Draymond Green and the Warriors may have some extra motivation against the Clippers this year.
Green said he’s “a little salty” after Los Angeles would not work with Golden State on a sign-and-trade for star Paul George, which paved the way for the 76ers to land the nine-time All-Star on a four-year, $212 million contract.
“Also a little salty about that, because, as you all know, Paul George was going to come to the Warriors and we wanted Paul George to come to the Warriors,” Green said on his “The Draymond Green Show” podcast. “We always talk about these organizations, what they do for their players and what not, and for us to get Paul George it would have taken a sign-and-trade, and the Clippers didn’t really want to play ball, didn’t really want to help him get where he wanted to go and so, in turn, they get nothing back and where as you could have gotten something back for Paul George walking, they get absolutely nothing back.”
In their efforts to make one more — and likely final — run toward a championship with Steph Curry still a top star, the Warriors attempted to acquire George to serve as Curry’s co-star.
Since George could not sign with the Warriors in free agency for the max, a sign-and-trade would have needed to be worked out between the teams.
The sides had “serious negotiations” and the sides came close to a deal, per The Athletic, but the Clippers would not agree to any packages the Warriors offered.
“The Warriors had agreed to give George a max, four-year extension upon arrival. They believed they had proposed several variations of a trade that the Clippers could and would accept,” The Athletic reported. “Stephen Curry and Draymond Green were 100 percent on board. George gave strong indications he wanted to join the Warriors. But the Clippers never agreed to any version of a trade, and now George is a free agent and essentially beyond the Warriors’ reach.”
The Clippers, as Green noted, opted to receive nothing in return and let George walk for free rather than help a Western Conference rival.
Green acknowledged that he could see why that would be the case.
“These organizations don’t always be willing to play ball, and I don’t think the Clippers were really willing to play ball for Paul George to get to the Warriors,” Green said. “I kind of understand it, I suppose, you don’t want him in the same division as you because you may know how that looks if he comes with us. So, that didn’t quite pan out for us, which would have been nice.”
The Warriors reportedly have since pivoted to sign-and-trades for Kyle Anderson and Buddy Hield, while also eyeing Utah forward Lauri Markkanen.
Those additions will attempt to offset the loss of longtime Curry running mate Klay Thompson, who, ironically, is headed to the Mavericks in a sign-and-trade deal.
They also waived veteran guard Chris Paul, who joined the Spurs.
