When he wasn’t vacationing in Barcelona or enjoying the satisfaction from winning his second NBA title, Warriors forward Draymond Green found another way to stay busy this summer.
He paid attention closely to the NBA’s frenetic offseason.
“The things that stood out most to me is the amount of guys that are on the move and amount of big names,” Green said on Tuesday after the Warriors unveiled their sponsored jerseys with Rakuten. “You rarely see that.”
The Clippers traded Chris Paul because he didn’t want to be there, while the Houston Rockets acquired him in hopes it could put a dent in the Warriors’ championship armor. Indiana shipped Paul George because he had no plans to stay there, while the Oklahoma City Thunder acquired him in hopes a one-year rental would lead to a long-term commitment.
And at Kyrie Irving’s request, the Cleveland Cavaliers traded him to Boston for Isaiah Thomas partly because Irving reportedly no longer wanted to play with LeBron James.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say it surprised me. I would say more than anything, it’s the respect level I have for him,” Green said of Irving. “That’s tough to do. I don’t think people take into account that he put so much pressure on himself by doing that. But the willingness to do that, knowing the pressure that comes with that and saying, ‘I’m ready to do it; let’s do it.’ That’s what stood out to me more than anything.”
It stood out to Green partly because of the obvious implications. The Warriors beat the Cavaliers in the 2017 NBA Finals in five games, both rectifying the previous year’s loss and securing their second league championship in the past three years. But Green also found Irving revealing “a lot about who he is as a competitor and his character.”
“Most people would probably say, ‘LeBron is the greatest player in the world,’ ” Green said. “I don’t say this in disrespect to LeBron. But speaking of Kyrie, to say, ‘I don’t want to play with him no more. I want to do my own thing.’ You have to deliver with that. He’s basically saying, ‘I’m ready to deliver.’ That’s big. That says a lot.”
It also says a lot that the Warriors kept their championship roster intact, while also filling positional needs. The Warriors resigned Stephen Curry to a record five-year, $201 million contract. While Kevin Durant willingly took a relative paycut in his two-year deal, the Warriors rewarded Andre Iguodala with a three-year deal. While also retaining Shaun Livingston, Zaza Pachulia, David West and JaVale McGee, the Warriors also added bench scoring (Nick Young) and backcourt depth (Omri Casspi). Oh, and the Warriors still have Green and Klay Thompson.
“The most important thing is to keep the core together, especially for a championship team. We were able to do that. I think it’s special,” Green said, before crediting general manager Bob Myers and co-owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber. “It says a lot about Bob as a GM and getting things done and our ownership group as well for allowing Bob to get his things done. It’s pretty special.”
And while the Warriors are pursuing something special, other NBA players are charting their own future that Green argued stemmed from James’ infamous “Decision” in 2010 when he originally left Cleveland for Miami.
“LeBron made it OK. I think he opened up a new door for guys. He gave guys a voice and willing to use that voice,” Green said. “I wasn’t sure at the time he knew what he was doing. There was so much backlash and all of those things. It really opened up new doors for guys.
“Maybe he didn’t know what he was doing. I don’t know. He did something special for guys around the NBA. To take careers into your own hands and go where you feel you want to go. Obviously there are rules in place to try to stop it. But you have the power to do what you want to do. That’s a special thing. If anything, he opened guys’ eyes on what you can possibly do.”
