Draymond Green and the Warriors were hoping to land star forward Paul George in a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers.
After days of negotiations and multiple offers that Golden State was reportedly confident were good enough to land the nine-time NBA All-Star, Los Angeles ultimately declined to trade George, resulting in the 34-year-old opting not to renew his contract and testing free agency, where he ultimately agreed to sign a five-year, $204 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Both the Warriors and the Clippers came away empty-handed.
Green, on the latest episode of “The Draymond Green Show” podcast, discussed the Warriors’ attempt to sign George and expressed frustration with how Los Angeles handled negotiations when George reportedly wanted to play for Golden State.
“I’m a little upset about that, because as everyone knows, Paul George was going to come to the Warriors and we wanted Paul George to come to the Warriors,” Green said. “We always talk about these organizations, what they do for their players and all that. For us to get Paul George it would have taken a sign-and-trade, and the Clippers didn’t really want to play, they didn’t really want to help him get where he wanted to go.
“And in return they get nothing in return, while they might have gotten something in return for Paul George leaving, they get absolutely nothing in return. These organizations are not always willing to cooperate, and I don’t think the Clippers were really willing to cooperate in getting Paul George to the Warriors.”
At the end of the day, Green, while he doesn’t like the outcome, understands why the Clippers weren’t interested in trading their best start to a Pacific Division rival.
“I guess I get it, you don’t want him in the same division as you because you might know what that looks like if he comes to us,” Green added. “So that didn’t quite work out for us, which would have been nice. It would have been really nice. But yeah, they’re losing Paul George for nothing and that sucked too, because I think what Paul George could have done if he came to the Dubs would have been amazing. But I’m not going to cry over spilt milk anyway.”
The Warriors have since agreed to sign guard De’Anthony Melton and forward Kyle Anderson, and are currently working on a potential sign-and-trade deal for guard Buddy Hield. Golden State could also be the favorite to land Utah Jazz star forward Lauri Markkanen.
While they didn’t achieve their main goal, the Warriors still have a chance to bounce back well.
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