While Golden State Warriors veteran Draymond Green acted all cool and unbothered while his name came up in the trade rumors, he admitted that it was a weird and stressful feeling, something he would never like to experience again. The former Defensive Player of the Year is going through a rough patch, and so the Warriors strongly considered including him in the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade package. However, the deal didn’t materialize. But now, the veteran forward has expressed his side of the story.

Green shared that he had spoken to Warriors GM Mike Dunleavy to understand the situation, and that’s where he got to know that the talks about him in the media are true and the Dubs were really considering building a package around him or Jimmy Butler to lure Giannis out of Milwaukee.

During his meeting with Dunleavy, he revealed that the Warriors indeed discussed with Giannis the picks that the Bucks would like. “He said, ‘We haven’t talked about the players that will go into the deal. But obviously, if we were to do a deal with Giannis, you or Jimmy would have to be in a trade just to make it work.’

“There was a chance I might get traded for Giannis because he didn’t rule it out. He didn’t say, ‘We’re not putting you in the deal,'” Green revealed what Dunleavy told him during his meeting with Giannis Antetokounmpo.

It’s fascinating because a couple of days ago, Giannis’ elder brother Thanasis Antetokounmpo said that the Greek Freak’s camp haven’t spoken to anybody. So Dunleavy’s secret meeting with Giannis over a potential trade as revealed by Green is a matter of great surprise. This suggests that the Dubs could be a potential destination of choice for the two-time MVP in the summer.

Following the deadline, when he was done with all the uncertainty of getting traded, Green shared his deep appreciation for the players who go through this in the league multiple times in their careers.

“It was kinda weird. You are just sitting in this holding pattern, wondering what’s to come. Whether it’s the next couple of minutes or hours, or days. The future was uncertain, in limbo, not knowing what’s next. This was the first time I was going through this, and what I’ll say is coming out of it with an appreciation of a lot of NBA players, the majority of them has dealt with. You come out of it with gratitude for the journey that has been and not having to deal with it (trade),” he added.

Overall, the Warriors traded away Jonathan Kuminga, Buddy Hield, and Trayce Jackson-Davis on deadline day, and they brought in Kristaps Porziņģis, who is a rim-protecting big man who can also knock down threes with ease.

Draymond Green shares his verdict on the Warriors trading for Kristaps Porziņģis

Kristaps Porziņģis was the only player brought in by the Dubs as they desperately look to improve their roster, whilst allowing the likes of Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield to leave the Bay Arena. Standing over 7 feet, Porzingis is a rim-protecting center who is also extremely efficient with his three-point shooting. However, there’s a major catch to the entire deal.

When it feels too good to be true, there’s Porzingis’ health angle. The big man has hardly stayed fit in the last couple of seasons, and it is a major concern for the Warriors.

For now, they are only considering the upside of the deal, but it could also go wrong for the Dubs as he has struggled to bag major minutes on the court due to his poor physical condition. However, Draymond Green is extremely optimistic about the Latvian’s addition to the Warriors’ roster.

“I like it. Add more size, more rim protection, more shooting… He was the missing piece to the Boston championship,” Green said following the Warriors’ win over the Suns on Thursday.

The 35-year-old is actually right. Porzingis played a major role in helping the Boston Celtics win the championship in 2024. He averaged 20.1 points on 37.5% from three and 7.2 rebounds per game during Boston’s title-winning season, but even in that season, they had to deal with his incessant injuries and absences throughout the postseason. He missed half of the 2025 season with the Celtics when he was diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), an autonomic nervous system disorder that causes dizziness and extreme fatigue.

After he was traded to the Atlanta Hawks, he missed a major chunk of games due to Achilles tendinitis. He has shockingly played only 17 games out of the possible 52 this season, which tells a lot about the magnitude of the risk taken by the Warriors.

The 30-year-old, who hasn’t played a game since January 7, is expected to return to court soon, as per league sources. The Warriors will hope that they get the best output from him this season, as he would be an absolute asset for them, and the quartet of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Jimmy Butler, and Porzingis could also make the Dubs a force in the West.

But with Butler out with a torn ACL and Porzingis’ availability highly uncertain, the franchise find themselves in a precarious situation.