Draymond Green slammed the Chet Holmgren trade speculations following the star big man's awful West Finals series for OKC.
Chet Holmgren finds himself at the center of backlash following his nightmare Western Conference Finals against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs.
Oklahoma City Thunder / Schedule
As such, Draymond Green is not amused about how the OKC Thunder star is suddenly being tagged on multiple trade speculations. In a lengthy rant on the latest episode of his The Draymond Green Show, the Golden State Warriors big man defended Holmgren from criticisms and whirling chatter across the league.
"It's crazy how people flip because Chet had an awful series. I did not love the way it went. You watch it, and it just wasn't enough. Bro, you got to go down swinging, and it just didn't feel like Chet went down swinging. For that, I understand criticizing Chet and all of that. But acting like he's a bum and should be traded? I thought all of that talk was ridiculous and premature," Green argued. "It's the exact way franchises set themselves back and never grow.
"It's the exact reason so many franchises don't have ultimate success, because most franchises panic and do what everyone's saying they should do: 'Oh man, we got to trade Chet right now.' The man was just second in Defensive Player of the Year voting, All-Defense First Team, All-NBA Third Team, and an All-Star. He has a bad playoff series and everybody's like, 'It's time to trade him.' I can't understand for the life of me why that's always the first thing everybody says.
"If you're just going to trade a guy when he goes through a rough time, how do you ever build anything?"
Holmgren completely disappeared in the entire seven-game series for OKC. His passiveness was glaring out of the West Finals averages of 10.7 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.1 blocks.
And just when it mattered the most, he also delivered one of the most brutal playoff games ever by an All-NBA player, finishing with just four points in two shot attempts and four rebounds in 33 minutes from OKC's Game 7 collapse.
In the aftermath of the Thunder's downfall as the defending champs, multiple reports have instantly emerged tackling possible Holmgren trades. The five-year, $240 milllion contract of the big man is set to begin next season.
Amid trade noise, Green believes that what Holmgren needs is an offseason to redeem himself for Oklahoma City.
"How about this guy needs to go back in the lab, get better, and work on his game? This guy just exposed all your weaknesses and showed everything you need to improve. What about the criticism being that he needs to get back in the lab this summer, be motivated, and get better? Why is it always, 'We need to trade him'?," Green added about Holmgren.
"These takes seem a little lazy at times to me. Trade him? Why is everything always about a trade? Trade this guy, trade that guy. I just don't understand it. ... The whole 'trade Chet Holmgren' thing is blasphemous. What he did this year—he had a rough go against arguably the best player in the NBA right now. Some people are going to argue it, and now we should trade him?
"You ask yourself the question: if we trade him, who are we getting back that's going to be better suited? So come on. Let's stop with all the trade talk."
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