Despite all of the trade rumors surrounding Draymond Green before the NBA trade deadline, Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy insists Golden State’s veteran forward never was on the block.

The Warriors executive, speaking to reporters Saturday for the first time since the deadline, denied Golden State was shopping Green in its pursuit of Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo after days of Draymond describing how “real” the possibility felt.

“I’d walk that back a little bit,” Dunleavy said before the Warriors’ game against the Lakers in Los Angeles when asked about how open Green had been regarding his name being in trade conversations. “His name was not in conversations other than the ones where teams call me and ask about him, which they do every year. So nothing’s new there. I mean, the idea that he stayed with the Warriors past the deadline was greatly exaggerated.

“It was never, never a possibility of him not being here [or] remotely close, to be honest, and I’ve conveyed that to him. I think he knows that. But when stuff comes up in the media, I think, you know, it feels different for the players, and I think that’s the first time it happened for Draymond, so he’s dealing with it in a certain way. But the reality is, nothing was close and nothing was considered, and Draymond was not being shopped or talked about in deals, so it’s a little bit misleading. And you know, we’re kind of picking up the pieces here, but I think he’s in a great spot, and so are we moving forward.”

Dunleavy’s comments came just hours after Green published the latest episode of his podcast, where he detailed a pre-deadline conversation he shared with Dunleavy. While Green made it clear Dunleavy didn’t necessarily offer up his name to the Bucks, he claimed the GM did tell him who would have to be included in an Antetokounmpo trade if it happened.

“[Dunleavy] texted me,” Green revealed on Saturday’s episode of “The Draymond Green Show” podcast. “He said, ‘Call me. It’s not urgent. Not urgent. Call me when you get a chance.’ So I’m like, all right, not urgent means I’m not about to get traded. And he asked me about a couple of deals. ‘What do you think of this deal? What do you think of that deal?’

“And we talked for quite a while, and then he’s like, ‘And by the way, on the honest front, obviously, we spoke about Giannis. We talked about what picks we’d send them. We haven’t talked about, really, the players that would go into the deal, but obviously, if we were to do a deal with Giannis, you or Jimmy [Butler] would have to be in the trade just to make it work.”

Draymond discusses how crazy things got in the days leading up to the NBA Trade Deadline and his conversation with Mike Dunleavy

“He said “We’ve spoke about Giannis, we spoke about what picks we’d send them, we haven’t really talked about the players that would go back yet…… pic.twitter.com/y8mN6nNJgB

— The Draymond Green Show (@DraymondShow) February 7, 2026

Dunleavy also was asked Saturday about Green or Butler being included in a trade for Antetokounmpo, which led to a terse exchange.

“You said nothing was close regarding Draymond,” Danny Emerman of The San Francisco Standard asked. “I’d assume nothing was close in your pursuit of Giannis. What would give you — “

“Why is that?” Dunleavy asked.

“Because he would have to be in the deal, or Jimmy.”

“OK, well, you’re putting words in my mouth, OK. That’s an unbelievable assumption,” Dunleavy responded, and he then was asked if Butler had been on the table.

“No, no, we’re not doing that,” Dunleavy answered. “I’m not talking about going down the roster, talking about who’s in trades and who’s not. We don’t do that.”

It’s no surprise — and not out of the ordinary at all — that a GM isn’t willing to discuss trade talks after the fact, especially when players involved in the smoke and rumors remain on the team. In addition to Green’s comments this past week, which included a 14-minute press conference after what he believed could have been his final Warriors game, there were several reports linking the veteran to trade packages for Antetokounmpo.

Dunleavy expressed empathy for how it all might have impacted Green — even if it all was over nothing.

“I get it, you know, because there’s so much stuff out there, way more than when I played, these rumors and things,” Dunleavy said. “There’s so many ways you hear it, so I understand it, but I feel bad for these guys right now with what they have to go through for this particular week. I mean, look, overall, their lives are great. They’re playing basketball. They’re getting paid to do it. But this is a tough period for players, tougher than it’s ever been.

“So for me, it’s a little bit helpless because I can’t really — I’m not in a position to say, ‘You’re not doing this, you’re not doing that.’ I just don’t feel right doing that. So because of it, they got to kind of just deal with it. And when everything’s done, you can kind of clean some stuff up and go through with guys, but it’s definitely a tough time for us all. But Draymond is an open book. He’s great. He shared how he’s feeling, but it was, you know, it was all for naught.”

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast