Draymond Green Reflects on Warriors’ Trade Talks for Giannis, ‘Didn’t Want to Play’ for Bucks

Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green was included in trade discussions for Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo earlier this season, but he understands that the team had to do everything it could to try to land the two-time NBA MVP.

While Green acknowledged that he wasn’t offended to be included in trade discussions, he admitted to ESPN’s Anthony Slater that he wouldn’t have wanted to suit up for the Bucks.

“I understand this business probably [as] good as any player,” Green said. “I understand like, yo, this is Giannis Antetokounmpo. They not just about to trade me for a bag of peanuts. It would’ve almost been a point of pride. I’ll be honest though. I didn’t want to play for Milwaukee.”

The Warriors were one of the final teams involved in trade discussions with the Bucks before they decided that they wouldn’t move Antetokounmpo this season. Golden State pivoted by acquiring veteran big man Kristaps Porzingis from the Atlanta Hawks, but that doesn’t mean the team is done exploring the market.

Slater reported that Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. and owner Joe Lacob “are expected to again explore large-scale moves in the summer, team sources said, which would put nearly everything on the table.” Trading Green would mark the end of an era in Golden State, but it’s clear that he’s one of the biggest trade pieces on the team.

Green told Slater that he initially questioned the Warriors’ decision to include him in trade talks before he accepted his potential fate.

“I’m a human being,” Green said. “There was a second of me [at the deadline] that felt like, ‘Damn, they really going to do that to me?'”

Slater noted that Dunleavy had “disputed the idea afterward that Green’s name was in talks and said the rumors were forcing the franchise to ‘pick up the pieces.'” Still, Green didn’t raise a fuss about the situation to Dunleavy or Lacob after realizing that his time in Golden State could be coming to an end sooner rather than later.

“You’ve been around me,” Green told Slater of his lack of subtle communication. “He would feel if he needed to talk to me. Everybody would feel if they needed to talk to me. They’d feel that s–t the day that it happened. No one ever felt that because there was never a f–king need.”