The Golden State Warriors’ season changed drastically once Jimmy Butler tore his ACL in January.
After the six-time All-Star’s injury, it was clear that a blockbuster trade was necessary for the Stephen Curry-led organization. Unsurprisingly, the Warriors entered the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes, but didn’t come out victorious in the end despite reportedly being willing to move on from Butler or Draymond Green.
According to head-scratching trade news a few days after the Feb. 5 trade deadline, though, the Warriors weren’t seriously considering moving on from Green.
"I'd walk that back," general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. said Friday. "His name was not in conversations other than the ones where teams called me to ask about him. The idea that he stayed with the Warriors past the deadline was greatly exaggerated. It was never a possibility of him not being here or remotely close. I've conveyed that to him."
Why are Dunleavy’s comments confusing? Well, because Green recently confirmed previous reports that Golden State was open to including the four-time NBA champion in a groundbreaking deal for Antetokounmpo.
“He said ‘We've spoke about Giannis, we spoke about what picks we'd send them, we haven't really talked about the players that would go back yet... but you or Jimmy would have to be in a deal for Giannis,” Green said on his podcast Saturday.
“He didn't rule it out. He didn't say we're not putting you in the deal. So I took that as, 'All right, that'll probably be me.”
So, who’s really telling the truth in the situation? It appears to be Green, since he provided the public with a somewhat detailed breakdown of his conversation with Dunleavy leading up to the trade deadline. It’s unlikely Green fabricated the conversation for engagement/views, making Dunleavy look sketchier than ever.
At the end of the day, though, Antetokounmpo didn’t land with the Warriors, which is the main takeaway of the 2025-26 trade deadline.
More NBA: Lakers sign 22-year-old G-League superstar to help Luka Doncic win first title