The Warriors spent the offseason standing still, and that alone has created the kind of conversation that usually follows a disappointing team, not a proud one. Golden State finished 37-45 last season and lost in the Play-In, then watched the summer pass without making a single external addition. They also came up empty on the stars they reportedly chased - LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Anthony Davis, and Jaylen Brown - a stretch that has reportedly left Stephen Curry growing tired and no longer completely on the same page as the front office.
That backdrop is what makes Draymond Green a name worth moving. Green came back on a one-year, $27.7 million deal, the same number as the player option he declined to give the Warriors flexibility.
Instead of using that opening to reshape the roster, Golden State wound up with the same aging group, plus rookie Yaxel Lendeborg and a handful of re-signings. Green is still a familiar pillar, but the production has dipped enough that his limitations are harder to cover when Curry is out.
In 68 games during the 2025-26 season, Green averaged 8.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.5 assists while shooting 41.8% from the field and 32.6% from three.
That’s why a deal now makes sense in this mock trade scenario. Rather than risk another middling season and lose Green for nothing when he reaches unrestricted free agency in 2027, the Warriors would flip him to Chicago for Patrick Williams, a 2028 first-round pick protected 1-20, a 2027 second-round pick, and a 2029 second-round pick that is the least favorable of the Pistons, Bucks and Knicks.
For Golden State, the appeal is straightforward: something is better than nothing. Green will always be linked to Curry and the dynasty, but at 36, he is no longer valuable enough to ignore a real return.
Williams has not developed into the player Chicago hoped for, but his $18.0 million salary through 2028-29 gives the Warriors a useful mid-sized contract, one that could be combined with picks and younger pieces in a future swing for another star. It also gives them flexibility they don’t have right now, especially with Jimmy Butler on a $56.8 million deal and only minimum salaries otherwise cluttering the books.
There’s also a longer play here. If the Warriors wait, Butler’s contract comes off the books in 2027, Green would already be gone, and Curry should have a new extension by then.
That could open the door to reshaping the roster around him instead of simply running back another older team. Anthony Davis is one obvious name to watch because the Wizards reportedly don’t want to give him the max extension he is expected to seek, and Kevin Durant could become another final option if the Rockets disappoint.
This move wouldn’t guarantee either star, but it would leave Golden State with more assets and more routes than letting Green walk away empty-handed.
Chicago, though, would have its own reasons to jump. The Bulls have already added Norman Powell and Nic Claxton, and Matas Buzelis looks ready for another jump.
Green wouldn’t be there to carry the scoring load. He’d be there to change the tone.
His defense, passing, and playoff experience could help give the Bulls the edge and structure they’ve been missing, and he’d fit the role of organizer and enforcer in a group trying to build a tougher identity.
The fit on offense wouldn’t always be clean next to Josh Giddey and Claxton, but Chicago wouldn’t be asking Green to score. They’d be asking him to make the team more disciplined and harder to play against.
And moving Williams would also clear a path away from a player who never became the Kawhi Leonard-type two-way forward the Bulls had hoped for. Green’s $27.7 million would be off the books in 2027, while Williams would otherwise still be owed $18.0 million that season and $36.0 million over the following two years, giving Chicago more room to maneuver when that offseason arrives.
In Other News...
Warriors Already Have Early Proof They Nailed A Key Draft Call
Golden State had a chance to get cute on draft night, but instead the front office stayed put and used the 11th pick on Yaxel Lendeborg after declining Oklahoma Citys offer to move up. The deal would have brought back future second-round picks, but the Warriors passed, betting on the player they wanted rather than the extra assets, and that choice already looks like a smart one for a team trying to keep finding value wherever it can.
Lendeborg backed up the decision quickly in summer league, where he was named MVP and helped lead the Warriors to the championship. Oklahoma Citys Aday Mara, taken one spot later, flashed a few encouraging signs, but the early returns have tilted clearly toward Golden State, which at least for now seems to have found a clean win in a draft process that could matter well beyond July. [Read more 🡒]
Warriors Get Encouraging Moses Moody Update After Trade Buzz
Moses Moodys recovery has taken a promising step forward, a welcome update for a Warriors team that has spent plenty of time this summer weighing roster possibilities and rotation stability. Four months after surgery to repair a torn patellar tendon, Moody is making good progress in his rehab, and the organization is expected to stay patient rather than push him back before he is ready.
The next checkpoint matters, though, because it will help frame just how soon Golden State can realistically count on him again. If the rehab keeps trending in the right direction, Moody should remain part of the conversation for the Warriors when he returns, which gives the team at least one encouraging internal storyline to monitor as the season approaches. [Read more 🡒]
Warriors Face One Trade Dilemma In Pursuit Of Bench Scoring
The Warriors search for more bench scoring has only become more urgent as the roster has settled into its new shape, and one name floating in that conversation is tied to Milwaukees post-Giannis reshuffling. After Giannis Antetokounmpo was dealt to the Heat, the Bucks brought in several pieces, and among the players drawing outside attention is a young wing who turned in a strong season and has the kind of offensive profile that could help Golden States second unit.
Even so, the path to a deal does not look simple. League chatter has centered on the idea of using draft capital to make it happen, but the Warriors have been cautious about moving future picks, especially for a player whose contract situation adds another layer of complexity. Between the price in assets and the extension questions that come with it, this is the sort of trade idea that sounds helpful for a bench that needs scoring, yet still feels unlikely to become real unless the market shifts. [Read more 🡒]