Draymond Green’s rough start to the season is pushing him toward a trade conversation Golden State probably hoped to avoid.
The Warriors forward is on a one-year, $27.7 million deal in free agency, and that contract already looked like a possible move chip before February’s mid-season deadline. After Friday night, the chatter only gets louder.
Golden State was in position to finish off Memphis after building a 12-point lead, but Green helped turn a manageable finish into a mess. With the Grizzlies trimming the margin to one in the final minute, he fouled Jaylen Wells for no reason, putting the young wing on the line with Memphis already in the bonus.
Wells hit just one, which tied the game, and Cam Boozer gave the Grizzlies the lead on the next possession. The Warriors still had a shot to answer, but Green then committed a moving screen on Wells, all but sealing a damaging home loss.
That’s the kind of mistake Golden State simply cannot afford, especially when it’s trying to stay afloat before Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody return. Dropping a game like that, at home, to Memphis is the sort of result that can drag a team under fast if it keeps happening. And if the record sinks far enough, change becomes unavoidable - with Green the most obvious name in the middle of it if these late-game blunders keep piling up.
The bigger issue is that Green isn’t giving Steve Kerr the version of himself the coach wanted this season. Kerr talked in the offseason about wanting Green to shoot more threes and spend more time off the ball, but that hasn’t shown up yet.
Through two games, Green has more turnovers, nine, than field-goal attempts, eight. In preseason, he took just six shots across four games and nearly 80 minutes.
For a starting power forward, that’s a hard profile to justify if he isn’t even looking at the rim. And when the mistakes in crunch time look like the ones he made Friday, the path gets pretty clear: Green’s season is already drifting toward the trade block, and maybe toward the end of his Warriors run.
In Other News...
Warriors Center Search Suddenly Has A More Realistic Trade Path
The Warriors search for a starting center has taken on a more practical edge, with Wendell Carter Jr. of the Magic now sitting near the center of the conversation. Golden State has been looking for help up front, and Carter checks a lot of the boxes the front office would want: size, a starting pedigree and a contract structure that could make the math work if Orlando is willing to listen.
Orlandos position in the playoff race makes any deal harder to pull off, but the financial side of it is why this idea has more traction than many others the Warriors have explored. Golden State has had interest in Carter before, and he has also reminded teams of his value with a strong showing against the Hawks, which only adds to the sense that if the Magic ever decide to seriously engage, this could be one of the cleaner center paths available. [Read more 🡒]
Stephen Curry Sounds Off After A Brutal Warriors Collapse
The late-game letdown at Chase Center stung in a way the Warriors have become too familiar with during this early stretch, as a 12-point lead slipped away in a 111-108 home loss to Memphis. Stephen Curry paced Golden State with 24 points, but his tough night shooting, combined with another uneven finish, left the Warriors with their second straight defeat while trying to make do without Kristaps Porzingis and Jimmy Butler.
Curry did not hide how painful the result felt after another game that was there to be closed out. The encouraging part for Golden State was the way rookies Yaxel Lendeborg and Brandin Podziemski helped steady the group, but the bigger concern is whether the Warriors can clean up the closing minutes before the frustration starts to linger beyond one bad loss. [Read more 🡒]
Luka Drama Just Pulled The Grizzlies Into A Bigger NBA Debate
Yaxel Lendeborgs first NBA night came with more attention than the box score usually brings, and the Warriors rookie did not sound interested in backing away from it afterward. After Golden States debut against the Lakers, Lendeborg publicly went at Luka Doncic in his postgame press conference, calling him a complainer and saying he had lost respect for him. For a player just getting his footing in the league, it was the kind of candid comment that instantly travels beyond one locker room.
Inside the Warriors orbit, though, the reaction was hardly a distancing one. Stephen Curry and Draymond Green defended Lendeborgs remarks, even as the rookie acknowledged afterward that he might have gone too far. Still, he made clear he intends to keep being himself, which leaves the larger question hanging over a young player who already has veterans in his corner and a much bigger NBA conversation swirling around him than anyone expected on debut night. [Read more 🡒]