to be good. They want to compete at a high level. You can tell like they got their ass kicked last night. You can tell they came out, like, nah, we not losing two in a row. We gonna come play with force. We know we got embarrassed last night. We coming back tonight. That is the mark of the makings of a championship team. You don’t let the problem go. Stop the problem. Stop the bleeding and they did that. And so they’ve done a great job in building that team up and, like I said, when you have somebody who embraces the challenge like Cade Cunningham — when he went to Detroit, they probably was winning 13 games. They lost 27 in a row at some point he was on the team. He embraced the challenge. He didn’t cry about the challenge. Very similar to what Shea Gilgeous-Alexander did in Oklahoma City. He didn’t cry about the challenge. He didn’t cry about the process they was going through, stayed 10 toes down and look at them now. And I see that same thing coming from Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, and it’s beautiful to watch and it’s beautiful to watch all those other guys fall in line.
🫶💙💛